As many of you know, I was invited today to be a guest lecturer at a religion class up at the College of St. Scholastica. What prompted this was a student in that class who's a believer and attends Duluth Bible Church, has been interacting in his class on guise for God or God for guise. And in doing so, he's been writing papers that have been rejected and marked down by his teacher, who is a Roman Catholic priest. And they've been interacting about these things. And in doing so, this priest has been amazed that this believer takes the Bible in a literal fashion and attends a church that teaches the Bible in a literal fashion and said, in essence, he's never heard anyone ever do that before. and for therefore the diversity of viewpoint in the class and for his class to be exposed to other ways of thinking. I was invited to be a guest lecturer today from 3.30 to 4.30 there up at the College of St. Scholastica. Probably about 40 people attended. I would guess maybe half of them were from Duluth Bible Church. It was an extra credit class and that may have been partly an issue. Plus it was snowing and that may have been a factor, but it was an enjoyable time in opening the Word of God and such. I was to teach from 3.30 to 4.30. I spoke from 3.35 to 425 and then was going to be open up for questions and the class extended till five o'clock as we had one question after another, primarily from the priest as well as one of the nuns there and some other people as well who were in the classes. There were probably four, five, six staff people and other students and guests as well. And the whole subject was on, can the Bible be interpreted and understood literally? Can it be interpreted and understood literally? And I am of the subtle conviction, after approximately 40 years of studying the Bible almost daily, that the answer to that important question is an emphatic yes. Yes, it is really possible for the Bible to be understood, and yes, the Bible is to be interpreted literally, which I will define later exactly what I mean by literally. And I am convinced that the average person, including most college students, have never heard a reasoned explanation for this conviction. Instead, they've just heard things like, well, the Bible is full of contradictions or you can't trust the Bible. It's been translated so many times and on and on we could go. So it's easily dismissed instead of carefully examined to arrive at a reasoned conclusion. And you see, as I think of reasoned conclusion, genuine faith does not require a leap in the dark, but a reasoned response to the revelation of God as it's set forth in the Bible. But it does take a willingness to study carefully the Scriptures and to interpret them consistently in a normal, grammatical, historical, and contextual way so that the text and not the interpreter becomes the final authority for what is correctly meant by what has been written. Well, I'm convinced that God has spoken and He has not stuttered, and He means what He says, and He says what He means. In fact, as you think of that book that you have in your hand tonight, the Bible, do you realize that the word Bible means book? It's the book of books, for it's like no other book in several ways. For the Bible is a book that claims to be inspired by God. The Bible is a book that claims to be the revelation of God, which He wants you to understand. The Bible is a book which is really a collection of 66 books that gives several lines of evidence to support its claim of divine origin and authority. And that's why when your teachers at UMD, Scholastica, LSC, or whatever, say this. Well, you can't use the Bible to support the Bible. They are erroneous and flawed in that conclusion. And here is why. Because the Bible is not just one book, it's 66 books. Written by 40 different authors over 1500 years. So as to have a cohesive, unified testimony to the truth of Scripture as set forth in the Bible. So it's not like you're quoting one author. You're quoting various authors. It's not one book. It's various books. And frankly, if you would hear a symposium or a forum of 40 different men that continued to say the same thing and so forth and came from various walks of life, that would be very supportive in the average university. anywhere in the world. See, now, as we unravel this today, I wanted to answer three questions. And notice I didn't say, why should you believe the Bible is the Word of God? Because it wasn't designed to be a debate. It was designed to be a time for me to share my convictions. But you know, when it comes out in the wash, it's the same. Why do I believe the Bible is the very Word of God? The second question I sought to answer is why do I interpret and understand the Bible literally? And thirdly, what is the main message of the Bible? And that's what we want to cover tonight. And so, open your Bibles with me to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Now, what I'm going to cover tonight will be helpful for you as a believer, as it should encourage the fact that your faith is in a reliable object. It should help equip you in your personal witness when you interact with people around the Gospel. Because they're going to, at times, attack the truthfulness and veracity of the Scriptures. They're going to call into question whether you can really trust the Bible. Again, they've heard many times it's untrustworthy, full of contradictions. In fact, oftentimes that comes from the teacher in the Bible as literature class in college, as he systematically tears apart the foundation that the Bible is indeed the Word of God. Not in all, but in too many classes that is the case. Now, regarding our first question, why do I believe the Bible is the very Word of God? This question is a critical one which deals with the Bible's origin and authority. And I ask it because for many people, the Bible is like the Queen of England. She holds the top position, but holds no real authority or power. And though I was raised a Roman Catholic and attended Mass every Sunday, and by the way, my cousin is a priest, my aunt was a nun, my sisters worked for the bishop, and I was an altar boy and later a scripture reader. And I grew up in a wonderful home where I was told the Bible was the very Word of God, but I never really knew what was in it, and I never really knew any reasons why I should believe it was the Word of God. And so, permit me to give you five reasons why I believe the Bible is the only book that God has ever given. Reason number one centers around what it claims. For you see, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, where you should be turned, in verse 16 it says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." All Scripture is inspired by God. And that word inspired is the Greek word, pheophonoustos. Pheo is the word for God. Noustos is the word for breathe. The literal rendering of the word would be it's God breathed. Now, when you speak, you breathe. In other words, the source is God. It comes from the mouth of God. It is the Word of God. It is inspired by God. And how did God do that? Well, we're told in 2 Peter 1.21, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. And that word moved is used in Acts 27 the wind blowing a ship around and ultimately determining where it landed. And in the same way, the Holy Spirit blew around, as it were, the writers of Scripture so that what they wrote, without violating their personality, without violating their vocabulary, and in most cases, without dictating it to them, the Holy Spirit blew them around so they arrived at communicating in perfect accuracy the truth of the word of God. And thus the Holy Spirit is the source of the revelation. The prophet then both spoke and wrote the scriptures, which deals with inscripturation. So we have in the Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts, in the New Testament Greek manuscripts. And that very Holy Spirit now is in the ministry of illuminating people's thinking to the truth of the Word that He revealed and then inscripturated under divine inspiration. And keep in mind that technically, the prophet was not inspired. The writing is inspired as the Holy Spirit moved the prophet to write the very Word of God. Now, as I think of why I believe the Word of God, and you've heard these five reasons before, but I'm going to expand them tonight and say some things that I don't think I've ever taught at Duluth Bible Church before, so listen carefully. First of all, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its supernatural unity. Its supernatural unity. You say, what do you mean? Again, the Bible is a collection of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, written over 1,500 years by 40 different authors from all walks of life, in three different languages, Hebrew, Chaldean and Greek, on three different continents, Africa, Asia and Europe, yet without contradiction, when properly understood, which attests to its divine origin and authority. Now, as I said before, can you imagine for a moment taking 40 students, like I mentioned at St. Scholastica today, giving them clipboards and having them write down, what are your thoughts on God, Life, death, marriage, family, heaven, hell, and so forth. And then collecting them, would they agree? No. And right in that classroom, they would have disagreed. Now, I did have a professor later on in the question and answer say, yes, but wouldn't it be safe to say that those 40 different authors all came from the same religious tradition? And therefore, that would be the reason why there was agreement. And I said, well, I think it goes beyond that and I'll share with you why. I said, let's take the Roman Catholic tradition. Within that tradition, I have met priests who believe in purgatory and those who don't. Those who believe in limbo and those who don't. Those who believe this and those who believe that. So even within that tradition, they don't agree. And yet, when we come to the scriptures, we're going Not only in the same tradition, if you want to use that term, but here there's full agreement. And at times people will say, well, the Bible is full of contradiction. And I say, really, name me one, and they usually can't. And then I say, well, you look far more intelligent than to believe it's full of contradictions without examining it. You see, we have an amazing book here in the Bible. Now consider the Bible, 40 different authors, 1500 years, 66 books, versus the Koran. Now just compare. The Koran was compiled by one individual under the influence of Mohammed's father-in-law. And then in 650 AD, a group of Arab scholars came along and revised it to form a new unified Koran, but all old copies were destroyed at this time, so you can't even compare. But notice, one individual versus 40. In one period of time versus 1,500 years. And so forth. There's a great comparison here to be found indicating, again, the Bible is this amazing book of supernatural unity. Secondly, I believe the Bible is the very Word of God because of its fulfilled prophecy. And this is one of the strongest evidences for the inspiration of the Bible. You see, the Bible, like no other holy book, has placed its claim of divine inspiration on the line by making hundreds of specific prophecies that have exactly been fulfilled as God promised, again supporting its divine origin and authority. Now again, if you look at the various religions of the world, You will see that they don't even attempt to do predictive prophecy. Why? Because they're really not the Word of God. They don't stake their reputation on the line. Because you see, if you make a prophecy that doesn't happen, it proves you are false. And yet the Bible has done it hundreds of times. by way of prophecies, and it's laid its reputation on the line for being the Word of God. In fact, just in Christ's first coming, there were over a hundred prophecies fulfilled. Let me mention seven of them. First of all, Jesus Christ predicted birthline beginning thousands of years before His birth. His predicted birthline. You see, the Bible made it clear In Genesis 3.15, it would be the seed of the woman. And then the seed of Shem in Genesis 9, that the Messiah would be from the seed of Abraham. But remember, he had two sons, but the Bible made it clear it would be from the seed of Isaac. And remember, Isaac had sons, he saw in Jacob, but the Bible made it clear it would be from Jacob. And then remember, Jacob had 12 sons, and the Bible made it clear it would be from Judah. And then Jesse. And then David. And then Solomon. And that's why when we begin Matthew 1, verse 1, what do we read? The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Why does it say that? To show that Jesus Christ had the right birth line and the credentials to be the Messiah just like the Old Testament predicted. Secondly, we see Jesus Christ predicted birthplace over 700 years before His birth. 700 years. Where was it predicted? Well, in Micah 5, verse 2. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me, the one to be ruler in Israel, the Messiah, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. So though he's from everlasting, he's going to be born in Bethlehem. That makes him God who became a man. And notice his place is clearly Bethlehem of his birth. In the New Testament, we're told in Matthew 2.1, now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, the wise men came. And you remember that Herod asked his scribes, so where is the Messiah to be born? And what did the scribes say? Well, in Bethlehem. And then they quote Micah 5, verse 2. Interesting enough. You see, again, the Bible says what it means and means what it says. Thirdly, Jesus Christ predicted birth over 700 years before His birth. And how would He be born? He would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7, verse 14 predicted it. Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel. So we're in Matthew's account of the birth of Christ. It says in verse 23, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. Notice, who is Jesus Christ? He's God with us, born here of Mary. Verse 24, Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her sexually, till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus." And so, the virgin conception and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was predicted 700 years before it happened. Fourthly, Jesus Christ predicted betrayal for 30 pieces of silver by a friend was made over 500 years before his birth. And it's interesting to note that the Bible is clear. It was 30, not 29. It was silver and not gold. For Zechariah 11, verse 13 says, So I took the 30 piece shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Matthew 27.3 tells us, Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. You see, His betrayal was predicted some 500 years before He was born. Fifthly, Jesus Christ predicted crucifixion and words on the cross over 1,000 years before His birth. 1,000 years. And why is that? Because it was predicted in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 22, verse 16, David writes, They pierced my hands and my feet. But clearly, his hands and his feet were never pierced. This is messianic for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would be in the lineage of David. And thus we read in the New Testament book of Matthew 27 verse 35, Then they crucified him. Now what happens when they crucify? They pierce your hands and your feet. Now, what is amazing about that is not merely that it was written a thousand years before Christ died, but the fact that crucifixion was not the means of capital punishment among the Jews. They stoned their criminals. Instead, the Romans had picked up this way of crucifixion from other people groups. And yet, a thousand years before Christ came, it was predicted. And in that same psalm, we read in Psalm 22, verse 1, David saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We see also in Matthew 27, 46 that Jesus said the same thing on the cross. Now, one professor asked me during the question and answer time, well, would it not be normal under those kind of conditions for someone to cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And my response was, well, that may be true. But in light of the fact that Psalm 22-1 is also in the same psalm as Psalm 22-16, there is a relationship between the two that indicates it is messianic in its prophecy. And therefore, there is every reason to believe that these words were predictive and fulfilled by Jesus Christ on the cross. You see, as we think of the cross of Christ, this was not human circumstance. This was divine appointment, predicted by God through the prophets in the Old Testament, a thousand years before Jesus Christ even came. A sixth interesting prophecy related to Christ's first coming was about Jesus Christ's garment. that it was predicted that lots would be cast for it there around the cross. And this, again, was predicted over 1,000 years before his birth. And again, it was found in Psalm 22, that messianic psalm, in verse 18, where it says, They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. What's interesting is in the New Testament, Matthew 27-35, the Holy Spirit directs Matthew to record, "...then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots." Quoting Psalm 22-18. Now, unless you believe that the Roman soldiers were in collusion with the Lord Jesus Christ and were playing their role as scripted, you would have to come to the conclusion this was a fulfillment of divine prophecy, not human collusion. For indeed, the Roman soldiers were not part of the gig. The seventh prophecy worth noting, and there are many more, that were fulfilled in Christ's first coming was His predicted bodily resurrection. Again, predicted over a thousand years before His birth. We see in Psalm 16 and verse 9 these words, Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices, my flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One, the Messiah, to seek corruption. You see, the body of the Messiah never saw corruption. It was understood in the Jewish mind that the body began to corrupt on the fourth day. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. That's why in the New Testament book of Matthew 27 and verse 5, the angel answered and said to the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay." Now, when Peter on the day of Pentecost gets up and speaks to this crowd of Jews and says in effect, you crucified your Messiah, but God raised Him from the dead, he supports his conclusion by quoting again from Psalm 16. And it says, He, David, foreseeing this, this resurrection of Christ, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. And so the Old Testament clearly predicts the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. There in Psalm 16, Isaiah 53, and so forth. Now, what are the mathematical odds of one person, Jesus Christ, fulfilling just eight of these prophecies as there was over a hundred fulfilled in Christ's first coming? Well, Peter Stoner, apparently a statistical mathematician, has arrived at the conclusion the possibility of one man fulfilling just eight of these is one times ten to the seventeenth. Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. I needed some illustration. He says, well, what it means is take the state of Texas, take a silver dollar, put it four feet high, blindfold the guy, mark one of those silver dollars, mess it up, and the possibility of that guy finding that silver dollar is about 1 times 10 to the 17th. Now that's only for eight prophecies. If out of 48 of those prophecies, it's 1 times 10 to the 157th, and his illustration dealt with electrons, and I don't know a thing about it. But remember, Jesus Christ fulfilled over a hundred specific prophecies in His first coming, indicating that He is the Son of God and indicating that the Bible is the Word of God. Now, I want you to note something here, and this will tie in to the next section. All of these prophecies were fulfilled using language in a normal, plain, literal way, not with some hidden allegorical meaning. Bethlehem meant Bethlehem. Virgin meant virgin. Birth meant birth. Pierced hands and feet meant pierced hands and feet. No secret meanings to them. Furthermore, note that all these prophecies were fulfilled in specific detail hundreds of years after their prediction. What does it again indicate? That the Bible is the very Word of God. as only God can predict the future with this kind of amazing accuracy and detail. Now, sometimes people say, well, what about Nostradamus? Nostradamus. Didn't he make some prophecies? Haven't they been fulfilled? Well, he did make some prophecies, but they're dark, they're obscure, they're hard to understand, they've been wrong at times. I don't know what his average is, but frankly, to be a prophet of God, you have to be 100% accurate. In fact, according to the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 18, if you were ever inaccurate, you were to be stoned to death. So you better be sure what you said was accurate, or it was really down the pike in fulfillment, right? So hopefully you would die a normal death before they realized you were a false prophet. Nostradamus' prophecies pale in comparison to anything. that we find in the Bible. The third reason you can believe the Bible is the Word of God is its amazing uniqueness. Its amazing uniqueness. The Bible is unique in several ways. It's unique in its claims to be the very Word of God. Some 3,800 times the Bible states, God said, thus says the Lord, in terms like that, claiming inspiration from God. It's unique in its preservation. Thousands of manuscripts and translations. It's unique in its teaching. Salvation by grace versus salvation by works. And it's unique in its description of its actors, exposing their vices as well as their virtues. In fact, if you look at literature from antiquity, like Caesar writing the Gallic Wars, You will see the earliest copy is A.D. 900, a thousand years later, and we only have ten copies, and yet this is taught as if it's actual fact, as are other writings here. But when it comes to the New Testament, notice, over 24,000 copies of the New Testament available. There is no book like that in the world that has been preserved like that. so that you can compare one manuscript with another and get it right. It's incredible. The Bible stands alone like no other piece of literature in antiquity or even now. And in fact, when it comes to its translation, there's at least 1,300 translations into new languages currently in progress. There's over 1,100 translations of various languages when it comes to the New Testament, and 451 times the whole Bible has been translated into a particular language. There's no book ever like this. Why is that? It's because people's destinies have been changed, people's lives have been transformed, people's marriages have been saved, and so forth, because of the amazing power of the Word of God. And furthermore, Jesus said this, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word shall never pass away. And He meant it. Furthermore, when it comes to the teaching of the Bible, again, the Bible teaches that salvation is by grace. It's based on what God has done for you, not based on what you have done for God. And even when it talks about its actors, can you imagine for David to write 2 Samuel, most people think, or to be involved in writing the Scripture, knowing that 2 Samuel Samuel wrote 2 Samuel, but describing David's vices and his sin with Bathsheba? How would you like that? If you had to write about your life, I ask you a question, would you include those kind of events? Knowing the flesh, the answer is what? Never. Or at least we would shape it and slant it in a way that favors us. You see, God tells it like it is. He exposes the flaws and the failures and the virtues and the vices of both saint and sinner in His Word. A fourth reason you can believe the Bible is the very Word of God is not only its supernatural unity, fulfilled prophecy, amazing uniqueness, but fourthly, modern archaeology. You see, the archaeological spade is a friend and not a foe in repeatedly verifying biblical accounts regarding the historicity of biblical people groups, Like the Hittites. Ancient biblical cities, like Jericho. And ancient biblical characters, like Abraham. Modern archaeology. See, archaeology doesn't scare me one iota. In fact, with satellite imaging now, there is going to be in the next few years some amazing archaeological discoveries, unless there's great worldwide upheaval or the Lord comes. because we're able to see things. I was just reading on Fox News a while ago, where in Egypt alone, I think they have found 60 new pyramids under the sand because of satellite imaging. And they have verified two of them already that we never knew even existed. And you can imagine how this is going to change the face of archaeology in various ways. You see, you have the Ebla tablets. The Ebla tablets set forth to us names like Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah, and various things, verifying their historicity. The Nuzi tablets also set forth and verify events in the book of Genesis. And these were found again over the last hundred years. Now, if you lived in the 1800s and you attended a liberal university that undermined the Bible, you might have heard this, well, you know the Bible teaches about people groups like the Hittites. But frankly, we have never found any evidence of the Hittites until they did. And they began to find pottery and then pretty soon whole cities and pretty soon they began to come to the conclusion there was a whole Hittite empire And therefore, they got rid of that criticism of the Bible and looked for a new one. You see, modern archaeology gives testimony to the fact the Bible is the very Word of God. But you know the fifth line of evidence for divine inspiration is the testimony of Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus Christ called the Bible the Word of God. and understood and affirmed the historicity of numerous biblical stories and accounts just as they were written in plain, normal language hundreds of years earlier." In fact, in Mark chapter 7, verses 5 through 9, listen to what Jesus calls the Bible. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands. And he answered and said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you, hypocrites, as it is written? This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you uphold the tradition of men. and washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do. He said to them, all too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition, making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down and many such things you do." Notice he called it the commandment of God. He called it the Word of God. That's what Jesus thought of the Bible that he had. In fact, did you realize that Jesus Christ believed every part of God's Word would be fulfilled? Matthew 5.18, I assure you, excuse me, for assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot, or yod, and one tittle, will by no means pass from the law to all be fulfilled. You know what a jot looks like? Here it is. You know what a tittle looks like? Crossing of a T. That's it. To the very minutest part of Scripture, Jesus said it would all be fulfilled. You know why? Because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Did you realize Jesus Christ believed the Bible was the product of the Holy Spirit using true human prophets? Mark 12, 36, for David himself said, by the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. You know, at one point the priest asked, so do you believe literally that Jesus is going to make his enemies his footstool, a literal footstool? And I said, no. I said, I don't know of anyone who interprets it that way. And I found out later that He would use that as proof why you can't interpret it literally, and that supposedly literalists do. And frankly, I don't know of anyone who does. I think it's very obvious your footstool is an analogy, in other words, of domination, not a literal footstool. You see, Jesus Christ believed the Scriptures could be known, and that you are accountable for your ignorance of them. Matthew 22, 29, Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. You know what? He believes they can be known and he held people accountable for not knowing them. In fact, approximately 10% of the words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament are quotes from the Old Testament, which reveal his belief in the Bible's authority, truthfulness and fulfillment. By the way, when Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan, what did He say three times? It is written. What did Satan say one time? It is written. Satan knows the Bible. He just twisted it and took it out of context. Now, interesting enough, that Jesus Christ believed in the literal accounts of Adam and Eve and the divine origin of marriage. Now keep in mind, liberals do not believe that. Many people do not believe that. They think Genesis is just a bunch of mythological morals and tales that can't be taken literally. But Jesus Christ said, in fact, He says, have you not read that in the beginning God made them male and female? Instead, therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh. He believed literally in the account of Adam and Eve. He believed in a literal Noah and a literal worldwide flood. Matthew 24, verses 37 and 38. He believed in a literal Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Matthew 22, 32. He believed in a literal destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Matthew 10, 15. He believed in a literal Moses and the burning bush. Mark 12.26. He believed in a literal Moses in the Ten Commandments. John 7.19. He believed in a literal King David. Matthew 12.3. He believed in a literal Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon. Matthew 12.42. And this is the kicker. He believed in a literal Jonah swallowed by a great fish. Matthew 12.39-41. In fact, Jesus Christ said, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man shall be in the bowels of the earth. Did he believe it? Absolutely he believed it. He believed it. Furthermore, Jesus Christ believed in the Mosaic authorship of all the Pentateuch, that's Genesis through Deuteronomy, as attested in several passages of Scripture. Now, why do I bring that out? In fact, let's just go to one of these. Let's go to Matthew 22. Matthew 22. I actually left my Bible up there at Scholastica. The priest emailed me and says he's got it. I'm hoping he'll read it tonight. So I'm reading from the authorized version, the King James tonight. Oxford edition, by the way. Matthew chapter twenty two. In verse twenty four. We'll start in verse 23. The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, if a man die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Who said this? Moses said that. By the way, where did Moses say that? He said that in the book of Leviticus. It's interesting. Matthew 19 is about Genesis. Matthew 22 is about Leviticus. And as you work your way through, various times when Jesus said Moses wrote this, you will see that Jesus believed that Moses wrote all five books of the Pentateuch. Pentateuch means five. Teuch means the scrolls. Now, why is that important? If you go to an institute of higher learning that denies the truthfulness of the Bible, There are theological liberals who believe in what's called the J-E-D-P theory of the writing of the Pentateuch, which Jesus Christ debunks. You see, they say that Moses didn't write all the Pentateuch. There was at least four different traditions that were involved, including various writers, and they used various names for God and such, like Yahweh in this section, and Elohim in that section, and that Deuteronomy was written by another group, and P is the priestly tradition, and that Moses really didn't write all of the Pentateuch. But what did Jesus say? Jesus said, Moses said. Moses said. And Moses said. Now furthermore, Jesus Christ believed that Isaiah wrote all of Isaiah. And to see this, I want you to go to John chapter 12 with me. John chapter 12. In John 12, verses 38 and 39, we'll start in verse 37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not in him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? That is a quote from Isaiah 53, verse 1. Verse 39, Therefore, they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory and spake of Him. By the way, Where is that in Isaiah? That's a quote from Isaiah 6, verse 10. Both quotes, Jesus said, Isaiah said. Isaiah 53-1, Isaiah 6-10. Now why is that significant? Again, there are theological liberals who argue for different authorships of Isaiah. Chapters 1-39 they say is Isaiah, but chapters 40-66 are from some group of his disciples or so forth, and it's not really Isaiah who wrote that. Interesting enough, Jesus Christ said, it's Isaiah. Isaiah 53 verse 1 would be in the second section. Isaiah 6 verse 10 is in the first section. And in the same passage, John 12, Jesus Christ says twice, Isaiah wrote it, and he refers to both sections of the book. In fact, Jesus Christ and the apostles quote Isaiah alone as being the author 21 times, while Isaiah claims he is the author alone multiple times as well. And so Jesus Christ believed the Old Testament. He believed it in a normal, grammatical, historical way. He believed it was the very Word of God, the commandment of God. He believed Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Isaiah wrote Isaiah. David wrote Psalms and so forth. Why can you believe the Bible is the Word of God? because of its supernatural unity, its fulfilled prophecy, its amazing uniqueness, modern archaeology, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. In fact, as I think of the testimony of Jesus Christ, I was interviewed by Walter Eldot in the mid-1980s. And he was the religious editor of the Duluth News-Tribune. And by the way, I went on Google Images on Duluth News-Tribune, and this is the one that came up. Farr shows Packers, who's boss. That's kind of interesting. But anyhow, that was a sidebar. I thought that'd be kind of funny. Walter Eldot asked me, he says, now do you interpret the Bible in a literal way? Do you believe that Moses crossed the Red Sea, Jonah was swallowed by the fish, all these things? And I said, yes. And he said, well, why do you believe that? And I said, well, Jesus Christ believed that. And if it was good enough for Jesus Christ, It's good enough for me. You see, when Satan attacked Eve in the garden, the first area he attacked was the certainty and the truthfulness of the Word of God in order to cast doubt and eventually deny what the Scriptures say. And so, we see this so often today when it comes to the Word of God. Now, if we don't have an authoritative Bible, It doesn't really matter how we interpret it, because in the long run, who cares? And what significance does it mean? But question number two, if we do have an authoritative Bible that's inspired by God, why do I interpret and understand the Bible literally? Why do I interpret and understand the Bible literally? I don't know if you've ever thought about this before, but why did God give language? Why did God give language? Why did God give the capacity to think, to communicate with your mouth, and to hear with your ear? Well, I believe at least three reasons. Number one, for God to communicate to man. And that's exactly what He does in the Bible. Number two, for man to communicate to God. And that's what man does in prayer. And number three, for man to communicate to man. And that's what I'm doing tonight. Now, God gave language to communicate. Now, in what way do we communicate with each other? With hidden, secretive meanings? Now, sometimes you might think that's what your spouse is doing, but normally that isn't the case. Normally, we mean what we say and say what we mean. We normally speak in plain, normal language that does have figures of speech in it. But underneath those figures of speech is a normal, literal meaning that isn't hidden and secretive, that is usually obvious and known. Now, what are the two basic options when it comes to interpreting the Bible? Number one is you have the normal grammatical, historical, contextual method of interpretation, sometimes called the literal method. And I'm OK with the word literal, except Some people fail to realize that literal doesn't deny figures of speech, metaphors, analogies, even symbolic meaning at times when the symbols are clearly defined. Now by normal, I mean plain language that is normally used in communication. By grammatical, I mean the parts of speech are utilized and understood in a normal way as a language would. There's nouns and verbs, and there's syntax, and they relate to things. There's mood, and tense, and voice, and case, and so forth and so forth. Thirdly, by historical, I mean there is a consideration of the historical context regarding what is stated. And fourthly, by contextual, I mean one understands words and the context in which they are given. From whom, to whom, about what, when, and so forth. Can you imagine for a moment someone saying, as my wife did last week or so, something like this. She said, would you mind getting it for me? Now immediately, what do you have to answer? Get what? Get what? I don't know what that means unless there's some context to it. And the same is true with Scripture. You must interpret in a normal, grammatical, historical, contextual way. What is literal interpretation? Literal interpretation means the words and sentences of Scripture are understood in their normal meaning, the ways the words are understood in normal communication. It is a literal or normal meaning of words that is the basis of communication. Biblically, there is a precedence for interpreting the New Testament literally. Why? Because Old Testament prophecies like Psalm 22 and so forth have all been fulfilled literally. Dr. J.B. Hickson says, and I quote, literal interpretation does not preclude the use of figurative language, but it does preclude spiritualized or allegorical interpretations. Literal interpretation also considers the grammatical and historical context of the passage. Now again, note, The literal or normal method of literature interpretation does not disregard common figures of speech. Yet behind these figures of speech lies a literal, normal meaning which is not hidden or secret. Like when Jesus said in John 10.9, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Obviously, he didn't mean he was a four by eight oak door. He was using an analogy. Or as David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. David did not think he was a literal sheep. But again, he understood this metaphor in a normal way, though. So there are two basic options when it comes to interpretation. The normal grammatical, historical, contextual method, or the allegorical method of interpretation. So what do you mean by that? Allegorizing is searching for a hidden or a secret meaning underlying but remote from and unrelated in reality to the more obvious meaning of the text. Notice the word hidden. Notice the word secret meaning. Notice it's remote from and unrelated in reality to the obvious meaning of the text of Scripture. Bernard Ram in Biblical Interpretation says, whenever we read a book, an essay or a poem, we presume the literal sense in the document until the nature of the literature may force us to another level. This is the only conceivable way of beginning or commencing to understand literature of all kinds. Roy Zuck in Basic Bible Interpretation says, each biblical writing was understood by its initial readers in accord with the basic principles of logic and communication. In fact, go with me if you would to John chapter 21. John chapter 21. Now, the historical context of this is Jesus Christ has died for our sins. He's been raised from the dead, but he hasn't ascended into heaven yet. And Peter goes fishing. And he goes fishing with the other disciples. And let's pick it up, if you would, in verse 7. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loves said to Peter, it is the Lord, as he saw him from shore. after Jesus had put your net on the other side. Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he put on his outer garment, for he had removed it, plunged into the sea. The other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fish. Then as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. And Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have just caught. And Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land full of large fish, 153. And although there were so many, the net was not broken. Question, what does 153 fish mean? Cyril of Alexander believed that the number 100 refers to the Gentiles, 50 refers to the remnant of Israel, and that 3 signified the Trinity. Thus added together, 153 referred to God and the Church." Certainly you interpreted it that way, didn't you? When you read 153 fish? Where in the world would you come up with that? And how would you ever prove it's right? Augustine or Augustine interpreted 153 in light of 10, the number of the law, and 7, the number of grace. 10 plus 7 equals 17. And the sum of all the numbers from 1 through 17 inclusive equals 153. Thus, 153 represents all who by law or grace were moved to come to Jesus. Now, that is very imaginative, very creative, And who in the world would ever think of it? Is that what 153 fish means? Here's a third one. Jerome saw the significance of this number, that there were 153 basic kinds of fish in the sea. Thus, this miraculous catch included all kinds of fish, just like Jesus is seeking all mankind to come to Him. You know, one of the priests did ask me later, he said, in front of the class, he says, what harm would it be to understand it that way. And I said, well, the harm is that's not what it means. And you're imposing your beliefs on the passage. And therefore, that's dangerous ground. You see, others believe that 153 fish mean just that, 153 fish. The number of fish that they caught once they listened to Jesus Christ instead of doing it their own way. And by the way, fishermen Notice he didn't say, well, about 150 fish, no, 153 fishermen count their fish. Now, what are two major problems with the allegorization of the scriptures? Number one, it does not follow the normal rules of language interpretation. Thus, it cannot be critically analyzed for accuracy of proper understanding. It has no rules, no parameters, no principles, no boundaries. How do you analyze it? How do you know it's true? You don't. In fact, it is subject only to the imagination of the interpreter. Because you can't verify it from the text of Scripture itself. Does God want you to know His Word? Does God want you to know His truth? And can it be known? The answer is yes, John 8, 30-32, and as He, Jesus, spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Is there such a thing as the truth? Jesus said yes. Can you know the truth? Jesus said yes. What is the key? By abiding or continuing in the Word of God. And the result is it will make you free. Free from superstition, free from religious tradition, free from the bondage of your sin. Jesus said in John 17, 17, Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. 2 Timothy 2.15 tells us to study the Word of God so we can rightly divide the Word of Truth, which means it can be rightly divided. And that's why in Acts 17 the Bereans were commended. as being noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness. And what did they do after hearing the Apostle Paul? They searched what? The Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so, which means it could be found out from Scripture whether what Paul was saying was accurate or not. The Scriptures can be known. Now, how did the Pharisees of Jesus' day interpret the Old Testament? They interpreted it literally. You say, well, if they were literal interpreters, what was their problem? Here is the problem. They mixed religious tradition to the Bible and thus confused its proper meaning. We saw that in Mark chapter 7, that's what Jesus did. By the way, anyone do that in our day? Well, how did Origen and Augustine interpret the Bible? Well, the answer is allegorically. So what was their problem in understanding it? They mix Greek philosophy to the Bible and thus confuse its proper meaning by imposing its philosophies on the Bible instead of extracting one's beliefs from the Bible. We call that eisegesis versus exegesis. It's interesting that Arrhenius, who lived in about 130 to 202 AD, stated that the Bible is to be understood in its obvious, natural sense. That was the conviction of many of the early church fathers. However, due to the influence of Greek philosophy, there were Jewish interpreters like Philo and Christian interpreters like Origen and later Augustine who allegorized the meaning of the scriptures. In fact, Roy Zuck says Origen so ignored the literal normal meanings of scripture that his allegorizing became exceedingly excessive. As one writer stated, it was fantasy unlimited. How were the prophecies we saw understood and interpreted in light of their fulfillment? In normal, grammatical, historical, contextual, literal way. Now, the professor had asked me, could you address the contradiction between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2? And the fact is, there is no contradiction. In Genesis 1, you have the big picture of the six days of creation. In Genesis 2, you have the specific details of the sixth day with the creation of the first man and woman explained in more detail. Furthermore, in Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The word is Elohim, which emphasizes the great power of God, ideal for a creation account. And in Genesis 2, the word for Lord is Yahweh, or Jehovah, which emphasizes the faithful, promise-keeping, relational God, which is ideal for relationships. that God would have with man and man with woman. No contradiction at all. And thus, when we study the Bible, we start with observation, which leads to interpretation, which should result in application. Thus, there are four factors in proper interpretation. Number one, you examine the context carefully. Context, context, context. Number two, you observe the content. What are the words? What are they saying? What are their meanings? Number three, you compare Scripture with Scripture. The Bible is the best interpreter of itself. And number four, you conclude based upon the facts derived from the text, not by imposing your beliefs upon The Bible. David Cooper's golden rule of interpretation. Basically, when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. When the plain sense of Scripture makes nonsense, seek another meaning. Now, Harold Campion made a great stir this year, did he not? When he prophesied that on May 21st, 2011, The world would come to an end, that Jesus Christ would return and so forth. And I listened to one commentator on TV who said this, that's what happens when you interpret the Bible literally. And the truth of the matter is, Campion did not interpret the Bible literally. He interpreted allegorically in points because Jesus said in Matthew 24, 36, but of that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. And no one knows means? No one knows. Even Harold Campy. Now, you know, when I think of allegorical versus literal interpretation, a great illustration of this would be you being pulled over for speeding. I won't ask if that's happened to you before. But imagine for a moment you get pulled over, you look in your mirror and there is the highway bull. And he comes up to you and says, don't you know that the speed limit was fifty five? And the fact is you were doing seven and you say to him, well, fifty five doesn't mean fifty five to me. It really means 70. And he says, I am not an allegorist, I'm a literalist and you're arrested. Or as I mentioned to the teacher today, can you imagine if Dr. Graham would say to the class on such and such a day, we will have a test and the day goes by and you come in the next day and say, where's the test? And he says, it was yesterday. He says, well, it was yesterday to you, but it meant today to me. And he speaks out, he says, try it. Isn't it funny how everyone becomes a literalist when it comes to almost everything important in life, except when it comes to interpreting the Bible? Why do I believe the Bible is the very Word of God? Why do I interpret and understand the Bible literally? And lastly, and we'll do this very quickly, what is the main message of the Bible? And I think it can be summed up in John 3.16, can it not? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." You see, the Bible is all about God. The Bible is all about Him loving the world. The Bible is about Him giving His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world and be raised from the dead that whoever believes in Jesus Christ should not perish, but have right now everlasting life. You see, all of the Old Testament pointed to Christ, and everything in the New Testament points from Christ. It's all pointing to Jesus Christ. And thus, true biblical Christianity differs from all other religions because it is a relationship of divine accomplishment, not a religion of human achievement, all because of the person and crosswork of Jesus Christ. Remember, all religions teach a work's salvation. And thus, when Christ cried out on the cross, it is finished, He meant that. And on that cross, all the work of salvation was finished. All our sins had been paid. in full upon the cross. And though religion says Christ did His percent, you must do yours, which is salvation by works, Christianity stands alone by teaching salvation is by grace because Christ did it all when He died for you and rose from the dead. And thus, God's riches at Christ's expense is what grace is all about. Has Jesus Christ paid a debt that He did not owe so that we could receive the gift of salvation that we didn't deserve? And it is a gift. It is not a reward for good people or good works. And thus, Ephesians 2.8.9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. You see, it's only when one places their faith in Christ and His work alone that they are saved, based on Acts 16.31. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Now, how would you interpret that? I remember many years ago, a relative of Nancy's, I was talking to him, and he said, oh, you can interpret that Bible any way you want. And I said, really? Could you interpret this verse for me? And I quoted him this, and he says, well, that verse is saying that except through Jesus Christ, you can't get to the Father. You can't get to heaven. I said, that's exactly what I believe too. Because you see, you can't get around it. It's in plain language, clear to be understood. That the church cannot save you, your works cannot save you, a ritual cannot save you, only Christ can save you. And on the cross, He died for your sins and rose again. And His resurrection sets Him apart as different than all religious leaders ever. And He said, you must be born again. He said, eternal life is a gift. He says, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And thus, one can know beyond the shadow of a doubt when they die, they're going to heaven if they have believed the message of the Gospel. You see, the Bible says either you're on your way to heaven or you're on your way to hell. And the whole issue is what do you think about Jesus Christ? And what will you do with Him? Now, I was prepared for several questions that I never got. Because you see, when it comes to Jesus Christ, you only have three options. He's a liar, he's a lunatic, or he's the Lord. Nehemiah makes it clear that people can understand the Bible as we've been looking at it. I was asked about Genesis chapter 1 and the literal six days, and you see, again, Those who don't accept a normal grammatical historical method of interpretation that says day can't mean day, it means millions of years. And yet, according to language and context, the word day is simply a regular 24-hour day that says morning and evening were the first day, the second day, the third day, and so forth. You see, you have four options really. Faith in human reason, faith in human experience, faith in human intuition, or faith in the special revelation from God. And it's better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. You see, I was prepared for someone to say, well, where did Cain get his wife from? Well, he got his wife from either his sister or his relative. You say, really? Really. In fact, there was a lot of intermarriage among family members, up to a point when in Leviticus 18, God says no more because mutations increase with time and therefore genetic effects would occur by virtue of the degeneration of the human race. So that's where Cain got his wife. What about people groups? Where did they come from? Where did the races come from? Well again, they came from God separating the people groups at the Tower of Babel, and I was asked a question about that today. And indeed, it's interesting to note that linguists in our day are increasingly coming to the conclusion that all the different languages came from one language. In fact, it's interesting that geneticists are beginning to say that DNA points to the fact that there was one common ancestor in the human race. Thank you for telling me what I already knew. You know, even as I think of evolution, you know, I always get a charge out of this one here, you know. But here's the one I found yesterday. Please don't be offended. Right here. I emailed this to someone and said, now I know my problem. I'm evolving. I was also prepared to, why do you reject the Apocrypha? And seven reasons, but our time is gone. I trust that this was helpful tonight in establishing you more in the faith. And if you're here tonight and you've never yet trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, that is the bottom line. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for your wonderful word. and for your matchless grace. Thank you that faith in you, as revealed in your Word, is never misplaced faith, both for salvation as well as in the Christian life. And may we not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is your power unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And Father, I pray for even those that were in that class today. Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior among that group, I just pray that you could use what I said and what your Word proclaimed and that the Spirit of God would use it to open eyes and to leave them with that sense of restlessness until they come to rest by faith in Jesus Christ and what He's done for them. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Thank you so much for coming out on this snowy, slippery night. Trust that you are glad you did. Those who are watching via webcast, I hope you enjoyed your hot chocolate tonight while we met together here. I'm glad that you tuned in. Don't take it wrong and Lord.