Concrete Faith

Paul Eshleman distributes millions of copies of the 1979 movie, “Jesus.”

At refugee camp in southeast coast of Africa, he tells how people fell in love with Jesus on the screen. When he did miracles, they adored him. There was clapping and joy.

But then the villagers watched as Jesus was arrested, beaten and lead away. They began to weep as he was scourged, and the entire village began mourn deeply as Jesus was crucified. In fact, Eshleman says, they began to wail and some even rushed toward the screen as if to get closer to the dying Jesus. So much dust was kicked into the air, that they could not finish the film.

For thirty minutes, the townspeople were on their knees weeping, confessing sins and crying out to God. The film crew tried to approach the villagers to pray, but the Spirt of God was so real that the counselors were falling to their knees confessing sins.

Eventually they were able to show the rest of the story, “The crowd exploded as if a dam had burst. Everyone began cheering and dancing and hugging one another and jumping up and down.”

For some the story has gotten old; the details overly familiar. For some, you came to the faith with real joy, excitement and authentic conversion to the Gospel. But time has caused your faith to become battle damaged, scarred and raggedy.

Today we are addressing the question, Can I know what I believe is true?

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

I. Why do you believe what you believe?

1. Hope it’s true.

2. It’s what you taught was true.

3. It’s the easiest thing to believe is true.

4. 1 Thessalonians 1:5

Christianity is a thinking faith. (Mark 12:30) By the way, notice that Jesus added, “mind” when quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. (He can do that, he wrote it the first time.)

II. My faith Rests on 4 foundational truths:

1.

It’s about real people and real places. Israel, Egypt, Iraq. It’s about King David, Ahab, Pilate, Herod. People we can verify by history.

2. (Psalm 19:1)

• If there creation has design, it must have a designer.
• If creation has a beginning, it must have someone who comes before the beginning who has no beginning.
• Someone had to build the building blocks of the universe.

3.

• Deuteronomy 28:49-57, Moses prophesied the first Jewish Exile. (1450 B.C.) 900 years later Jeremiah wrote Lamentations mourning over the fall of Jerusalem.
• Isaiah prophesied 700 BC that a leader named Cyrus would allow Jews to return. 160 years
• Ezekiel 37: God prophesied the return of Israel as a modern state. “This is what the Sovereign lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.” Ezekiel 37:21-22 In 1948 Israel became a nation: 2000 years after Jews had been dispersed from their homeland. Never before has an ethnic group been separated from its homeland for more than a few generations and maintained their identity.
• Isaiah 53 described the coming Messiah. Isaiah 53 matches the New Testament account of Jesus at 25 specific points. (Give you 5)
• The Messiah’s life was vividly described by the prophets: (Psalm 78:2 teach in parables.) (Zac. 9:9 ride in Jerusalem on a donkey) (Psalm 41:9 betrayed by friend) (Psalm 22:18 mocked. Lots cast for clothing.) (Psalm 22 hands and feet would be pierced.) Daniel 9:25-26 prophesied the exact day Jesus would enter Jerusalem.
• Micah 5:27 prophesied the place of his birth.
• Peter stone: “The chance that any one man fulfilled just 48 prophecies is 1 in 10(157) What are the chances of him fulfilling it (8) Take silver dollars and laying them 2 feet deep over the entire state of Texas. Mark 1, throw it in. Blind fold man…. same chances.

4.

• The Resurrection gives my faith a concrete starting point.
• Gary Habermass: “The resurrection is a rock that can bear the weight of Christianity.”
• God grounded everything in one provable event: God only has to prove himself once. All the Bible rests on the single, provable event of the Resurrection.

There’s a lot of good evidence that Jesus really rose from the dead. For me, the most convincing to me is the

• Thomas killed by spear in India.
• James the brother of Jesus was stoned.
• Matthew was killed by sword.
• James the son of Zebedee was killed by sword.
• Thaddaeus was shot with arrows.
• Bartholomew, crucified.
• James son of Alphaeus, crucified
• Andrew, crucified
• Philip, crucified
• Simon the zealot, crucified.
• Paul beheaded.
• Peter: Crucified upside down.

Most convincing evidence to me is that as he prepared to die, Peter watched his wife being lead to her execution. And he called to her, “Remember the Lord.”

If ever there was a moment to back out and say it was all a lie, it was when his wife was about to be killed. That Peter stood firm even as his wife was tortured and murdered for the faith, tells me he truly did see Jesus raised from the dead.

Peter gave testimony in Acts 2:22-32

What’s stopping you from taking next steps of faith?