And we'll do 14, eight and nine. And then we're going to go into the extra biblical history of the evidence and the proof of Jesus life. This is very important. How many of you know agnostics? An atheist and people that have been taught that the Bible is not true. I don't know how far I'm going to get tonight with this, but we're going to study quite a few historians and then we're going to read the book. the letter that Pontius Pilate wrote to Caesar. That is, I've read that a couple of times. Have you been here when I read that before, brother? Okay. All right. Legei auto philokos keodei dexon himen ton patera kai arke himen. And he says to him, Philip, Lord, And He says to him, Philip, Lord, you point out to us the Father. Point out to us the Father. Now, Jesus is telling them that I am the Father of one. And now, Jesus, you know, and the only way I know how to explain this in modern language, how many of you have computers? You know what hardware is and you know what software is. You can see hardware and you can touch hardware, can't you? Software works. It's there. It's real important because nothing's going to work without it. But you can't touch it. All right. Now, man is one part hardware, your body, and two parts software. You're three in one, triune. And God is that way, too. We have the sun, which is the physical evidence of God, and then we have the spirit, Holy Spirit, and then we have the Father. Now, it doesn't mean that they're not real, but they're software. You can't touch them. The only God you're ever going to see is the Son. That's Him. Now, there are many people in Christian society today that believe in three gods. But that's not quite right. There is one God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is how many, brother? Ahad. That's one. Who knows? Not trace. All right. Uno. One. All right. And he says to him, Philip, Lord, you point out to us the Father and it makes us really happy. It really makes us happy. Look at that word arcae there. It satisfies us. It pleases us. If you'd show us the Father. Now, let's see what Jesus says, and then we're going to go on to historical evidence. legate alcohol asos asos slow down legate alcohol asos tosu tosu to krono math him on amy hi who egg most costs may philip a whole you're all calls m a you're rocking told potter polls c league a with Exon Hemen Ton-Patera. And he says to him, to Jesus, for so great a long lengthy time, great long lengthy time, with you I am and not. You have known me, Philip." Now, what's he saying here in this common language? I am the Father. You're looking at me, you're going to see the Father. That's it. That's all the Father you're ever going to see. Philip, the one having seen me, he has seen ton patera, the Father. The word padre in Spanish means what, Brother Hernando? Father, doesn't it? Father. All right. Yeah. All right. That's what it means. It's Pater. Pater, say Pater. That's Latin. All right. And here it is in Greek. It is patera. In Hebrew is what? Abba. Abba. All right. The one having seen me, the father, how you, you say, point out to us, the father. Why do you say this? I'm here. This is all the Father you're ever going to see. A lot of people want to see God the Father on the throne and Jesus at the right side of the throne. That's a figure of speech. Who's going to be on the throne? Jesus is going to be on the throne. Who's going to be on the throne beside Him? The Queen of Heaven. Who is that? The Bride. That's it. And he will be on the right side and she will be on the left side. OK, that's the way it's going to be in heaven. All right. Now let's go to history. Let's go into a little history. You excited about this? Bill, are you excited about this? OK, I want to show you a few books. This is Eusebius history. OK, this this guy, Eusebius. lived between 260 and 339 A.D. 260 to 339 A.D. And he writes a lot of physical evidence about Jesus that was known at that period of time. Now, the archival volume, and the line is falling apart. The archival volume are the legal records and the historical records of the Sanhedrin court and the Roman Empire. Now, we're going to read some of this evidence in here. Now, I want to say this, that much of the world says that Jesus didn't even exist, that He is nothing but a fairy tale. Have you ever heard that? All right. And that the miracles that He performed were not miracles at all. This is what we call legend. and fantasy. Many people say the Bible is fantasy. One of the great presidents of the United States didn't believe one miracle in the Bible. Do you know what his name was? Thomas Jefferson. He did not believe. He was a deist. He believed in a deity. That's all. Today you would pretty much have to put him in the avenue of atheists in all reality. So he rewrote the Bible. What we call, how many of you know what it's called? Was it Nick? Jefferson Bible. Alright, Jefferson Bible. And you know what he did? He took out every miracle. He took out every miracle in the book of Exodus, and every miracle in the book of Genesis, and every miracle all the way through the Bible, and then when he got to the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he took all the miracles out of there, and he took all the miracles out of the book of Acts, And he said, now that's more like what really happened. Jesus, if he existed, was a good guy. That's all. I'm sure one minute after you die, you're not an atheist any longer, nor a deist. One minute after you die. Remember, I did that here on Sunday morning. This is the book of Josephus. All right, Josephus. lived between 37 A.D. and 100 A.D. 37 A.D. to 100 A.D. So, basically, he was almost a contemporary with Jesus, wasn't he? Alright, nearly a contemporary with Jesus. He was a contemporary with Paul, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Okay? So, we have Josephus' history. We're going to look a little bit at what Josephus says about him, and then I compiled a lot of stuff. in different writings and printed it out. And I want to read to you. How many of you want to know what Jesus looked like? All of them said the same thing. Isn't that funny? Everybody from that period of time makes the same description of Jesus. In other words, they were looking at the same guy. Now, if you're Jehovah's Witnesses, you don't want to hear any of this. OK, you don't hear any of this because what we're going to talk about is the birth of Jesus. We're going to talk about his early life and his messianic credentials, which are his messianic miracles. OK, it's an extra biblical evidence by his enemies. And his. people that followed him. Much of the history is written by his enemies. Now, Baptist history, how many of you have listened to my Baptist history classes? Anybody? Bill, you went in three or four sets, and you have. Have you listened to all of them yet, Christi? Not all of them. Boy, there's a lot of information there. Twenty-six classes, and I mean it will blow you away. That's all I can say. Brother, you were in the classes. Baptist history is not written by Baptists. And by the way, the name Baptist is not something they chose. Did you know that? Baptist was the word Wiedertopfer in German, which meant re-baptizers or anabaptists in English. And it was a derogatory term. When you go into northern Europe, when they talk about the Baptists there, in German it's Wiedertoppers. And what they tell the little children, if you don't behave, the beater toppers, the Baptists are going to get you. That's the devil. OK, the devil's going to get you. That's these Baptists. OK, that's the term now. So their history is written by their enemies, and a lot of the history of Jesus is written by his enemies. But what the enemies say about him is very, very important. Not one of the enemies say that he didn't raise the dead. Did you know that? All of them say he raised the dead. All of them say that he healed the blind. All of them said that he had power over nature. Did you realize that? We'll get into this. Now, the Bible, I believe the Bible is inspired of God. I believe it's inspired in Greek and Hebrew. And I believe that was the languages that we really ought to read it in because it's too powerful in those languages to bring it over to a weak language like English. We really need to look at it in those languages and that's why I study and teach Greek and Hebrew because it's so much there. The following was taken from a manuscript in possession of a man by the name of Lord Kelly in his library and was copied from an original letter Publius Lentulus at Rome. It being the usual custom of Roman governors to advise The Senate and the people of such material things has happened in their provinces in the days of Tiberius Caesar. I want to tell you about Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius Caesar believed in Jesus. Did you know that? Tiberius Caesar believed in Jesus. Tiberius Caesar tried to bring to the Roman Senate along with the person that convinced him. You know who is the person that convinced him that Jesus was who he was? Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate convinced Tiberius Caesar that Jesus was actually God. Now, this is history. Tiberius Caesar, you know who that was? This is Caesar. All right. And he tried to protect the Christians. You know who he was protecting them from? Who's he protecting them from, Roger? From the Saqqara or the Jews. All right. Publius Lentulus, president of Judea, wrote the following epistle to the Senate concerning the Nazarene called Jesus. All right. We would be called Californian, Californios or Californians. OK. They appeared in those days, a man, the Jewish nation, a great virtue named Yahshua. That was his name, Yahshua. OK. Who is yet living among us? This was written while Jesus was still alive. OK. This is what we call a contemporary of Jesus. This is what we call an eyewitness account. This is an eyewitness account. Pontius Pilate would be an eyewitness account. And then Publius Lentulus is an eyewitness account. Who is yet living among us of the Gentiles is accepted for a prophet of truth, but his own disciples call him son of God. He raised the dead, evidence, and cures all manner of diseases. A man of stature somewhat tall, remember what I said last week that he was a tall man, probably well over six foot tall. Beautiful in appearance, very reverent in his countenance, such as beholders may both love and fear. His hair, the color, of blonde or golden chestnuts. Full right, plain to his shoulders or his ears. Once downwards, it is more orient and curling and wavering about his shoulders. In the midst of his head is a seam and a partition. His hair is pointed down, parted down the middle after the matter of the Nazarene. His forehead is plain and very delicate. His face without spot or wrinkle, beautiful with a lovely reddish tinge and his nose and mouth so formed as nothing can be reprehended. His beard thickish in color like his hair, not very long but forked. His look innocent and mature, his eyes a gray-blue color. And quick in reproving hypocrisy, he is terrible in admonishing and courteous and fair-spoken. pleasant in conversation mixed with gravity. It cannot be remembered that any of him ever saw him laugh, but many have seen him weep. In proportion of his body, most excellent in his arms, delicate to behold, in speaking very temperate, modest and wise, a man for his singular beauty surpassing the children of men." Did you get that? That's a physical description. Now, we're going to have more than one physical description of Jesus. OK? There was a man that lived between 55 and 120 A.D. 55 and 120 A.D. His name was Tacitus. He was a first and second century Roman historian who lived through the reigns of over half a dozen Roman emperors. Considered one of the greatest historians in ancient Rome, Tacitus verifies the biblical account of Jesus' execution at the hands of Pontius Pilate, who governed Judea between 26 and 36 AD during the reign of Tiberius. Christus, the founder of the Christian name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate. What does this Roman historian say? Did Jesus exist? All right. Roman historian here, did he say Jesus existed? What else did it say about him? Did Jesus perform miracles? Yes. Did he raise the dead? Did he heal the blind and every kind of sickness that could be thrown at him? All right. It says one thing, that he was hard on the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and all of them, doesn't it? But that he was magnificently, magnificent and caring and modest and gentle to all the rest. Christus, the founder of the Christian name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea and the reign of Tiberius, but to pernicious superstition. Now, this man doesn't like Christians. All right, this man is an enemy of Christ. He makes a statement that Jesus did exist, all right? And that he was put to death by Pontius Pilate, what the Bible says, so that confirms what you can read in the Bible, doesn't it? And exactly what we're reading here tonight in John the 14th chapter. The pernicious superstition repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome itself. Going a little further now, another evidence. This man lived between 69 and 130 A.D. His name was Gaius Sustenius Tranquillus. He was a prominent Roman historian who recorded the lives of the Roman Caesars and the historical events surrounding their reigns. He served as a court official under Hadrian, and as an analyst for the imperial house, Sustenius records The expulsion of the Christian Jews from Rome. That corresponds to Acts 18 and verse 2. Okay. Now, he just makes mention of this. As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Christus. That's what he called him. Claudius expelled them from Rome. Thallus, another man by the name of Thallus. T-H-A-L-L-U-S. He lived in 52 A.D. This is when this was. His works only exist in fragments. Julius Africanus debates Thales' explanation of the midnight darkness. Now we're talking about historical events that happened. the midday darkness, and this is what this historian says about that. They debated back and forth. The ones that believed that God caused the darkness, that it was because the creator of the universe was being crucified, they had a different opinion than the others. The others said, oh, it was just a solar eclipse. Thales tries to dismiss the darkness as a natural occurrence as a solar eclipse, but Africanus argues, as an astronomer can confirm, a solar eclipse cannot physically occur during the full moon due to the alignment of the planets of Phlegon or Thales. A second century secular historian also mentions the darkness and tries to dismiss it as a solar eclipse. He also states the event occurred during the time of Tiberius Caesar. Remember what I told you when we talked about the Passover? Remember when we studied the Passover and we studied the institution of the Lord's Supper? I told you that Jesus took the Passover with His disciples early? All historical records say that Jesus was crucified before the Passover, just the day before the Passover. That's why they had to get Him down off the cross. Okay? All the historical records tell us. But Roman Catholic legend has him crucified on Friday and raising on Sunday. In historical evidence and biblical evidence, he was crucified on Wednesday and he was raised on Sunday. The Catholic Church says Friday. And that's their real authority, you know. You did laugh with me, didn't you? All right. On the whole, On the whole world there pressed a more fearful darkness. The rocks were rent by an earthquake. Does the Bible say that an earthquake happened and it was really dark? Can you believe the Bible according to historical reference? It just confirms what was happening there. And many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. Houses fell down. The darkness, Salus, in the third book of his history, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the Passover." Did you get that? It had to be on Wednesday. Need I say any more about that? Okay. But an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. It cannot happen at any other time. Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth manifestly, that one records of which we speak. Now Pliny the Younger is another guy. He lived between 63 and 113 A.D. Amidst the torturing and executing Christians who refused to deny Jesus. Those who denied the charges were spared in order to exalt the Roman God and curse the name of Christ. Pliny addresses his concerns to the Emperor Trajan because he's having to kill too many people. Remember when they burned so many Baptists in England when the King James Version of the Bible came out? They burned so many Baptists in England because the Baptists said it was a doctored-up, made-up translation of the Scriptures that were contrary to what the original Scripture said. And so they burned so many of them that they ran out of firewood, and the baths were cold, and the houses were cold because they had to burn so many Baptists. I asked them directly, these Christians, and persisted, and I ordered them, and those who denied the name of their Savior, Jesus, I allowed to live. The Christians who worshiped both your image and the image of the God's cursed Christ. They used to gather on a stated day before dawn and sang to Christ as if he were a God. All the more I believed it necessary to find out what the truth was from the servant mates which were called deaconesses. By means of torture, nothing more could I find out than disgusting fanatical superstition." Here we have another enemy. But what did they say? that these Christians would die for the name of Christ. Therefore, I stop the examination and hasten to consult you on account of the number of people endangered. In other words, we're going to have to kill a whole bunch of people. And these are citizens paying taxes. We don't want to kill all of our constituents, if not necessary. Both sexes are already brought in danger from this pernicious sect. Celsus, 178 AD. He was a second century Roman author and avid opponent of Christianity. He went to great lengths to disprove the divinity of Jesus, yet never denied his actual existence. These are the enemies. Why would an enemy, if a man didn't exist, why would people die for him? How could you get somebody to die for you if he didn't exist? And why would all of these opponents of Christianity write letters against somebody that didn't exist? Okay? He never denied his actual existence. Unfortunately for Celsus, he sets himself up for the criticism by mimicking the exact accusations brought against Jesus by the Pharisees, which had already been addressed and refuted in the New Testament. There are two very important facts regarding Celsus, which make him one of the most important witnesses in this discussion. Though most secular passages are accused of being Christian interpolations, we can accept with certainty that this is not the case with Celsus. This is not purporting or building up Christianity as trying to destroy it. The sheer volume of his writings, specifically designed to dissuade Christianity, coupled with the hostile accusations presented in his work, dismiss this chance altogether. He was not a proponent of Christianity. The idea of Celsus getting his information entirely from Christian sources. Remember, most of the people today that don't believe in God don't believe in the Bible either. They said it's just a fairytale book. I've told my students for the last 40-something years, don't ever be afraid to study science. Don't ever be afraid to study medicine. Don't ever be afraid to study archaeology or anthropology or anything because if It's real evidence, not a theory. If it's real evidence, it's going to agree with the Bible. Now, if you have some kind of a biblical idea or theory that doesn't agree with the original scriptures, you better get rid of it. Simple as that. There's a lot of people in Christianity that have these little pet theories that they have and they go contrary to the Bible, OK? The idea of Celsus getting his information entirely from Christian sources, another recurring occurrence against secular evidence, is wholly absurd. Though he obviously aware of his opponent's beliefs, as anyone who is engaging in a debate should be, Celsus wrote his exposition in the form of a dialogue between Jewish critic and himself. This gives us calls to believe that he used non-Christian, probably Jewish, sources of his evidence. There's a lot of Jewish history in the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud written against Jesus, what really the Talmud says about Jesus. Okay? We could go into that also. It's really cruel. On Jesus' miracles. Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there, he acquired certain magical powers. He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers. On the strength of them, he gave himself out to be a god." Now, what does it say here? Here's an enemy of Christ. Does he say that Jesus didn't have the powers? He had the powers. He had the powers. Now let's see what he says he did. It was by means of sorcery that he was able to accomplish the wonders which he performed. The wonders, miracles, signs. Let us believe that these cures or the resurrection. Did he deny the resurrection of Jesus? No. Or the feeding of a multitude with a few loaves. We have that in the Bible. This was evidence that was known at that period of time. That took place all around Galilee. What does Galilee mean? Remember what Galilee means, brother? How about you, young lady? Circle. All the cities around. How many cities were around there? Ten. How many people in each city? Fifteen thousand plus. And he said, so that's 150,000 people around there. And there was at least 5,000 one time men, plus women and children, maybe 10 or 15,000 that he fed with a few loaves and some fishes. And then he did it again. Fifteen thousand. All right. At least seven thousand five thousand one place. Seven thousand. But you've got to multiply that about about three. These are nothing more than tricks of jugglers. It is by the names of certain demons and by the use of incantations that these Christians appear to possess a miraculous power. All right. Now, On the virgin birth, this is what they say, and this is very common. They even have a man named that was the Jesus father. OK, he doesn't believe in a virgin birth, but they believe that Mary was pregnant. Before her and her husband, Joseph, came together, Jesus had come from a village in Judea and was the son of a poor Jewish who gained her living by the work of her hands. His mother had been turned out by her husband. who was a carpenter by trade, it says here, and the same word for stonemason, being convicted of adultery with a Roman soldier named Panthera. Being thus driven away by her husband and wondering about, in disgrace, she gave birth to Jesus, a bastard. Celsus acknowledges Jesus' birth and existence, but does not accept the concept of the virgin birth. He then tries to dismiss Mary's pre-marital pregnancy as a result of an affair she had with a Roman soldier. What else did the Jews in other places say about Jesus? What was his looks? Who did he look like? What did he look like? He looked like an Italian soldier. He was blond and blue-eyed. He was blond and blue-eyed so he couldn't be a Jew. He couldn't be a Jew. But you know what? God is the father of all races. And God's son decided that he was going to put on this attire of human flesh with blonde hair and blue eyes. And that's one of these days we can ask him why he had blonde hair and blue eyes. But he did. Historically, he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Strangely enough, there is a very similar passage in the Jewish Talmud which makes the same accusation. And it gives the name of this man, Pantera. This gives us the reason to believe that Celsus might have been referring to Jewish sources. Celsus' intentions, he described that Jesus' disciples actually believed that he was God the Son. And it says that The disciples really believed Jesus was the son of God, and they would not have forsaken him at his arrest. Instead, he only ends up confirming the biblical account of what the Bible says about Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus was arrested and the apostles denied him. Remember who denied him? Three times? OK. It was only after Jesus resurrection that they understood the spiritual principles concerning Jesus' crucifixion. and bodily went out to preach the gospel. Celsus is also wrong with his statement. They neither died with him nor for him. We are told by the early historians that all but one died. All right. Who was that? John. All right. Now, this is what Celsus said about Jesus. One who was a God could neither flee nor be led away prisoner. What great deeds did Jesus perform as God? Did he put his enemies to shame or bring to an end what was designed against him? No calamity happened even to him who condemned him. Why does he not give some manifestation of his divinity and free himself from this reproach and take vengeance upon those who insult him and his father. Now, these are the exact reasons at the cross, wasn't it? He didn't read the Bible. He wasn't reading the Bible because basically there were very few Bibles in existence at this period of time. He's reading here Jewish history and Jewish proclamations against Jesus. Not only that, now many people say that John the Baptist was just a figment of people's imagination. It also records that John the Baptist lived. Also John the Baptist. Celsus confirms that John the Baptist lived and that John the Baptist proclaimed that one would come according to this to the Messianic prophecies. And then on the crucifixion, Jesus was actually crucified. Now, the Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that. Did you know that? They don't believe Jesus was crucified. Who else doesn't believe that Jesus was crucified today? Huh? No. The Muslims say that He was not crucified. Many people say that Judas was crucified in his place. I don't know whether you've ever heard that or not. How many of you have heard that? All right. Jesus accordingly exhibited after his death only the appearance of the wounds received on the cross and was not in reality so wounded as he described to have been. Now we have Gardner Ted Armstrong. Yeah, Gardner Ted Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God. We have the Jehovah Witnesses, if you want to call them that. They say that Jesus was not crucified, that Jesus was not God the Son, but Jesus was an Archangel Michael that became flesh, and when He died on the cross, He never rose. I've got news for everybody. If Jesus didn't die on the cross and rise from the dead, you have no salvation. You're on your own. You get to go into heaven and meet God with all your sins with you. That's not too cool. Lucian of Samasoto, 120-180 AD, was a 2nd century Greek satirist and rhetorician who scornfully describes his views of early Christianity. Now this is another enemy of Christ. He doesn't deny it happened. He doesn't deny they existed. Though he ridicules the Christians and their Christ, his writings confirm that Jesus was executed via crucifixion and that he was the founder of Christianity. The Christians you know worship a man to this day. This is 120 to 180 AD. Distinguished person is who introduced their novel rites and was crucified on that account. It was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers from the moment they are converted and deny the gods of Greece and worship the crucified sage and live after his laws. Mara Bar-Serapion, after 70 A.D., somewhere he lived during that time, of Syria, penned this letter from prison to his son, though it is obvious that he does not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, he does mention aspects of Jesus' life. Now, this is in A.D. 70. Now, this is another eyewitness. What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? famine and plague upon them as judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from the burning of Pithargoros? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing this wise king?" By the way, he was of the kingly lineage of Joseph. The wrong man was on the throne. Who was on the throne? Herod. Herod was a descendant of Esau. Not Jacob or Israel. It was just after their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men. Athenians died of hunger. The Samians were overwhelmed by the sea. The Jews were ruined and driven from their land and live in complete dispersion. That's what happened. This is a historical account of that. This is A.D. 70. They were dispersed. But Socrates did not die for good. He lived on in the teachings of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good. He lived on in the Statue of Hera. Nor did the wise king die for good. He lived on in the teaching which he had given. Now we have Flavius Josephus. Let's go right directly to Josephus. Now who was Josephus? He was a historian. He was hired by the Roman government to write a history which is a very verbose history. It's a big bunch of words. He records a lot of stuff and when he looked at the Jews he could not defend them real good because they were antagonists of his employers. So he would Tell the truth, basically, is what he did. Now some of the Jews at the destruction of Herod's... Now there is about this time Jesus a wise man. If it is lawful to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful works. What does that say? He did miracles. Alright? Now this man Remember when Josephus lived? 37 A.D. to 100 A.D. He's contemporary with the apostles which were still doing miracles. Okay? If it be lawful to call him man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both of many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, after the suggestion of the principal men among us, Jews, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive." So what does it say here? He appeared to them alive again the third day as the divine prophets had foretold. These and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him and the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct to this day." Now, this is a Roman historian, okay? And it quotes Pilate. There are all kinds of historians quoting Pontius Pilate's letter to Caesar. Now, many people will say that they don't believe that Pontius Pilate's letter is true. and valid because its soul fills in the places in between the Scriptures. It's just right there. Just like you were reading the Bible. And you're going to get to that in just a minute. Now, he also tells about John the Baptist. Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, that very justly, as punishment of what he did to John, the one that was called Baptist. Now, he goes on and tells a lot more about that. But I just wanted to tell you. And also that Herod and Solomon and all of them are all quoted in the history. These people really lived. It's an old figment of Christianity in the Bible. The Babylonian Talmud, which I could have brought it. On the eve of the Passover, what'd I say? Wednesday. On the eve of Passover, Yahshua, Jesus of Nazarene was hanged and crucified. Forty days before the execution, Herod went forth, he cried. He's going forth to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed Israel. Now here they make up a story that for forty days that he was on trial. And all the heralds went out just like they were supposed to be doing before they crucified him. You couldn't stone a person, all right? and entice Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead his behalf. But since nothing was brought forward in his favor, he was hanged on the eve of the Passover." Again, when Jesus instituted the Passover, he was the early one. Now you see this. Let's go to Eusebius for just a moment. Eusebius tells about the history of James, the brother of Jesus, being stoned. It talks about Stephen being stoned. All right. Now, these are real historic figures. Talk about Peter being escaping Now here we have everybody accepts the ecclesiastical history of Eusebius' ballot, okay? But a lot of people don't want to accept Pontius Pilate's letter. But here we have during the period of time between 260 and 339 A.D., we have all these historians quoting Pontius Pilate. Do you know that the biblical critics said that Pontius Pilate never lived? And all of a sudden there in Caesarea they found an inscription with Pontius Pilate's name on it, that he was governor. I have seen that. The fame of our Lord's remarkable resurrection and ascension being now spread abroad according to an ancient custom prevalent among the rulers of the nations to communicate novel occurrences to their emperor that nothing might escape him. Pontius Pilate transmitted to Tiberius. an account of the circumstances concerning the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. In this report, in this account, he also intimated that he also ascertained through other miracles respecting him, and having now risen from the dead, he was believed to be a God by the mass of the people. Tiberius referred the matter to the Senate. Remember when I told you that Tiberius believed in Jesus? Why did he believe in Jesus? Pontius Pilate convinced him. But it is said they rejected the proposition in appearance because they had not examined the subject first. According to an ancient law among the Romans that no one should be ranked among the gods unless, by vote and decree of the Senate, in reality, however, the solitary doctrine of the gospel needs no confirmation and Cooperation of men the center of the Romans therefore having thus rejected the doctrine of the Savior as it was announced and Tiberius still continued to hold to the opinion He had before cherished and formed no unreasonable prod Projects against the doctrine of Christ and the testimony of Tertullian Tiberius therefore Protected the Christians in his room and his reign Now And we're almost out of time. I'm going to read something that will make your hair stand on end. This is a historical account by the person that crucified, had Jesus crucified, by demand of the Jews. Before I do that, I want to read one more little short letter by Valius Perturculus. And he writes this about Pontius Pilate's report. To Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, noble sovereign greeting. And he read this letter. Now, this man lived, he was 19 years old when Jesus was born, this man. Valias says in Judea he met a man called Jesus of Nazareth. This is eyewitness accounts. This is a Roman historian. OK. His works have been thought to be extinct, but there are pieces of them here and there. He returned to Rome in the year 31 and finished in his work, which is called Historia Romania, and he held the office of praetor when Augustus died and when Ventius was council. Valias says that in Judea he met a man called Jesus of Nazareth, who was one of the most remarkable characters that he'd ever seen. He was more afraid of Jesus than a whole army. And this is a soldier. This man is a Calvary officer. And his family, for he cured all manner of diseases and raised the dead. This is a historical account. Now, this is not the Bible saying this. And when he cured when he cursed orchard and fruit trees. When he when he cursed orchards or fruit trees for their barrenness, they instantly withered to the roots. After referring to the wonderful works of Jesus, he says that although Jesus had such power, he did not use it to injure people. He seemed always inclined to help the poor. Ballas said the Jews were divided in their opinion of him, and the poor classes claimed him as their king and their deliverer from the Roman authority, and that if Jesus should raise an army and give it power, that he could sweep the whole world in a single day. But the rich Jews hated and cursed him behind their back and called him an Egyptian necromancer. Another account of all of this. All of this is evidence. Okay. To Tiberius Caesar, these are Pontius Pilate's words. Noble sovereign, greeting. The events of the last few days in my province have been of such character that I will give the details in full as they occurred as I should not be surprised if in the course of time they may change the destiny of our nation. For it seems of late that all the gods have been ceased to be perpetuous to us. I'm almost ready to say curse be the day that I succeeded Valerius Felicius in the government of Judea. For since then my life has been one of continual unevenness and distress." Now he says here, I'm going to skip over some of this, But he says the day that he arrived into the whole region that the Jews literally insulted him. That he gave them the feast, they would not come. And he said, this is what he said of the Jews, of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Levites. They would betray their own mother to gain an office or a luxurious living. It seems to me that of conquered cities, Jerusalem is the most difficult to govern. So turbulent are the people that I live in momentary dread of insurrection. I have not soldiers sufficient to suppress it. I had only one centurion and a hundred men at my command, and I requested a reinforcement from the perfect Assyria who informed me that he scarcely had troops sufficient to defend his own province. Now, he says something to Caesar. He said, I think we have conquered too much land too fast, and we don't have enough soldiers to defend it. And that's going to be the fall of the Roman Empire. Among the various rumors that came to my ears, there was one particular that attracted my attention. A young man, it was said, had appeared in Galilee preaching with a noble unction of a new law in the name of God that had sent him. Now here we have a Roman ruler, a governor, and this is a well substantiated letter that he wrote to Tiberius Caesar. Not only did he write this letter to Tiberius Caesar, but he wrote enough letters after this that he totally convinced Tiberius that Jesus was a god. And it was who he said he was. At first, I was apprehensive as to the design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus and Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews. One day in passing by the place of Salo, the pool of Salo, where there was a great concourse of people, I observed in the midst of the group a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected so great was the difference between him and those listening to him. His golden colored hair. and beard gave his appearance of a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about 30 years of age and never have I seen a sweeter or more serene confidence. What a contrast between him and his hearers with black beards and tawny complexion. Unwilling to interrupt him by my presence, I continued to walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen. My secretary's name is Manlius." You know, he's quoted up in the Bible also. Manlius had been for a long time an inhabitant of Judea, as well as acquainted with the Hebrew language. He was devoted to me and worthy of my confidence. And on entering the Praetorium, I found Manlius, who related to me the words Jesus had pronounced at Siloam. Never have I read in the works of the philosophers anything that compare to the maxims of Jesus. One of the rebellious Jews, so numerous in Jerusalem, having asked Jesus If it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, he replied, render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and unto God the things that are God's. It was on account of the wisdom of his sayings that I granted so much liberty to the Nazarene. Pontius Pilate could have tried to stop him, but he granted liberty to him. For it was in my power to have him arrested and exiled to Pontus. But that would have been contrary to the justice which has always characterized the Roman government. In all its dealings with men, this man was neither seditious or rebellious. I extended to him my protection unknown perhaps to himself. He was at liberty to act, speak, assemble, and address the people, and to choose disciples unrestrained by my praetorium mandate. He couldn't have stopped him anyway. But Pontius Pilate believed in him. This is a Roman. and a man of Roman and Spanish ancestry. Should it ever happen, may the gods avert the moment, should it ever happen, I say, that the religion of our forefathers will be supplanted by the religion of Jesus. It will be to this noble toleration that Rome shall owe her premature death while I miserable wretch will have been the instrument of what the Jews call providence and we call destiny. telling how much he regrets having crucified Jesus. This unlimited freedom granted to Jesus provoked the Jews, not the poor, but the rich and the powerful. What did all the other sources say is the same thing, didn't they? It is true, Jesus was severe on the latter, and this was a political reason, in my opinion, for not restraining the liberty of the Nazarene. Scribes, Pharisees, he would say to them, You are a race of vipers. You resemble painted sepulchers. You appear well unto men, but you have death within you." At other times, he would sneer at the alms of the rich and proud, telling them that the might of a poor was more precious than the sight of God. See, all of this is exactly agreeing with what the Bible has said. The historic critics always tried to play his letter down. But it's quoted in so many places that if you didn't have the letter, you could put it together by the different people that quote different parts of it. Just like the Bible. It's quoted in history so much, if you didn't have the Bible, you could put it together by the quotes. Complaints were made daily to me at my praetorium against the insolence of Jesus. I was even informed that some misfortune would befall him. that it would not be the first time that Jerusalem had stolen the ones that called themselves prophets. An appeal would be made to Caesar. However, my conduct was approved by the Senate, and I was promised reinforcement at the termination of the Parthian war. Being too weak to suppress an insurrection, I resolved upon adopting a measure that promised to restore the tranquility of the city without subjecting the Praetorium to humiliating concessions and complaints." I wrote to Jesus. Now, the Bible doesn't tell us that. I wrote a letter to Jesus requesting an interview with him at the Praetorium, and he came. You know that in my veins flows the Spanish mixed with Roman blood, as incapable of fear as it is weak emotions. When the Nazarene made his appearance, I was walking in my basilica. My feet seemed fastened with an iron hand to the marble pavement. I trembled all over every limb as if I was a guilty culprit. Though the Nazarene was calm as innocence itself, when he came up to me he stopped, and by a signal or sign he seemed to say to me, Here I am, though he spoke not a word. For some time I contemplated with admiration and awe this extraordinary type of human. a man, a type of man unknown to our numerous painters who have given form and figure to all the gods and heroes. There was nothing about him that was repelling in his character, yet I felt too awed and tremulous to approach him." This is God. Here is a Gentile, a Gentile, looking upon God the Son. This is a historical, legal document, not the Bible. Jesus said, I unto him at last, and my tongue faltered. Jesus of Nazareth, for the last three years I have granted you ample freedom of speech, nor do I regret it. Your words are those of a sage. I know not whether you have read Socrates or Plato, but this I know. There is in your discourse a majestic simplicity that elevates you far above those philosophers. Their emperor is informed of it, and I, his humble representative in this country, am glad of having allowed you the liberty of which you are so worthy. However, I must not conceal from you that your discourses have raised up against you powerful and invertebrate enemies. Nor is this surprising. Socrates had his enemies and fell victim to their hatred. Yours are doubly incensed against you on account of your discourses being so severe upon their conduct, against me on account of the liberty I have afforded you. They even have accused me of being indirectly lead with you for the purpose of depriving the Hebrews of their little civil power which Rome has left them. By request, I say, not my order. is that you have more circumspect, moderate in your discourses in the future, and more considerate of them, lest you arouse the pride of your enemies, and they rise up against you, the stupid populace, and compel me to employ the instruments of the law." Now Nazarene calmly replied, Prince of this earth, your words proceed not from true wisdom. Say to the torrent, stop in the midst of the mountain gorge. It will uproot the trees of the valley. The torrent will answer you that it obeys the laws of nature and the Creator. God alone knows whether the flows of the waters of the torrent. Verily I say unto you, Before the roses share in blossoms, the blood of the just shall be spilled. Your blood shall not be spilled, said I with deep emotion. You are more precious in my estimation on account of your wisdom than all the turbulent and proud Pharisees who abused the freedom granted to them by the Romans. They conspire against Caesar and convert this bounty into fear, impressing the unlearned that Caesar is a tyrant and seeks to ruin. Insolent wretches! They are not aware of the wolf, of the tiber, sometimes clothes himself with the skin of the sheep to accomplish his wicked designs. I will protect you against them. My praetorium shall be an asylum, sacred both day and night, for you." Jesus carelessly shook his head and said with a grave and divine smile. When the day shall have come, there will be no asylum for the Son of Man, neither in the earth nor under the earth. The asylum of the just is there pointing to the heavens. That which is written in the books of the prophets must be accomplished. Young man, I ask mildly, you will oblige me to convert your request into an order. The safety of the promise of the province which has been confided, my care requires it. You must observe more moderation in your discourses. Do not infringe my order. You know the consequences. My happiness attend you. Farewell." Prince of the Earth replied, Jesus, I come not to bring war into the world, but peace and love and charity. I was born on the same day which Augustus Caesar gave peace to the Roman world. Persecutions proceed not from me. I expect it from others. I will meet it in obedience to the will of my father, who has shown me the way. Restrain, therefore, your worldly prudence. It is not in your power to arrest the victim by the foot of the tabernacle of exibiation." So saying, he disappeared like a bright shadow from behind the curtain of the basilica, to my relief, for I felt a heavy burden on me which I could not relieve myself. while in his presence. There, I'll have to finish it. Do you have any questions? I have to read this a little bit later. This is the oracle volume. Gamaliel's report is in here too. Gamaliel makes a description of Jesus also. Gamaliel, the one that Paul studied under? Who said something over here? Yes. You've got to remember that Rome was a military state. They ran on paper. So what I believe that all of these reports are 100% because they're all records. A lot of people don't get the impression the Bible's the only thing that came down through history. Do you folks realize that the Vatican alone, and just talking about the Vatican alone, has 85 miles of shells stacked with thousands of year old scrolls? People don't realize that. Every person that was educated from about 400 AD on had to write their masters, bachelors, and doctoracies in Latin. And many of those manuscripts are still alive and many of the manuscripts have history of Jesus and his disciples' lives. All to it. There, Bill. I didn't think you could talk Sunday, but you did. What? I didn't think you could talk Sunday, but you did tonight. I'm going to ask you if you need to get a copy of this, and I'm going to talk to Pastor Phil and Pastor Rogers. This needs to be in front of the church. What you did tonight, It is really good evidence for people that are young Christians that you can believe the Bible. I teach the Bible from Greek and Hebrew. It is fantastic in those languages. I mean, you didn't get much of that tonight, Ray, but it's there. It's dynamite. It is unstoppable. It is in the original language. That's where it's supposed to be preached in, you know. All I could think about was I wish I had an outline of this so next time I go to Paso Robles, I can land on an atheist. Joanne keeps dragging me away because I get the best of them. But if I had this outline, I would love to. They actually got a booth up there that says atheist. And me and them get into it every time. And I start quoting them. And Joanne, she starts dragging me around. But I would love to have that outline. I have put up almost 500 sermons this month on Sermon Audio. This sermon will be out tonight. Last Sunday mornings was out in just a little while. They're all out there. Matter of fact, I have a copy of this morning's on video, but you can watch it on video or audio. If you would like to help to support the website, it would be very nice. I wouldn't refuse any offering because it's going to be a great big, Bill, when I get it this month, I think I put up 350 videos, I mean audio, and probably around 200 so far. And I still have billing to go. So that's a lot of money. But anyway, all of it's going out there. I'm trying to get it out there. I'm trying to get everything that I've done. Right now, Bill, you can go watch yourself 14 years ago. Right there. In 1999 and 2000, I was teaching the book of Revelation from Greece. I did 96 classes. I've got one third of them out right now. All the rest of them are going out on video and audio. It's there. They can look at it. It'll be there. It'll be there tonight. It'll be there tonight. They can download it. Right? On video or on audio. Okay? I'll make a few extra ones also. Well, thank you for your attention tonight. It was good to have you here. And pray for my health. I'm having a lot of health problems. As always, Christine, it is so good to see you back here, girl. It's good to see you. Do you have any questions before I turn you loose? Ray, do you have a question? Brother Hernando. Yes, years and years ago. This is the book right here that's falling apart. The pages are falling out of it. When I was your pastor 30 something years ago, I bought you one of these books and gave it to you. I bought about 100 of them. I gave out a lot of them back then. And I gave you that sacred name Bible also. I went and bought some of those. Yes? And I don't know if it's a matter of translation or what, but they usually said there's somewhere in the Bible where they say Christ was of no, nothing was special about him physically. He was, there was nothing. Yes, there was something special about him. And they were jealous. Always jealous. But he didn't look like them. He didn't look like them. He was different. He stood head and shoulders above them. And they hated it. They hated it that he was intellectually and spiritually much stronger than they were. He made fun of them. You know that he did. He ridiculed them. Ridiculous religion that had kept them away from God, not religion is supposed to bind you back to God. Words really mean something. Let's look how words are made up. All right, religions, you've seen this a lot of time, what does re mean? Back again. Back again. What does IOM mean? The act of or the state of being. OK. And then lig comes from ligere in Latin, which is to bind. The religion should be the act of binding back again. The Jewish religion had separated themselves from God. They needed to be brought back. Reconstruction. Let's look at this. IOM means what? The act of the state of being struck structure, build, see a land con with our back again. Reconstruction. Jesus tried to reconstruct the act of back again, putting together and making it stand, and he took the reigns, the administration of God's kingdom from them and gave it to the church. And reconstructed. The pharisaical religion, the Jewish, Judaistic religion, and put it in a simplistic form, he took the Passover and turned it into the Lord's Supper. The Passover was celebrated by every Jewish family. The Lord's Supper is celebrated by each individual church. You see, he took it away from the Jewish family and he put it into the hands of each local church that would go out throughout all the lands, throughout all the empire. And it went out. Matthew 16, 18 says, You're Peter, but upon this gigantic building stone, I'll be building my church, this big rock I'll be building my church. And the gates of hell would not wrestle her down. Matthew 28, 18, it says, as you've been kicked out, make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to guard with the lives all things that I've taught you, and I'll be with you unto the end of the age. If you learn these little dynamic rules that the Savior gave, you will be able to meet your witnesses, Mormons, Armstrong, anybody. With Matthew 16, 18, 28 through to 20, they didn't need to reconstruct the religion. It was already there. The Roman Catholicism constructed her monstrosity that ruled the world for over a thousand years, killing millions, between 50 and 100 million Baptists at that time. Now we have the reconstruction of Roman Catholicism in Islam. What Islam is doing today, Catholicism did a thousand years ago. Repeat, repeat, repeat, and none of them know anything about the real God of heaven. We need to go back. Back to Jesus saying and see what he said. You can lead some of these people out of these false religions, but remember one thing. There's a real spiritual world out there that has demons and powers in it. and those demons and powers of that which keeps them in those religions. When someone is rescued out of Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah Witness, anything, these cults, it's a miracle. It's another miracle like raising the dead.