Living on the Edge

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
If someone like one of your children or grandchildren or
best friends challenge your belief in the Bible and it's
actually the word of God, would you be able to
give them a confident explanation that would really.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Make sense to them.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Well, today we're going to help you know why you
can have full confidence in the Bible and answer those
honest challenges with a winsome and loving attitude that reveals
your joy and confidence in God and his word. Stay
with me, You're.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Gonna love it. Thank you for being with us for
this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Schip serves as our Bible teacher for this global teaching
and discipleship ministry, helping Christians develop an authentic faith. And
in just a minute, Chip will continue is cross examining

(01:00):
of the Bible. Is it just an ancient book of
stories influenced by culture after culture, or is it actually
the inspired word of God will join us to learn
more reasons why we can fully believe in the Bible.
But before he begins, if this is your first time
listening to Living on the Edge, or you want to
learn more about what we do, go to Living on
thee Edge dot org. You'll find resources there on, tons

(01:23):
of topics and countless programs to enjoy. Well with that,
let's join Chip for the second half of this thought
provoking message.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
I remember someone saying there were over three hundred prophecies
alone that Jesus fulfilled in his first coming. And then
I did some research and found out those things were
predicted seven hundred years before he was even born. And
all of a sudden, I begin to realize Wow. And

(01:53):
I did a study on prophecy, and what I realized
was a God who is sovereign and who is all
knowing and can say this is going to happen, and
it happens one hundred percent of the time is mind boggling.
And when he does it specifically about God the Son,
all I can tell you is my faith got infused.

(02:14):
And I thought to myself, you know something, everybody trusts
someone's word. Think about that. I mean that PhD student.
It was like popular culture said, the Bible's out. He
trusted someone's word. We trust someone's word. Some kids their
mom and dad. Sometimes it's an authority figure. Sometimes it's
on you know what we hear on the TV. Everyone
trusts someone's word. You are going to trust someone's word

(02:38):
about all kinds of things in life. What I'm telling
you is the evidence is overwhelming. We can trust God's word,
and prophecy is the thing that took me over the
edge and helped me to hang on. In fact, let
me give you a few examples, just a very small
collection of specific prophecies, and you'll see a little bit later.

(02:59):
There's a past. It goes with each one, things like
it was prophesied in Genesis three. He's going to be
born of a woman, and then later he'd be born
of a virgin. From Isaiah seven, he'd be a descendant
of Abraham and of the tribe of Judah, the house
of David. Think of all these things predicted where in
a little town called Bethlehem, that there would be this

(03:20):
John the Baptist, a forerunner that would come before him,
and he would be described I mean very specifically. He'd
have an anointing of the Holy Spirit, and a preaching
ministry and a healing ministry. Specific things like his role
as a prophet, his role as a priest, the time
that he would appear, that he would be betrayed an
exact amount of money. Imagine this hundreds of years earlier

(03:44):
thirty silver coins predicted, and that's how he would be betrayed.
He'd be abandoned by his disciples, silent before his accusers,
beaten and spat upon, mocked, his hands and feet pierced.
I mean, think of that. How in the world did
the Psalmist know? Crucifixion was not even invented yet, and

(04:07):
it's described in Psalm twenty two. All I want to
tell you is prophecy was one of the most powerful
things that helped me hold onto my faith when I
had my doubts. And I want to tell you something.
I don't think it's bad, and I don't think it's
wrong to doubt. I think there's times where you struggle

(04:28):
or someone challenges your faith. I'm glad that pH D
students said what he said. I'm glad that I realized
I didn't have confidence. What I want to ask you is,
do you have confidence in God's word? Are you unashamed
of the Gospel? Are you unashamed that? Can you say?
You know what? I believe the Bible is the Word
of God, and I'm going to stand on that. I

(04:50):
believe that it's true. But in order to do that,
you have to have some facts and you need to
know that it really is trustworthy. And the next question
that came to my mind is if everything I've said
so far is true, and I'm telling you it is
and you can verify it, what about this one really
big question? What if all that is true about the

(05:11):
Bible that Jesus was talking about? But we had this
small little problem of two thousand years and we've all
played the game right as little kids telephone. This person
speaks it to this person, who speaks it to this
person speaks it to this person, and like twenty people later,
whatever they said in the beginning is completely different. What
about the transmission of the Scripture? Now here's what I

(05:33):
have to tell you, and this is scholars, both religious
scholars who are liberal and conservative. The amazement that they
have is the most well preserved book in all antiquity
is the Bible. Are you ready for this? The transmission
of the Scripture is nothing less than miraculous. The Bible's

(05:58):
purity and perseverance throughout the centuries is nothing less Literally,
it's almost a miracle up there with the Resurrection, the
meticulous copy of the scribes and the rabbis. I mean,
it was copied in such a way where they would
count over so many letters, count down so many letters,
and every time they would check it when they got

(06:19):
done with the page, and if there were one letter off,
they destroyed it and started over the proximity of manuscripts. Though,
when you're looking at an ancient document, here's what scholars
look at. They say, Okay, when was it actually written? Okay,
got that? So when is our first copy of it?
And then how many copies do we have? Right? I
mean that makes sense, Like, so when did this guy

(06:42):
say Homer? When did he write this? And when is
our first copy that we have of it? And how
many copies will they do that with all, whether it's Shakespeare,
whether it's Homer, whether it's Plato, whether it's Socrates. Let
me show you a little chart that should blow your
mind and give you unbelievable confidence that here's the deal.

(07:03):
The book that I hold in my hand is accurate
and the same word of two thousand years ago. You say, well, Chip,
how do you know that? Look at this transmission. Plato
lived in four twenty seven to three forty seven. The
earliest copy we have of his writing is nine hundred AD.
So from the time he wrote it to the time

(07:24):
we get the first copy. Are you ready? Twelve hundred years?
And how many copies do we have? We only have seven?
I mean, that's mind boggling. And yet no one questions
did Plato write that you have the same thing here
with Aristotle? You know? You look at the first copy
a D. Eleven hundred, fourteen hundred years from when he
wrote it. And how many copies forty nine? I mean

(07:45):
people talk about Homer and the Iliad and the important book,
and while nine hundred BC is when he lived, our
first copy four hundred BC, and you hear scholars talk
about it's only been five hundred years, and look at
how many copies over six hundred. Now, look at the
New Testament AD forty to one hundred is when it

(08:06):
was written. Our first copies AD one twenty five, twenty
five years. We have twenty four thousand, six hundred and
forty three either full New Testaments or fragments. It is
the best preserved document in all of antiquity. Here's what
I know. What I hold in my hands is the

(08:30):
Word of God. And in fact, there's one other thing
that if you think the transmission blows your mind there
was a little shepherd boy a bed one and he's
got his sheep. It's about nineteen forty seven. And you know, kids,
he takes rocks and throws them up in the cave
and throws them up in the cave, and here's a crash. Well,
they discovered the Dead Sea scrolls. There were jar after

(08:52):
jar after jar of these clay pots filled with I
mean hundreds and hundreds of scrolls. And here's what it did.
We ended up having. Okay, okay, here's a copy of
Old Testament and some New Testament documents, and here's another copy.
But it's a thousand years earlier. And you say to yourself, wow,
they copied. They copied, the copied. I bet the telephone game.
They're really different when they took them and put them together.

(09:15):
Are you ready? Less than five percent difference? I mean
literally that which was written a thousand years earlier. The
only difference is the couple different letters. The word light
is spelled a little bit differently in Isaiah fifty three.
But here's what I want you to know. When you
look at prophecy, when you look at transmission, when you

(09:35):
look at how God has preserved his word, you never
have to be ashamed. In fact, his promises are true,
and as you take His word into your life, it's living.
It's active, It's sharper than the two edged sword. It
brings life, It changes attitudes, it breaks addictions, it gives direction,

(09:56):
It convicts of sin, it gives life and encouragement.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
You're listening to Living on the Edge and return you
to Chip's message in just a minute. But let me
quickly share with you. God has called us to do
incredible ministry work all around the world, and when you
partner with us financially, you're part of what we do.
So if you'd like to join us, go to Living
on theeedge dot org. We appreciate you giving whatever God

(10:22):
leads you to give. Well that here's Chip.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
In fact, the final reason that I believe in the
Bible is the impact that it has. The power that
it has to transform lives is overwhelming. As a young Christian,
like many men and probably many more now with the
Internet going the way it is, I struggled with one
particular sin that no matter how hard I tried, I

(10:48):
just could not get over it, to the point that
I was ready to give up the Christian life. There
were four girls for every guy where I went to college,
and I did not grow up as a believer, so
my thinking about women and lust and all the rest
was pretty well ingrained. And so I come to know Christ.
I begin reading the Bible. I make great progress except

(11:09):
in this one area. I mean, my behavior begin to
straighten out, but my thought life was just or. When
I saw different girls, my eyes did not go to
their eyes, it went everywhere else. And then my mind started.
I felt so guilty and so bad, and I tried
and tried and tried and tried. No matter what I did,
I just could never break free of lust. And then

(11:29):
I had a roommate who was on his way to
a sort of a Christian training program, and he had
to memorize sixty verses as sort of the preparation. And
I was a basketball player and he was on the
wrestling team, and we had this sort of banter and
you know, good competition. So he leaves the room one day,
I take all of his verses. I write him on cards,
and he's going to do, like, you know, two every week,

(11:51):
and I'm thinking wrestlers two a week. I'm a basketball player.
I'm going to memorize one every day. Review it and
get these perfect, and then I'm just going to show
up about or four weeks and just say, oh, by
the way, Bob, how are you coming? And I'm going
to do all sixty of them and nail them.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Now.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
My motivation was terrible, but God's word is powerful. I
can still remember Day twenty one, I'd memorized twenty one verses.
I was reviewing them. I mean literally running to baseball
practice with cards, you know, sitting in psychology class. Why
he would drone on I'm reviewing cards. Day twenty one.
I'm outside the library and a very beautiful co ed

(12:26):
who's a very committed Christian who I really liked and
actually had little feelings for, and I felt always guilty
when I lusted for her. And I remember having a
conversation with her, and we got done, and I walked
away and I realized my eyes only met her eyes.
And then I went to my room and I thought,
what has happened? I don't get it? And then I

(12:47):
made the connection. I didn't know Romans twelve two. Then
I didn't know don't be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How does
that happen. God's word. I didn't know the word of
God had power to break addictions. I didn't know that
when you were tempted, if you had God's word in
your heart, he would protect you. How can a young
man keep his way pure by guarding it according to

(13:07):
his word? Your word, I've hid in my heart that
I might not sin against thee. And then you know what,
I just went nuts. I just realized this is power.
I mean, there's power in God's words. So I memorize
those sixty verses, and then I memorized a bunch more.
I started taking where are all the problems in my life?
And I would find a verse or a promise, and

(13:28):
I would write the problem. Then I would memorize the verse.
All I can tell you God, transform my thinking, transform
my life. The word of God is powerful. Jeremiah would say,
your word was found, and I ate it, and it
became for me a delight and the joy of my heart.
And so as we wrap things up, here's what I

(13:50):
want to tell you. God's word is reliable. God's word
is credible. What you hold in your hand is the
Bible that Jesus you. What you hold in your hand
can stand up to scrutiny anywhere at any time. And
here's the question. It's one thing to believe it's true, right, Okay, Chip,

(14:10):
I agree with you. That's wonderful evidence. That is actually
pretty amazing. I have a lot more confidence. Here's my
last question. That book, with all that power, that's that credible,
sitting on your shelf and not getting into your mind
and to your heart does absolutely nothing. I've done a

(14:30):
fair bit of counseling over the years, and I will
tell you there is an amazing correlation between people that
have really big problems and really big struggles in relationships
and finances and addictions, and almost no time at all
in God's Word. And when I meet Christians that spend
time in God's Word over time and don't always feel

(14:51):
like it, but develop the habit of studying and reading
and memorizing the scripture, I will tell you what happens
is God gives them grace. We all believe God has power.
Can I tell you something. He takes the written word
and he makes it the living word, and as you
memorize it and digest it, and this isn't reading little devotionals.
I'm glad for all the little devotionals. You and I

(15:14):
need to be in the actual Word of God ourselves
and take it in and learn to study it and
then apply it. And I will tell you what. The
spirit of the Living God will take the living Word,
and he will transform your life. Father, I pray, I
pray has America like never before and Christians all around
the world as we struggle to be Christians who live

(15:36):
like Christians. God, would you give us a hunger and
a thirst for your word. Would you help us please
to set aside media and Facebook and in surfing, in
TV and hobbies, to make first and foremost time with
You and time in your word, and then enjoy all

(15:58):
those other things as time allows. And Lord, might we
read it, might we study it, might we memorize it,
Might we believe it? And might your life be reproduced
inside of us? That our thoughts, our words, our actions
would literally be the love of Christ exhibited out of

(16:20):
our hands, our feet, our words, and our life for
your glory and for our good and for the testimony
of light and salt in all the world. God, we
know you want to answer that I pray for my
brothers and sisters. You will make them men, women and
students of the living and abiding Word of God in

(16:43):
Jesus name.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
Amen. You're listening to Living on the Edge and the
message you just heard why I Believe in the Bible
is from our series Dealing with Doubts. She will join
us in studio to share some insights from today's talk
in just a minute. How confident are you in answering
questions about God and the Bible? Do you feel a

(17:07):
little unprepared wishing you would have paid a little bit
more attention in Sunday School. Through this insightful series, Chip
and guest teacher John Dickerson will help you better understand
the bedrock concepts of the Christian faith and confidently communicate
those truths in an engaging way. And we want to
equip you for when those meaningful conversations pop up. So

(17:27):
check out our resources page at Living on the Edge
dot org for all the details about books, podcasts, and
articles referenced throughout this series. Our goal is to connect
you with trustworthy Bible experts as you talk to those
with genuine doubts or questions. Again, visit Living on the
Edge dot o RG or the Chip and Gram map

(17:48):
to browse our resources.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Chips with me in studio now and Chip, you know,
the Bible teaches that God works all things together for
good and while we don't often get to see that
good action, we happen God has allowed us to see
the incredible ways He has used this ministry over the
past few years. Take a minute if you wouldn't tell
our listeners how it came about.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Absolutely, Dave. It was in a dark moment in July
twenty twenty that I got on a zoom call with
the head of all the churches in Egypt.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
The markets were closed, the government was struggling getting vaccines,
people were dying, and they said, we're barely surviving. And
I mentioned to the leader there that I was working
on a series called The Art of Survival, and he
interrupted and said send it to me right away. And
that led me to get a camera crew over the
weekend film a three part series from James Chapter one.

(18:44):
And then our international director said, Chip, this isn't just
for all the pastors in Egypt. I launched then in
three hundred cities in India, multiple countries in Africa, South America,
Southeast Asia. For eighteen months, we were doing webinars. I
would do one in the evening that we do half
the world, and then one in the morning that did

(19:04):
the other half of the world. And then out of
that grew this vision to gather them in real time
since they haven't been together some for over two years.
And we went on the road and did training with
the art of survival. One day seminars we trained over
forty thousand pastors in Kenya on the ground. Then it
was Malawi, Zambia, thirty cities in Mexico, and it just

(19:27):
goes on and on and on. If you care about
the world, if you've praying that God will fulfill the
Great commission, if you care about pastors, can I tell
you I don't know of a better place right now
that you can give financially and pray than to Living
on the Edge as we train pastors here and all
around the world.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Thanks Jip, Well, if you're excited about this incredible work
we're doing, we'd love to have you join the team.
Your regular financial support helps us reach more church leaders
with this training and provide some much needed encouragement. To
learn how to become a mo monthly donor, go to
Living on the Edge dot org or call us at
Triple eight three three three six zero zero three. That's

(20:07):
triple eight three three three six zero zero three. Or
visit living onbe edge dot org app listeners tap donate
and please know how much we appreciate your generosity. Well,
here now is Chip to share some deeper insight from
what he taught today as.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
We close our time together. This is really really important.
I want you to really perk your ears up and
really open your heart. You know, the Bible, if indeed
it is the word of God, has huge implications, but
it has huge implications for three very different groups. And
I want to briefly speak to each one of these groups.

(20:45):
Number one, I want to speak to you who are skeptics.
I have been there, I have lived that. I used
to laugh at the Bible. I laughed at people who
believed in the Bible. And here's what I want to
challenge you to do. I want to challenge you to
read through through the New Testament wants in a pretty
easy to read translation for yourself, and I want you

(21:06):
to read it with this one prayer prior to opening
it up. I mean, you're an intellectual person, or you
wouldn't call yourself a skeptic. You have real questions. Well,
stop believing what everyone else says about the Bible and
about Jesus if you've never checked it out for yourself.
So here's what you do. The most important and central
figure in all history is Jesus. You owe it to

(21:29):
yourself to open the New Testament with this prayer. Dear God,
if there is a God, and if you exist, reveal
yourself to me. I'm going to read this with an
open mind. And if you reveal yourself to me in
a way that I can understand and really make sense,
I will follow you and then just read right through
the New Testament. I challenge you to do that. Don't

(21:51):
reject what you know only secondhand. The second group I
want to talk to is what maybe someone would call
a cultural Christian. You intellectually believe in the Bible, but candidly,
you don't read the Bible currently. You don't study the Bible.
You're not looking for promises from the Bible about big

(22:13):
issues in your life. But as I was speaking, as
I was talking about the reality and the revelation of
how God works in our life, and that it's alive
and active and sharper than a two edged sword, and
that it's dynamic and that the personal God of the
universe would speak to you. Something was happening inside and
part of you said, I would like to get to

(22:35):
know God like that. And your next thought was, I've
tried to read the Bible before and I don't get it.
It's a closed book to me. It's super confusing. Here's
what I want you to know. Go to our website
Living on the Edge dot org. That's Living on the
Edge dot org, and we've developed an online video course
called how to Hear God's Voice in Scripture, going to

(23:00):
teach you how to study the Bible in a simple
way that you can actually understand. It's a very short,
five part series. And even more than know how to
study the Bible and begin to understand it and it
makes sense, which is super important, you'll actually begin to
hear God's voice. He'll actually speak to you, because that's

(23:21):
what the Bible is really all about. And finally, I
want to say a word to a committed follower that
you're just sort of saying, yeah, yep, go for it.
I love his word. I'm in his word. I study it,
I read it, I've memorized it. God has changed my life.
Here's what I want to ask you, are you passing
it on? Are you making disciples? Who are you taking

(23:44):
through what you've learned? How are you helping your kids,
your grandkids, maybe some people at church. Here's the goal.
Would you be willing to join with me and Living
on the Edge and take this study why I believe
and do it with the group of school kids, a
group of university students, maybe a handful of men or

(24:04):
a handful of women, or say this is what we
ought to do for our couples study. Or hey, Sunday
school class, Let's do this study, learn what we believe
in why, and then learn how to transmit this truth
to the next generation in the way they can engage
and really understand it. Let's go for it together.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Good wordship. Well, you know a great way to get
plugged in with those resources Chip just mentioned is through
the Chip and GRAMAP. There you can listen to our
most recent series, sign up for Daily Discipleship, download the
message notes and more. Let us help you experience God
in a new personal way starting today with the Chip
and GRAMAP. Until next time. This is Dave Druy saying

(24:46):
thanks for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge.