Apologetics is that essential practice for a biblical defense of the faith in both its offensive and defensive posture. It is the clear and purposeful dispensing of the truth of God's word in order to silence the mocker, convict the sinner, and convert the humble. The perfect art and skill of biblical apologetics is to be sought after by every Christian. Every Christian who calls himself a child of God is a true Christian evangelist, so that they might be ready to preach the word of God in season and out. This first lecture, in a series of lectures on apologetics, begins with some reasons behind the general creation and the specific creation of mankind who is made in God's own image. We will then examine some of the details of the fall in order to stage a proper strategy for Biblical apologetics, and then proceed to develop a coherent and clear understanding of both Biblical doctrine and the use of that doctrine for apologetical use. Our Old Covenant reading coming from Genesis. We begin, of course, where we should at the beginning. The book of beginnings, Genesis in chapter 1, verses 26 through 30, and then I'm going to read chapter 2, verse 7. and then for our New Covenant reading Hebrews 4, 11-13 as we begin our lectures as promised on apologetics. Genesis 1, 26-30 Beloved of the Lord, hear ye the word of our God. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, and the image of God created He Him, male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat, and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life. I have given every green herb for meat." And it was so. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living soul. The Apostle writing to us. Epistle of the Apostle to the Hebrews. Hebrews in chapter 4. Beginning in verse 11-13, three verses by the same spirit that moved Moses, the Apostle writes, Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick and powerful. and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Thus far as the reading of God's most holy, inerrant, and finally authoritative word, the grass withers, the flower thereof fades away, but the word of our God stands forever, and by his holy word is the gospel preached unto us this day. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. This morning we begin with the question why. Why, why, why did God even desire, why did He undertake the creation of the earth, the creation of all things, the creation of the heavens, the creation of man, and all things that is created and are created, why did He even bother? So we begin with a very, very, very, very fundamental question. Why did God create the earth and all that is in it, including man, who holds a very, very special creation proximity, for he is created in the image of God, in the image of God created he man, in the image of God created he female, man and female created he them, in the image of God after his own likeness. Why? Simply put, According to Revelation, it was for his pleasure. But more than that, it was not only for his pleasure, and please understand, God did not need, and we'll look at that in a moment, to be pleased, because within himself he was fully pleased, and yet for his pleasure, and to further manifest his glory, his majesty, his power, his mercy, his might, and his justice. It was to glorify Himself. God created all things for the praise of His glory. The principle is very, very simple. All that is in the world, all that is in this world, and all that ever will be is a result of the sovereign will, sovereign decree, and sovereign plan of God in order to set forth His glory among His creations. all for the glory of God. Thus when God said, Let there be light, it was so as to glorify himself and to show forth his majesty. In fact, this was a foreknowledge, if you will, a forethought or a pointing forward, if you will, to Christ who would bring forth in a perfect fashion his glory by anticipating the light of Christ showing the light of the world. Let there be light with an anticipation of the sovereign salvation plan of God. All for His glory. You see, when we understand God rightly, we have to remember that God doesn't need anything. He needn't have done any of this to show forth His glory. For His glory was always being glorified by Him and for Him, apart from anything that He made or would make." Understand this, that within the Godhead, God was perfectly glorified. He did not have to make something to glorify Him. Although He did, because that was His will. But within the Godhead, God is perfectly complete in every way, shape and form. God is fully contained. God is fully satisfied, perfectly within his own being. He is both self-existent and self-satisfied. He needs nothing. He needs no one. Thus he was, is and always will be self-sufficient in all aspects of his being and essence, including the glorification of himself. He is alone and yet perfectly complete and never lonely. So when you hear those who know not God say, but God was lonely, or God needed to create because He wanted a people, because He needed fellowship, He wanted fellowship. God didn't need fellowship. He had perfect fellowship. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit in the eternals was perfectly satisfied with perfect fellowship and His glory was perfectly glorified within His own essence. He needs nothing. Don't ever think that you serve the living and true triune God, that God needs your service. It is true that He commands it, but needs it? No. God is perfectly self-contained. He needs nothing. He is perfectly complete in His own being. Yet, wonder of wonder, He creates the world and all that is in it, the heavens and man, for His pleasure. And yet, within Himself, He is fully pleased. Let's consider for a moment the creation of man. The scriptures declare rightly that God creates man in His own image. What does exactly that mean? that we are created in God's image. and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, Adam was born with knowledge, he was made with knowledge, if you will, righteousness and true holiness after his own image. Adam and Eve were created in righteousness, without any sin, with perfect free will. They were poised to go either in obedience or in rebellion, as we know. It was only after the fall that man became enslaved and in bondage to his sin, unable any longer to do anything to please God, becoming unrighteous in his own being. So when Adam fell, all of creation within the loins of Adam, all of mankind within the loins of Adam fell as well. Man is created in the image of God in his rationality. Man is a rational being. His mind is structured so as to receive and transmit knowledge through language especially. Of course we talk about all kinds of language, body language and different things, but most essentially through language. This is why man is far superior than the beast. And this is why when we watch these cute little movies, where the dogs and the cats and the rats and the rabbits and the deer are talking. This is pure fantasy, pure fantasy. They do not speak, they do not think rationally. Man is far superior than the beasts, because man and man alone has been created in the image of God. His structure is so that he is able to receive as well as transmit knowledge through language which God gave to man. His word, God's word, was and still is the medium of communication. As God reasons logically, man is also given the ability to reason logically according to the rules of reason and logic. This makes us far superior to the animal kingdom. Thus, faith and reason are compatible. Faith and reason are compatible. Isaiah says, as the Lord is speaking, come let us reason together. Biblically reasoning together. And in the beginning was the Word, the Logos, the Logic. So don't ever let anyone tell you that faith, of God and faith and the inerrancy of Scripture is unreasonable. Or don't ever let anyone tell you that, well, in order to have faith you have to divorce yourself from all reason and logic and just step out on faith. No, faith and reason are very compatible. God's language, His verbal, logical revelation, which we call the Scriptures, relates to man intelligible messages which are true and trustworthy. Note this word. As Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 23, 29, is not my word like a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? It is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It relates to man, this verbal revelation of God, this logical and reasonable revelation of God, relates to man intelligible messages, which are true and trustworthy. Thus the Scriptures, the Holy Scripture, is the true and trustworthy standard of truth reason and logic. And whenever we embark upon any kind of debate, whenever we dispense the gospel or engage in any kind of discussion of biblical truths, by using the scriptures, we are using trustworthy and truthful reason and logic. When God created mankind, He created them with what is called a priori knowledge. That's a, space, p-r-i-o-r-i. A priori knowledge. Inherent knowledge. Adam was created with knowledge. Mankind is born with a priori knowledge. Knowledge of the eternal. knowledge. Thus Adam could function immediately without being told every little thing he had to do. He already knew many things. God created him in righteousness without sin. He was created with a priory knowledge. Yet it was through the word of God's commands that Adam was able to refine what he knew according to the will of God. God created man so he may be communicated with and communicate in return through the medium of language. God spoke to Adam. Adam spoke to God. He walked with God in the garden. Propositions. The Word of God. Structured in propositional form. Communicate literal truths and those truths convey knowledge. God's decree is that man be given knowledge, and that knowledge by and through the source of knowledge, which is the revelation of God, and please make a very particular note, the source of knowledge is the revelation of God. It is not Stephen King. Clancy's books, or Mr. Spock, or Dr. Spock, or Roddenberry, or any of these writers. It is not Plato, and it is not Aristotle. The source of knowledge does not come from these philosophers, but the source of knowledge comes from the only true, trustworthy, logical, and reasonable source, the Holy Scriptures. God created us as rational beings. And created as rational beings, God communicates with man rationally through language, particularly the scriptures. He does not relate to animals who are irrational beings in propositional forms, but He does relate to man in propositional forms, the scriptures, because man is created in His image. Please note the importance the primacy of the Holy Scriptures. Language did not develop from, nor was its purpose restricted to the physical needs of an earthly and temporal life. Language was given for a greater reason. God gave language to man so that man could understand the divine law as well as God the lawgiver. So God communicates of himself through language. It did not begin with grunts and groans. began with language given by God to man to communicate not only the character of the judge and the lawgiver and the king, but also of the lawgiver's law to man. So thus the works of the law are written on man's heart a priori. He knows that it is wrong to kill inherently. Inherently he knows. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong here, it is wrong there, because of this knowledge, this revelation that God has given. But to be more refined and more specific, God expressly gives His written language, His word, the revelation we call the Scriptures. Now this language was the medium by where man and God would communicate. Thus the language given, this religious divine language, if you want to call it that, was entirely sufficient for mankind and God to communicate. We don't need any other language. We don't need tongues of babblings. We just need to communicate with the language God has given us. This Word of God, written here in America in our English tongue, is divine language. It is the spiritual language. We don't have to run up and down an aisle looking for visions and dreams and tongues. This is the tongue. This is God's tongue given to man to communicate to man and to communicate to God. It is truly religious language. And this language is entirely sufficient for mankind. I was driving with someone one time and I was on a job that I needed to tend to, and this individual was claiming to be a Christian, he was an older gentleman, and he said, you know, I really have trouble praying in my native English tongue. I have to pray in an unknown language. And then I could pray for hours, which I doubted, of course. But it was odd to me, even then, without even knowing what I know today. that a man could say that he needed some other language to talk to God, since the English language was insufficient. But I say to you that the English language, or French, or Spanish, or Italian, whatever the native tongue is, is sufficient to communicate with God. God has given us language so that we might communicate. It is divine, as long as it is in accord with Holy Scripture. Thus, the language given, entirely sufficient for mankind and God to communicate one to another. It is not mystical. It is not analogical or irrational or meaningless mumbo-jumbo. It is rational language, rational thought, logically constructed and logically formatted to fit the mind of man which was created in the image of God. And from the beginning of time, language was given so that man could know God His laws, His commandments, and so that man may properly worship, communicate, and serve His Creator. That is why we have language. Jesus says in John 6.63, the words that I speak unto thee, they are spirit and they are life. And it was Christ who came as the express image of the Father, the express revelation of God, to bring the express revelation of God to man. God gave man understanding within himself, remember, a priori, as to readily understand the language that God ordained to communicate himself and his law to man. The language ordained by God has no trouble communicating truths to man, since man is created to assimilate these truths into his understanding. Think about that. When you talk about God, you're talking to someone who can assimilate what you're saying. Oh, they may say, no, no, no. They may say, no, no, no. I'm not going to listen to you. They may say, oh yeah, that's very nice. Yes, I agree. And then go on their merry way. Or they may say something completely absurd. Or they could say, for instance, I don't believe in God. And yet, and yet, you can know that that word is affecting them because they are created. So that language would affect them. They are able to assimilate that language. So when you bring the Gospel, you're already one step ahead of the game, if you will. You already have them as an audience. Because God has created them with the a priori knowledge that God exists. And that there is a law, and there is a righteousness, and they are in the face of eternity, without the Savior, entirely damned and undone. They already know that. So God, in His divine decree and wisdom, has created a situation of evangelism which immediately puts the Christian in a place of advantage. Even if they say, no, no, no, I don't want to hear anything. You know that the reason is because they already know. And they don't like what they know. Since man is rational, he has no problem in understanding God's Word. Man may refuse to believe that's another issue. But he can and he does understand. Let me give you an example. All men are sinners. All have sinned. and come short of the glory of God. Now, does anyone not understand that? Does anyone not understand that? No. Everyone understands what that says. That's a sentence structure which is very clear. Now, the issue is not whether or not you understand it. The issue is do you believe it? I think there's another issue also. Do you believe it about yourself? That's another issue. But the issue is not whether they understand it or not. Because they do. The issue is believing. That believing is a work of God. That believing is a work of God. So when we dispense the Gospel, we should know that they can understand what we're saying. So this is a very important point that we must make. Now, the Scriptures are clear. They are given to man so that man can understand them so that man, in understanding them by the a priori knowledge he's given, is then without excuse. The persecutity of the scriptures. Man, therefore, in the clarity of the scriptures, is a man without excuse. These are not convoluted words. These are words very clearly set forth. Paul writes, and I would I advise you to look at Romans chapter 1 as well as Romans chapter 2, but in Romans chapter 1 verse 19 he says this, of mankind, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God had showed it to them. So it's manifest in them, that is a priori, inherently it's manifested in them, and he showed it to them by his revelation. Because that when they knew God, he continues, they glorified him not as God. But notice the words of the Apostle. Because that when they knew God, now they didn't know him as a Redeemer, but they knew, a priori, they knew God, they, then rebelling, glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Man has this knowledge. So when in discussing apologetics, which we'll define in a moment, we are already given advantage. We already know that man can understand the revelation. They may not want to hear it, but they know. And that's where we begin in our victory march in evangelism. Knowing that they know. Furthermore, please understand this. God is perfectly justified and glorified in both the saving of a soul and the damning of a soul." And they say, wow, that is a strong language. No, no. God is glorified in both damning souls and saving souls. You say, well, how can you say that? Well, think about it. Today's evangelical community believes that God is only glorified when a soul is saved. And the angels rejoice in heaven when someone is saved. Messengers of God, the people of God, we all rejoice when there is a sinner saved. That is a very wonderful thing. It is a very sad thing when someone is consistently rebellious and dies in their sins and is damned to hell forever. That is very, very sad, very distressful. But consider God in His perfect righteousness, which we have no clue what it really is. We know in words and we have an understanding by the scriptures, but to experience that perfectly we cannot. However, let's think it through. God's mercy and God's justice are pure. When a soul is saved from damnation, God's mercy is perfectly glorified. So he is glorified in his mercy. But God is also just. So when the soul is given the sentence of judgment, God's justice is glorified. Our preaching of the gospel will always glorify God, whether the soul is saved or the soul is damned. Because the word preached will never return void. It will always accomplish that thing which it has been sent to do. Sometimes we preach, and those people are damned because they refuse the gospel. God is glorified. Horrible thing. God is glorified. We strive that men may see so that the mercy of God might be glorified. But that's not always the case. But know this, whether in salvation or damnation, we preach. God brings the result. According to His perfect, eternal decree, God brings the result. We preach as dying men to dying men, yes, and hope that they become children of God, knowing always that God's will is always done. Principle consideration. Man was given the clear word of God. In the garden, he was given that clear word of God. God did not leave it up to Adam's a priori knowledge, but he told them expressly, do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And this he heard, and this he understood. For God had spoken it, and this He conveyed to His wife Eve, because God had spoken it. God had given Adam a rational commandment with a sanction included for disobedience. In the day that you eat of that tree, in dying ye shall surely die, is the literal Hebrew. There would be a spiritual death, a broken communion with God immediately, and ultimately a physical death. Immediately also there would be corruption in the entire world and all of the world would then suffer under the groaning of that corruption. This sanction was added to impress upon the man and the woman the severity of any rebellion against a particular commandment, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Let's consider the argument of the temptation. Genesis 3.1 records for us a very, very well-known story. The serpent comes to Eve. The scripture says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said he shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So immediately the serpent is questioning God's Word and God's intention, and also passing judgment on the sanction. It's not going to be so bad. Did God really mean that? Is it really what He said? Didn't you misunderstand? It wasn't very clear. Is that probably the case, Eve? So immediately the assault is upon the Word of God, which the serpent knew was logically given, truthful, and trustworthy. Is God's word binding? Does it really mean what it says? Does God really mean what He says? Surely God is not going to send people to hell. Surely the doctrine of hell is antiquated. Surely God doesn't really mean that they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth and people will be thrown out of darkness and in the lake of fire. This language is too horrible. God must mean something else. Now, when it comes to the law, do we really have to obey the law of God, literally? Can we not judge for ourselves? Isn't there wiggle room? Don't we have some wiggle room here? Is obedience That big of a deal? And his disobedience that big of a deal? Can't we just bend the rules a little bit? Basically, this is what the serpent is implying. Let's consider Adam and Eve's problem. What was their problem? Firstly, they held conversation with the enemy. Well, at least Eve did. They held conversation with the enemy when they should have had a defense for what God had said. They should have had a set defense for what God had said. Instead of discussion, it should have been apologetical. It should have been a defense for the truth. Instead of casting down every imagination by the Word of God, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of Christ, they entertained the enemy on the enemy's own grounds. That was their first mistake. Let's apply that just for a moment. So when you are asked a question about the Gospel, you have to ask yourself the question, am I meeting the enemy on his turf, or am I going to draw the enemy in onto my turf? Secondly, you must couch all discussion about eternal truths, and everything actually has an ultimate eternal truth associated to it, by biblical principles, in biblical principles. Couch your discussion biblically. Draw them in. Learn how to draw them in. Don't let them take you and fight you on their grounds. They considered the thought of rebellion by considering that the serpent may have a point to be entertained. You know, when you think about it, you're talking with someone and they bring out a point that you know is blasphemous, and you may stop and say, hmm, that's an interesting point. Well, it's either right or it's wrong. It's either biblically based or it's rebellion. You see, Adam and Eve were entertaining the fact that maybe the serpent had a point. Maybe God really didn't mean what he said. Maybe I missed something here. Maybe all men aren't sinners. Maybe we do have some inherent good. Maybe the fall of Adam really didn't destroy us as the scriptures teach. Maybe those blasphemers have a point to be reckoned with. But the scripture says very clearly in Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. They question God's truthfulness and authority. And yet the Apostle Paul to the young Timothy says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfectly equipped for the defense of the Scripture. They question God's truthfulness and the authority of the Scripture. Don't ever question the authority of the scripture. Question your understanding of it perhaps, but not its truthfulness and not its authority. Fourth point, they sought authority elsewhere, very dangerous. They sought authority from themselves. Eve made a conscious decision to be her own lawmaker and she fell and Adam with her. Autonomy is very, very dangerous. Looking to someone else, even if it's yourself, for your standard, is wrong. We check ourselves by the Word of God. They sought authority elsewhere. This is why there's safety in the multitude of councils. Now what that means is the council of the Scripture, not the council of 15 brothers and sisters in the Lord, because they all could be wrong. You go to the council of the Scriptures. And when you go to brothers and sisters for council, you make sure they speak according to that Word. Otherwise, there's no light in them or they've misunderstood. And fifthly, they did not believe God's warnings. God warned them, in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. You see, because the serpent wanted to place himself alongside of God's authority on equal footing, he cast doubt that God meant what he said and the warnings were real. They repudiated the sanction and the warning. And they ate. And they died. What should have they had done? What is it that they should have done? What should any Christian do in cases similar to this? Because you will be always asked to defend your faith. Well, they should have defended their faith. But they should have defended their faith upon the terms of the word of God. This is called biblical apologetics or scripturalism. Scripturalism is using the word of God to defend the word of God. Let me read to you here from Gary Crampton's book, The Scripturalism of Gordon Clark. And I think Gordon Clark is one of the greatest biblical philosophers of all time, other than perhaps the apostles. even greater than St. Augustine, because St. Augustine did not start with scripture, he started with ontology, but of course he was a great philosopher as well. I believe Gordon Clark is even more honorable than even the great Augustine. Crampton says this of Dr. Gordon Clark, as a scripturalist, Dr. Clark maintains that Christians should never try to combine secular and Christian notions. Rather, all thoughts are to be brought into captivity to the Word of God, which is a part of the mind of Christ. Scripturalism teaches that all our knowledge is to be derived from the Bible, which has a systematic monopoly on truth. a systematic monopoly on truth. If you want to use logic to destroy every argument, you must use the most perfect logic and that logic comes from the holy scriptures. So in order to defend the scriptures, you defend the scriptures by the scriptures. Let me read to you, this is also Gary Crampton, I really like Gary Crampton because he is so clear. a numskull like myself can understand. He said this, well actually he's quoting from Lorraine Butner, he says this, speaking of Romanism, the ancient Romanism, he says, the Achilles heel of Romanism is the false theological basis on which the system rests and the strength of evangelical Protestantism is its rigid adherence to what the scriptures teach. Now remember, Protestantism, at least Protestantism orthodox, rests on sola scriptura, whereas all other forms of religion, not only Romanism, but all other forms of religion rests on maybe some scripture and then other forms of revelation or tradition. And they are mixing secular and sacred. That will always lead to error because it is not a systematic biblical approach to argumentation. He says this. Protestantism can never defeat Romanism, nor even defend itself against Romanism merely by pointing out Romanism's corrupt political alliances, its ordinate greed for money, its suppression of political and religious liberty, and so on. All of these things are true and should be exposed, but they relate only to external methods and practices. Romanism is basically a religious system and must be challenged and forced to defend its doctrine on the basis of scripture alone. This method, and this method alone, can bring victory to the evangelical faith, as Lorraine Botner. Now the Westminster Standard says this, the whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture upon which nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelation of the spirit or traditions of men. We must defend the scripture by the scripture because the scripture is the perfect, inerrant and finally authoritative word of truth. God's Word must be used to defend God's Word. Don't get caught up, please, in defending the fact that God's Word is true. You've been brought into the enemy camp. If somebody says, but God's Word isn't true, how do you know? It was written by men. Don't go there. Don't say, yeah, but I can show you how God's Word is really true. You can't. You can't. Just use it. Because God's word must defend God's word. It is how Christ spoke, it is how Christ taught, it is how the apostles taught. Now let's look at the word apologetics. It comes from the word apologia, and it literally means a defense. It's not, I'm sorry. It's not, I'm sorry I'm a Christian. I'm sorry I believe the Bible is the Word of God. Please don't hate me, but I really, really, really believe it. I'm sorry. Let me tell you why. That's not what an apologia is. It is a speech, a legal defense, an answer given for the defense of what is true. It is a clearing of self, or a clearing of an issue of importance. The Apostle Paul, And Acts 26.2 says this, I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself. I shall give an apologia for myself this day before thee touching all things whereof I am accused of the Jews. It is not an apology as in I'm sorry, but a defense, a strong defense, which often goes on the offensive. God be praised for that. 1 Peter 3.15, Peter writes this, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer, an apologia, an answer, a defense, to every man. Why every man? Why shouldn't you choose out the ones that are more leaning toward the gospel? Because everyone can understand the clear word of God, for God has given them a priori understanding, a priori knowledge. To every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Therefore, the principle is this, in order to give a proper defense of the faith, you must know the word of God, study to show yourself approved, a workman of God, rightly dividing the word of truth. Moses writes this, Deuteronomy 6.6, And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. Thy word says, David, have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you, but also, as we might add, so that I might defend the gospel of truth according to the righteousness of God. The Christian must, as the Puritans were of old, be a person of the book. Adam and Eve had to hold fast to the word of God, and yet they were swayed by the subtlety of the serpent. They should have held fast to the Word of Revelation. That was their only offense and only defense against rebellion. Holding fast to the Word of God. Use the Word of God. God has given you the sword of the Spirit. It cuts one way to life and the other way to death. And never, ever, ever be discouraged if someone finally, outwardly says, you're out of your mind, you don't know what you're talking about, and walks away. Don't ever be in despair because you haven't saved the soul. It's not your business. Your business is to declare a defense logically, systematically, boldly, in the face of God, in the face of man, and the result must be God's. You have done what you were called to do by defending the Gospel. Another principle is this. One cannot be equipped as a Christian or a sanctified child of God apart from the Scripture. You have to learn the scriptures, not only for your own well-being. And please, if you do nothing, read the scriptures for five minutes a day. Before you go to bed, read the Psalms. When you wake up in the morning, read the Proverbs. Just a line. If you have trouble doing that, put a Bible in every room. So that wherever you are, reclining, sometimes you sit down and say, oh it would be nice if I could read the scriptures now, but the Bible is downstairs, the Bible is upstairs, the Bible is in my car. Have a Bible in every room of your house. It's not illegal yet. The Spirit uses the word. He works in conjunction with the Word of God. This is the economy of sanctification by the Word through the power of the Spirit. And it is through and by the Word of God that the saint is kept secure and powerfully dominion-oriented and successful in his call to duty. These are our marching orders. These are our means for comfort and understanding. We hold on to the promises of God. We are equipped. We are sanctified. We are nourished by the reading of the Word as the Spirit uses it. Moses writes this, Deuteronomy 5.33, a commandment by God. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God had commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. We must know and obey the word of God. We must live it sincerely and truthfully. Obedience is a basic requirement. Living out the truth of the scriptures is a requirement of every child of God, but we cannot live them out. We cannot use them. We cannot defend against the onslaught against them unless we know what the scriptures teach. Unlike Adam and Eve, we must be able to defend the faith. This is our duty. This is our responsibility. We will be held accountable for how we manage this duty. How we manage this responsibility. We must be able to do the work of apologetics. We must be about that work. In the case of Adam and Eve, there obviously was a lapse in consistency. A lapse of clarity in the face of temptation. They fail to set forth the law and honor of God before the face of the adversary and before the face of their own temptation. Set forth the declaration of God as He declares it in the Scriptures and be not moved by your adversary. Use the Word to defend the Word. Don't try to defend the nature of God by looking at the stars. Don't defend the truth of God by looking at the creation order. Use the word by faith. By hearing the word, rather, faith comes. And by faith you will use the word, knowing that it is the weapon of our warfare. Again, I point you to Hebrews 4.12, the word of God, quick, powerful, sharper, any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow. Let's consider some historical considerations. Christian apologetics is used to set forth the positive aspects of the Christian faith. The positive aspects of the Christian faith. We declare the positive aspects of the Christian faith. Secondly, we use it as a defense against worldly philosophy. I mean, if you think about how America has been structured, it's Christianity, even Calvinism. We declare the positive aspects of the Christian faith. What will the rebellious do? They'll tell you that all the wars, all the horrible atrocities were fought because of religion. But it wasn't the Christian faith. Even if they point to the Crusades, which was an abomination and a misunderstanding of what Christianity truly was. But they will always try to snare you by saying Christianity is the cause of all of our problems. No, you point out the positive aspects of the Christian faith. One of them is, without it, you'll go to hell. Which is positive negative. Secondly, A defense against worldly philosophy. This is why philosophy is so important. Christian philosophy is so important. You have to know what the bad guys say. The other day I purchased some head busts, they were actually bookends of two of my, well at least one of them is my archenemy, the other one is an enemy. It was Aristotle and Homer. Those are our archenemies, whether you know it or not. But you have to know why. have to know what they were teaching, so that you can defend. Now you don't have to know, just keep speaking the truth. But as you get older, as you get more wiser, you should know, so you can destroy the argument of the enemy. Thirdly, Christianity is the only system, and I'm going to underline that word only, it is the only system that is logical, since it is in no way faulty. All other systems of logic, all other systems of philosophy, all other systems and worldviews are in error in one way, shape, or form, one way or another, and do not hold up against pure logic. Christian theology is the queen of the sciences. It is structured purely logically. 2 Corinthians 10, 4, and 5, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. but rather mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Why? Because they were logically put together. It's systematic. It is a glorious, glorious statement of truth. And we use it to cast down imaginations, Paul continues, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. In light of Paul's admonishment, we ask the question then, how do we do this? How do we take captive every thought? How do we let the mind of Christ dwell in us? The answer is this. Thinking God's thoughts after Him in all its applications in every area of life. By using, by learning, by studying, by being skilled in the revelation of God's truth, the Scriptures, the Word of God as the tool for true knowledge, true obedience, true dominion and true skill in Christian apologetics. By the use of the Word of God, the saint is equipped and enabled to destroy the enemy and then is able to take his rightful place as a dominion Christian man. Another definition for apologetics which I find very helpful is this. Apologetics is that branch of Christian theology which gives philosophical expression and clarification to the total Christian system of truth and life over against all forms of non-Christian philosophical claims of truth and knowledge with special reference to various specific attacks against the Christian faith. That branch of Christian theology which gives philosophical expression and clarification to the total Christian system of life and truth over against all forms of non-Christian philosophical claims of truth and knowledge with special reference to various specific attacks against the Christian faith. Paul writes this, O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, the Scriptures, avoiding profane and vain babblings, the worldly philosophers, and oppositions of science falsely so called, which some professing have erred concerning the faith, a mixture of secular with sacred. Grace be with thee, that you might continue in true biblical apologetics. Amen. Apologetics is a major task in which we must be well prepared and skilled in the word of God, and knowledgeable of the claims of the anti-Christian philosophical systems. so that we might destroy all the works of antichrist and all the works of vanity and babblings in the name and for the praise and for the defense of God's holy glory. May God be pleased to equip us as we continue to study and apply his mighty word in every area of life unto the praise of the glory of his grace. Amen.