There we go. All right, you can come to James chapter number two. That's where we'll be first. It'll take us just a minute to get there. James chapter number two. We've been going through some very practical lessons on witnessing to try to prepare you for the missions trip that we will be taking. And not just the missions trip, but the Christian life in general. If you're not going on the missions trip, you're still a missionary. You're not going on the missions trip. You are still an ambassador for Christ. It's still your duty according to the scripture, according to the commandment that was laid upon you upon your salvation. It is still your duty to be a witness wherever you are, regardless of whether or not you'll be attending the missions trip but if you are attending the missions trip we're certain that we're going to have opportunities to converse with people and especially with some younger people in a VVS and so we want to make sure that you're prepared so that when we travel across the country and spend a thousand dollars each and go through all the time and effort that goes into a missions trip that when you have that opportunity to speak to somebody you'll make the best use of it. I'd be ashamed to do all that and then not know what to say or not be able to help somebody that actually wants help. So our first lesson was an introduction to the importance of witnessing. We talked about hell and heaven and why witnessing is important. It's a commandment. The souls of men are at stake. We gave you some basic verses for presenting the gospel. Brother David gave you all that list of verses. If you need that list of verses, we can provide that to you. And then last time we talked about some practical considerations for witnessing. Not so doctrinal, but still very practical, like talk nice and be nice and stay on the gospel and don't have bad breath, and the sort of important things when it comes to witnessing. And so this time we're going to address some common questions, arguments, or concerns that you will be presented with while being a witness on the street corner, or on the reservation, or in your school, or at your place of employment, you're going to be asked questions. And you're going to be asked a lot of different questions while witnessing. People have many excuses for why they don't believe. They've got all sorts of questions for you as a Christian, and some of them are going to be crazy. Some of them are going to be way off the wall. Some of them, there is no way you could ever have prepared for it because nobody but that weirdo ever thought of that question before. And so, that's going to happen to you, and you do your best in those situations. There's no way to be ready for every possible scenario, every possible argument, every possible question. But, there are some questions that tend to come up over and over again. While you're on the street corner, or you're witnessing somebody at school, or at work, or wherever, there are a number of questions, topics, that seem to constantly be brought up. Complaints, or arguments, or lines of reasoning, or excuses that lost people have, that seem to be a common theme. Not one that, oh, there's that one time I was on the street corner and that guy talked about this really weird thing and I've never heard that again. These are things that you hear almost on a weekly basis. Almost every time you go out witnessing, you can be sure somebody's going to say, Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Almost every time you go out witnessing, somebody's going to say, well, I don't think the Bible is the Word of God, or I don't think there is a God, or there's a number of excuses that people have that are going to be constant and consistent when you're being a witness. So we're going to go over some of those today. and try to give you some arguments or some ways to reason with these questions and these excuses that people have. There is no way that we can deal with all of these in depth with the time that we have. We could take one of these and we could go through all the verses and all the arguments and counter-arguments and give you a really thorough knowledge of one topic, but then we'd just get through one. So we're going to try to get through several, and I'm going to mention some verses, and we'll look at a couple verses, and I'll give you not just verses, but try to give you just some thoughts, some ideas, Some angles that you can take on to this thing and then maybe if we have time later in the year at a later lesson We can dig into some of these things a little deeper. All right. So number one first common question just a very general Belief is going to be any sort of works-based salvation works-based salvation all religions besides Bible Christianity, teach some sort of works-based salvation. Any of the isms, any of the cults, any of the denominations, any of the Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, their main issue is that they teach there is some sort of work that I have to do in order to be saved. Bible Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that Jesus did all the work, and all you have to do is believe. All other religions teach that there's something you have to do in order to earn your salvation. Okay, so Jesus did the work for me. I don't have to earn it. He earned it. All I have to do is believe and receive Him, receive the free gift, and my sins will be forgiven, not by works of righteousness, which I have done, but by His mercy, He saves me. Every other major religion teaches, yes, Christ died for my sins, but there's something that I need to do in addition. There's some sort of work that I need to perform in order to earn God's favor, or earn God's grace, or earn God's love. And so I need to be baptized, or I need to give money, or I need to witness, or I need to confess, or I need to pray, or I need to do something to add to what Jesus Christ did. And so you're going to encounter this on the street corner constantly. And when you peel back all the different strange doctrines of all the religions, it really comes down to this one point. They believe they're working to be saved, which is contrary to the scripture. Alright? So, under this heading, A or 1, look at James 2 and verse number 10. The Bible teaches that any sin is enough to send you to hell. any one sin is sufficient for you to be considered short of the glory of God and condemn your soul to hell for all eternity. More specifically, like a fire. Look at verse number 9. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin. and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." You could live a perfect life. Well, you couldn't. But if you were to live a perfect life and mess up just one time, When you died and stood before God, it wouldn't say, this man, this woman was perfect, except this once. He would say, you are a lawbreaker. You have come short of my... this is my law, and you have transgressed it. And it doesn't matter if you transgressed it one time, or if you transgressed it a million times, you have broken the law and the wages of sin is death. The penalty for sin is the lake of fire. So all these religions that think, I'm just trying to be good enough to earn my way to heaven, if there is one mark on your record, if there's one area in which you've come short, if there's one instance in which you did not fully live up to the glory of God, the Bible says you are a transgressor. And you don't go to hell because you committed a sin, you go to hell because you are a transgressor. You understand? And if you commit a sin, that makes you a transgressor. It doesn't matter if it's one sin or a hundred sins, you are a transgressor, and so you need forgiveness of sins. Alright, A, any sin is enough to send you to hell. B, you are too sinful to save yourself. We won't go to it, but Isaiah 64, 6, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There is nothing that you can do according to the scripture to save yourself, and you're familiar with other verses that teach that same thing. So I'm a sinner, I'm a transgressor, one sin is enough to send me to hell, and then the Bible says you can do all the good works you want. Mr. Catholic, Mr. Mormon, Mr. Jehovah's Witness, you can do all the righteous works that you want to do, but the Bible says those righteous works, though they're a good thing and a nice thought, they were never intended to save you from your sin. There's nothing that they can do to take away the sin that is on your record and rendering you a transgressor. Then the Bible says that God's plan of salvation is by mercy and grace, not works. Come to Ephesians chapter number 2. This is where it gets interesting, Ephesians 2. This seems like a really basic verse to us, but I've read this verse to Catholics and Mormons, and maybe you have as well, and somehow they don't see a contradiction between what they believe and this verse. I'm going to explain to you why, and if you can understand their reasoning, it's going to help you be a better witness to those sorts of people. You can write down Titus 3 in verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. So, I mean, that right there should end the argument. It's not by works of righteousness. Praise the Lord for your righteous works. That's a nice thing. That's a good thing. It's an honorable thing. Your mind and your heart is wanting to do right towards God, but you must understand that those righteous works are not going to take away your sin. It's only by His mercy. Now, come to Ephesians 2. Super familiar verse. Look at verse number 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith. and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man who should boast." Seems like that should end the conversation. Why is it that it doesn't when you're speaking to somebody who believes in works-based salvation? The problem is those Catholics or Mormons or whatever religion you want to insert, they also believe that they are saved by grace. The Catholic religion teaches that a Catholic is saved by they don't stand up there and say you as Catholics are saved by works They tell you that you are saved by grace And so when you witness to a Catholic says look the Bible says you're saved by grace. They say absolutely I believe that This is where we differ though or where the Bible differs from religion We differ in the means of grace. How do I obtain? that grace The Bible says that the grace of God, look at verse number 8, for by grace are ye saved through faith. The Catholic Church has what they call the means of grace, and those are the sacraments. They still believe that they're saved by the grace of God, but you have God and His righteousness there, and me and my sin here, and how do I connect into His grace? What is the pipeline that gets me the grace of God? And all religions teach, it's my good works. If I do good works, God will give me grace, and I'm never good enough to be saved, but God gives me grace when I do good works. And that's that disconnect you have when you're trying to witness to a Mormon, and they say, well, I believe in salvation by grace, too. I don't believe that my works save me. I believe the grace of God saves me. And they do, but the way that they tap into that grace is by their good works. Whereas the Bible says we're saved by grace through what through faith The pipeline which that grace can come through is my faith not my works Okay, there's another breakdown the second place where we we differ is the definition of faith the Catholic the Mormon Jehovah's Witness they all say that they have faith and what they mean by I have faith is I do good works and Because I'm doing these good works for God, because I got baptized, that means I believe what He said, and so that means I have faith. And if I don't do those works, that means I don't have faith. So they've redefined grace to mean works, and they've redefined faith to mean works. And so you're saying the same words, but a completely different conversation, because we know the Bible does not teach that faith is the obedience to God's command, but faith is rather believing what God has revealed in His Word. So the religions say, if I do these good works, that means I'm faithful and I have faith, Whereas the Bible says if I believe what God has revealed to me, that means I have faith. Now that faith can be ineffectual in my life, James chapter number 2. That faith can be dead. It can have no good to me and no good to those around me if I fail to allow that faith to work out in my life. If my works don't reflect the fact that I have faith, then what's the point of having that faith? Will faith save me? Well, yes. I'll go to heaven when I die, but I'm a useless Christian. So faith is believing what God revealed to you, whereas the religions of the world believe that it's doing good works. So if you can understand that seemingly small difference, but it's a huge difference, you'll be a lot more effective in your conversation. Because I've been tripped up. I've talked to a Catholic. They say, well, look, right here, Ephesians 2. And they say, yeah, I don't believe I'm saved by my works. And then everything you ever heard about Catholics, you're like, Everybody told me they believe in works-based salvation and they do it's just they have the the means of grace How do I get the grace of God be a good person and then God will extend the grace and it's the grace that saved me but it's the good works that Allows God to give me grace and that's that's not scriptural. We're saved by grace through faith. All right, look at John chapter number three So any sin is enough to send you to hell. I would definitely want to show that to somebody who believes in work-based salvation. You need to take the legs out from underneath their argument that somehow their good works are sufficient to save them. You're condemned by just one sin. You're too sinful to save yourself. Your good works will never save you. God's plan of salvation. He made a plan. He made a way. It's not by works. It's by faith and grace and mercy. And then anyone who does not believe on Jesus is condemned. The Bible does not say anybody who fails to do certain good works is condemned. The Bible clearly says the question when you die and stand before God, the thing that you will be judged on is what you have done with Jesus Christ. There's really only one sin that sends you to hell. It's not believing in Jesus Christ. Because if you believe on Jesus Christ, all those other sins would be taken away. I'm not going to hell because of lust, or adultery, or murder, or lying, or stealing, or anger, or pride, or any of those things. I'm going to hell because I didn't believe on Jesus Christ. And if I had believed on Jesus Christ, all those other sins on my record could have been taken away. So really the only thing I'm standing in judgment for is, what have I done with Jesus Christ? And if you can show that to somebody who believes they're saved by their works, I believe it's a very good line of reasoning to show them that that's not what the Bible teaches. Look at verse number 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him, not whosoever does good works, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned. No mention of your works, no mention of your righteousness. Who is condemned? He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So you can show these people that believe this way that the only thing that is sending them to hell is their failure to believe on the Son of God. Nothing to do with their works. Alright? So that's just a simple line of reasoning you can take with people that believe this way. Number two, baptismal regeneration. This is a big one. Again, almost every religion believes that works are necessary for salvation, but then almost every religion that believes works are necessary for salvation will especially lift up baptism. And lots of so-called Christian denominations believe that baptism is necessary for your salvation. You're going to deal with this all the time on the street corner, all the time in personal witnessing. If you just wear a Jesus Saves shirt to Walmart, somebody will feel it necessary to stop you and tell you that Acts 2 38 says that you need to repent and be baptized for the mission of sins. People that believe this way, I have no problem telling you that they believe this way. There are a few verses in the Bible which can be misinterpreted or misapplied or misunderstood, and can be taken to mean that one must be baptized to be saved, but there are plenty of other verses and plenty of other reasons to believe otherwise. Alright? So under this heading, A. Baptism is a work. Baptism is a work. We just talked about workspace salvation in general, and all those truths that we just talked about apply to the topic of baptism. It doesn't matter how you try to explain it away, baptism is a work. Everyone I've talked to about this is, well, being baptized is how you show that you have faith. And if you don't get baptized, that means you don't have faith. Or they'll say, Jesus commanded baptism. Do you really think that you can be saved while disobeying what Jesus said to do? And the answer to that question is yes, absolutely. You can be saved while disobeying what Jesus said to do. Is anyone in here saved? Anybody in here say do you ever disobey anything that Jesus said to do? All right, so it is possible to be saved while disobeying something that Jesus said to do That's the argument these people that well, how how could Jesus save you if you don't obey him in baptism? Well, how could Jesus save you if you don't obey him in witnessing? How could Jesus save you if you don't obey him and literally everything else he says in the scripture. All right, so Baptism is important, it's something that you're supposed to do, but it is not something upon which salvation hinges. The Bible is full of people who are saved doing things they weren't supposed to do, and not doing things that they were supposed to do. B. Every instance of baptism in the Bible is after salvation. There are nine instances in the book of Acts of somebody being baptized. In every single instance, the Bible takes time to make sure that you know that they professed faith in Jesus Christ prior to their baptism. You don't have an instance in the Bible where somebody was dunked in the water and then pronounced saved. They're always pronounced saved and then dunked in the water. Never is someone said to be baptized and then trust in Jesus Christ They always believe first and then they're baptized and the Bible is clear that believing on Jesus is what saves you and if baptism comes after that belief the person that you are putting in the water has already been Saved. All right come to first Corinthians chapter number one first Corinthians chapter one See, Paul did not baptize in Corinth. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse number 14. I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius. Now, if baptism is what saved a soul, if baptism took away your sins, why would you be happy that you hadn't baptized people? Would there be anyone here that say, yeah, a lot of people got saved in my town, but I'm so glad that I didn't witness to any of them. A lot of people got saved at church Sunday, but praise the Lord, it wasn't anybody that I gave a tract to. It wasn't anybody that I led to the altar or got to lead to the Lord. No, we'd all be glad for the opportunity to save. So Paul says, I'm so glad that I didn't baptize any one of you. Less any should say, verse 15, that I baptized in my own name. Now the reason for his gladness that he hadn't baptized them is he didn't want them to look to him. He wanted them to look to the Lord. And I baptized also the household of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. Look at verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but preach the gospel not with wisdom words of the cross Christ should be made of none effect so Paul says you have baptism over here and you have the gospel over here and I have been sent to do one of those things and not the other what is the gospel according to Acts Romans chapter 1 is the power of God unto salvation To everyone that believes the jew first and also to the greek. So if the gospel is the power of god unto salvation And paul says that baptism is something different than the gospel Then baptism is not the power of god unto salvation He said i'm coming to preach the gospel Not baptized because I don't want you to be worried about who baptized I got baptized by the james. I got baptized David, I got baptized by, I don't want you to think about any of that, I want you to look at Christ. And so I'm glad that none of you got baptized by me, or else you might say, well, you might be a good Christian, but you know, the Apostle Paul baptized me. And he says, I'm not coming to do any of that. I'm coming to preach the gospel instead. So we see very clearly here that the gospel is something separate from baptism, and then lining that up with Romans chapter one and 1 Corinthians 15 makes that a really, really good argument for those that would believe. That Salvation is through baptism. All right, so see Paul didn't baptize in Corinth D the lack of verses the lack of verses like we said There are maybe three places that I could think of that you could go to and make it look like maybe baptism and necessary for salvation. You could go to Mark 16, and you could go to Acts 2, and you could go to 2 Peter 3, and kind of try to trip someone up by taking those verses out of their context. But do you really think that God is going to stake the salvation of the entire human race on three difficult to interpret passages? There are many, many verses that show clearly that salvation is only by believing on Jesus. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He said, come unto me, come unto me. If baptism were necessary for salvation, you would think that every one of those verses would say, oh yeah, and don't forget about being baptized. God wouldn't have a hundred verses that say all you need to do is believe on Jesus Christ, and then hide in another part of the scripture, oh, and if you're not baptized, you're still lost. He would make it just as clear that you need to be baptized. He would have three verses that everybody would argue about and say, well, I mean, if you look at it this way, it might... So, we're talking about the salvation of mankind. And God is... There are some things in the scripture that aren't entirely clear that you can see one way one day and another way the next day. But something like salvation, God has made crystal clear. He's made it impossible to miss. And so I believe that if baptism were necessary for salvation, or else you're going to die in your sins and go to hell, he would have made that so very clear in the scripture. And then next, E, the thief on the cross. The thief on the cross. The answer to all these works-based religions, he was never baptized. Well, you know, God just made an exception. It probably rained while he was on the cross and I heard all sorts of dumb things. If God's just making exceptions, then, well, you don't need water then. And then if you follow that same line of reasoning, if water is needed to be saved, What if somebody else is in a situation like the thief on the cross? What if there's no water around? What if you're in the Grand Canyon hiking on a youth trip, and you die, and you're in the desert, and there's no water for you to be baptized? You want to be saved you've never been saved and you're praying that God will save you and you get saved But then you're in a desert. There's no water What if you're in a hospital bed and you you're on your deathbed and you get saved? I want to be baptized. The doctor says we can't let you do that I'm sorry. You've got minutes left before you pass away The water is necessary for salvation. It causes a lot of problems a lot of people that can't be saved if water is necessary for salvation Some people, if they got in the water, they'd die. What if it's cold outside? What if it's wintertime? And somebody's a heart patient, and you want to break the ice to baptize them so that they can be saved, and that would kill them. I'm just saying, there's scenarios that this causes some real problems. I'm sure it's happened. All right. Three, the deity of Jesus Christ. The deity of Jesus Christ. You'll almost always have someone try to argue that Jesus isn't God. He's not God. He's the Son of God. They'll claim the Trinity or the deity of Christ is just church tradition. It's not actually in the Bible and there are many many verses So otherwise, I'm going to give you some references some passages and then we're gonna we're gonna move on John chapter number 1 verses 1 through like 3 right in there says the beginning was the word work with God the word was God verse number 14 says the word was made flesh and Dwells among us. There's somebody who is God who was made flesh and walked with man could be nobody But Jesus Christ first Timothy 316 grace the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh When could that have happened outside of the incarnation of Jesus Christ Philippians chapter number two says let this mind be in use in Christ Jesus Says he thought it not robbery to be equal with God if you're not God you can't say that and If I were to say this morning, I don't think it's robbery for me to be equal with God. What do you think? You'd all be very offended, because you would understand that as it is a claim to deity. So when the Bible says that Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God, that can mean nothing else than he is equal with God. He took on that lower place, and he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and submitted himself to the will of the Father. That doesn't mean that he wasn't God. First John 5 7 there are three that bear record in heaven a father word the Holy Ghost and these three are one John chapter number 10 verses 30 to 33 he says I and my father are one and Then the Jews say I'm gonna stone you and then he says what good work you stoning me for you know We're not stoning you for a good work We're stoning you because you made yourself equal with God. So when Christ said, I and my father are one, he wasn't just saying we're one in will, or we're one in idea, or we're one in purpose. The Jews understood that to be a claim to deity in so much that they were going to try to stone him. And Christ didn't correct them. And then John 14, he says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Philip says, show us the Father. And Jesus says, have I been so long time with you, Philip? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Again, if any man said that, you would be really creeped out and offended, unless that person was God. And so, the Bible very, very clearly states that Jesus is God, and there's many other angles that we can take on that, but we must move on. Four, God won't send anyone to hell. You'll hear this one a lot. You'll often hear people say, I just don't think that a loving God would send anyone to hell. I think it's mean that you're telling people that they're going to hell. God is love and you should just love people. And look, it doesn't matter what you think about God or what I think about God. My thinking of God, or your thinking of God, does not, for one moment, change who God is. I'm 5'11", and if you think that I'm 6'2", or you think I'm 5'8", it doesn't change, for a moment, who I really am, and what I really am. Right? Same thing with God all that people think well, I just don't think God's like that well God is who he is before you were ever born and he wrote who he is in a Bible so you can know who he is and it doesn't matter if you I just don't feel like that. That's who God well Then you have a messed up idea of God Somebody taught you in your youth something that is contrary to who God really is and you've grown up with an idea that is incorrect and you can either continue having this incorrect idea about God or you can submit yourself to the scripture and learn who God really is. And if you have a false idea of God, you're going to die one day and stand before not your idea of God, you're going to stand before who God really is. So the Bible does say, A, that God is love. That's 1 John 4, John 3, 16. God is love, and He does love His creation. B the Bible says God does not want anyone to go to hell 2nd Peter 3 9 says God is not willing that any should perish but that all Should come to repentance God does not want a single person contrary to the Calvinistic belief God does not want a single person to die in their sins and go to hell God wants every member of his creation to be saved. The Bible says, God who will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. God wants everyone to be saved and so see, God made a way for sinners to avoid hell. We were yet without strength in due time. Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, and for adventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's Romans chapter number 5. The Bible says that he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 21. So God loves you. He doesn't want you to go to hell and so he made a way for you to avoid that hell But D if sinners choose not to take God's way of escape God's love will not prevent him from sending them to hell And that is what the Bible says. I thought God loved me. He does love you. That's why he died for you. He does love you. That's why he made an escape for you. Why does God want me to go to hell? He doesn't want you to go to hell. That's why he provided an out. But if you refuse that solution, the Bible says his love will not stand in the way of his judgment. His love is not going to prevent him from casting you in a lake of fire for all eternity. Revelation 20, verse 12. People go to hell. God sends people to a lake of fire. Alright? The demonstration of God's love. Hereby perceive we love of God. How? Not that He took away hell, but that He laid down His life for us. The demonstration of God's love is that He made a way of escape, not that He will take away the punishment. That's how we understand or perceive or see the love of God. Alright, five. I'm not that bad. I'm not a sinner. Someone else is worse than me. Of course, we know this is silly, but this is what most people think about themselves. I'm pretty good. And maybe you are, compared to someone else. They can't wrap their mind around the fact that they are as bad as God says that they are. That's the problem. The Bible's saying I'm bad, and I'm deserving of hell, but I don't see how I'm deserving of hell. I don't see how I'm that bad. And what you need to do is convince them to view themselves from God's estimation and not their own. In Romans 3, 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The standard is perfection. You're coming short. Ecclesiastes 7, 20, there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Why? I don't think that's true. I think I'm a just man. I think that I do good and I don't think I sin. And so are you going to believe God's estimation about yourself, or are you going to believe your estimation about yourself? And just because someone else is worse than you doesn't mean that you're good. There's people worse than me, there's people worse than you, that doesn't mean that I'm good, or that I've done anything right, or that I deserve salvation. Alright, number six. There is no God. There is no God you're gonna deal with atheists all the time. And here's what you must remember a these are not wise people They are going to try to intimidate you with their knowledge they're going to try to belittle you or be condescending about a what you don't know and they do know and how they've memorized or studied something from a book that you've never read before, how they read more books than the books that you read, or they've been to more classes than you've been to, but the Bible says in Psalm 14 in verse 1 that the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. So you as a Bible believer can look at that person and say, the Bible says, though this person might be book smart, they might be sharp, or they might be quick, they are foolish for what they believe. You are a lot wiser than that person, no matter how educated they are, and there's no reason to let them make you feel belittled, or insufficient, or incapable. What you believe makes perfect sense. And what they believe is nothing but confusion, and the Bible says that they are foolish. Right? B. Creation is your best argument. Creation is your best argument. Psalm 19.1 says that the heavens declare the glory of God. I don't believe there's a God. Well, look out there. Look at the creation. How did that happen? I believe in evolution. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Nothing in this world is getting better, everything's falling apart, there's no observable evolution happening, nobody's ever been able to prove evolution scientifically. You've never proved evolution scientifically. So evolution is just as much faith. Christianity. I've not proved Christianity scientifically. I haven't seen God in order to prove him to the crowd that must see to believe. But I have faith in the Bible, and they have faith in something that they haven't seen either, evolution. C. They cannot argue with a personal testimony. And you see Paul using this method throughout the scripture with unbelievers and people of other religion. Nobody can argue about what happened to you. I was miserable. I was unhappy. I was lost. I had no reason for living. I got saved. I had joy in my life. I have purpose that hasn't gone away, and I love the Lord. Well, no, that didn't actually happen to you. Well, yes, it did. And you can't argue with that. You can't prove that it didn't. Well, I just think that you're just saying that. Well, you can think what you want, but I know what happened to me, and let me tell you about it. And then, D, you must remember you are not expected to prove anything to the satisfaction of man. The Bible never makes an argument for the existence of God. It simply says that God exists. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. It says that God gave you a knowledge of him, and if you deny that knowledge, you are a fool. All right, seven. Try to knock out a couple more here. Bible's not the Word of God. This could be a difficult topic because if somebody refuses to look at the Bible as an authority, it's hard to have any sort of conversation with them. They say, I don't believe the Bible. Well, let me show you in the Bible that the Bible's true. Well, I don't believe that. And then you're kind of stuck. So here's some ways you can maybe make them think and challenge them to trust the Word of God. First and foremost, most importantly, is fulfilled prophecy. fulfilled prophecy. The details of Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection are all reported in the Old Testament thousands of years before any of those things happened. And it is statistically impossible for somebody to predict those details. without Jesus Christ being who he said he was, without the Bible being the revelation of God. A man named John McDowell calculated the probability of these prophecies being fulfilled. The Old Testament contains 60 major prophecies and 270 ramifications about the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled every one of these predictions. The probability of Jesus fulfilling merely eight of the 60 major prophecies is 1 in 100 quintillion, which is the number 1 and 17 zeros coming after the number 1. I had to Google what that number was. I'm after about a million or maybe a billion. I'm done. To put these odds in perspective, imagine the entire state of Texas is covered with silver dollars two feet deep, and one of them is marked with some blue paint. All of the silver dollars are mixed in thoroughly. A blindfolded man is then instructed to reach down and pick up one coin. The chances of that one coin being the marked coin are the same chances as Jesus fulfilling eight of the 60 major prophecies. He didn't just fulfill eight, he fulfilled all 60. It's statistically impossible for Jesus to be anyone else but who the Bible says that he is. The Bible's full of scientific knowledge that couldn't have been known to the writers. There's archaeological and historical evidence throughout the scripture. And then the Bible records the downfalls of its heroes, which would not be as expected if it were written just by men. We had several more. Maybe we'll get to them before we leave. But we'll wrap it up right there out of time. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for these truths. Please help us in our witnessing to be able to answer Correctly those that have questions. We sure love you bless the rest of our day in Jesus name