January 15, 2025 • 40 mins
How do you know the Bible is the Word of God? That’s a question Christians should be prepared to answer, particularly since we claim to base our lives, and our eternity, on the truths contained in the words of Scripture. In this message from 2 Timothy 3:16, David Platt offers seven reasons we can be confident that the Bible is God’s Word. Whether you’re a Christian looking to strengthen your trust in God’s Word or a non-Christian who is curious about the claims of Christianity, the spiritual stakes are too high for us to be left wondering about the Bible’s authority. These words have been breathed out by God himself.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Can we really trust that theBible, that this book, is the
Word of God?
Like how?
How do we know?
It's not just some made-up bookwritten by people recording
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their thoughts on religion?
Is it possible to actually knowthat this book, the Bible, is
the word of God himself?
That's a really foundationalquestion.
In a sense, it's one of themost important questions for
every one of us in thisgathering right now to answer.
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Think about it.
I mentioned some of you may notbe a Christian right now.
If that's you, I'm assuming youwant to know the truth about.
Well, number one is therereally a God?
I mean, I'm assuming you wantto know if one true God really
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exists and then, flowing fromthat, I'm assuming you would
want to know if this is reallyhis word, this is the way he's
chosen to reveal himself to us.
And if you're a Christian,you've based your entire life on
this book being the word of God, your entire life on this book
being the word of God.
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I'm assuming you wanna know ifthat's really true.
I'm assuming you don't want tobase your entire life on a lie
or just on tradition.
Like I was sharing the gospelwith a Sikh man from Punjab,
india, this week.
He was saying we only believewhat we believe because of where
we're born, which led to awhole discussion about the truth
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behind what we believe.
Like either there is one trueGod or there's not one true God.
Either Jesus is God or Jesus isnot God, which means that
wherever we're born, whether inIndia or the United States or
anywhere in between, we need toseek what's true.
Paul in the Bible, who's writingat one point even says to
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non-Christians pity Christians.
Like feel sorry for Christiansif this book is not true.
Specifically, if what this booksays about the death and
resurrection of Jesus is nottrue, feel sorry for Christians
if they're building their liveson a lie.
The reality is, this book makestruth claims about who God is,
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about who we are, about how youand I can have eternal life now
and forever.
Like if this book is not theword of God, if it's just the
traditions or thoughts of a fewdifferent people, then you can
take it or leave it, like HarryPotter or any number of other
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best-selling books.
But if it's truly the Word ofGod, then it has massive
implications for every one ofour lives, forever.
And now, like I look around thisroom, I think about other rooms
where we're gathered right now.
Many of you are walking throughso many things.
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Right now.
Many of you are walking throughhard things in your life your
family, your work, your health,physically, mentally,
emotionally, relationally and ifthis book is just a collection
of religious traditions andteachings, then it's probably
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not that important to payattention to Optional at best,
amidst everything you're walkingthrough today.
But if this book is the word ofGod, then this book has eternal
supernatural power to comfortyou, to strengthen you, to give
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you peace, to give you wisdom,to give you perspective, to give
you wisdom, to give youperspective, to give you hope,
to heal you, to help you throughwhatever you're walking through
or will walk through.
I think of George in my churchgroup, a brother who not long
ago had a headache on a Saturdaynight, went to the ER.
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They found a huge tumor on hisbrain.
Within a few days he's beingoperated on and I talked with
him right before he went in tothat surgery and to hear George
speak with such peace andstrength and hope and joy, it
was remarkable to hear thisbrother because he had a rock
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solid foundation underneath himin God's word as he prepared to
go into surgery.
I want you to be prepared forthat moment when you get that
diagnosis or you face this orthat in this world.
I mentioned, for those who arehere at Tyson's on Christmas Eve
, that I have two people veryclose to me who are in hospice
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care right now.
One of them is, I'm pretty sure, watching online.
So shout out to my Uncle, john.
But these two men who I loveare walking through the valley
of the shadow of death andthey've banked their lives on
this book being the word of God.
Surely they want to knowwhether that's true as they're
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lying in a hospice bed.
And then let's just bring thisback to what's happening in this
gathering right now.
Like, when you think about it,this is a pretty interesting
scene, right?
The thousands of us wouldgather together right now to
open up a book and read it andtalk about it, with the
expectation that we will dowhatever it says.
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Like that may not seem strangeto you, but that seems strange
to a lot of people in the world.
I would say to an increasingnumber of people in our culture
Like what is?
Is this One big, massive bookclub?
You're like the book club guru,like what's so significant
about this book?
I think about one woman who wasvisiting a small group Bible
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study and somebody said, let'sturn to the book of John.
And later on she pulled herfriend aside who had invited her
and said who is John and why doI care what he thinks?
I think it's a pretty goodquestion and many of you have it
Whether you're, as I mentioned,not a Christian that's one of
the things I love about NBC isthat every week we gather
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together, there are peopleexploring Christianity here.
So if that's, you just know youare not alone.
Or maybe you're a student whoseparents bring you to church but
you're not really sure what theBible has to do with your life.
Or maybe you've been aChristian for years, maybe
decades.
Let me put it this way Ifsomeone were to ask you this
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week how do you know the Bibleis true, how do you know the
Bible is the word of God, whatwould you say?
How would you answer thatquestion?
And I want you to be able toanswer that question with
confidence, without hesitation,on one hand, so that you can
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share the truth of God's wordwith somebody else, but, on the
other hand, I want you to knowthe answer to that question,
because knowing the answer tothat question is critical to you
actually reading it.
If you don't really believe theBible is the word of God, then
you're naturally gonna be prettycasual with it.
But if you know that the Bibleis supernatural, that it's the
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living Word of God that has whatyou need to live a full,
meaningful, blessed life thatyour creators made you for now
and for the next 10 trillionyears and beyond, if you know
that the Bible bringssupernatural comfort, strength,
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peace, joy, hope, help for youin everything you face, from
highs in this life to hospice inyour home, if you know that the
Bible has power to transformyour life and others' lives
around you for eternal good on aday-by-day basis, then you're
gonna read it, because you knowthis is the word of God to me.
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You're not just gonna read it,you're gonna treasure it.
This book is gonna be morevaluable to you than your
Instagram feed or your news feedor the endless videos available
to you on YouTube or Netflix.
We're talking about the eternalWord of God that, when
everything in all this world isfaded away, this will still be
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standing.
If you believe this is the Wordof God, you're going to
prioritize it every single dayin your life, and then on the
weekend, yes, you're going toprioritize it every single day
in your life.
And then on the weekend, yes,you're going to prioritize
gathering with the church aroundthis book.
If this book is just a made-upbook of religious traditions,
then well, I'll just speak formyself.
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Personally, I have betterthings to do with my life on
Sunday than be in a book clubwith all of you, and I don't
mean that because I don't lovebeing with you.
But let's do something else.
Like the Bible isn't the wordof God, then by all means like,
don't get up early on Sundaymorning.
Corral the whole familytogether.
Just come serve in kidsministry teaching this book Now
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go to the ball field instead.
Take your kids to play sportson Sunday morning.
Go on a hike, do something, getextra work done, whatever.
But if this book is the word ofGod, then put it at the top of
your priority list for theweekend to gather together with
the people of God, to hear thevoice of God, to serve in kids
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or student ministry to make surethe generation knows who God is
and what God has said,absolutely.
So here's what I want to do.
I want to give you sevenreasons why we know this book is
God's Word, and I want toencourage you to write them down
again for your own confidencein God's word and then so you
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can share with others how youknow this book is the word of
God, not just for you but forthem.
I want every one of you to beable to say here's why I've
banked my life on this book andhere's why you should too.
And kind of like Mike mentionedlast week, this message is kind
of different than normalbecause we're not just in-depth,
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studying one passage in God'sword, like we normally do.
Instead, we're looking bigpicture at the Bible.
But I do want to set the stagewith two of the most important
verses in the Bible that tell usabout the Bible and why we can
trust it.
So that's where 2 Timothy,chapter three, verse 16 and 17,
come in.
Listen to this.
All scripture is breathed outby God and profitable for
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teaching, for reproof, forcorrection and for training in
righteousness.
That the man of God may becomplete, equipped for every
good work.
That is amazing.
Did you hear that language?
All scriptures, the whole Bible, every word in it is breathed
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out by God.
What a picture, inspired,directed, given to us by God
himself.
All scripture, this book, godbreathed words and as such, it's
profitable.
It is beneficial in so manyways to teach us, to instruct us
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, to reprove us, admonish us, tocorrect us when we are going
the wrong way, away from thelife God's made us for, to train
us in what is right.
So that purpose clause.
Listen to this purpose, so thata man or a woman made by God
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may be complete.
What a word.
Whole.
And who doesn't want that?
Do you want to be all you weremade to be and equipped for
every good work?
What a phrase.
Who doesn't want to haveeverything you need to do, every
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good thing you were made to do?
That's a bold claim about theBible.
So how do we know that's true,that Scripture is God breathed
and leads to all these things?
Seven reasons we know the Bibleis breathed out by God.
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One because of its internalconsistency.
So the Bible contains 66 bookswritten by over 40 different
authors in three differentlanguages over the course of
1,500 years, and they alltogether tell one consistent
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story and nothing at any pointcontradicts that story.
So if you're new to church,here's a summary of the story.
This is a summary of Mike'smessage from last week.
There is one true God whocreated the world and everything
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in it, including you and me,but he made you and me unlike
anything else in creation.
We have the unique capacity tobe in relationship with God, to
walk and talk with God.
Unlike animals, unlikemountains and seas, we are
created in the image of God forlife in relationship with him.
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Now the problem in the world iswe have all you have I have.
We have all turned aside fromGod and his ways to ourselves
and our own ways.
We think we know better thanGod what's best for our lives
and what's best for this world.
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And the Bible calls this sinrebellion against God.
And our sin leads to all kindsof effects in what we experience
in this fallen world, in ourlives, in nature, in everything
around us.
And if we die in this state ofseparation from God, we will
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spend eternity in judgment dueour sin against God.
But the good news of the Bibleat the center of this book,
promised from the very beginningand fulfilled in the person of
Jesus is that God has not leftus alone in this state, but God
has actually come to us in theperson of Jesus, and Jesus has
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lived a life of no sin.
And then, even though he had nosin for which to die, jesus
chose to die on a cross to paythe price, the penalty, for the
sins of anyone who will trust inhim.
After he died, three days later, he did what no one in history
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has ever done or will ever do herose from the dead never to die
again.
He is alive.
He has conquered sin and deathso that anyone, anywhere, no
matter who you are, no matterwhat you've done in your
relationship to God, if you willturn from your sin and yourself
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and trust in Jesus as Saviorand Lord, as the picture of
God's love for you, then Godwill forgive you of all your sin
.
Simply by faith in Jesus, notearning your way to God, but by
trusting in his love for you,god will forgive you of all your
sin and restore you torelationship with him, now and
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forever.
And God is going to make allthings right for all who trust
in him for all of eternity.
That's the story From Genesisto Revelation 66 books, 40
authors, three languages, over1,500 years.
Every single line of everysingle page consistently tells
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that one story and there's not asingle passage that contradicts
it.
Now I hear people say theBible's full of contradictions,
to which I always kindly respondit's interesting.
Just show me one, let's look atit.
And most people can't name onebecause there are so few, even
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apparent contradictions, andsuch instances are relatively
minor.
But the Bible is eithercompletely true or not.
So it's good for biblicalscholars and everyday Christians
to do the work to examine thoseapparent contradictions.
I dove into them in a thing wecall Secret Church that we do A
few years ago.
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The title of that Secret Churchwas Scripture and Authority in
an Age of Skepticism.
So you can dive into that.
If that would be a helpfulresource, just search my name
and Scripture and Secret Churchand it will come up.
And I'm convinced that the moreyou honestly and humbly dive
into the Bible and see how allthese passages not only relate
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to but reinforce one anotherover the course of 1500 years,
with multiple books and multipleauthors in a way that no human
author could ever plan, the moreyou will be amazed by its
internal consistency.
Just think about it this way IfI took 40 of you right now and
asked you to write down yourviews on God, what's wrong in
the world and how it can be maderight, there's no way I could
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get you to agree.
And that's all at the same timespeaking the same language.
These were 40 simple authors, afew of them well-educated,
others simple farmers, shepherds, soldiers, fishermen, just for
comparison's sake and I say thiswith all respect to my Muslim
friends but just think about theQuran and Islam.
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These are just facts, not evencommentary on the Bible and the
Quran, just plain facts.
The Quran was written not by 40authors and three languages over
1,500 years, but by one man,Muhammad.
This one man who had visionsthat he dictated to his
followers.
Then, after he died, thoserecitations were written down.
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Those written documentscontained discrepancy.
So one other person combedthrough the writings to
determine what he believed wastrue and then he burned any
documents that might contradicthis conclusions.
So one man dictating visions,written down after he died, that
one other man cleaned up andburned.
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The differences, simply basedon the facts.
There is no comparison withthis book, and one of Islam's
most prevalent criticisms of theBible is that it's been changed
.
But that's actually the secondreason we know this is the Word
of God, because of itsmanuscript reliability.
We base our knowledge of worldhistory on writings, where we
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have a handful of manuscripts,you think, just like, for
example, plato.
Most everyone believes that theworks ascribed to Plato were
actually authored by Plato andwe have about 250 manuscripts of
his works.
The oldest manuscript we haveis from over a thousand years
after he died.
In contrast, we have over 5,000full or partial manuscripts of
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the Greek New Testament.
More manuscripts are foundevery year, that's thousands
more manuscripts that exist forthe Bible than any other ancient
writing.
Some of them dated to withindecades of the original
autographs, and none of thosemanuscripts that have been found
have ever resulted in a majorrevision.
In fact, they're about 99.5%textually consistent.
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In other words, they're 99.5%the exact same, only a few and
relatively minor variations.
All of this makes the Bible byfar the most reliably attested
writing in all of history, justlike you would expect the Word
of God to be, and it's filledwith history.
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That's number three, historicalaccuracy.
Again, books like the Quran ora variety of other religious
books are not a history that canbe attested to like the Old and
New Testament of the Bible arecovering over 1,500 years and
over and over again the Biblehas been proven historically,
geographically andarchaeologically accurate.
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So one non-Christian,non-jewish archaeologist said it
may be stated categoricallythat no archaeological discovery
has ever controverted abiblical reference ever.
And the Bible has predictedhistory.
That's reason number fourfulfilled prophecy.
The Bible contains multitudes ofprophecies fulfilled with
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uncanny precision, including 300specific places in the Old
Testament written over hundredsof years that are fulfilled in
detail in the life and death andresurrection of Jesus.
The odds of that happening aretiny.
Josh McDowell puts it this wayImagine that the state of Texas
is covered with silver dollarstwo feet deep and one of them is
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marked, all of them thoroughlymixed.
A blindfolded man is instructedto reach down and pick up the
marked coin on his first try.
The chances of him getting thatone silver dollar are the same
as Jesus fulfilling just eightof those prophecies, but Jesus
fulfilled them all.
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In the words of RC Sproul, thevery dimension of the sheer
fulfillment of prophecy of theOld Testament scriptures should
be enough to convince anyone.
We're dealing with asupernatural piece of literature
, and it's not just the thingswe're made up to try to conform
to what had been prophesied.
The Bible's the book number fiveof eyewitness testimony.
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In other words, people werewriting down what they saw, what
actually happened, in a waythat somebody else could have
similarly written down at thesame time.
That wasn't true, and theywrote what they saw, at great
personal cost.
Just imagine being one of theauthors of the New Testament,
risking your life to write aboutJesus.
Nobody can deny what you'vewritten about his life, his
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death and his resurrection,because they saw the same things
with their own eyes.
So, instead of disproving you,they threaten you, they imprison
you, they persecute you andthey eventually kill you.
Yet you keep writing all theway to the end, because this
truth is worth your life, asBlaise Pascal once said.
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I believe only the historieswhose witnesses got themselves
killed.
All of that leads number six,to the Bible's timeless
authority.
I want to be careful, by evenusing worldly categories to
judge the Bible when the realityis.
Century after century aftercentury, the Bible has shown
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itself to be our judge.
Its authority has been attacked, questioned, criticized,
disputed and denied in every age, and yet it remains.
I've shared with you before howthe famous French philosopher
and atheist Voltaire onceclaimed, a hundred years from
now, the Bible will be aforgotten book.
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Yet after he died, in a twistof irony, the house where he
lived became a printing pressfor the distribution of Bibles
across the world.
People have totally forgottenVoltaire, but not the Bible,
because the Bible.
So this is reason number seven,and it's, in a sense, the most
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important.
This supernatural book, writtenby 40 authors who were carried
along, inspired by the HolySpirit, over the course of 1,500
years, contains supernaturalauthenticity, and by that I mean
that throughout history, inevery age and place where this
book has gone, it hassupernaturally changed lives.
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In every century and settingwhere it has spread, the Bible
has shown itself to be inspired,breathed by God, to transform
people, relationships, to bringpeace, joy, eternal life to
those who open it and read itand bank their lives on it.
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And it's doing so today, justlike it always has Every year.
The American Bible Society doesan extensive survey of
Americans' lives in relation tothe Bible, and they release
their findings, and many of themare fascinating.
Look at this one.
So, at one point in theirresearch, they use a metric
designed by Harvard Universitycalled the Human Flourishing
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Index.
That covers five main areas ina person's life, happiness and
life satisfaction, physical andmental health, meaning and
purpose, character and virtueand close social relationships.
They just talk about how allthese things contribute to human
flourishing.
So the American Bible Societytook that index and matched it
with how often people read theBible and look at the results.
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So I know this is hard to see,but over here these are people
who never read the Bible andtheir human flourishing index is
6.6.
Over here are people who readthe Bible four or more times a
week and their human flourishingindex is 8.2.
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And you'll see it justgradually increases up to that
based on how much people readthe Bible.
Like almost two points higherfor people who read the Bible
four more times a week thanthose who don't read it at all.
Or check out this in themeaning and purpose category.
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The difference is over twopoints higher.
Like, people who read the Biblefour more times a week
experience significantly moremeaning and purpose in their
life.
That's not an accident, likeit's really clear.
And the data goes on to showthat people who read the Bible
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four times more or a weekexperience significantly less
stress, less anxiety and lessloneliness.
And it's not even close.
It's up to 30% lower in somecategories.
And some of you might thinkwell, I read the Bible, I still
experience stress, to which thedata would say just imagine what
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your stress would be like ifyou didn't read the Bible then
and you know what's reallyinteresting.
These differences are mostpronounced in Gen Z, which is
the youngest generation theysurvey.
So the data shows not just inthis survey, we've seen it all
over the place Gen Zers havemore fears, higher anxiety,
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lower self-esteem, lessaffirmation from their peers
than any older generation.
But look at this specificallywhen it comes to anxiety.
So Gen Zers the light blue heresays Bible disengaged, those
who are totally disengaged fromthe Bible, their anxiety scored
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at 7.1.
Then in the middle they call itthe movable middle it's kind of
people who are a little moreopen to the Bible, maybe
dabbling it here or there.
But then you've got the darkblue.
That's Scripture engaged.
For those who in G, in Gen Z,who are Scripture engaged, that
number plummets to 3.4, which islike almost the lowest of any
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category, like it's even lowerthan millennials, for example,
who are scripture engaged whenit comes to anxiety, like over
half.
And the same percentage dropswhen it happens when it comes to
loneliness, like Gen Zers, whodon't engage scripture are twice
as likely over twice as likelyto experience loneliness as
those who do engage Scripture,like see it Next generation.
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Do not underestimate the effectof this book on your life, like
it's so much better thaneverything else the screens of
this world offer you thesescreens.
There's so much here that'skilling you.
The data's there.
It's destroying your mind andyour heart, and God wants you to
experience life and peace andjoy, the affirmation that can
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only come supernaturally fromhim.
He's given it to you.
So you put all this togetherand you see a book that is
literally unlike any other bookin the world.
And even for the skeptic, justimagine if there was a book
breathed out by God.
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Wouldn't you expect it to havethese characteristics Internal
consistency, manuscriptreliability, historical accuracy
, fulfilled prophecy, eyewitnesstestimony, manuscript
reliability, historical accuracy, fulfilled prophecy, eyewitness
testimony, timeless authorityand supernatural authenticity.
Now here's the deal I mentioned.
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Part of me walking through thiswith you today was so that
you'd be able to know this aswell as share this with somebody
else, how you, they can knowthat the Bible is the true,
reliable Word of God.
But I've been thinking how areyou going to remember all seven
of these characteristics ofScripture.
So here's what I did I spenthours racking my brain to try to
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come up with an acronym that Icould give you, like rearranging
all the letters of the wordsthat you see in front of you to
try to help you remember thesecharacteristics, and I'm gonna
share with you the best one Icame up with and if you can come
up with a better one, morepower to you.
So, but this is the best I cando.
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So here it is talking about thescriptures.
Remember this acronym, acronymthem no cap.
Some of you are clueless whypeople are laughing right now,
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because you're not familiar withthis slang term, and others of
you are laughing because you'rewell just laughing at me and my
attempt to use this slang term,as if I talk like this all the
time.
So cap is a slang term for awhat A lie?
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So no cap is a slang term forno lie or truth.
So the scriptures them no cap.
That's it.
So here's the way it works.
Here's the way it works Ttimeless authority, h historical
accuracy, I eyewitnesstestimony.
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M for manuscript reliability,then you have no by itself.
Then you have C internalconsistency.
You have A supernaturalauthenticity and P for fulfilled
prophecy, them no cap.
It's my best effort to help youremember these seven
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characteristics of the Biblethat show you one of the most
significant truths in the worldthat this Bible is the word of
God.
And part of me I mentioned itkind of before is hesitant in a
sense to defend the Bible'struthfulness, because when you
read it you will realize thatthe Bible is more than
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sufficient to do that itself.
Charles Spurgeon once put itthis way.
He said suppose a number ofpersons were to take it into
their heads that they had todefend a lion, full-grown king
of beasts.
There he is in the cage.
Here come all the soldiers ofthe army to fight for him.
Well, I should suggest to them,if they would not object and
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feel that it was humbling tothem, that they should kindly
stand back and open the door andlet the lion out.
I believe that would be thebest way of defending him, for
he would take care of himself,and the best apology or defense
for the gospel is to let thegospel out.
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That is my prayer for you thatyou would decide to read the
Bible this year and in theprocess you would realize that
you can trust the Bible is theword of God you would realize
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you can trust.
The Bible is worthy of yourlife, and not just your trust,
but your treasure and your timeEvery day.
This book is worth prioritizing, reading and discussing with
family, with friends.
This work, this word is worthprioritizing, coming together
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with a church family on theweekend to read it and study it
and respond together to it.
Because this book is breathedout by God over the course of
thousands of years and it willprofit you.
It will benefit you, empoweryou to be all that you're made
to be, to do all that you'remade to do.
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You know I was preaching inSouthern California this last
week to an incredible gatheringof 18 to 25-year-olds, and I say
incredible because they were sohungry for God's Word.
I saw the same thing the weekbefore in a gathering of about
15,000 18 to 25-year-olds,including some from our church
family, at the Cross Conferencein Louisville, kentucky.
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I saw the same thing a coupledays before that with a group of
college students at a crewconference here in downtown DC.
Like when I preach to thesegatherings of 18 and 25 year
olds, I wish you could see whatI see, like I don't walk up on a
stage, look out and see a bunchof guys and girls with their
arms crossed.
I sit in there like prove it tome, show me what you got.
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No, I see crowds of 18 and 25year olds sitting on the edge of
their seats with their Biblesopen, hungry to listen and take
notes and soak in God's Word.
I've seen them standing whenGod's Word is being taught with
their hands raised, some firedup, standing up on their chairs,
(36:02):
just passionate about the Wordof God.
It's totally distracting butbeautiful at the same time.
Of God, it's totallydistracting but beautiful at the
same time, and I pray for thatkind of hunger for God's Word to
spread across every generationin the church and across every
generation in this church family.
God, raise up students andteenagers.
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That's what they're talkingabout.
They're sitting around talkingabout encouraging each other
with truth that'll last forever.
Young adults like investingtheir lives in this treasure,
building each other up, andsingles and couples and moms and
dads like pouring it in, likeshowing children what it looks
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like to treasure God's word morethan anything else in this
world.
All the way up to senior adultssaying, ah, building my life at
80 on what's going to matterforever.
May it be so.
So I just want to encourage youhere at the beginning of this
year to make a decision thatthis year you, in your life,
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right where you're sitting rightnow, are going to experience
God's word in deeper ways thanyou ever have before in your
life.
Just think what would that looklike for your life this year to
experience this word in adeeper way than you ever have
before, and that might lookdifferent for different ones.
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Obviously, we're encouragingall of us to read through the
Bible, whole Bible, over thecourse of this year and help
each other do that.
Some of you have never donethat before.
Others of you may have donethat before.
I want to encourage you toconsider how can you treasure,
prioritize, experience this wordin a deeper way as we do this?
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So, as we close, I just wannaencourage you to answer this
question what practical steps isGod calling you to take in
order to experience his wordmore this year than you ever
have before?
Again, for some of you, that'sjust reading it like period
setting aside the time.
So maybe practical steps youneed to think through.
(38:10):
How are you gonna set asidethat time?
When are you gonna do thatMorning, lunch, at night, set
yourself a daily alarm.
What are some practical thingsyou can do to make sure to
prioritize this?
Maybe another practical step isto talk with somebody else or
others maybe your church groupabout doing this together,
helping each other, holding eachstep is to talk with somebody
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else or others maybe your churchgroup about doing this together
, helping each other, holdingeach other accountable.
Another practical step could beto listen, to pray the Word.
I hesitate to recommend my ownpodcast, but the whole point is
to help you, so that's kind ofwhy I do it.
So each day, I take one ofthese verses from our Bible
reading and say a few thoughtsabout it and then help you pray
(38:51):
according to what's in God'sword.
So just five minutes.
Maybe another practical stepyou could take is to do a
journal where you write downjust a few reflections of what
you read every day, write outmaybe a prayer based on what
you've read, even just asentence or two a day.
What a treasure that would be atthe end of this year and, as I
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mentioned earlier, even ifyou're not a follower of Jesus
at this point, maybe just toread this book, this
best-selling book, with an openmind, an open heart.
See what happens.
Just think how can I experienceGod's word this year in a
deeper way than ever before?
And I guarantee you, Iguarantee you, I have the data
(39:34):
to back it up you will notregret taking those steps.
You will not regret fillingyour life with the supernatural
Word of God.
What else in this world are yougoing to fill your mind and
heart with that is able to dowhat this book can do?
So let me give you a momentjust to reflect on this question
, just between you and God, andI, or someone at your location
(39:56):
will lead us from there.
But what practical steps is Godcalling you to take in order to
experience His Word more thisyear than you ever have before?
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Can we really trust that theBible, that this book, is the
Word of God?
Like how?
How do we know?
It's not just some made-up bookwritten by people recording
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their thoughts on religion?
Is it possible to actually knowthat this book, the Bible, is
the word of God himself?
That's a really foundationalquestion.
In a sense, it's one of themost important questions for
every one of us in thisgathering right now to answer.
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Think about it.
I mentioned some of you may notbe a Christian right now.
If that's you, I'm assuming youwant to know the truth about.
Well, number one is therereally a God?
I mean, I'm assuming you wantto know if one true God really
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exists and then, flowing fromthat, I'm assuming you would
want to know if this is reallyhis word, this is the way he's
chosen to reveal himself to us.
And if you're a Christian,you've based your entire life on
this book being the word of God, your entire life on this book
being the word of God.
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I'm assuming you wanna know ifthat's really true.
I'm assuming you don't want tobase your entire life on a lie
or just on tradition.
Like I was sharing the gospelwith a Sikh man from Punjab,
india, this week.
He was saying we only believewhat we believe because of where
we're born, which led to awhole discussion about the truth
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behind what we believe.
Like either there is one trueGod or there's not one true God.
Either Jesus is God or Jesus isnot God, which means that
wherever we're born, whether inIndia or the United States or
anywhere in between, we need toseek what's true.
Paul in the Bible, who's writingat one point even says to
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non-Christians pity Christians.
Like feel sorry for Christiansif this book is not true.
Specifically, if what this booksays about the death and
resurrection of Jesus is nottrue, feel sorry for Christians
if they're building their liveson a lie.
The reality is, this book makestruth claims about who God is,
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about who we are, about how youand I can have eternal life now
and forever.
Like if this book is not theword of God, if it's just the
traditions or thoughts of a fewdifferent people, then you can
take it or leave it, like HarryPotter or any number of other
(02:52):
best-selling books.
But if it's truly the Word ofGod, then it has massive
implications for every one ofour lives, forever.
And now, like I look around thisroom, I think about other rooms
where we're gathered right now.
Many of you are walking throughso many things.
(03:14):
Right now.
Many of you are walking throughhard things in your life your
family, your work, your health,physically, mentally,
emotionally, relationally and ifthis book is just a collection
of religious traditions andteachings, then it's probably
(03:37):
not that important to payattention to Optional at best,
amidst everything you're walkingthrough today.
But if this book is the word ofGod, then this book has eternal
supernatural power to comfortyou, to strengthen you, to give
(04:00):
you peace, to give you wisdom,to give you perspective, to give
you wisdom, to give youperspective, to give you hope,
to heal you, to help you throughwhatever you're walking through
or will walk through.
I think of George in my churchgroup, a brother who not long
ago had a headache on a Saturdaynight, went to the ER.
(04:21):
They found a huge tumor on hisbrain.
Within a few days he's beingoperated on and I talked with
him right before he went in tothat surgery and to hear George
speak with such peace andstrength and hope and joy, it
was remarkable to hear thisbrother because he had a rock
(04:45):
solid foundation underneath himin God's word as he prepared to
go into surgery.
I want you to be prepared forthat moment when you get that
diagnosis or you face this orthat in this world.
I mentioned, for those who arehere at Tyson's on Christmas Eve
, that I have two people veryclose to me who are in hospice
(05:07):
care right now.
One of them is, I'm pretty sure, watching online.
So shout out to my Uncle, john.
But these two men who I loveare walking through the valley
of the shadow of death andthey've banked their lives on
this book being the word of God.
Surely they want to knowwhether that's true as they're
(05:31):
lying in a hospice bed.
And then let's just bring thisback to what's happening in this
gathering right now.
Like, when you think about it,this is a pretty interesting
scene, right?
The thousands of us wouldgather together right now to
open up a book and read it andtalk about it, with the
expectation that we will dowhatever it says.
(05:53):
Like that may not seem strangeto you, but that seems strange
to a lot of people in the world.
I would say to an increasingnumber of people in our culture
Like what is?
Is this One big, massive bookclub?
You're like the book club guru,like what's so significant
about this book?
I think about one woman who wasvisiting a small group Bible
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study and somebody said, let'sturn to the book of John.
And later on she pulled herfriend aside who had invited her
and said who is John and why doI care what he thinks?
I think it's a pretty goodquestion and many of you have it
Whether you're, as I mentioned,not a Christian that's one of
the things I love about NBC isthat every week we gather
(06:39):
together, there are peopleexploring Christianity here.
So if that's, you just know youare not alone.
Or maybe you're a student whoseparents bring you to church but
you're not really sure what theBible has to do with your life.
Or maybe you've been aChristian for years, maybe
decades.
Let me put it this way Ifsomeone were to ask you this
(07:02):
week how do you know the Bibleis true, how do you know the
Bible is the word of God, whatwould you say?
How would you answer thatquestion?
And I want you to be able toanswer that question with
confidence, without hesitation,on one hand, so that you can
(07:23):
share the truth of God's wordwith somebody else, but, on the
other hand, I want you to knowthe answer to that question,
because knowing the answer tothat question is critical to you
actually reading it.
If you don't really believe theBible is the word of God, then
you're naturally gonna be prettycasual with it.
But if you know that the Bibleis supernatural, that it's the
(07:47):
living Word of God that has whatyou need to live a full,
meaningful, blessed life thatyour creators made you for now
and for the next 10 trillionyears and beyond, if you know
that the Bible bringssupernatural comfort, strength,
(08:07):
peace, joy, hope, help for youin everything you face, from
highs in this life to hospice inyour home, if you know that the
Bible has power to transformyour life and others' lives
around you for eternal good on aday-by-day basis, then you're
gonna read it, because you knowthis is the word of God to me.
(08:30):
You're not just gonna read it,you're gonna treasure it.
This book is gonna be morevaluable to you than your
Instagram feed or your news feedor the endless videos available
to you on YouTube or Netflix.
We're talking about the eternalWord of God that, when
everything in all this world isfaded away, this will still be
(08:55):
standing.
If you believe this is the Wordof God, you're going to
prioritize it every single dayin your life, and then on the
weekend, yes, you're going toprioritize it every single day
in your life.
And then on the weekend, yes,you're going to prioritize
gathering with the church aroundthis book.
If this book is just a made-upbook of religious traditions,
then well, I'll just speak formyself.
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Personally, I have betterthings to do with my life on
Sunday than be in a book clubwith all of you, and I don't
mean that because I don't lovebeing with you.
But let's do something else.
Like the Bible isn't the wordof God, then by all means like,
don't get up early on Sundaymorning.
Corral the whole familytogether.
Just come serve in kidsministry teaching this book Now
(09:40):
go to the ball field instead.
Take your kids to play sportson Sunday morning.
Go on a hike, do something, getextra work done, whatever.
But if this book is the word ofGod, then put it at the top of
your priority list for theweekend to gather together with
the people of God, to hear thevoice of God, to serve in kids
(10:03):
or student ministry to make surethe generation knows who God is
and what God has said,absolutely.
So here's what I want to do.
I want to give you sevenreasons why we know this book is
God's Word, and I want toencourage you to write them down
again for your own confidencein God's word and then so you
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can share with others how youknow this book is the word of
God, not just for you but forthem.
I want every one of you to beable to say here's why I've
banked my life on this book andhere's why you should too.
And kind of like Mike mentionedlast week, this message is kind
of different than normalbecause we're not just in-depth,
(10:48):
studying one passage in God'sword, like we normally do.
Instead, we're looking bigpicture at the Bible.
But I do want to set the stagewith two of the most important
verses in the Bible that tell usabout the Bible and why we can
trust it.
So that's where 2 Timothy,chapter three, verse 16 and 17,
come in.
Listen to this.
All scripture is breathed outby God and profitable for
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teaching, for reproof, forcorrection and for training in
righteousness.
That the man of God may becomplete, equipped for every
good work.
That is amazing.
Did you hear that language?
All scriptures, the whole Bible, every word in it is breathed
(11:46):
out by God.
What a picture, inspired,directed, given to us by God
himself.
All scripture, this book, godbreathed words and as such, it's
profitable.
It is beneficial in so manyways to teach us, to instruct us
(12:10):
, to reprove us, admonish us, tocorrect us when we are going
the wrong way, away from thelife God's made us for, to train
us in what is right.
So that purpose clause.
Listen to this purpose, so thata man or a woman made by God
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may be complete.
What a word.
Whole.
And who doesn't want that?
Do you want to be all you weremade to be and equipped for
every good work?
What a phrase.
Who doesn't want to haveeverything you need to do, every
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good thing you were made to do?
That's a bold claim about theBible.
So how do we know that's true,that Scripture is God breathed
and leads to all these things?
Seven reasons we know the Bibleis breathed out by God.
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One because of its internalconsistency.
So the Bible contains 66 bookswritten by over 40 different
authors in three differentlanguages over the course of
1,500 years, and they alltogether tell one consistent
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story and nothing at any pointcontradicts that story.
So if you're new to church,here's a summary of the story.
This is a summary of Mike'smessage from last week.
There is one true God whocreated the world and everything
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in it, including you and me,but he made you and me unlike
anything else in creation.
We have the unique capacity tobe in relationship with God, to
walk and talk with God.
Unlike animals, unlikemountains and seas, we are
created in the image of God forlife in relationship with him.
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Now the problem in the world iswe have all you have I have.
We have all turned aside fromGod and his ways to ourselves
and our own ways.
We think we know better thanGod what's best for our lives
and what's best for this world.
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And the Bible calls this sinrebellion against God.
And our sin leads to all kindsof effects in what we experience
in this fallen world, in ourlives, in nature, in everything
around us.
And if we die in this state ofseparation from God, we will
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spend eternity in judgment dueour sin against God.
But the good news of the Bibleat the center of this book,
promised from the very beginningand fulfilled in the person of
Jesus is that God has not leftus alone in this state, but God
has actually come to us in theperson of Jesus, and Jesus has
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lived a life of no sin.
And then, even though he had nosin for which to die, jesus
chose to die on a cross to paythe price, the penalty, for the
sins of anyone who will trust inhim.
After he died, three days later, he did what no one in history
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has ever done or will ever do herose from the dead never to die
again.
He is alive.
He has conquered sin and deathso that anyone, anywhere, no
matter who you are, no matterwhat you've done in your
relationship to God, if you willturn from your sin and yourself
(16:24):
and trust in Jesus as Saviorand Lord, as the picture of
God's love for you, then Godwill forgive you of all your sin
.
Simply by faith in Jesus, notearning your way to God, but by
trusting in his love for you,god will forgive you of all your
sin and restore you torelationship with him, now and
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forever.
And God is going to make allthings right for all who trust
in him for all of eternity.
That's the story From Genesisto Revelation 66 books, 40
authors, three languages, over1,500 years.
Every single line of everysingle page consistently tells
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that one story and there's not asingle passage that contradicts
it.
Now I hear people say theBible's full of contradictions,
to which I always kindly respondit's interesting.
Just show me one, let's look atit.
And most people can't name onebecause there are so few, even
(17:30):
apparent contradictions, andsuch instances are relatively
minor.
But the Bible is eithercompletely true or not.
So it's good for biblicalscholars and everyday Christians
to do the work to examine thoseapparent contradictions.
I dove into them in a thing wecall Secret Church that we do A
few years ago.
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The title of that Secret Churchwas Scripture and Authority in
an Age of Skepticism.
So you can dive into that.
If that would be a helpfulresource, just search my name
and Scripture and Secret Churchand it will come up.
And I'm convinced that the moreyou honestly and humbly dive
into the Bible and see how allthese passages not only relate
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to but reinforce one anotherover the course of 1500 years,
with multiple books and multipleauthors in a way that no human
author could ever plan, the moreyou will be amazed by its
internal consistency.
Just think about it this way IfI took 40 of you right now and
asked you to write down yourviews on God, what's wrong in
the world and how it can be maderight, there's no way I could
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get you to agree.
And that's all at the same timespeaking the same language.
These were 40 simple authors, afew of them well-educated,
others simple farmers, shepherds, soldiers, fishermen, just for
comparison's sake and I say thiswith all respect to my Muslim
friends but just think about theQuran and Islam.
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These are just facts, not evencommentary on the Bible and the
Quran, just plain facts.
The Quran was written not by 40authors and three languages over
1,500 years, but by one man,Muhammad.
This one man who had visionsthat he dictated to his
followers.
Then, after he died, thoserecitations were written down.
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Those written documentscontained discrepancy.
So one other person combedthrough the writings to
determine what he believed wastrue and then he burned any
documents that might contradicthis conclusions.
So one man dictating visions,written down after he died, that
one other man cleaned up andburned.
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The differences, simply basedon the facts.
There is no comparison withthis book, and one of Islam's
most prevalent criticisms of theBible is that it's been changed
.
But that's actually the secondreason we know this is the Word
of God, because of itsmanuscript reliability.
We base our knowledge of worldhistory on writings, where we
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have a handful of manuscripts,you think, just like, for
example, plato.
Most everyone believes that theworks ascribed to Plato were
actually authored by Plato andwe have about 250 manuscripts of
his works.
The oldest manuscript we haveis from over a thousand years
after he died.
In contrast, we have over 5,000full or partial manuscripts of
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the Greek New Testament.
More manuscripts are foundevery year, that's thousands
more manuscripts that exist forthe Bible than any other ancient
writing.
Some of them dated to withindecades of the original
autographs, and none of thosemanuscripts that have been found
have ever resulted in a majorrevision.
In fact, they're about 99.5%textually consistent.
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In other words, they're 99.5%the exact same, only a few and
relatively minor variations.
All of this makes the Bible byfar the most reliably attested
writing in all of history, justlike you would expect the Word
of God to be, and it's filledwith history.
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That's number three, historicalaccuracy.
Again, books like the Quran ora variety of other religious
books are not a history that canbe attested to like the Old and
New Testament of the Bible arecovering over 1,500 years and
over and over again the Biblehas been proven historically,
geographically andarchaeologically accurate.
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So one non-Christian,non-jewish archaeologist said it
may be stated categoricallythat no archaeological discovery
has ever controverted abiblical reference ever.
And the Bible has predictedhistory.
That's reason number fourfulfilled prophecy.
The Bible contains multitudes ofprophecies fulfilled with
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uncanny precision, including 300specific places in the Old
Testament written over hundredsof years that are fulfilled in
detail in the life and death andresurrection of Jesus.
The odds of that happening aretiny.
Josh McDowell puts it this wayImagine that the state of Texas
is covered with silver dollarstwo feet deep and one of them is
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marked, all of them thoroughlymixed.
A blindfolded man is instructedto reach down and pick up the
marked coin on his first try.
The chances of him getting thatone silver dollar are the same
as Jesus fulfilling just eightof those prophecies, but Jesus
fulfilled them all.
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In the words of RC Sproul, thevery dimension of the sheer
fulfillment of prophecy of theOld Testament scriptures should
be enough to convince anyone.
We're dealing with asupernatural piece of literature
, and it's not just the thingswe're made up to try to conform
to what had been prophesied.
The Bible's the book number fiveof eyewitness testimony.
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In other words, people werewriting down what they saw, what
actually happened, in a waythat somebody else could have
similarly written down at thesame time.
That wasn't true, and theywrote what they saw, at great
personal cost.
Just imagine being one of theauthors of the New Testament,
risking your life to write aboutJesus.
Nobody can deny what you'vewritten about his life, his
(23:34):
death and his resurrection,because they saw the same things
with their own eyes.
So, instead of disproving you,they threaten you, they imprison
you, they persecute you andthey eventually kill you.
Yet you keep writing all theway to the end, because this
truth is worth your life, asBlaise Pascal once said.
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I believe only the historieswhose witnesses got themselves
killed.
All of that leads number six,to the Bible's timeless
authority.
I want to be careful, by evenusing worldly categories to
judge the Bible when the realityis.
Century after century aftercentury, the Bible has shown
(24:16):
itself to be our judge.
Its authority has been attacked, questioned, criticized,
disputed and denied in every age, and yet it remains.
I've shared with you before howthe famous French philosopher
and atheist Voltaire onceclaimed, a hundred years from
now, the Bible will be aforgotten book.
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Yet after he died, in a twistof irony, the house where he
lived became a printing pressfor the distribution of Bibles
across the world.
People have totally forgottenVoltaire, but not the Bible,
because the Bible.
So this is reason number seven,and it's, in a sense, the most
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important.
This supernatural book, writtenby 40 authors who were carried
along, inspired by the HolySpirit, over the course of 1,500
years, contains supernaturalauthenticity, and by that I mean
that throughout history, inevery age and place where this
book has gone, it hassupernaturally changed lives.
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In every century and settingwhere it has spread, the Bible
has shown itself to be inspired,breathed by God, to transform
people, relationships, to bringpeace, joy, eternal life to
those who open it and read itand bank their lives on it.
(25:45):
And it's doing so today, justlike it always has Every year.
The American Bible Society doesan extensive survey of
Americans' lives in relation tothe Bible, and they release
their findings, and many of themare fascinating.
Look at this one.
So, at one point in theirresearch, they use a metric
designed by Harvard Universitycalled the Human Flourishing
(26:07):
Index.
That covers five main areas ina person's life, happiness and
life satisfaction, physical andmental health, meaning and
purpose, character and virtueand close social relationships.
They just talk about how allthese things contribute to human
flourishing.
So the American Bible Societytook that index and matched it
with how often people read theBible and look at the results.
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So I know this is hard to see,but over here these are people
who never read the Bible andtheir human flourishing index is
6.6.
Over here are people who readthe Bible four or more times a
week and their human flourishingindex is 8.2.
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And you'll see it justgradually increases up to that
based on how much people readthe Bible.
Like almost two points higherfor people who read the Bible
four more times a week thanthose who don't read it at all.
Or check out this in themeaning and purpose category.
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The difference is over twopoints higher.
Like, people who read the Biblefour more times a week
experience significantly moremeaning and purpose in their
life.
That's not an accident, likeit's really clear.
And the data goes on to showthat people who read the Bible
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four times more or a weekexperience significantly less
stress, less anxiety and lessloneliness.
And it's not even close.
It's up to 30% lower in somecategories.
And some of you might thinkwell, I read the Bible, I still
experience stress, to which thedata would say just imagine what
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your stress would be like ifyou didn't read the Bible then
and you know what's reallyinteresting.
These differences are mostpronounced in Gen Z, which is
the youngest generation theysurvey.
So the data shows not just inthis survey, we've seen it all
over the place Gen Zers havemore fears, higher anxiety,
(28:17):
lower self-esteem, lessaffirmation from their peers
than any older generation.
But look at this specificallywhen it comes to anxiety.
So Gen Zers the light blue heresays Bible disengaged, those
who are totally disengaged fromthe Bible, their anxiety scored
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at 7.1.
Then in the middle they call itthe movable middle it's kind of
people who are a little moreopen to the Bible, maybe
dabbling it here or there.
But then you've got the darkblue.
That's Scripture engaged.
For those who in G, in Gen Z,who are Scripture engaged, that
number plummets to 3.4, which islike almost the lowest of any
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category, like it's even lowerthan millennials, for example,
who are scripture engaged whenit comes to anxiety, like over
half.
And the same percentage dropswhen it happens when it comes to
loneliness, like Gen Zers, whodon't engage scripture are twice
as likely over twice as likelyto experience loneliness as
those who do engage Scripture,like see it Next generation.
(29:27):
Do not underestimate the effectof this book on your life, like
it's so much better thaneverything else the screens of
this world offer you thesescreens.
There's so much here that'skilling you.
The data's there.
It's destroying your mind andyour heart, and God wants you to
experience life and peace andjoy, the affirmation that can
(29:49):
only come supernaturally fromhim.
He's given it to you.
So you put all this togetherand you see a book that is
literally unlike any other bookin the world.
And even for the skeptic, justimagine if there was a book
breathed out by God.
(30:11):
Wouldn't you expect it to havethese characteristics Internal
consistency, manuscriptreliability, historical accuracy
, fulfilled prophecy, eyewitnesstestimony, manuscript
reliability, historical accuracy, fulfilled prophecy, eyewitness
testimony, timeless authorityand supernatural authenticity.
Now here's the deal I mentioned.
(30:32):
Part of me walking through thiswith you today was so that
you'd be able to know this aswell as share this with somebody
else, how you, they can knowthat the Bible is the true,
reliable Word of God.
But I've been thinking how areyou going to remember all seven
of these characteristics ofScripture.
So here's what I did I spenthours racking my brain to try to
(30:57):
come up with an acronym that Icould give you, like rearranging
all the letters of the wordsthat you see in front of you to
try to help you remember thesecharacteristics, and I'm gonna
share with you the best one Icame up with and if you can come
up with a better one, morepower to you.
So, but this is the best I cando.
(31:17):
So here it is talking about thescriptures.
Remember this acronym, acronymthem no cap.
Some of you are clueless whypeople are laughing right now,
(31:41):
because you're not familiar withthis slang term, and others of
you are laughing because you'rewell just laughing at me and my
attempt to use this slang term,as if I talk like this all the
time.
So cap is a slang term for awhat A lie?
(32:01):
So no cap is a slang term forno lie or truth.
So the scriptures them no cap.
That's it.
So here's the way it works.
Here's the way it works Ttimeless authority, h historical
accuracy, I eyewitnesstestimony.
(32:22):
M for manuscript reliability,then you have no by itself.
Then you have C internalconsistency.
You have A supernaturalauthenticity and P for fulfilled
prophecy, them no cap.
It's my best effort to help youremember these seven
(32:44):
characteristics of the Biblethat show you one of the most
significant truths in the worldthat this Bible is the word of
God.
And part of me I mentioned itkind of before is hesitant in a
sense to defend the Bible'struthfulness, because when you
read it you will realize thatthe Bible is more than
(33:07):
sufficient to do that itself.
Charles Spurgeon once put itthis way.
He said suppose a number ofpersons were to take it into
their heads that they had todefend a lion, full-grown king
of beasts.
There he is in the cage.
Here come all the soldiers ofthe army to fight for him.
Well, I should suggest to them,if they would not object and
(33:28):
feel that it was humbling tothem, that they should kindly
stand back and open the door andlet the lion out.
I believe that would be thebest way of defending him, for
he would take care of himself,and the best apology or defense
for the gospel is to let thegospel out.
(33:51):
That is my prayer for you thatyou would decide to read the
Bible this year and in theprocess you would realize that
you can trust the Bible is theword of God you would realize
(34:12):
you can trust.
The Bible is worthy of yourlife, and not just your trust,
but your treasure and your timeEvery day.
This book is worth prioritizing, reading and discussing with
family, with friends.
This work, this word is worthprioritizing, coming together
(34:34):
with a church family on theweekend to read it and study it
and respond together to it.
Because this book is breathedout by God over the course of
thousands of years and it willprofit you.
It will benefit you, empoweryou to be all that you're made
to be, to do all that you'remade to do.
(34:58):
You know I was preaching inSouthern California this last
week to an incredible gatheringof 18 to 25-year-olds, and I say
incredible because they were sohungry for God's Word.
I saw the same thing the weekbefore in a gathering of about
15,000 18 to 25-year-olds,including some from our church
family, at the Cross Conferencein Louisville, kentucky.
(35:19):
I saw the same thing a coupledays before that with a group of
college students at a crewconference here in downtown DC.
Like when I preach to thesegatherings of 18 and 25 year
olds, I wish you could see whatI see, like I don't walk up on a
stage, look out and see a bunchof guys and girls with their
arms crossed.
I sit in there like prove it tome, show me what you got.
(35:41):
No, I see crowds of 18 and 25year olds sitting on the edge of
their seats with their Biblesopen, hungry to listen and take
notes and soak in God's Word.
I've seen them standing whenGod's Word is being taught with
their hands raised, some firedup, standing up on their chairs,
(36:02):
just passionate about the Wordof God.
It's totally distracting butbeautiful at the same time.
Of God, it's totallydistracting but beautiful at the
same time, and I pray for thatkind of hunger for God's Word to
spread across every generationin the church and across every
generation in this church family.
God, raise up students andteenagers.
(36:23):
That's what they're talkingabout.
They're sitting around talkingabout encouraging each other
with truth that'll last forever.
Young adults like investingtheir lives in this treasure,
building each other up, andsingles and couples and moms and
dads like pouring it in, likeshowing children what it looks
(36:44):
like to treasure God's word morethan anything else in this
world.
All the way up to senior adultssaying, ah, building my life at
80 on what's going to matterforever.
May it be so.
So I just want to encourage youhere at the beginning of this
year to make a decision thatthis year you, in your life,
(37:05):
right where you're sitting rightnow, are going to experience
God's word in deeper ways thanyou ever have before in your
life.
Just think what would that looklike for your life this year to
experience this word in adeeper way than you ever have
before, and that might lookdifferent for different ones.
(37:28):
Obviously, we're encouragingall of us to read through the
Bible, whole Bible, over thecourse of this year and help
each other do that.
Some of you have never donethat before.
Others of you may have donethat before.
I want to encourage you toconsider how can you treasure,
prioritize, experience this wordin a deeper way as we do this?
(37:49):
So, as we close, I just wannaencourage you to answer this
question what practical steps isGod calling you to take in
order to experience his wordmore this year than you ever
have before?
Again, for some of you, that'sjust reading it like period
setting aside the time.
So maybe practical steps youneed to think through.
(38:10):
How are you gonna set asidethat time?
When are you gonna do thatMorning, lunch, at night, set
yourself a daily alarm.
What are some practical thingsyou can do to make sure to
prioritize this?
Maybe another practical step isto talk with somebody else or
others maybe your church groupabout doing this together,
helping each other, holding eachstep is to talk with somebody
(38:30):
else or others maybe your churchgroup about doing this together
, helping each other, holdingeach other accountable.
Another practical step could beto listen, to pray the Word.
I hesitate to recommend my ownpodcast, but the whole point is
to help you, so that's kind ofwhy I do it.
So each day, I take one ofthese verses from our Bible
reading and say a few thoughtsabout it and then help you pray
(38:51):
according to what's in God'sword.
So just five minutes.
Maybe another practical stepyou could take is to do a
journal where you write downjust a few reflections of what
you read every day, write outmaybe a prayer based on what
you've read, even just asentence or two a day.
What a treasure that would be atthe end of this year and, as I
(39:14):
mentioned earlier, even ifyou're not a follower of Jesus
at this point, maybe just toread this book, this
best-selling book, with an openmind, an open heart.
See what happens.
Just think how can I experienceGod's word this year in a
deeper way than ever before?
And I guarantee you, Iguarantee you, I have the data
(39:34):
to back it up you will notregret taking those steps.
You will not regret fillingyour life with the supernatural
Word of God.
What else in this world are yougoing to fill your mind and
heart with that is able to dowhat this book can do?
So let me give you a momentjust to reflect on this question
, just between you and God, andI, or someone at your location
(39:56):
will lead us from there.
But what practical steps is Godcalling you to take in order to
experience His Word more thisyear than you ever have before?
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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