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After Life Season 3 is EMOTIONAL- Netflix Review

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Russell in 1957

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World Exclusive: After Life Season 3: The First few Minutes

After Life | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix

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episodes will be released on January 14th.

Just Three Things. Written for #Afterlife by Ricky Gervais and Andy Burrows

March 7, 2022

Ricky Gervais

London, W1F 0LE
UK

Dear Ricky,

Penny: Hmm. Let’s see. Interesting. 

Kath: What? 

Penny: Strong, confident, determined on the outside. But on the inside, you’re vulnerable and sensitive. You’re lonely. It’s tough, isn’t it? Being a strong woman in a man’s world. You feel you’ve lost a little of yourself, and you see needing comfort as a weakness they’ll pounce on. So you deny you need it. But you do need it, dear. Everyone does. ( sentimental music playing )

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TONY NEEDS EVIDENCE TO BELIEVE BUT KATH DOESN’T

Tony totally dismissed the palm reading abilities of Penny and I totally agree with his assessment, but I do think there is reason to believe the Bible is true!! Let me give you evidence and talk about a hero of yours!!!

Ricky you are a great admirer of Bertrand Russell.

Quote from Bertrand Russell:

Q: Why are you not a Christian?Russell: Because I see no evidence whatever for any of the Christian dogmas. I’ve examined all the stock arguments in favor of the existence of God, and none of them seem to me to be logically valid.Q: Do you think there’s a practical reason for having a religious belief, for many people?Russell: Well, there can’t be a practical reason for believing what isn’t true. That’s quite… at least, I rule it out as impossible. Either the thing is true, or it isn’t. If it is true, you should believe it, and if it isn’t, you shouldn’t. And if you can’t find out whether it’s true or whether it isn’t, you should suspend judgment. But you can’t… it seems to me a fundamental dishonesty and a fundamental treachery to intellectual integrity to hold a belief because you think it’s useful, and not because you think it’s true._Francis Schaeffer noted concerning the IMPLICIT FAITH of Bertrand Russell:I was lecturing at the University of St. Andrews one night and someone put forth the question, “If Christianity is so clear and reasonable then why doesn’t Bertrand Russell then become a Christian? Is it because he hasn’t discovered theology?”It wasn’t a matter of studying theology that was involved but rather that he had too much faith. I was surrounded by humanists and you could hear the gasps. Bertrand Russell and faith; Isn’t this the man of reason? I pointed out that this is a man of high orthodoxy who will hold his IMPLICIT FAITH on the basis of his presuppositions no matter how many times he has to zig and zag because it doesn’t conform to the facts.You must understand what the term IMPLICIT FAITH  means. In the old Roman Catholic Church when someone who became a Roman Catholic they had to promise implicit faith. That meant that you not only had to believe everything that Roman Catholic Church taught then but also everything it would teach in the future. It seems to me this is the kind of faith that these people have in the uniformity of natural causes in a closed system and they have accepted it no matter what it leads them into. I think that these men are men of a high level of IMPLICIT FAITH in their own set of presuppositions. Paul said (in Romans Chapter One) they won’t carry it to it’s logical conclusion even though they hold a great deal of the truth and they have revolted and they have set up a series of universals in themselves which they won’t transgress no matter if they conform to the facts or not.Here below is the Romans passage that Schaeffer is referring to and verse 19 refers to what Schaeffer calls “the mannishness of man” and verse 20 refers to Schaeffer’s other point which is “the universe and it’s form.”Romans 1:18-20 Amplified Bible :18 For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. 19 For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. 20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification].We can actually see the two points makes playing themselves out in Bertrand Russell’s own life.[From a letter dated August 11, 1918 to Miss Rinder when Russell was 46]It is quite true what you say, that you have never expressed yourself—but who has, that has anything to express? The things one says are all unsuccessful attempts to say something else—something that perhaps by its very nature cannot be said. I know that I have struggled all my life to say something that I never shall learn how to say. And it is the same with you. It is so with all who spend their lives in the quest of something elusive, and yet omnipresent, and at once subtle and infinite. One seeks it in music, and the sea, and sunsets; at times I have seemed very near it in crowds when I have been feeling strongly what they were feeling; one seeks it in love above all. But if one lets oneself imagine one has found it, some cruel irony is sure to come and show one that it is not really found.
The outcome is that one is a ghost, floating through the world without any real contact. Even when one feels nearest to other people, something in one seems obstinately to belong to God and to refuse to enter into any earthly communion—at least that is how I should express it if I thought there was a God. It is odd isn’t it? I care passionately for this world, and many things and people in it, and yet…what is it all? There must be something more important, one feels, though I don’t believe there is. I am haunted—some ghost, from some extra-mundane region, seems always trying to tell me something that I am to repeat to the world, but I cannot understand the message. But it is from listening to the ghost that one comes to feel oneself a ghost. I feel I shall find the truth on my deathbed and be surrounded by people too stupid to understand—fussing about medicines instead of searching for wisdom. Love and imagination mingled; that seems the main thing so far.During Bertrand Russell’s lifetime (1872-1970) there lived another scholar who also doubted that the Bible was true and his name was Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (1851-1939. Ramsay taught from 1885 to until his retirement in 1911 but he continued writing books.Wikipedia notes:In 1880 Ramsay received an Oxford studentship for travel and research in Greece. At Smyrna, he met Sir C. W. Wilson, then British consul-general in Anatolia, who advised him on inland areas suitable for exploration. Ramsay and Wilson made two long journeys during 1881-1882.He traveled widely in Asia Minor and rapidly became the recognized authority on all matters relating to the districts associated with St Paul’s missionary journeys and on Christianity in the early Roman Empire. Greece and Turkey remained the focus of Ramsay’s research for the remainder of his academic career. In 1883, he discovered the world’s oldest complete piece of music, the Seikilos epitaph. He was known for his expertise in the historic geographyand topography of Asia Minor and of its political, social, cultural, and religious history. He was Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, in 1882.From 1885 to 1886 Ramsay held the newly created Lincoln and Merton professorship of classical archaeology and art at Oxford and became a fellow of Lincoln College (honorary fellow 1898). In 1886 Ramsay was appointed Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He remained affiliated with Aberdeen until his retirement in 1911. What information did William Ramsay find out about the accuracy of the Bible? Francis Schaeffer discusses Ramsay’s life below:

TRUTH AND HISTORY (chapter 5 of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?, under footnotes #97 and #98)

A common assumption among liberal scholars is that because the Gospels are theologically motivated writings–which they are–they cannot also be historically accurate. In other words, because Luke, say (when he wrote the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts), was convinced of the deity of Christ, this influenced his work to the point where it ceased to be reliable as a historical account. The assumption that a writing cannot be both historical and theological is false.The experience of the famous classical archaeologist Sir William Ramsay illustrates this well. When he began his pioneer work of exploration in Asia Minor, he accepted the view then current among the Tubingen scholars of his day that the Book of Acts was written long after the events in Paul’s life and was therefore historically inaccurate. However, his travels and discoveries increasingly forced upon his mind a totally different picture, and he became convinced that Acts was minutely accurate in many details which could be checked.What is even more interesting is the way “liberal” modern scholars today deal with Ramsay’s discoveries and others like them. In the NEW TESTAMENT : THE HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION OF ITS PROBLEMS, the German scholar Werner G. Kummel made no reference at all to Ramsay. This provoked a protest from British and American scholars, whereupon in a subsequent edition Kummel responded. His response was revealing. He made it clear that it was his deliberate intention to leave Ramsay out of his work, since “Ramsay’s apologetic analysis of archaeology [in other words, relating it to the New Testament in a positive way] signified no methodologically essential advance for New Testament research.” This is a quite amazing assertion. Statements like these reveal the philosophic assumptions involved in much liberal scholarship.A modern classical scholar, A.N.Sherwin-White, says about the Book of Acts: “For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming…Any attempt to reject its basic historicity, even in matters of detail, must not appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken this for granted.”When we consider the pages of the New Testament, therefore, we must remember what it is we are looking at. The New Testament writers themselves make abundantly clear that they are giving an account of objectively true events.(Under footnote #98)Acts is a fairly full account of Paul’s journeys, starting in Pisidian Antioch and ending in Rome itself. The record is quite evidently that of an eyewitness of the events, in part at least. Throughout, however, it is the report of a meticulous historian. The narrative in the Book of Acts takes us back behind the missionary journeys to Paul’s famous conversion on the Damascus Road, and back further through the Day of Pentecost to the time when Jesus finally left His disciples and ascended to be with the Father.But we must understand that the story begins earlier still, for Acts is quite explicitly the second part of a continuous narrative by the same author, Luke, which reaches back to the birth of Jesus.Luke 2:1-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)2 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while^[c]Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.In the opening sentences of his Gospel, Luke states his reason for writing:Luke 1:1-4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things^[a]accomplished among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those whofrom the beginning ^[b]were eyewitnesses and ^[c]servants of the ^[d]word, ³ it seemed fitting for me as well, having ^[e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellentTheophilus; ⁴ so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been ^[f]taught.In Luke and Acts, therefore, we have something which purports to be an adequate history, something which Theophilus (or anyone) can rely on as its pages are read. This is not the language of “myths and fables,” and archaeological discoveries serve only to confirm this.For example, it is now known that Luke’s references to the titles of officials encountered along the way are uniformly accurate. This was no mean achievement in those days, for they varied from place to place and from time to time in the same place. They were proconsuls in Corinth and Cyprus, asiarchs at Ephesus, politarches at Thessalonica, and protos or “first man” in Malta. Back in Palestine, Luke was careful to give Herod Antipas the correct title of tetrarch of Galilee. And so one. The details are precise.The mention of Pontius Pilate as Roman governor of Judea has been confirmed recently by an inscription discovered at Caesarea, which was the Roman capital of that part of the Roman Empire. Although Pilate’s existence has been well known for the past 2000 years by those who have read the Bible, now his governorship has been clearly attested outside the Bible.

Kenneth S. Wuest

Luke, The Greek Historian“LUKE WAS a Greek, educated in the Greek schools, prepared for the medical practice which was held in high regard as a profession, and among the Greeks had attained to a place of eminence among the nations of the world. Greek doctors of medicine were in attendance upon many of the royal families of other nations. The Greeks were by nature and training, a race of creative thinkers who pursued their studies in a scientific manner. Their sense of what really constituted scientific accuracy and method in the recording of history was well developed.The writings of Luke, both his Gospel and The Acts, demonstrates Luke’s training as an historian. He writes his Gospel to a Gentile friend, Theophilus. The name means “a god-lover,” or “god-beloved,” and may have been given him when he became a Christian. The words “most excellent” according to Ramsay, were a title like “Your Excellency,” and show that he held office…Luke wrote the Gospel for Theophilus to use as a standard whereby to judge the accuracy of the many inspired accounts of our Lord’s life which were written in the first century.The facts he records were most surely believed by the first century church. Luke arranges the facts of our Lord’s life in historical order as they occurred. The other Gospels do not claim to do that. The arrangement of events was dictated by the purpose which each author had in writing his account. The sources of Luke’s information were oral and written, from eye-witnesses of the events recorded.He as a trained historian would carefully check over these accounts, investigating and verifying every fact. And this is what he has reference to when he uses the words “having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first.” The words “having had perfect understanding” are literally, “having closely traced.” The verb means “to follow along a thing in the mind.” The word was used for the investigation of symptoms. Thus it speaks of a careful investigation of all sources, oral and written, which purport to be accounts of our Lord’s life.Luke had the historian’s mind, a thing native to the educated Greek. Herodotus, the father of Greek history, exhibited the Greek determination to get at the truth no matter how much work it required, when he travelled to central Africa to verify the account of the annual rise and fall of the Nile River. In those days this was a long and difficult journey. Sir William Ramsey said, “I regard Luke as the greatest historian who has ever lived, save only Thucydides.” Thus we have no doubt but that Luke made a personal investigation of all the facts he had recorded. He interviewed every witness, visited every locality. If Mary was still alive, he, a doctor of medicine investigated the story of the virgin birth by hearing it from Mary’s own lips. And as Professor John A. Scott, a great Greek scholar has said, “You could not fool Doctor Luke.”But Luke was not dependent alone upon his personal investigations for the accuracy of his record. He says that he closely traced all things from above. The words “from above” are from a Greek word translated “from the very first,” in the Authorized Version. The word occurs in John 3:31; 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15, 17, and is in every instance translated “from above.” It is used often in contrast to a word which means “from beneath.” Paul had doubtless heard the account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper from the eleven, but he also had it by revelation from the Lord (I Cor. 11:23). He had received his gospel by direct revelation in Arabia, and this was his check upon the gospel he heard at Jerusalem from the apostles.SoLuke claims to have closely investigated the facts he had received, and to have done so through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which fact guarantees the absolute accuracy of the record (Luke 1:1-4).”

Kenneth S. Wuest, “Word Studies In The Greek New Testament” (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 1979) pp. 52-54

XXX

Now let us look again at this issue of miracles!!!

Penny tells Tony she can contact Lisa. I agree with Tony that this is stupid!!!

Below is the link to former atheist Lee Strobel’s book:

Click to access Case_for_+Faith.pdf

OBJECTION #2:
SINCE MIRACLES CONTRADICT SCIENCE, THEY CANNOT BE TRUE
The virgin birth, the Resurrection, the raising of Lazarus, even the Old Testament miracles, all are freely used for religious propaganda, and they are very effective with an audience of unsophisticates and children.
Richard Dawkins, atheist 1
It is not just a provocative rumor that God has acted in history, but a fact worthy of our intellectual conviction. The miracles of Christianity are not an embarrassment to the Christian worldview. Rather, they are testimony to the compassion of God for human beings benighted by sin and circumstance.
Gary Habermas, Christian 2
I’ve seen guilty defendants squirm and sweat on the witness stand as they feel the noose of justice slowly tightening around their neck. They try to lie their way out of their predicament. They concoct improbable stories in a futile effort to explain away incriminating evidence. They manufacture transparently false alibis; they cast blame on innocent people; they attempt to

discredit police and prosecutors; they rewrite history; they deny and obfuscate and try to hoodwink the judge and jurors.
But there’s one tactic I’ve never seen: a defendant claiming that the reason his fingerprints ended up on the murder weapon is-somehow, for some inexplicable reason, an act of God occurred, a mysterious, unrepeatable, supernatural event that made his fingerprints suddenly appear somewhere he had never touched.
Once a defendant tried a “Twinkie defense” by making the dubious assertion that his elevated sugar levels were somehow responsible for his criminal behavior, but not even the most audacious defendant would try a “miracle defense.”
Why? Because nobody would believe him! After all, we’re modern and scientific people living in the Third Millennium. We don’t subscribe to superstition, sorcery, or direct intervention from some unseen divine source. Claiming a miracle would be so blatantly silly that even the most desperate defendant wouldn’t resort to that strategy.
One time I saw Penn and Teller, the comedian-magicians, select a ten-year-old boy named Isaiah from the audience and show him a long strip of polyester, which they proceeded to knot and cut in the middle. Then, with a big flourish, they shook out the cloth and-voila!-it was in one piece again.
“What do you think?” Penn asked little Isaiah. “Was that a miracle or a magic trick?” Isaiah didn’t hesitate. “A magic trick,” he replied with confidence.
A mere child, it seems, is smart enough to know that when we can’t quite understand what
might have caused a mysterious event, there’s still undoubtedly a reasonable explanation apart from the miraculous.
I knew from my conversation with agnostic Charles Templeton that he had shed his belief in miracles many years ago. “Our early forefathers sought within the limits of their experience to interpret life’s imponderables, usually attributing the inexplicable to the intervention of one or more of their gods, demi-deities, and evil spirits,” he wrote. “But surely … it is time to have done with primitive speculation and superstition and look at life in rational terms.” 3
There are scientists who agree, predicting that the march of knowledge will ultimately trample belief in supernatural events. In 1937, German physicist Max Planck said: “Faith in miracles must yield ground, step by step, before the steady and firm advance of the forces of science, and its total defeat is indubitably a mere matter of time.”4
Atheist Richard Dawkins, professor of public understanding of science at Oxford University and author of The Selfish Gene, believes that time is rapidly coming. “We’re working on … a complete understanding of the universe and everything that is in it,” he said in a television interview.5
That means, viola! as with Penn and Teller’s magically restored sash, there would be no need to appeal to the miraculous in order to explain away what previously had been shrouded in mystery.
But can a person be scientifically sophisticated and still believe in the possibility of miracles? “My faith can be summed up in this one paradox: I believe in science, and I believe in God,” said nuclear physicist Hugh Siefken. “I plan to continue testifying to both.”6
He and many other scientists see no inherent conflict between their profession and their conclusion that a miracle-working God is responsible for creating and sustaining the universe.
Is that a form of professional denial? Can a person write off elves and fairies as being fanciful and yet at the same time embrace manna from heaven, the virgin birth, and the Resurrection as

being credible events of history? If miracles are direct violations of natural laws, then how can a reasonable person believe they could ever occur?
I knew that William Lane Craig was a rational man. And I was aware that he has used his considerable intellectual skills to defend the idea that God has-and does-intervene in the world through miraculous acts. I called him and asked whether he’d be willing to let me question him on the topic.
“Sure,” he said. “Come on down.”
I jotted down a long list of challenges and booked a flight to Atlanta. On the plane, I mused that primitive people probably would have considered jet travel to be a miracle. How else could fifty tons of metal be kept aloft in apparent defiance of the law of gravity? Surely God’s invisible hand must be beneath it.
People today know better. They understand aerodynamics and jet propulsion. But has our knowledge of science and technology really rendered all belief in miracles obsolete? Or would Craig be able to provide convincing evidence that a person can be sober-minded and discerning while at the same time maintaining the validity of the miraculous?
THE SECOND INTERVIEW: WILLIAM LANE CRAIG, PH.D.
My initial reaction to seeing Bill Craig was disbelief. His beard, which for twenty-three years had given him a serious and scholarly demeanor, was gone. My face must have registered my shock.
“I turned fifty,” he explained, “so I celebrated by shaving it off.”
Craig ushered me down a flight of stairs to his office, a well-organized room dominated by a dark wood desk and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with neatly arranged rows of books and scholarly journals. I settled into a comfortable chair while Craig sat behind the desk, leaning back in a leather-clad office chair that protested with a loud squeak.
Craig has written extensively about miracles, especially the resurrection of Jesus. His books include Reasonable Faith, Knowing the Truth about the Resurrection, The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus, and Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus, and he contributed to In Defense of Miracles, Does God Exist? Jesus Under Fire, and The Intellectuals Speak Out about God.
He holds doctorates in philosophy from the University of Birmingham, England, and in theology from the University of Munich, and is currently a Research Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology. He is the member of nine professional societies, including the American Academy of Religion, Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Philosophical Association, and he has written for New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, Gospel Perspectives, Philosophy, and other scholarly publications.
Sans beard and wearing blue jeans, Craig looked a decade younger than his age, with piercing blue eyes, brown hair combed casually to the side, and a quick and enthusiastic laugh. He stroked his chin-subconsciously missing his beard, perhaps-as he listened intently to my first question, which admittedly came with an edge of challenge.
“Okay, Dr. Craig, you’re an intelligent and educated individual,” I began. “Tell me: how can a modern and rational person still believe in babies being born from virgins, people walking on water, and cadavers emerging alive from tombs?”

Craig smiled. “It’s funny you should ask specifically about the virgin birth,” he replied, “because that was a major stumbling block to my becoming a Christian. I thought it was totally absurd.”
“Really?” I said. “What happened?”
“When the Christian message was first shared with me as a teenager, I had already studied biology. I knew that for the virgin birth to be true, a Y chromosome had to be created out of nothing in Mary’s ovum, because Mary didn’t possess the genetic material to produce a male child. To me, this was utterly fantastic. It just didn’t make sense.”
“You’re not alone,” I observed. “Other skeptics have problems with it too. How did you proceed?”
Craig thought back for a moment. “Well, I sort of put that issue aside and became a Christian anyway, even though I didn’t really believe in the virgin birth. But then, after becoming a Christian, it occurred to me that if I really do believe in a God who created the universe, then for him to create a Y chromosome would be child’s play!”
I told Craig that I found it interesting he could have become a Christian despite misgivings about a doctrine as significant as the virgin birth.
“I guess the authenticity of the person of Jesus and the truth of his message were so powerful that they simply overwhelmed any residual doubts that I had,” he replied.
I pressed him by asking, “Weren’t you rushing headlong into something you didn’t totally accept?”
“No, I think this can be a good procedure,” he said. “You don’t need to have all your questions answered to come to faith. You just have to say, The weight of the evidence seems to show this is true, so even though I don't have answers to all my questions, I'm going to believe and hope for answers in the long run.' That's what happened with me." "Does a person have to suspend their critical judgment in order to believe in something as improbable as miracles?" Craig sat upright in his chair and raised his index finger as if to punctuate his point. "Only if you believe that God does not exist!" he stressed. "Then I would agree-the miraculous would be absurd. But if there is a Creator who designed and brought the universe into being, who sustains its existence moment by moment, who is responsible for the very natural laws that govern the physical world, then certainly it's rational to believe that the miraculous is possible." MIRACLES VERSUS SCIENCE We were already getting into the interview but we had not yet paused to define our terms. Before going any further, I knew it was important that we settled on what 'miracle' means. "We throw around the word pretty haphazardly," I said. Harking back to my day thus far, I added, "For example, I might say,It was a miracle I made my flight to Atlanta,’ or, `It’s a miracle I found your house.’ Is that being too loose with the word?”
“Yes, I think it’s a misuse to talk about these things as miracles,” he said. “They’re clearly natural events with natural consequences.”
“Then how do you define the term?”
Craig spelled out his definition with precision. “In the proper sense,” he said, “a miracle is an event which is not producible by the natural causes that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs.”

As he said it, I silently repeated the definition in order to cement it in my mind. I mulled it for a few moments before continuing with what I considered to be the next logical question.
“But then isn’t there a contradiction between science and miracles?” I asked. “Atheistic philosopher Michael Ruse said, Creationists believe the world started miraculously. But miracles lie outside of science, which by definition deals with the natural, the repeatable, that which is governed by law."7 "Notice that Ruse does not say miracles are contradictory to science," Craig pointed out. "He says miracles lie outside of science, and that's quite different. I think a Christian who believes in miracles could agree with him on that. He could say that miracles, properly speaking, lie outside the province of natural science-but that's not to say they contradict science." I tried to digest the distinction. "Can you think of another example of something like that?" I asked. Craig thought for a moment before answering. "Well, ethics, for instance, lie outside the province of science," he replied. "Science doesn't make ethical judgments. So I wouldn't necessarily object to Ruse's statement. He's saying that the goal of science is to seek natural explanations, and therefore miracles lie outside of the scientific realm." Before I could ask another question, Craig spoke up again. "I should add, though, that you can do a theistic form of science. For example, there's a whole movement of people like mathematician William Dembski and biochemist Michael Belie who infer by principled means that there is an Intelligent Designer of the universe and the biological world." They aren't being arbitrary-from a rational and scientific perspective, they're concluding from the evidence that there must be an intelligent Creator." "So," I said, "you're disagreeing with the great skeptic David Hume, who defined miracles as being violations of the laws of nature." "Yes, absolutely. That's an improper understanding of miracles," he said. "You see, natural laws have implicit ceteris paribus conditions-that's Latin meaning,all other things being equal.’ In other words, natural laws assume that no other natural or supernatural factors are interfering with the operation that the law describes.”
“Can you give me an example of that?”
Craig’s eyes swept the room in search of an illustration. He finally landed on one as near as his own body.
“Well, it’s a law of nature that oxygen and potassium combust when they’re combined,” he explained. “But I have oxygen and potassium in my body, and yet I’m not bursting into flames. Does that mean it’s a miracle and I’m violating the laws of nature? No, because the law merely states what happens under idealized conditions, assuming no other factors are interfering. In this case, however, there are other factors interfering with the combustion, and so it doesn’t take place. That’s not a violation of the law.
“Similarly, if there’s a supernatural agent that is working in the natural world, then the idealized conditions described by the law are no longer in effect. The law isn’t violated because the law has this implicit provision that nothing is messing around with the conditions.”
I told Craig that his explanation reminded me of a conversation I had several years earlier with J. P Moreland, the noted philosopher who wrote Christianity and the Nature of Science. He used an illustration of the law of gravity, which says that if you drop an object, it will fall to the earth. But, he said, if an apple falls from a tree and you reach out to catch it before it hits the ground, you’re not violating or negating the law of gravity; you’re merely intervening.

“Yes, that’s my point with the ceteris paribus conditions,” Craig said. “The law of gravity states what will happen under idealized conditions with no natural or supernatural factors intervening. Catching the apple doesn’t overturn the law of gravity or require the formulation of a new law. It’s merely the intervention of a person with free will who overrides the natural causes operative in that particular circumstance. And that, essentially, is what God does when he causes a miracle to occur.”
That made sense to me. I knew, however, that some scientists would nevertheless dismiss the miraculous as mere superstition. I decided to pursue this line of questioning further.
REAL ACTS OF GOD
I asked Craig what he thought about physicist Max Plank’s prediction that faith in miracles would inevitably yield ground to the advance of science and biologist Richard Dawkin’s remark that scientists would someday understand the workings of the universe and thus vanquish the need for miraculous explanations. Craig’s reaction surprised me.
“I think they’re right,” he declared.
I looked up from my notes, thinking perhaps he had misunderstood my question. “Excuse me?” I said.
“Really,” he insisted, “I think they’re correct-insofar as some superstitious people use miracles as an excuse for ignorance and sort of punt to God every time they can’t explain something. I think it’s a good thing that science will squeeze out that kind of simplistic thinking.
“But those aren’t the miracles I’ve been talking about. I’m referring to events by which, in a principled way, you could legitimately infer that there was a supernatural agent intervening in the process. Those miracles-real acts of God-won’t be squeezed out by the advance of science, because they’re not based on an appeal to ignorance. They’re substantiated by the weight of the scientific and historical evidence.
“Michael Belie does this in his book Darwin’s Black Box. Belie explores `irreducible complexity’ in nature-organisms that could not have evolved step-by-step by a gradual Darwinian process of natural selection and genetic mutation. Now, he’s not saying that this is merely scientifically inexplicable. He’s giving a principled inference to an Intelligent Designer based on what the evidence shows. This is rational. His conclusions are based on solid scientific analysis.”
Craig’s discussion of evidence for miracles prompted me to ask about another point that was made by Hume, the eighteenth-century Scottish skeptic and history’s most famous doubter of the miraculous. “Hume said the evidence for the uniformity of nature is so conclusive that any evidence for miracles would never be able to overcome it,” I pointed out. “For instance, look at the Resurrection. We have thousands of years of uniform evidence that dead people simply do not return from the dead. So Hume says no amount of evidence would be able to overcome that tremendous presumption.”
Craig shook his head. “There’s no contradiction between believing that men generally stay in their graves and that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. In fact, Christians believe both of these. The opposite of the statement that Jesus rose from the dead is not that all other men remained in their graves; it’s that Jesus of Nazareth remained in his grave.
“In order to argue against the evidence for the Resurrection, you have to present evidence against the Resurrection itself, not evidence that everybody else has always remained in their grave. So I think his argument is simply fallacious.

“Now, I would agree with Hume that a natural resurrection of Jesus from the dead, without any sort of divine intervention, is enormously improbable. But that’s not the hypothesis. The hypothesis is God raised Jesus from the dead. That doesn’t say anything against the laws of nature, which say dead men don’t come back to life naturally.”
EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE
While I could see Craig’s point, I wanted to pursue this avenue further. “Some critics say that the Resurrection is an extraordinary event and therefore it requires extraordinary evidence,” I said. “Doesn’t that assertion have a certain amount of appeal?”
“Yes, that sounds like common sense,” he replied. “But it’s demonstrably false.”
“How so?”
“Because this standard would prevent you from believing in all sorts of events that we do rationally embrace. For example, you would not believe the report on the evening news that the numbers chosen in last night’s lottery were 4, 2, 9, 7, 8, and 3, because that would be an event of extraordinary improbability. The odds against that are millions and millions to one, and therefore you should not believe it when the news reports it. Yet we obviously believe we’re rational in concluding it’s true. How is that possible?
“Well, probability theorists say that you must weigh the improbability of the event’s occurring against the probability that the evidence would be just as it is if the event had not taken place.”
Craig rattled off that statement so fast that my mind was having trouble assimilating it. “Whoa,” I said, holding up my hand. “You’re going to have to slow down and give me an example.”
“Okay, look at it this way: if the evening news has a very high probability of being accurate, then it’s highly improbable that they would inaccurately report the numbers chosen in the lottery. That counterbalances any improbability in the choosing of those numbers, so you’re quite rational to believe in this highly improbable event.
“In the same way, any improbability that you might think resides in the resurrection of Jesus is counterbalanced by the improbability of the empty tomb, Jesus’ resurrection appearances, the sudden change in the first disciples taking place if there were no such event as the resurrection of Jesus. Do you see what I mean?”
Yes, I said, that illustration made his point clear. As improbable as the Resurrection might seem to skeptics, this has to be weighed against how improbable it would be to have all of the various historical evidence for its occurrence if it never actually took place.
“So,” Craig concluded, “it becomes quite rational to believe in an event like the miraculous resurrection of Jesus. Besides, I look at it this way: if God really exists, then in what sense is it improbable that he would raise Jesus from the dead? I can’t think of any.”
“Have you seen skeptics who have become believers in Christianity because of the quality and quantity of the evidence for the Resurrection?” I asked.
Craig’s eyes got wide. “Oh, yes, certainly!” he said. “I recently met a fellow who became a Christian out of the so-called free thought' movement. He looked into the Resurrection and concluded from the evidence that God raised Jesus from the dead. Of course, his free-thought colleagues bitterly railed against him. He said,Why are they so hostile? I merely followed the principles of free thought, and this is where the evidence and reason led me!”‘

I chuckled. “Are you saying some free thought' folks aren't as free thinking as they would have people believe?" "Frankly," he replied, "I think many skeptics act in a close-minded way." As a former skeptic myself, I have noticed the same phenomenon. "Are you referring to the fact that some of them rule out even the possibility of miracles from the outset?" I asked. "Precisely," Craig said. "Logicians have a term:inference to the best explanation.’ This means you have a body of data to be explained, and then you have a pool of live options or various explanations for that data. You need to choose which explanation from that pool would, if true, best explain the observed data.
“Some skeptics, however, will not allow supernatural explanations even to be in the pool of live options. Consequently, if there is no natural explanation for an event, they’re simply left with ignorance.
“That’s prejudice. Apart from some proof of atheism, there’s no warrant for excluding supernatural explanations from being a member of the pool of live options. If you do put them in that pool, then you’ve got to be an open, honest investigator to see which is the best explanation of any given event.”
THE MIRACLES OF JESUS
“Let’s say you’re an honest investigator,” I said, picking up on his last thought. “What would you look for to convince you that something miraculous has occurred?”
“You would have a number of criteria. You would have to investigate to see if something cannot be accounted for in terms of the natural forces that were operable at that time and place. And you’d look for a religio-historical context.”
I wanted to pursue this idea of context. Hume said that if historians uniformly agreed that the Queen of England died and then reappeared alive a month later, he would be inclined to accept any explanation other than God having performed a miracle. I asked Craig for his response to that.
“I would agree that a miracle without context is inherently ambiguous,” Craig replied. “The context of a miracle can help us determine if it’s from God or not. For instance, the Queen’s revivification would lack any religious context and would basically be a bald and unexplained anomaly.
“But that’s not the case with Jesus. His supernatural feats took place in a context charged with religious significance because he performed his miracles and exorcisms as signs of the in- breaking of the kingdom of God into human history, and they served as an authentication of his message. And his resurrection comes as the climax to his own unparalleled life and ministry and his radical claims to divine authority which got him crucified. This is why the Resurrection gives us pause, while the Queen’s return would only perplex us. Therefore, the religio-historical context is crucial in understanding miraculous events.”
But I pressed further: “Did Jesus perform miracles? What convinces you that he did?”
“The fact is that most New Testament critics today admit he performed what we would call miracles. Granted, they may not all believe these were genuine miracles, but the idea of Jesus of Nazareth as a miracle-worker and exorcist is part of the historical Jesus that’s generally accepted by critics today.”
With that, Craig swiveled his chair and withdrew a file from the shelf behind his desk. He flipped through some pages until he landed the one he was after. “Let me read you a quote from

Rudolf Bultmann, who’s recognized as one of the most skeptical New Testament critics of this century”:
The Christian fellowship was convinced that Jesus had done miracles and they told many stories of miracles about him. Most of these stories contained in the gospels are legendary or are at least dressed up with legend. But, there can be no doubt that Jesus did such deeds, which were, in his and his contemporaries’ understanding, miracles; that is to say, events that were the result of supernatural divine causality. Doubtless he healed the sick and cast out demons.9
Craig closed the file. “Even Bultmann says miracles and exorcisms belong to the historical Jesus. Now, in Bultmann’s day these stories were considered legendary because of the supposed influence of Greco-Roman mythology on the gospels, but scholars today realize this influence was virtually nil. They now believe the role of Jesus as a miracle-worker must be understood against the backdrop of first century Palestinian Judaism, where it fits right in.
“In fact,” he concluded, “the only reason to be skeptical that these were genuine miracles rather than psychosomatic healings would be philosophical-do you believe that such events can occur or not? The historicity of the events is not in doubt.”

The answer to find meaning in life is found in putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible is true from cover to cover and can be trusted.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher, everettehatcher@gmail.com, http://www.thedailyhatch.org, cell ph 501-920-5733, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002

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April 12, 2013 – 5:45 am

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John MacArthur on fulfilled prophecy from the Bible Part 2

August 8, 2013 – 1:28 am

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John MacArthur on fulfilled prophecy from the Bible Part 1

August 6, 2013 – 1:24 am

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John MacArthur: Fulfilled prophecy in the Bible? (Ezekiel 26-28 and the story of Tyre, video clips)

April 5, 2012 – 10:39 am

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John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 2)

August 1, 2013 – 12:10 am

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John MacArthur on the Bible and Science (Part 1)

July 30, 2013 – 1:32 am

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July 9, 2013 – 8:38 am

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The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy by Jim Wallace

June 24, 2013 – 9:47 am

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Taking on Ark Times Bloggers on various issues Part M “Old Testament prophecy fulfilled?”Part 3(includes film DEATH BY SOMEONE’S CHOICE)

April 19, 2013 – 1:52 am

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Evidence for the Bible

March 27, 2013 – 9:43 pm

Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Biblical Archaeology | E

On Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was  “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video:

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Ricky Gervais 25/07/2021 Facebook Live at 28:29 mark Ricky answers my question about Sam Harris

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In the sermon ‘THE PLAYBOY’S PAYDAY” in 1984 Adrian Rogers discussed Proverbs 5. In that message he gave an example about a man who loved oranges and he compared that love of oranges to the way some men treat women sexually. I remember a visit in 1976 that Adrian Rogers made to our Junior High Chapel service at EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL. He gave a message on Solomon’s search for satisfaction and when he got to the issue of LOVE/LUST he gave the same example concerning oranges and here it is:

Solomon happens to be talking to his son; that’s why he’s talking to his son about the girls. But I just want to say a word to some of you girls, also, about some of these guys.  You know what a man will do? He’ll come to a girl and date a girl and take her out and wine her and dine her and then he’ll begin to say to her, I love you.  I really love you. He’ll tell her that several times.  He’ll just pour the sugar in her ear, and then he’ll say to her, Do you love me?  And if she says, Yes, then he’ll say, Prove it.   And what he means by that is he wants her to show her love, to prove her love by sexual immorality.  If there’s one thing that doesn’t prove love, it’s that.    

https://bidding-test.devops.iponweb.net/automattic/dio-passback.html

Do you know what proves love? Do you know what really proves love? You are able to  appreciate and enjoy a person and that person’s character without having to sully their purity by doing it.  

This guy says to this gal, Oh, I just can’t wait.  I just can’t wait! I just can’t wait! The Bible says Jacob waited for Rachel seven years because of the love that he had for her, and it seemed as a few days.  You see, lust can’t wait.  Love can wait.  Lust wants to get.  Love wants to give.  And when that guy says, I love you, I love you, I love you, what he really means is I love me, I love me, I love me.   Oh, he loves you, but not with Bible love. 

A man goes out here in an orange grove.  He gets one of those big succulent oranges.  He takes his pin knife and cuts a plug out of it, puts it up to his mouth, and squeezes all of the juice out of it.  Then he throws it on the ground like a piece of garbage, wipes his mouth and says, Man, I just love oranges. Young lady, that’s the way he loves you! And when you’re left like a piece of garbage, he says, Boy, that was wonderful.  Aren’t oranges good! But what he really means is, I love me.

Proverbs 5New Living Translation

Avoid Immoral Women

5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
    listen carefully to my wise counsel.
² Then you will show discernment,
    and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
³ For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
    and her mouth is smoother than oil.
⁴ But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
    as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^[a]
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
    She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.

⁷ So now, my sons, listen to me.
    Never stray from what I am about to say:
⁸ Stay away from her!
    Don’t go near the door of her house!
⁹ If you do, you will lose your honor
    and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
¹⁰ Strangers will consume your wealth,
    and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
¹¹ In the end you will groan in anguish
    when disease consumes your body.
¹² You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
¹³ Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
    Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    and now I must face public disgrace.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own well—
    share your love only with your wife.^[b]
16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets,
    having sex with just anyone?^[c]
17 You should reserve it for yourselves.
    Never share it with strangers.

¹⁸ Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.
    Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.
    Let her breasts satisfy you always.
    May you always be captivated by her love.
²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,
    or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

²¹ For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,
    examining every path he takes.
²² An evil man is held captive by his own sins;
    they are ropes that catch and hold him.
²³ He will die for lack of self-control;
    he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

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May 30, 2013 – 1:06 am

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May 28, 2013 – 1:23 am

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May 23, 2013 – 1:35 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 7) “Pursue your work”

May 21, 2013 – 1:05 am

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May 16, 2013 – 1:23 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 5) “Control your body”

May 14, 2013 – 1:44 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 4) “Bad company corrupts…”

May 9, 2013 – 1:10 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 3) “Guard your mind and obey your parents!!”

May 7, 2013 – 1:43 am

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John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 2) What does it mean to fear the Lord?

May 2, 2013 – 1:13 am

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The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

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July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

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Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

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Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

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Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

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Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

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Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

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The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

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Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

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Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

Adrian Rogers: How to Be a Child of a Happy Mother Published on Nov 13, 2012 Series: Fortifying Your Family (To read along turn on the annotations.) Adrian Rogers looks at the 5th commandment and the relationship of motherhood in the commandment to honor your father and mother, because the faith that doesn’t begin at home, […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to http://www.vixy.net ________________ Obviously from the video clip above, Tom Brady has realized that even though he has won many Super Bowls […]

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Below is an email (or letter if I did not have email address) that I sent out to over 100 atheists on July 22, 2020:

July 22, 2020

Dear …,

Back on February 20, 2020, I emailed and wrote about 200 skeptics that I have been corresponding with for up to almost 30 years in some cases. I wrote the following words:

I have been blessed not have any health concerns for my first 58 years of life. However, on February 19, 2020, I was told by a cardiologist that a few months back my heart was attacked by a virus and now I have Congestive Heart Failure and my heart is operating at 40% of what it was earlier.

If the Lord blesses me with some type of recovery, I hope to continue to read the works of skeptics and correspond with them in the future.

Unfortunately, my recovery has been anything but easy and I have suffered 3 heart attacks. Today on July 22nd I am undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery and I wanted to get this off to you before the operation this morning.

I have been blessed the last few months to interact with Ricky Gervais the famous British comedian who recently wrote and acted in the excellent NetFlix series AFTER LIFE which I highly recommend and I have even done many blog posts discussing the episodes. In fact, Ricky liked two of my blog posts about AFTER LIFE that were put on twitter and they got over 17,000 views each. AFTER LIFE is about Tony Johnson (played by Ricky) whose wife Lisa has died six months earlier. Ricky have decided to live life the way he wants to even if it means being rude when he feels like it and his so-called “super power” is that if he doesn’t get over his depression then he can go back to the original plan of killing himself.

Since Tony has rejected all religious and moral principles he says things like this below indicating that he thinks life is meaningless:

Here’s what’s what, humanity is a plague. We’re a disgusting, narcissistic, selfish parasite, and the world would be a better place without us. It should be everyone’s moral duty to kill themselves. I could do it now. Quite happily just go upstairs, jump off the roof, and make sure I landed on some c**t from accounts

Season one of AFTER LIFE reminded me a lot of Solomon searching for the elusive meaning to life UNDER THE SUN in ECCLESIASTES. Therefore, on Saturday April 18, 2020 at 6pm in London and noon in Arkansas, I had a chance to ask Ricky Gervais a question on his Twitter Live broadcast which was  “Is Tony a Nihilist?” At the 20:51 mark Ricky answers my question. Below is the video at this link: https://youtu.be/Zxg6dnhbsjU

Atheists like Ricky and his good friend Richard Dawkins need evidence and in this series of posts on AFTER LIFE have examined many of the historical claims of the Bible and also the accuracy of Old Testament prophecies. Did you know that Isaac Newton spent about a third of his time in his favorite book of the Bible which was Daniel and he was particularly interested in chapter 9.

Thank you for you time! Hope all is well with you and yours.

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, cell 501-920-5733, everettehatcher@gmail.com, http://www.thedailyhatch.org

(Richard Dawkins and Ricky Gervais seen above and Everette Hatcher seen below 7-10-20)

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BELOW IS A POST DID IN JULY of 2021:

(One year ago today) July 22, 2020 WAS THE DAY OF MY QUINTUPLE HEART BYPASS

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At 59 years of age I was not very excited to learn that my heart was giving out on me. A little over a year ago I was told by my heart doctor that I would have to go into the hospital and get a heart stent put in because my heart was too weak to have open heart surgery. . Next I knew it was 6 am on the morning of July 15, 2020, and I was lying on the operating table and the doctor was telling me that the anesthesia would start to work and that I would be falling to sleep soon and then he would start working on putting in my heart stent. Then mid-sentence (it seemed) the doctor announced that the operation was over and the operation to put in my stent did not work. It had appeared to me that I had several hours of me being asleep disappear from my life. Actually several hours had passed by with me not realizing it.

Then the doctor told me that I would stay in the hospital (at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock pictured above) for a week till my open heart surgery would take place. (The danger of getting exposed to COVID-19 was too great to send me home.) That gave me a lot of time to think about my life and on July 22, 2020 (exactly one year from today) I went to the operating table. My thoughts leading up to this moment concentrated on my faith in Christ alone for my salvation and on the reliability of the Word of God. 

The constant thought I had that week was that the moment I laid on the operating table and went under the influence of anesthesia I would it seem wake up instantly and the operation would be over and I would either be in the recovery room or if the operation went poorly then I would be in my eternal home! 

Sure enough I fell asleep on the operating table at 6am and woke up immediately (it seemed) to find myself thrilled to be alive!!! I stayed awake for 35 hours in a row and finally got some rest after I was given some morphine. The happiest moment was when I saw my wife Jill come see me in the hospital. Seeing Jill inspired me to take my first walk and start my rehabilitation. 5 days later I was out of the hospital and soon after I would be walking 4 miles a day after a 5-bypass heart operation.

We all are going to face a similar day in the future and it is best to think long and hard about our eternal destiny. Are you relying on your faith alone in Christ for your salvation? The Bible is true and can be trusted.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” The first part of this verse is about the judgment sinners must face if not pardoned, but the second part is about Christ who paid our sin debt!!! Did you know that Romans 6:23 is part of what we call the Roman Road to Christ. Here is how it goes:

• Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
• The Penalty for our sin is death.
  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
• If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
  For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
  …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)

The answer to find meaning in life is found in putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible is true from cover to cover and can be trusted.

Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God

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Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God

Dr. Adrian Rogers

II Timothy 3

I want you to take your Bibles please and turn with me

to II Timothy chapter 3 and we’ll begin our reading in

verse 14. Paul is talking to young Timothy and he

says, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast

learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou

hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast

known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee

wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ

Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God

and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the

man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto

all good works.”

Why I believe the Bible, and I want to tell you,

friend, it is absolutely essential that you believe

the Word of God if you’re to know anything spiritually

and if you’re to have victory in your spiritual life.

The thing that keeps me going is not primarily what I

feel. Now, I thank God for feelings, but I’m a fellow

who operates in a moderately narrowed band. I don’t

get all that high and I don’t get all that low, but

the thing that keeps me going is not what I feel but

what I know. It is the truth of God’s Word, the

principles, and the promises, and the power of God’s

Word that sustain me and keep me going. If you do not

know God’s Word and, beyond knowing God’s Word, have

that firm assurance that the Bible is indeed the

inspired Word of God, you’re going to be floundering

around in your Christian life. These hath God married

and no man shall part, dust on the Bible and drought

in the heart.

Now, Paul here is talking to Timothy about the Bible

and he tells him several things about the Bible. First

of all, he says that all Scripture is given by

inspiration of God in verse 16. That literally means

that all Scripture is the breath of God. You see, as

I’m speaking to you right now what you’re hearing is

my breath. My diaphragm is forcing my breath up

through my throat and over my larynx and the voice box

and my tongue and my teeth and my lips are taking the

breath and making sounds and noises out of that breath

and what you’re hearing right now is what I am

breathing out. I’m breathing out these words. Now,

that’s the word that Bible uses to describe itself.

All Scripture is God breathed. When the Bible speaks

God speaks. That’s what inspiration means. When the

Bible speaks God speaks.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, but not

only are the Scriptures inspired, they’re instructed.

Verse 16 says they’re profitable for doctrine. What is

doctrine? That’s to tell you what’s right. Ask a

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little boy what doctrine is, he says, That’s what you

need when you’re sick. If you’re sick that is good

medicine but actually the word doctrine means

teaching. The Scriptures are there to tell you what’s

right.

Then it goes on to say for doctrine and for reproof.

Not only does the Bible tell you what’s right, it also

tells you what’s wrong. You see, God doesn’t want us

to make a mistake. He doesn’t want us to go astray. So

on one side he tells us what’s right, on the other

side he tells us what’s wrong so we can walk the

straight and narrow.

But he also says in verse 16 that it is necessary for

correction–that is, when we get wrong, how to get

back right. He shows us what’s right. He shows us

what’s wrong and if we’re wrong he tells us how to get

right.

And then he says it’s profitable for instruction in

righteousness. What’s right, what’s wrong, how to get

right, and then how to stay right. How just to be

instructed day by day. How am I supposed to live? What

am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel? What

shall I do with my sins? Where does power come from?

Everything that I need to know, that instruction and

righteousness is there from the Word of God.

So, the Scriptures are inspired, the Scriptures are

informative, and then the Scriptures are instrumental.

That is, they work powerfully in our lives. For

example, look in verse 15. Paul told Timothy, “From a

child you’ve known the holy Scriptures that are able

to make you wise unto salvation.” You’re saved by the

Word of God. It is the message of the Bible, the

gospel that saves us, that makes us wise unto

salvation. That’s the reason that every preacher must

always preach the Word of God because the word is the

seed. We’re born again, not of corruptible seed, but

of incorruptible by the Word of God. And so, the

Scriptures are instrumental in salvation.

The Scriptures are instrumental in sanctification.

Look in verse 17, “That the man of God may be

perfect.” Now, that word perfect means complete. It

means mature. It means full grown. Do you want to be a

little baby Christian or do you want to grow? “As

newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that

you may grow thereby.” You’re going to be a pygmy

Christian, you’re going to be baby Christian, you’re

going to be a weak emaciated Christian if you don’t

grow with the Word of God. “That the man of God may be

perfect,” mature.

Not only are they necessary for salvation and

sanctification but necessary for service.

“Thoroughly furnished,” he says in verse 17, “unto all

good works.” Everything God wants you to do he

furnished through his word. So, you’re completely,

thoroughly through and through, furnished of the

Bible. All that I need to know, all that I need to

have is revealed to me in God’s word.

How important is the Bible? But friend, the Bible may

be inspired and the Bible may be informative and the

Bible may be instrumental, but if I don’t believe it,

what good is that going to do me? It’s the devil’s job

to make people doubt the Word of God. The very first

thing the devil did in the Garden of Eden was to say,

“Yea, hath God said…” and to put a question mark on

the Word of God. Well, you need to have a rock-ribbed,

iron-clad assurance that the Bible is the Word of God.

Let me tell you why I believe the Bible to be the Word

of God. Let me give you three things about faith and

these are the foundations for our faith. Number one,

faith is rooted in evidence. Have you got that? It’s

worth writing down. Faith is rooted in evidence.

Number two, faith goes beyond evidence. Number three,

faith becomes its own best evidence. Let me develop

that and you’ll have a blessing.

First of all, I want to say that faith is rooted in

evidence. People sometimes accuse us Christians of

practicing blind faith. Now, friend, blind faith is

not faith at all. Don’t ever think that I’m asking you

just to blindly believe something. If somebody tells

me to believe something, first thing I want to know is

why should I believe it. Amen. I mean, why? The

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Christians faith is not blind faith. The Christian’s

faith is not a leap in the dark, it is a step in the

light. You see, the Christian’s faith is rooted in

revelation. The Christian’s faith is rooted in facts.

The Christian’s faith is rooted in evidence. God gives

us evidence for believing what we believe. Notice I

said evidence and not proof, there’s a difference.

Sometimes somebody might come and say to you, Prove

there’s a God. Don’t let that intimidate you. If you

were to say to me, Adrian, prove there’s a God, do you

know what I’d say to you? I can’t. Does that shock

you? I can’t prove there’s a God. Oh, I know there’s a

God, not that I have any doubt about it. I have no

doubt whatever, but to prove it doesn’t lie in the

realm of proof.

For example, if anybody ever comes to you and says

prove there’s a God. You just say, Prove there is no

God. Just prove there is no God. He can’t prove

there’s no God anymore than you can prove there is a

God. How can the finite prove the infinite? How can

the finite disprove the infinite? It doesn’t lie in

that realm you see. Well, he says, you just believe

there’s a God, and I say that’s right. And you just

believe there is no God, isn’t that right? Sure. You

see, all people are believers. He believes there is no

God. I believe there is a God. I’m a positive

believer, he’s a negative believe. I by faith believe

in God. He by faith believes there is no God. He says,

I don’t think there’s a God, I don’t believe there’s a

God. At least now he’s being honest. He hasn’t proven

there’s no God.

But what’s the difference between the negative be1iver

and the positive believer? Here’s the difference: the

positive believer has the evidence. You see, God has

not just told us to believe without giving us evidence

and so God has given us some evidence and that

evidence is rooted in God’s word. Now, if you’re going

to know the God of the Word, you’ve got to know the

Word of that God. And so, God has given us his Word

and God has given us some evidences that the Bible is

indeed the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word from a

God who cannot lie.

What are some evidences? Not proofs, but evidences,

that the Bible is the Word of God? (Because I’ve said

that faith is rooted in evidence.) Well, for example,

there is the historical evidence that the Bible is the

Word of God. The Bible is a history book. It tells

stories. Now, are these stories true or are they not

true? Did the things recorded in the Bible literally

happen or did they not happen? Is this actual history

or is this the figment of someone’s imagination? Well,

dear friend, the Bible is so historically accurate.

That’s one of the great evidences of its inspiration.

There was a man who lived a few years ago, Sir William

Ramsey, one of the world’s most brilliant intellects,

and he was a noted scholar. He lived in Aberdeen

Scotland and he was a great historian and a great

scholar of the history and geography of Asia Minor and

the Middle East. And when this Middle East historian,

this wizened, world-renowned man with more degrees

than a thermometer studied the book of Acts, which is

the history of the early church, he more or less

ridiculed the book of Acts. He more or less laughed at

the book of Acts. Here’s what Sir William Ramsey said

of the book of Acts and I want to describe it or at

least I want to give it to you in his own words. He

described the book of Acts as a highly imaginative and

carefully colored account of primitive Christianity.

Highly imaginative, that is, it’s not rooted in facts,

it is rooted in imagination, that’s what he was saying

about the book of Acts. Carefully colored. That is,

Luke just shaded his facts, he didn’t tell you the

truth, he just kind of shaped things and colored

things to make it come out the way he wanted it to

come out and so he said the book of Acts was not

historically correct, you can’t trust the history of

the book of Acts.

Now, remember this man was brilliant, a professor in

Aberdeen, Scotland. But do you know what he did? He

made a mistake and it was a happy mistake and good

mistake. He decided he would go to Asia minor and

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there carefully investigate and study the book of Acts

and do you know what happened? He had a

transformation, one hundred and eighty degrees he was

turned around. He wrote a book entitled, THE BELOVED

PHYSICIAN. And that book was about Dr. Luke who wrote

the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.

And now, let me tell you what he said. After he

studied minutely the works of the great historian Dr.

Luke, who gave us the gospel of Luke and the book of

Acts, and I’m quoting now, this Dr. Ramsey said, and I

want you to listen to him: “I take the view that Luke’s

history is unsurpassed in regard to its

trustworthiness.” Did you hear that? “I now take the

view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in regard to

its trustworthiness. You may press the words of Luke

in a degree beyond any other historian and they will

stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.”

Amazing! Here was a man who studied the facts and when

he studied the facts he said you can trust the history

of God’s word.

You know historians–they love to study what they call

profane or secular history and then to turn around and

ridicule the Word of God. One thing they used to do a

few years back, they ridiculed the book of Daniel

because of the supposed errors in the book of Daniel.

The book of Daniel tells of the Babylonian empire and

it tells that the last king in Babylon was a king

named Beltshazzar. And do you remember Beltshazzar was

the one who saw the handwriting on the wall? Do you

remember that? So the historians said, “Well, that’s

obviously a fabrication. Obviously this is not real

history because we have the records of the ancient

Babylonians and we know that the last king of Babylon

was not a man named Beltshazzar at all, it was a man

named Nabanitus. We have the archives, we have the

records and we have all of the artifacts. Beltshazzar

was no king, there was no king named Beltshazzar.

Obviously the Bible is a fake, obviously a fraud, the

book of Daniel is not history.”

But the spade of the archeologists continued to do its

work and one day they turned up a clay tablet, a

cylinder, and guess whose name was on it? Give you

three guesses, first two don’t count. Beltshazzar. And

you know what it said about Beltshazzar and other

things that they uncovered? They found out that

Beltshazzar was indeed the last king of Babylon, but

so was Nabinitus. The truth of the matter is they were

co-regents. There were two kings at the same time.

Nabinitus was the father, Beltshazzar was the son, but

Nabinitus didn’t stay home. He loved to travel and he

was a big game hunter and was often gone and so the

kingdom was in the charge of Beltshazzar.

Now, the secular, profane historian was quite correct

when he said that Nabinitus was the last king of

Babylon, but he was quite wrong when he said

Beltshazzar wasn’t the last king of Babylon. And you

see, there are little minute confirmations of the Word

of God. So in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel,

we understand a passage now that we might not have

understood before that because Beltshazzar said to

Daniel, “If you can read the handwriting on the wall,”

I’ll make you what? “The third ruler in the kingdom.”

You see, there were already two, Beltshazzar and

Nabinitus. Now, suppose we’d not found that clay

cylinder with Beltshazzar’s name on it. Would have

that have meant the Bible was wrong? No, it would have

just meant we didn’t have enough evidence, isn’t that

right? See, friend, be careful before you let some

historian or someone tell you that the history of the

Bible is not correct.

Our faith is rooted in evidence. There’s the

historical evidence that the Bible is the Word of God.

There’s the scientific evidence that the Bible is the

Word of God and I wish I had time to deal with all of

the scientific evidence that the Bible is the Word of

God, so let me just quickly narrow and get into one

little area there.

If you’ve not read the little book called “None Of

These Diseases,” I hope you’ll read it. It’s written

by a medical doctor, Dr. S. I. McMillan. Dr. McMillan

has recorded a wonderful story in there that I’m going

to try to share a little bit with you. He talks about

the ancient Egyptians and the medical knowledge that

the ancient Egyptians had about fifteen hundred years

before Christ was born in the time when Moses was a

lad and was growing up. The Egyptians had the dominant

position in world medicine at that time.

The Egyptians were no fools. When you see the things

that the Egyptians were able to do and accomplish

you’re just overwhelmed at the intelligence of the

ancient Egyptians, but they had their medical

knowledge put in a book and we have that book. The

Papyrus Ebers, Dr. McMillan tells about it. In the

Papyrus Ebers you have there the medical knowledge of

the ancient Egyptians and it’s almost ludicrous,

friends, it’s really kind of funny when you read some

of the medicine that they recommended. Now, you might

be interested in some of these prescriptions.

For example, if your hair is turning gray, pay

attention, to prevent the hair from turning gray,

anoint it with the blood of a black cat which has been

boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake. Now,

you be careful gathering that rattlesnake fat,

alright? For people who are losing hair, when it falls

out, apply a mixture of six fats, namely those of the

snake and the ibex. I haven’t seen an ibex in a long

time but you get some snake fat and ibex fat and then

to strengthen it you anoint it with the tooth of a

donkey crushed in honey. That’s to keep your hair from

falling out. If you had a splinter or a puncture, they

recommended lizard’s blood, worm’s blood and donkey’s

dung. Can you imagine the spores, the tetanus spores

and the microbes and the filth in donkey dung? As a

matter of fact, they often used excreta for medicine–

of human beings and donkeys and antelopes and dogs and

cats and even flies–that was a part of their

medicine. Another medicine they recommended was

moisture from pig’s ears, good medicine, haha. Well,

we laugh at that.

Now, the interesting thing is do you know where Moses

got his education? Moses was educated in the

University of Egypt. You see, Moses was the adopted

son of Pharaoh and Pharaoh gave to Moses the best

education that money could buy and the Bible says that

Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

He had the equivalency of a Ph.D. from the University

of Egypt and if he was learned in all the wisdom of

Egyptians, surely he studied this kind of knowledge.

Aren’t you glad that he didn’t write any of this in

the Bible? I mean, you would have expected what he

learned in school to bleed over in what he wrote in

the Bible, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. Moses

wrote the first five books of the Bible. Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I’m so

glad we don’t read anything about using moisture from

pig’s ears for medicine.

As a matter of fact, when you read the Bible and you

read about the medicine of the Bible and you read the

sanitary code of the Bible and you read the dietary

code of the Bible you’re going to find out that modern

medicine is just now catching up. You want to be

healthy? You practice the dietary code of the Bible.

Not because you’re under legalism, just because you

want to have a good strong body. As a matter of fact,

do you know what they’re telling us now? Science is

just making a discovery. They used to talk down the

health food faddists and all of that and now the

scientists are begrudgingly coming along and the

medical doctors are begrudgingly coming along, and

saying, Hey, you need to cut all that fat out of your

diet, it might cause cancer, cut all that fat all of

your diet, it might cause high cholesterol and it

might cause heart attacks. Friend, just go back and

see what Moses had to say about cutting all that fat

out of your diet. You just go read it right there in

the Word of God. Find out what the Bible has to say.

Did you know in the fourteenth century Europe they had

a plague called the black plague? It was terrible, it

was horrible. Now, I know you’ve seen on television

the horrible things that are happening in Ethiopia and

that breaks your heart, it’s so hard to even watch.

But I want to tell you something worse than that

happened in Europe in the fourteenth century–the

black plague, where one out of every four people died.

Can you imagine that? One out of every four. One two,

three, dead. One two, three, dead. One two three,

dead. One two, three, dead. One, two three, dead. They

died and the physicians and the doctors were not able

to stop it and they didn’t know what to do. They

didn’t understand germs. They’d never seen a germ.

They didn’t know what a microbe was. They didn’t know

anything about a communicable disease. Well, you say,

everybody ought to know that. Why do you know it.

Somebody taught you, you didn’t figure it out. We

stand on the shoulders of other people. They didn’t

know that, they didn’t understand that and they

thought it was bad air, this thing or that thing, they

were trying, building fires and everything else to try

to stop the plague. Imagine trying to stop the plague

by building a fire.

And do you know it was not the doctors, it was the

church and the church leaders that finally stemmed the

tide of the plague by going back to God’s Word.

Leviticus chapter 13 and verse 46. “All the days

wherein the plague shall be upon his, he shall be

defiled, he is unclean, he shall dwell alone outside

the camp shall his habitation be.” What did the Bible

say to the man who was the leper, a man who had the

plague of leprosy? They said, “Put him outside the

camp, put him in isolation. Quarantine him, quarantine

him.” And when they begin to apply the knowledge that

Moses had given, then and only then was the plague

brought under control. One historian said the laws

against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the

first model of a sanitary legislation.

I’ve just talked in one little area. We could talk in

many, many areas about the wonderful medical and

scientific and evidences that the Bible is the Word of

God. Let me give you another evidence that the Bible

is the Word of God and that is the indestructibility

of this book. You see, this book is not just the book

of the month, friend, it’s the book of the ages. For

isn’t it an amazing thing? Here you are, an

intelligent erudite, educated people listening to a

halfway intelligent preacher, we’re here in the

twentieth century by television with electric lights

and we’re studying this old book. Isn’t that amazing?

You tell me what other book is as up to date. Why,

listen, it’s more up to date than tomorrow’s newspaper

and a whole lot more accurate. Amen.

Wasn’t that an amazing thing when they were

questioning the President of the United States the

other day and the news reporter said to him, “Mr.

President, we’d like your views on Armageddon.”

Amazing, Armageddon–that’s a Bible fact and here

they’re talking to the President of the most powerful

nation on the face of the earth in the most

enlightened educated time and after all of these years

people are still wanting to know what your view of

this book is. This Bible is such a living, powerful

force.

William Tyndale wanted to get the Bible printed so the

people could have it. Print it and put into the hands

of the English-speaking people and they hounded him

and they ran him out of England and William Tyndale

went to Germany and there he began to set up the type

to print the Bible so he’d get the Bible into the

hands of the people. Laboriously, day after day, week

after week, month after month, year after year,

setting that type, setting that type, not the way we

set it today, not with that ease, but painstakingly,

heartbreakingly so long to get the type set so people

could have the Bible in their mother tongue. He

finally finished the job and went to bed and that very

night vandals came in and wrecked the printing press

and destroyed the type and ruined the whole thing. He

had to start again from the bottom and to build it and

to set the type again and he finally got it done. He

printed those Bibles and in order to get them into

England, he put them in barrels of flour and shipped

them into England and the Word of God came to England.

They hated William Tyndale, some of the clerics and

the leaders, they hated him so much that they

strangled him to death. And then, not happy that they

strangled him, that wasn’t enough, they burned him

because he wanted a Bible for the people. And as they

were strangling Tyndale, he prayed, Oh God, Oh God,

open the eyes of the king of England, God, open his

eyes. They killed him in 1536. In 1611, we received

the King James Version of the Word of God. Amen.

William Tyndale, a man who loved God’s Word, a man who

died for God’s Word because the Word of God lives and

abides forever. “The grass withers, the flower thereof

falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.”

Hallelujah!

Friend, men have laughed at the Bible, men have

scorned the Bible, men have made laws against the

Bible, men have ridiculed the Bible. There was a time

in Scottish history when to own a Bible was a crime

worthy of death, but the Word of God lives on and it

is bright and vibrant and relevant today. That’s an

evidence that it is the Word of God.

Let me give you another evidence. I’m just telling you

that faith is rooted in evidence. What about fulfilled

prophesy? If we were to start today and talk about

fulfilled prophesy, just the prophesy of the nations,

what is happening in the nations of this world, what

is happening on the world map, the last days, what we

call the signs of the times, why, we could take a

Bible conference for several months and just talk on

that one thing. But let me just narrow the prophesies

and let’s just talk about the prophesies concerning

the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that there are

more than three hundred exact, minute prophesies

concerning the life, death, burial, resurrection,

ascension, enthronement and second coming of Jesus

Christ in the Old Testament? I’m not talking about the

New Testament. I’m not talking about small prophesies

or vague prophesies. I’m talking about hard, fast,

substantial, clear prophesies concerning the Lord

Jesus Christ. That these prophesies could have been

fulfilled by chance is astronomically, listen to me

now, astronomically impossible. Billions to one would

be the chance that they would have been fulfilled by

chance.

Do you know what the enemies of the Lord Jesus say

about this? Here’s the way they answer that. They say,

Well, he just arranged to have the prophesies

fulfilled. He just rigged it so the prophesies would

be fulfilled. Well, brother Rogers, do you think he

just arranged it for the prophesies to be fulfilled?

Yes, I do, before it ever happened, not afterward, but

before. Before he ever came to this earth. Now,

listen, I was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, but I

didn’t arrange it. Jesus arranged to be born in

Bethlehem. Amen. Because the Bible says in Micah

chapter 5 that our Lord would be born in Bethlehem and

so he arranged it. But I want to tell you, he

supernaturally arranged it.

I’ll tell you something else, he arranged for Isaiah

seven hundred years before he was born to give a

biography of his life in Isaiah chapter 53. You go

home and get that Old Testament chapter of the Bible

and read Isaiah chapter 53. You’re going to find the

amazing story, the entire biography of the Lord Jesus

Christ before he was born, not after he was born,

before he was born.

Go home today and read the twenty-second Psalm, an

amazing Psalm, the twenty second Psalm is a Messianic

Psalm. It is written about the crucifixion of the Lord

Jesus Christ and the twenty-second Psalm is written as

a graphic description of the crucifixion of the Lord

Jesus Christ. It was written centuries before Jesus

was born. And let me tell you something else. In Psalm

22 the words that Jesus would say from the cross are

prophesied. The words that his enemies would say when

they ridiculed him were prophesied. The very fact that

they would gamble for his garments was prophesied.

But here’s one of the most amazing prophesies of all.

In Psalm 22 it says they “pierced my hands and my

feet.” That’s what happens when you crucify; there are

nails through your hands and nails that go through

your feet. But this was written hundreds and hundreds

of years before the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was the

Roman way of capital punishment. The Jews at that time

knew nothing of death by crucifixion. Do you know how

the Jews executed people? Do you know what the method

of Jewish capital punishment was? It wasn’t the

electric chair, it wasn’t the gas chamber, it wasn’t

crucifixion, it was stoning. They stoned people to

death. If you’ve ever been there, you know they’ve got

enough stones. They stone people to death. But

crucifixion was a Roman form of execution and the

Romans were very clever. There’s no death as horrible,

as painful, as ignominious as crucifixion and you want

to keep people in line, you show them a cross. But I

want to remind you that was a Roman form of execution

and hundreds of years before the Roman Empire comes on

the scene you read there in Psalm 22, “they pierced m

my hands and my feet.”

Now, you explain that. Do you think Jesus arranged all

of that? Do you think Jesus arranged the Roman Empire?

Do you think Jesus arranged the cross? I do, but he

arranged it before the fact, he arranged it while he

was still in glory. Yes, he arranged it all, he

arranged that he would be sold for thirty pieces of

silver as Zechariah the prophet said. He arranged that

he would be betrayed by Judas as the Bible says. He

arranged that he would be buried in rich man’s tomb.

He arranged that he would be raised from the dead the

third day and seen by five hundred people who were so

convinced that they sat out to convince others that he

was raised from the dead.

And I want to tell you something, friend, these people

with no hope of material gain became followers of the

Lord Jesus Christ, so convinced were they that Jesus

Christ came out of that grave. Many of them paid with

their life’s blood for their conviction that Jesus

Christ was alive. Now, you’re reasonable people. A man

may live for a lie but he will not knowingly die for

one. These people died, sealed their testimony with

their blood, so convinced were they that that grave

was empty and that Jesus Christ came out of that

grave. Over three hundred exact, precise prophesies in

the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament.

Matthew chapter 26 verse 56, “But all this was done

that the Scriptures of the prophets might be

fulfilled.”

Time has gone from me so let me just make the other

two points very very quickly. Listen to me. Faith is

rooted in evidence. Faith goes beyond evidence, it has

to or it wouldn’t be faith. Now, God is not going to

prove himself to you, but what God will do for you is

this–God will reveal himself to you. God will give

you facts. God will give you evidence and then God

will give you faith to believe those facts. It must be

by faith because faith is a moral response to the

character of God and the Bible says in John chapter 17

verse 7, “If any man wills to do the will of God he

shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” Now,

what does that mean? That means if you want to know

whether these facts are true, if you want to know this

evidence, then you can know it. God on the one hand

gives you the facts and then God on the other hand

gives you the faith to believe those facts. It is not

blind faith, it is rooted in evidence, but nonetheless

it is faith. God does not prove it to you, God shows

it to you and then from the inside God gives you his

force.

You see, there is that objective revelation of God,

but then there is that subjective inclination to

believe the revelation. That’s the reason Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice.” I don’t know about you, but

there’s something in me that when I read this Bible it

tells me it’s the Word of God. Not just because of

these facts that I’ve been giving you, but there is

just the voice of God. God speaks in his book. Do you

know what I’m talking about? Jesus said, “He that is

of the truth heareth my word and so the words I speak

unto you, they’re spirit and they’re life.” This Bible

is not like other books. You read other books but this

book reads you. And so, faith is rooted in evidence,

but faith goes beyond evidence.

Then I want to say the last thing and I’m hurrying.

Faith then becomes its own best evidence. I believe

because I believe. Let me give you a wonderful

Scripture. Psalm 34 verse 8. “0 taste and see that the

Lord is good.” I want to find out about you people,

find out how educated you are. How many of you have

ever tasted a mango, let me see your hand? Oh, I pity

the rest of you poor, denied people. You never had any

mango. You don’t know what mango is. Listen, folks, if

you can’t go to heaven, at least you ought to have a

mango. I mean, that’s nectar, that’s indescribably

luscious fruit from Florida. I was weaned on mangos,

wonderful. Now suppose you’ve never had a mango and

somebody comes with a mango and says, That’s a mango.

It looks good and it’s beautiful and it smells good.

You ought to have some. Thus far it’s just evidence.

He says it’s a mango, he says it’s good, it smells

good, it looks good, all of the rest of it, other

people seem to be enjoying it, other people testify–

that is all evidence.

But there’s something in you that impels you, you just

feel drawn toward it, you go beyond that evidence and

then you do something, you take a bite and now, folks,

you’ve got the evidence on the inside. Amen. That’s

what the Scripture means when it says, “Taste and see

that the Lord is good,” taste and see that the Lord is

good. Now, you see, that the reason that a Christian

with an experience is never at the mercy of an infidel

with an argument, because he’s got the evidence within

him. And one of the ways that I know that the Bible is

God’s Word is because the bright, living reality, the

truth of the God of that Bible lives within my heart.

Faith is rooted in evidence, faith goes beyond

evidence, faith becomes its own best evidence.

The Bible and Archaeology – Is the Bible from God? (Kyle Butt)

—-

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Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Proverbs 28:13

God is interested in your prosperity. It is not necessarily a matter of wealth or worldly success. Prosperity means that you live a life of general welfare, where God meets your needs, and you are being fulfilled. It means you are free to enjoy the blessings of God.

If God desires prosperity for us, yet we don’t feel it in our lives, what stands in the way? It’s simple: there’s unconfessed sin in our hearts and in our lives. When we sin, we often times try to cover it up instead of confessing it. But there is a great cost to covering up sin.

We look at the example of King David in the Old Testament. He was a man after God’s own heart. Yet, David sinned against God. He committed adultery. In order to cover up what he had done, he had the woman’s husband killed in the line of battle.

Even while his sin was covered, the guilt consumed David. It dominated his mind, and depressed his heart. It defiled his spirit. It shut up his ability to sing praises to God.

We see through David that God does not let His children get away with covered-up sin. He does not let His children forget what they have done. He deals with His children.

But even still, when we sin and try to run away from the Father, He holds on even tighter. 

Pastor and teacher Adrian Rogers says it this way, “Guilt is a dirty wound, and it will never heal until it is confessed and put away. It must be cleansed by the antiseptic of Calvary before it can be healed.”

It starts with confessing your sin to God. And because of what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, the Holy Spirit will come into your life and uncover your sin so that He may cover it in grace and forgiveness instead.

Apply it to your life

Do you have unconfessed sin in your life that is coming between you and God? You have to know it and name it for what it is. Ask God to reveal it to you, and He will. Through the Holy Spirit, He will convict you specifically, so that you may confess it specifically and ask for forgiveness. And then repent of it.

Proverbs 28 New Living Translation

Proverbs 28New Living Translation

28 The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
    but the godly are as bold as lions.

² When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily.
    But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.

³ A poor person who oppresses the poor
    is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.

⁴ To reject the law is to praise the wicked;
    to obey the law is to fight them.

⁵ Evil people don’t understand justice,
    but those who follow the Lordunderstand completely.

⁶ Better to be poor and honest
    than to be dishonest and rich.

⁷ Young people who obey the law are wise;
    those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.^[a]

⁸ Income from charging high interest rates
    will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.

⁹ God detests the prayers
    of a person who ignores the law.

¹⁰ Those who lead good people along an evil path
    will fall into their own trap,
    but the honest will inherit good things.

¹¹ Rich people may think they are wise,
    but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

¹² When the godly succeed, everyone is glad.
    When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding.

¹³ People who conceal their sins will not prosper,
    but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

¹⁴ Blessed are those who fear to do wrong,^[b]
    but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

¹⁵ A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor
    as a roaring lion or an attacking bear.

¹⁶ A ruler with no understanding will oppress his people,
    but one who hates corruption will have a long life.

¹⁷ A murderer’s tormented conscience will drive him into the grave.
    Don’t protect him!

¹⁸ The blameless will be rescued from harm,
    but the crooked will be suddenly destroyed.

¹⁹ A hard worker has plenty of food,
    but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

²⁰ The trustworthy person will get a rich reward,
    but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.

²¹ Showing partiality is never good,
    yet some will do wrong for a mere piece of bread.

²² Greedy people try to get rich quick
    but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.

²³ In the end, people appreciate honest criticism
    far more than flattery.

²⁴ Anyone who steals from his father and mother
    and says, “What’s wrong with that?”
    is no better than a murderer.

²⁵ Greed causes fighting;
    trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.

²⁶ Those who trust their own insight are foolish,
    but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

²⁷ Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing,
    but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.

²⁸ When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding.
    When the wicked meet disaster, the godly flourish.

—

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The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Why is Solomon so depressed in Ecclesiastes? by Brent Cunningham

July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. _______________________ Tom Brady ESPN Interview Tom Brady has famous wife earned over 76 million dollars last year. However, has Brady found lasting satifaction in his life? It does not […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

Adrian Rogers: How to Be a Child of a Happy Mother Published on Nov 13, 2012 Series: Fortifying Your Family (To read along turn on the annotations.) Adrian Rogers looks at the 5th commandment and the relationship of motherhood in the commandment to honor your father and mother, because the faith that doesn’t begin at home, […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to http://www.vixy.net ________________ Obviously from the video clip above, Tom Brady has realized that even though he has won many Super Bowls […]