Defending the Faith

And in first Peter, chapter three, verse 15, it says. But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. That word defense in the Greek is the word apologia, and it's where we get the term apologetics. If you've never heard of the term apologetics before, I'm not teaching on how to be apologetic for being a Christian.

I'm not teaching you how to apologize to anybody for being a Christian. Apologetics means how to defend. And using evidence to defend your faith, defend God's word. And not very many Christians that I think of are really the last. The one that the biggest one I could think of is Josh McDowell. He's the one that I like. He wrote a book called Evidence that Demands a Verdict.

And he was out set out to try to disprove God that he that God wasn't real in the Bible. You couldn't trust it. And by the time he got done, he ended up being a believer. And it has happened to people's lives over and over. Every time they try to disprove God, they end up finding out that they can't. And they get saved. And so but when you when you go to defend your faith, it states in some first Peter 315, do it with gentleness and reverence because you're not out to win an argument.

It's not about who's going to be right at the end of the argument. He's one that all you want to do is plant a seed, plant God's word and let the God let the Holy Spirit do the rest of it. We had a guy where I work at. I work at an elevator plant. And I have one. One of the easiest jobs in the plant. There's me and one other guy back there. And we call it the retirement department.

And we have it easy back there. When somebody gets hurt, they send them back for us to babysit. So we we just we're kind of a babysitting service, too. So there's one guy came back there and he he we me and this other guy were both believers. And so we have Christian music playing back in our area all the time. And this guy came back to just adamant against God and just had all these complaints.

And we spent all day discussing with him and sharing. With him about God's word, how he needed to get God in his life. And finally, I asked him, I said, Is it all right with you if we just pray for you? He goes, Yeah, you can pray for me, but I'm not closing my eyes. So we we prayed for him. I said, I said, Lord, you know, you're the only one that convinced him that you're real.

I can't convince him you're real. Kirk can't convince him you're real. You're the only one that can do it. And Lord, I just pray that on his life that you will show him that you are real. And that's all you got to do. You just. Got to got to put out the word, give the evidence that you have to defend what you believe and then let God do the rest of it. In Romans Chapter 15, verse four, it says, For whatever was written in early times was written for our instruction.

Now, through perseverance and the encouragement of the scripture, we might have hope. It's important that you know that you can trust God's word because it's on God's word that what we believe is based. A lot of people tell you that God's word was is just written by a bunch of people. It contradicts itself. You can't believe anything that it says. But that's not true.

And most of the time when people say that, they haven't even read it. In First Peter, Chapter one, verse three, it says, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Excuse me. At the end of Matthew. It talks about how the Jews.

Told everybody that the disciples stole the body and they paid the guards off to spread that story. But. Eleven of those disciples died. For their belief that Jesus rose from the dead. And if it was a lie, if they had stole that body, they wouldn't have gone to the extent of dying for that lie. John, the apostle, was the only one that didn't die. And they were planning on boiling him in oil.

And God intervened. And they sent him to the island of Patmos instead, where he wrote the book of Revelations. But. They wouldn't have given their lives for a lie. Not all 11 of them. And there's another story. Jesus didn't really die on the cross. He actually just passed out. They put him in the tomb and he woke up, pushed the rock out of the way, went and married Mary Magdalene, had a bunch of kids, lived out his days.

But, you know, with all the evidence that points to Jesus. Being raised from the dead, it takes more faith to believe that he didn't rise from the dead than it does to believe that he actually rose from the dead, because the evidence is there. There's abundance of evidence to show that Jesus rose from the dead. So what I want to do this morning is look at the background of the Bible so you can realize that the Bible that we put our trust in is something that you could stand firmly on and you can use to defend your faith when you're talking to nonbelievers.

The Bible is made up of 66 books. Thirty nine books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament is written by 40 plus authors over a 1600 year span of time on three continents in three different languages. Some of these guys were kings. Some of them were fishermen. Some of them were shepherds. Some of them wrote in the wilderness. Some of them wrote in prison.

Some of them wrote in palace. Just their backgrounds are all different. And when you read through the Bible, they may have different styles. They may have different perspectives. Now it's coming out in what they wrote. But when you read it from Genesis through Revelations, it's as if one person wrote the whole Bible. And that's because these guys wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

It says in Second Peter, chapter one, verse 19. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

In other words, they were kept in balance as they wrote. They weren't writing their own thoughts down. They were writing as God led them. It has to do with balance. There's two forms of balance. There's static balance and there's dynamic balance. Static balance is where you take like a broomstick and you stand it up and you try to stand it in one place where it doesn't fall.

That's static balance. Dynamic balance is where something is in balance while it's in motion, like a top. When you get a top spinning and it's going, it stays in balance while it's in motion. And that's what happened with these guys that wrote the Scriptures. They wrote as they were moved, as they were moved dynamically, kept in balance by the Holy Spirit so that there wasn't any error included in the Scriptures.

The Bible has been read by more people and published in more languages than any other Bible, any other book in the world. It's a book. It's been taken into space. Archaeologists are constantly digging up new evidence to support the Bible. There's just so much evidence out there that supports it. And one of the things that God uses to support that God's Word is trustworthy is He uses Bible prophecy.

He tells us what's going to happen before it happens. In Isaiah 44, verse 6, it says, Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God beside me. And who is like me? Let him proclaim and declare it. Yes, let him recount it to me in order from the time that I established the ancient nation.

Let him declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. Do not tremble and do not be afraid. Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any God beside me? Or is there any other rock? I know of none. In Isaiah 42, verse 9, He says, Behold, the former things have come to pass.

Now I declare new things. Before they spring forth, I proclaim them to you. God always lets us know ahead of time what's going to happen. In fact, Jesus said the same thing in John chapter 13 and 14. He said, From now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am Him, that He is God manifested in the flesh.

In John 14, He says, And now I have told you beforehand, before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe. So I want to look at some examples in Scripture of things that God has said that have come to pass. And one of them that I picked out is in Ezekiel 26. And if you want to turn there, you may. I'm going to read the first 14 verses. It has to do with the destruction of the city of Tyre.

Tyre was a city that was located in Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast. And it was a unique city because part of the city was on land, on the coast. And a half mile off, the rest of the city was on an island. So it was divided into two. It had a mainland part and an island part. And it was located strategically for economic purposes. But what happened was, the reason God prophesied against the city

is before Israel went into Babylonian captivity, Josiah cleansed Israel of all its idols and its false gods that people were worshiping. And all these idols and false gods, that they were worshiping in Israel, were the same gods that they were worshiping in Tyre. So when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Tyre rejoiced that Jerusalem was destroyed because they felt they were vindicated for their gods that Israel and Josiah had ran out of their country. So they were glad that Jerusalem was destroyed.

And because they rejoiced over Jerusalem being destroyed, God made this prophecy against them. It says, Now it came about, In the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Said a man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, Ah, the gateway of the peoples is broken. It is open to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring you up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. And they will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock. She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God, and she will become spoil for the nations. Also her daughters who are on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord.

For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a great army. He will slay your daughters on the mainland with the sword, and he will make siege walls against you, cast up a mount against you, and raise up a large shield against you. And the blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. Because of the multitude of his horses, the dust raised by them will cover you.

Your walls will shake at the noise of cavalry and the wagons and chariots when they enter your gates, as men enter a city that is breached. With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will slay your people with a sword, and your strong pillars will come down to the ground. Also he will make a spoil of your riches and brave your merchandise, break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timber and your debris into the water.

So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more. And I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for spreading of nets. You will be built no more, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Lord God. There are several things about this prophecy. One, he says, that many nations will come against him. Like in waves.

In other words, it's not going to happen all at once. It's going to take place in waves. He says he's going to make it a bare rock. Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the manly part of the city. The debris of the city will be thrown in the water. Fishermen will spread their nets over the site, and the place would never be rebuilt. Well, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586.

And between 586 and 576 is when this prophecy was given. In 573, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland side of Jerusalem. And almost 200 years later, in 332 BC, Alexander the Great made a bridge. We're talking, this is a half mile between the mainland to that island. Nebuchadnezzar already destroyed the mainland part of the city. But he built a bridge half a mile long from the mainland to that island.

And he marched his troops onto that island. And they destroyed that island. And it became a place where they could, fishermen could lay their nets and stuff like that. But the people still wanted to build the city. God said they weren't going to do it. Remember, I said it's going to be happening in waves. And they started rebuilding the city again. And it never made it back to the prominence that it was.

But Jesus, in Matthew chapter 15 and Mark chapter 7, it states that Jesus visited Tyre. And Paul spent seven days there in Acts chapter 21. But during the 12th and 13th centuries of AD, the Muslims and the Crusaders, fought at Tyre several times over a 200 year period until people finally gave up and tried to rebuild the city. And now the city is not there anymore.

But it happened in waves. Nebuchadnezzar came. Alexander the Great came. The Muslims and the Crusaders came. And they just kept destroying the city over and over again until finally the city is not there anymore. It's finally gone. Just as God said it would happen. God has also predicted the rise and fall of empires from Babylon, Persia, Greece, the Roman Empire.

And he also talks about the coming of the revived Roman Empire. And if you watch the European Union at all, you realize that the revived Roman Empire is taking shape in Europe right now. One of the prophecies that relate to this also that I thought was interesting is that God even called Cyrus the king of Persia by name some 200 years before he was even born. In Isaiah chapter 44 and 45, he says this of Cyrus.

It is I who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and I will perform all my desire. And he declares of Jerusalem, She will be built, and the temple, your foundation, will be laid. Thus says the Lord to Cyrus his anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and make the rough places smooth.

I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the iron bars. And I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden wells of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my chosen one, I have also called you by your name. He's emphasizing this twice because he's calling him by name 200 years before he was even born.

I have given you a title of Arnath, though you have not known me. When Cyrus comes on the scene, he conquers Babylon in 539 BC. And the next year, he issues a decree for the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. So by 586, when Israel's 70-year captivity is over, the Jews are free to go back to their own land. And God had used Cyrus and told about him 200 years

before he was even born what he was going to do. Two-thirds of the Bible is about Israel, and God has chosen to use Israel as a prophetic clock to reveal his plan for the ages. There are four regatherings of the Jewish people to their land spoken of in the Bible. The first one took place from Egypt. The Jews went into Egypt because they were afraid there was a famine in the land.

They became slaves. And then God raised Moses up to bring him back. And it says in Genesis 15, verse 13 and 14, it says, And God said to Abraham, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve. Afterward, they will come out with many possessions.

The fulfillment was found in Exodus 12, verse 40 and 41. It says, Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came about at the end of four hundred and thirty years to the very day that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. So that's the first regathering of the Jews to Israel. They started out in Israel, went to Egypt,

and God said he's going to bring them back. Then he said there's going to be another secondary gathering. The secondary gathering was from the Babylonian captivity. In Jeremiah 29, 10 it says, For thus saith the Lord, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place. The reason they left the land this time

was because the Jews are supposed to keep the Sabbath year. Every seventh year they're not supposed to plant any crops. They're supposed to let the land rest. But for four hundred and ninety years they didn't let the land rest. They went ahead and were farming it anyway. So God said, All right, I'm going to collect you only seventy years worth of Sabbath years.

I'm going to collect on those seventy years. So you're going to go into Babylonian captivity for seventy years. My land is going to rest for seventy years, and then I'm going to bring you back. And that's when Cyrus came into the picture. In Ezra 1, verse 1 through 3 it says, Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah,

the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

So that's the second regathering. They went into Babylonian captivity. God raised up Cyrus and brought him back to rebuild the temple. The third regathering of Israel has to take place before judgment. But what causes the Jews to be scattered this time? Well, to understand what's going on now, we need to go to Daniel chapter 9. If you want to turn there with me, we'll be there for just a little bit.

In Daniel chapter 9, there's a prophecy that's given specifically for Israel, for the Jewish people. It says, starting in verse 24, it says, 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, talking about the Jewish people and for Jerusalem, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. All these things were supposed to take place in a 70 weeks period. Now he's talking about weeks of years here, not weeks of days.

So you take 70 times seven, it's 490 years, that all these things that are mentioned here are supposed to be fulfilled concerning the Jewish people. Finish the transgression, make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, all is supposed to happen in 490 years. Down in verse 25, he says, so you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. In other words, 69 weeks are going to pass from the time this decree is given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah comes.

He comes on the scene. This decree that's talking about was given by Artaxerxes, who was a Persian king, and he gave to Nehemiah this decree to rebuild Jerusalem at the beginning of the month of Nisan, it's a Jewish month, which would be about right around March 5th in 444 BC. So you've got 69 years times seven is 483 years. So from the time that decree was given, for 483 years later, till you find the Messiah is going to come.

The Bible uses a prophetic year of 360 days. And we know that because in Genesis chapter seven and chapter eight, if you take time to read that, you'll see that 30 days is used in a measurement. If you go to the book of Revelations, it talks about how the Antichrist is going to reign for 42 months. It also refers to it as 1260 days. So if you take 42 months,

multiply it by 30, you get 100, 1260 days. So the prophetic year is 360 days. So when you look at a prophetic prophecy that takes prophetic years, you have to convert it into our calendar year, because we use 365 days. We don't use 360 days. So you have to kind of do some math. But all we're going to do is we're going to break it down into days. So you take the 483 years times 360,

you get 173,880 days. And if you start from March 5th, 444 BC, it takes you to the end of March of AD 33. And what happened on that day in that part of March is recorded for us in Luke chapter 19. In Luke 19. And I'm going to start. I'm going to back up a little bit, I think. I'm going to start. I'm going to start in verse 29. It says, And it came about that when he approached Bethabage and Bethany near the mount called Olay,

he sent two of his disciples saying, go into the village opposite you in which as you enter in, you will find a coal tide on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it? Thus you shall speak, the Lord has need of it. And those who were sent went away and found it just as he told them. And as they were untying the coal,

its owner said to them, why are you untying the coal? And they said, the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their garments on the coal and put Jesus on it. And as he was going, they were spreading their garments in the road. And as he was now approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olays, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice

for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered and said, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out. And when he approached, he saw the city and he wept over it, saying, if you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes.

For the day shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and surround you and him you in on every side and will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. In other words, if they had been paying attention to Bible prophecy, they would have known from the time that the decree was given in four forty four B.C. that and counted forward.

They would have realized that when he rode into the door into Jerusalem on that donkey, that he was that prophecy was being filled and the Messiah was there. But they didn't recognize that. It says back in Daniel. It says. In verse twenty six, then after sixty two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off. And have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city in the sanctuary.

After after he rides in the donkey, the Messiah is cut off. In other words, he dies. And then it says the people of the prince who is to come. The prince who is to come is still future. It's talking about the Antichrist when the Antichrist comes. But he is going to come from the people who destroy the city in the sanctuary. Who ended up destroying the city in the sanctuary?

It was the Romans. The Romans destroyed it in 70 A.D. They destroyed the sanctuary in the city. Just as Jesus said, it was going to happen that the city would be taken down. Now, Israel didn't cease to be a nation in 70 A.D. They didn't cease to be a nation until 132 A.D. And before I go any further, before I need to make note of this today is that today is August 6th.

And in Israel today is. The 9th of Av. Today is Tishba Av. Today is the day that the Jews mourn the loss of both their temples. The temple that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed in 586 B.C. and the temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. were destroyed almost 600 years apart. Both were destroyed on the same day of the same month. And this is the day that that took place.

This is the day that they mourn that loss. But even though they're mourning the loss of those temples, at the same time right now in Israel, there is an excitement because everything is ready to rebuild the new temple. The priesthood is ready. All the materials are ready. Everything is ready to build the temple. All they're waiting on is God's timing. That's all they're waiting on.

Everything is set in place. And it's really. So there's even though they're mourning the loss of the two temples, there's an excitement because they know that the third temple is getting ready to be built. And God's prophesied that also. But Israel didn't cease to be a nation until. 132 A.D. That meant for the first hundred years that the church was inexistent,

the church in Israel lived side by side. And it talks about Romans, how the church is being grafted in to anointed service and to the Lord. Before that, Israel was the main one being used by God. But for that hundred years, in order for something to be grafted in, you have to hold it in place together for a while. You can't just stick it to it and just expect it to go.

You have to hold it for a while. So for a hundred years, Israel and the church lived side by side. And then finally, Israel ceased to be a nation in 132. The Romans changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. And they changed the name of Israel to Palestine. And they did that in hopes of removing the members of Israel. They would cease to be remembered.

But when they ceased to be a nation, the church took on off and grew. Well, Israel became a nation again in 1948. They've been a nation now for a long time. For forty-eight years. For seventy-four years. And once again, for the first time since the church was born, Israel and the church are living side by side again right now. We're living in the grafting in period

of seeing Israel grafted back in. And this is an exciting time because this time instead of, like last time, Israel ceased to exist, the church grew. This time, the church will be taken out of the way and God will continue to deal with Israel. So, we're getting close to rapture time is what I'm telling you. We're getting close to getting to go home. In Ezekiel 36 verse 24-25 it says,

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. The Jews were scattered because they didn't accept Christ as their Messiah. And for eighteen hundred years the Jews lived as distinct people

scattered all over the world. Eighteen hundred years. Their language even stopped to exist. The language had to come back to life when they came back as a nation again. The language didn't even still exist. But after eighteen hundred years God brings them back into their homeland. In fact, he prophesies in Ezekiel 36 about the land that he's going to prepare the land

before the Jewish people come. World War I was really about preparing the land of Israel for the people. Because in the late eighteen hundred years Jews started buying up land in Israel again and started cultivating it, cleaning it up. And in World War I the British took control of the area and they had the Bellflower Declaration in 1917 that said they were going to build a homeland for the Jewish people.

That made the Jews become even more excited and they started planting more trees, doing more things, buying up more land, trying to get things ready for the people. World War II was about preparing the people for the land. Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. And it made the Jews long to have their own home again. They didn't want to be scattered

throughout the world anymore. They wanted to have their own home. So God prepared the land for the people in World War I. World War II prepared the people for the land. In 1948 they came back as a nation again. Back in Daniel chapter 9. Finish this up real quick. In the next verse it says, And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week

he will put a stop to the sacrifices and grain offerings. There's one last seven-year period that Israel has not been fulfilled out of 490 years. Israel still owes God a seven-year period. And that won't happen until we're out of the way. But that's the judgment that's coming. God's using that time to cleanse Israel. He's bringing, he says he brought them back into their land now.

But he's going to cleanse them after they're back in the land. Right now the Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They're just, if you talk to them about the miracles of Israel today, they're just, the Jews will say, it's just a lot of hard work. But God has done so many things for them. But he's going to bring them back during the seven-year tribulation period.

The last regathering of the Jews is before the millennial kingdom starts at the end of the tribulation period. Now while two-thirds of the Bible deals with Israel, it says of Christ that he is written in the volume of the book, in Psalms chapter 40 and in Hebrews chapter 10. Everything in the scriptures point back to Christ. There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that point to Jesus coming.

And over all 300 and some prophecies were all fulfilled in one person, in Christ when he came. That's an amazing thing to know that God has gone to such extent to prepare us for Christ's coming. Now a lot of, if we were living in the Old Testament and we read some of these prophecies about him, we would think this is a bunch of contradictions because like Micah said that Christ was going to come from Bethlehem, Hosea said that God was going to call him out of Egypt. Isaiah said, referred to Christ as a branch, and in Hebrew the branch is a reference to being a Nazarene.

So which is it? Is he coming from Bethlehem? Was he going to come out of Egypt? Is he going to come from, be a Nazarene? What's, how's this going to work? Well in Matthew chapter 2, we find out that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt because of Herod. When Herod died, God told him, come back out of Egypt, come back to Israel. And when they came back to Israel,

they settled in Nazareth. All three of those prophecies fit just perfectly together. All the prophecies, all 300 and some prophecies that point us to Christ's first coming were written so that we would know exactly who Jesus is, and we would not have any excuse or misconceptions about who He is, because they would all point to Him. It's kind of like my address.

My address is Richard Hawkins. I live at 9 Autumn Road, Arkansas City, Kansas, United States of America, Lake Rea, planet Earth. Planet Earth separates this planet from all the other planets. United States of America separates this country from all the other countries on this planet. Kansas separates this state from all the other states in this country. Arkansas City separates this city

from all the other cities in this state. Autumn Road separates the street that I live on from all the other streets in our city. Nine separates my house address from all the other houses on that street. And Richard Hawkins separates me from anybody else living in the house. If any part of that address is changed, the mail doesn't come to me. I don't get the mail.

It's the same way with Jesus. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which are commonly referred to as Mormons, they teach in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, in Alma 7, verse 10, that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, not Bethlehem. He was born in Jerusalem. They also teach that Jesus and Satan were brothers in the preexistent world. Well, Jesus and Satan were not brothers

in the preexistent world. Satan is a created being. Jesus is the creator. Jesus wasn't born in Jerusalem. He was born in Bethlehem. They've changed his address. So the mail that they are sending isn't getting to the real Jesus. It's the wrong Jesus. It's the wrong gospel. It's the same thing with the Jehovah Witness. They teach that Jesus is Michael the Archangel.

Jesus is not Michael the Archangel. Michael the Archangel is Michael the Archangel. He is a created being. Jesus is the creator. It's important that you know the truth of God's Word so that you won't get deceived by the false Jesuses and the false gospels that are out there, because there's a lot of them. When they try to identify counterfeit currency, to recognize it,

the way they learn to recognize counterfeit currency is by getting to know the true currency first, because then once you know the true currency, what it looks like, then it's easy to spot a counterfeit because it doesn't match the truth. That's why at Calvary we spend so much time going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the Bible so that you will know God's Word and that you will be able to recognize the false stuff that's out there and to not get caught up into it. In 1 Peter 3, 15 that I started with, it says, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. In other words, set Christ apart as Lord in your heart.

Always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. One of the best defenses you have in sharing Christ is really your own testimony. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And as you share your testimony with somebody what Christ has done for you, you may not know a lot about this other stuff.

I mean, I've had this one guy at work. I forget to kick out of him. He comes back to my area in the mornings quite a bit. Not a believer. Refuses to pray. Comes back there and goes, Rick, what about this abortion thing and all this stuff? What do you guys believe about all this? And he starts on that and we get to talking about the Scriptures and then he'll come back

the next day. Rick, what about the dinosaurs and the ark? How'd they get all the dinosaurs? What about the dinosaurs and the ark? Well, I don't know. I don't know how God did all that. You know, but must have been a bunch of babies that got on the ark or yes or I don't know. But I don't know. I said, well, I'll get back with you on that, you know. But he's constantly doing

everything he can to try to stump me, try to throw me off. And I get a kick out of him because he's gonna get saved because he's getting angrier by the day. And when you get so far against something, pretty soon, you're gonna end up gonna get saved. But anyway, with all having that said, I want you to be able to go out and live your life, know the Word and not be ashamed.

You know, as I said earlier, apologetics doesn't mean I'm teaching you how to be, to apologize, to be apologetic for being a Christian. I don't want you to apologize for being a Christian. I want you to be bold in your faith and I want you to stand up for what you believe in and I want you to stand on God's Word because it's backed by everything, archeology, prophetic evidence, anything you want. But it's supported.

You have a solid foundation and that's what I want you to get out of this day. Now, we're getting ready to go into communion service and I've got two passages of scripture that I wanna read to you before we take communion. And I wanna read these to you because they're about Christ dying on the cross. And these two passages of scripture that I'm gonna read to you were written between 700 to 1,000 years before he died on the cross.

That's a long time beforehand to have this written and explain exactly what happened to him on the cross. Psalms 22 was written 1,000 years before Christ went to the cross. Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before Jesus went to the cross. And they just tell exactly as to the pinpoint of what Christ went through. I'm gonna just read the first 18 verses of 22. It starts out, it says,

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Does that sound familiar? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer. And by night, but I have no rest, yet thou art holy. O thou who art unthrown upon the praises of Israel. In thee our fathers trusted, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. To thee they cried out

and delivered. To thee they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am aware but I am a worm, not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me. They separate with the lip. They wag their heads, saying, Commit yourself to the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him because he delights in him. Yet thou art he who did bring me forth

from the womb. Thou didst make me trust upon my mother's breast. Upon thee I was cast from birth. Thou hast been my God from my mother's womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open wide their mouth at me as a raving and roaring lion. I am poured out like water.

All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws. And thou dost lay me in the dust of the death. For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers have compassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments

among them, and from my clothes they cast lots. In Isaiah 53 it says, Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised

and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrow he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

The chastising for our well-being fell on him. And by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? For the transgressions of my people to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there

any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief, for he would render him as a guilt offering. He will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, the servant will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquity. Therefore,

I will lot him a portion with the grape, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. Isaiah 53 is written as if it had already happened. It's written in the past tense, and yet it was written 700 years into the cross. God has gone to great extents to show us how much he loves us, and to prove himself true that we can turn to him, and that he keeps all of his promises.

Just as he keeps his prophecies, his predictions, the promises he has made us, he keeps his promises. So as we go into the communion, and the kids are free to come on in, let's just use this time just to realize that the Lord is with us and to realize how great a God we've got, and just to go to him and just give him worship as we take communion.

For some reason, I thought there was five of us up here, and I've got five cups. I have no idea what that's about. Let's go ahead and pray. We thank you for giving your body at the cross. You took the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus. You took upon you the penalty

that we deserve. And thank you, Lord, for your said blood that cleanses us from all sin. We thank you for rising the dead so that we can have new life in you, and we thank you that you're coming back for us again, Lord, that all your promises are true, and we can trust him because your word is true. We thank you and give you praise now in Jesus' name. Amen.

Go ahead and partake. Let's go ahead and I ask that you just bless each one of them. I ask that you would be with them this week. May they live out their faith in you out loud, boldly, knowing that you are for real, and just give them the strength just to stand firmly on your word and to know that you are right there with them in everything, and just allow them to be used by you, Lord.

I ask that you, Holy Spirit, would just minister to them this week. Spend time in your word. I ask that you'd bless them and just be with them now. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, you guys have a good week. If anybody needs any prayer or if there's somebody here that doesn't know Christ but would like to pray to accept Christ, I'll be hanging out up here in front,

so come on up front if you want to.