In the word of God, the gospel
of John chapter 1 verse 10 reads, he was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. End of quote. This
was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the apostle
Peter wrote of the last days that scoffers would mock and
laugh and ridicule saying, where is the promise of his coming? This Jesus cried. When skeptics
and agnostics, unbelievers, so-called atheists have said all they can
say, there are three broad facts which they have not dealt with
honestly, nor been able to explain away. Three broad facts, simple
facts, plain facts, but impossible to ignore. The first is Jesus
Christ himself. Jesus Christ himself. A fact. If Christianity is the mere invention
of men, and as Karl Marx, that communist leader, once said,
it is the opiate of the masses, the opiate of the people. If
it is, or if it is a foolish desire for some carnal utopia
or happy hunting ground, how do you explain Jesus Christ. His existence in history, men
cannot deny. He lived in this world. He was
born in Bethlehem. Most will acknowledge that. He
walked this earth, but he died on a Roman cross. And witnesses
says he was seen by more than 500 at one time. They claim that
he arose from the grave. Jesus Christ himself. without
force, without bribery, without arms, taking up arms, or money. He had no earthly kingdom. He
had really, really had no possessions at all. But he left a mark on
this world as no other person in all of history. He never wrote
a book, yet no library, could contain all the books that would
be written, necessarily written, about what he did and what he
said. He never wrote a song, and yet
he is the theme, has been the theme, of more songs than all
other themes combined. And then all other religious
leaders, and there have been many, all other religious leaders
down through the years came to live, but this one, Jesus Christ,
came to die. Not as a martyr, not as an example,
but he says he came to die as a substitute. A substitute. Now all other Messiahs chose
as their followers the rich, the powerful, the influential.
He chose the poor, the despised, and the rejected. All other Messiahs
say, follow me, I'll show you the way. He said, follow me,
I am the way." All other so-called messiahs, all other religious
leaders claim to be messengers of God. He said, I and the Father
are one. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. All other messiahs, all other
religious leaders down through the years died and stayed dead. You'll find their bones in graves
somewhere. But He arose, and so all of His
claims and all of His promises and all of His work depend on
this. He arose. How do you explain
Jesus Christ? This is the first broad fact. Jesus Christ Himself. His existence
in history and all that He did. How do you explain Him if this
is a mere invention of men? And then the second broad fact.
The Bible itself. The book. The word Bible is Greek
for book, biblia, book, the book, God's book. If Christianity is
the mere invention of men and has no divine authority, is not
the word of God or foundation, how do you explain the Bible?
How do you explain it? The Bible dates back 3,500 years.
It was written by 40 men, 40 different men over a period of
1,500 years. And most of these men never knew
one another. Most of them never consulted
one another. They did not collaborate together.
Yet, when the 66 books were written by 40 different men, most of
them over a different time period, when you bring it all together,
they declared one message, one subject, one theme, the message
of redemption, the revelation of, exacting details and marvelous
descriptions and prophecies of one person, Jesus Christ. In all of the types, pictures,
symbols, Jesus Christ in promise, in picture, in type, and person. They all together tell the same
story. The Bible itself is written by
men who were not scholars. They were not authors of other
books. They were not recognized as literary
giants. It was written in a language,
Hebrew, that is now all but dead. They were hated by most. They were mocked. They were ridiculed. And they were the butt of jokes. Powerful men have tried to destroy
the Bible, explain it away. They've tried to explain it away.
They've tried to change its message. Yet, it contains, continues to
be printed in every language on earth, over 1,000 languages,
and read by more people than all other books combined. The
Bible has endured the test of time. Where are the books of
men printed even 500 years ago? Who's reading those books? The
last entry in the Bible occurred 2,000 years ago. The Bible, God's
word, has overcome the barrier, every barrier of custom and nationality. It is read by Americans, read
by Chinese, read by French, Africans, read by old and young, rich and
poor, read by lawyers and laborers, and it meets the need of all. How do you explain the Bible?
The Bible tells the truth about man in plain term. God's Word,
the Bible, does not dignify, justify, or gloss over man and
his sin and his inability and his wickedness. It shuts man
up to the mercy of God and leaves man's deliverance in the hands
of a sovereign yet gracious and merciful God. The Bible tells
the truth about man. The Bible tells the truth about
God, claiming as no other book dares to be the very Word of
God. The Bible, God's Word, is profound
yet simple. mysterious, yet plain. It has been misused, abused,
misquoted, and used as a platform for self-seeking evil men, and
yet it stands, unchanged, powerful. It is still the world's bestseller. Yes, how do you explain the Bible? Broad facts. Jesus Christ himself,
number one. How do you explain Jesus Christ? and all that he did, and all
that he said, and all that he accomplished, and how the world
still thinks about and talks about that man. How do you explain
the Bible, the Bible itself, the wonder of it, the amazement
of it, the wisdom of it, the glory of it, the beauty of it,
the truth of it, the power of it? How do you explain it if
it's an invention of man? And thirdly, three broad facts. The third one is the results
of true Christianity. true Christianity, that is, this
religion of Jesus Christ. The followers are believers in
Jesus Christ. If Christianity is but the invention
of man and has no power beyond the resolve or determination
of natural flesh, if that's all it is, fleshly beliefs and traditions
and intellectual beliefs, how do you explain the difference
in the conditions, the attitude, spirit, and behavior of people
where the Bible is preached. How do you explain the difference
in people where the Bible is revered and loved, where Jesus
Christ is believed and worshiped and honored, and where the Bible
and Christ are rejected? It's completely different. Societies
where there's no Bibles and people do not believe it is completely
different. than where the Bible is read
and believed. I defy you to look at a map of
the world and compare countries where men are Christians and
compare it with men where men are infidel, unbelievers. In
Christian countries, now mind you, no country, no land is Christian,
but I'm talking about countries where people are believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians,
followers of Christ. In those places and communities,
freedom is recognized. Human life is highly regarded. Human rights are recognized. There are laws of morality enforced,
and governments are subject to the people. How do you explain
that? I challenge you to compare Homes
where parents, father and mother, are true Christian, true believers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Compare them with homes where
the parents are not believers, not followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I challenge you to compare the
honesty, integrity, and concern, the attitude, the character of
individuals who are true believers of the Lord Jesus Christ with
those who make no profession of faith in Christ. The difference
is great. How do you account for the vast
difference, the definite change in a home or a person where Christ
reigns? Someone who knows Jesus Christ
and loves Christ, has Christ formed in them. How do you compare?
How do you compare, account for the difference, the definite
change in that person? Then compare the death of those
who die believing in Christ, hoping Him with those who die
with no hope, with no belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. Compare
them. Compare them. There's despair. There's great
anxiety in those who die without belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. But those who die believing Him,
die in peace, die with comfort and hope. You see, the Lord,
the true Lord, the living Lord, finds men in ignorance and gives
them knowledge. The Lord finds men and women
in darkness and gives them light. The Lord God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Spirit of God, finds men and women and even children
in superstition and gives them truth. The Lord finds men in
despair and gives them hope. The Lord finds men and women
and young people slaves to sin in this world, and sets them
free, and sets their hearts, their minds, their affection
on things above, causes them to see things as they really
are, temporal, perishing, and see eternal things as eternal. If it is time that men quit hiding
behind hypocrisy, spending their time criticizing false preachers,
and there are many, and phony religious movements, and there
are so many. Like the poor, you have them with you always. It's
time that men and women deal honestly with these three facts,
three broad facts. Who is Jesus Christ? What does
the Bible say? How do you account for the Bible?
How can we account for the miraculous change that Jesus Christ makes
in a home, in a community, and an individual? What about you?
Face these facts, and I urge you to call upon the Lord to
make Himself known to you, to reveal Himself to you. And He
does so through His book, through His Word, and through belief
on His Son. Until next Sunday, good day.