INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: I recall reading that Billy Graham wanted to stay relevant in his evangelism ministry as he held crusades all over America and the world for so many years. He held the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. He stayed anchored to the rock and yet he was geared to the times. I believe that this is also our calling. We live in a culture that loves story. If you can produce a great story, and embed your views and theology into that story, whether you are right or wrong, you stand to influence a lot of people toward your view point. This is what is happening today. All the questions sharply debated at the beginning of Christianity in the first century are now being reopened. Is Jesus God? Is the Bible reliable? Is the church credible?
Quotation: The Da Vinci Code will confuse lots of people, but Jesus will become the centerpiece of many conversations. For those who are prepared to explain that Christianity rests on solid foundations, the opportunity will be tremendous (Erwin Lutzer).
Explanation: Perhaps, you have heard about a book that was written in 2003 by author Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code with over 7 million copies in print. As mystery, this book is enthralling. It is a 450-plus pages page-turner. I read my copy in 3 or 4 days. I was hooked. As a mystery, it is exciting. Brown is a great novelist. His story is going to come out as a movie in a few weeks. I am not endorsing the movie because I don¡¯t know what is contained within it. But if the movie is similar to the book, it will be engaging. However, whether in book or movie form, as theology and history, The Da Vinci Code is appalling. Behind The Da Vinci Code there is another code or agenda at work that is designed to demolish God¡¯s redemption story. Here¡¯s why. Just let me tell you now, I¡¯m going to spoil this book for you.
1. It questions the deity of Jesus using other gospels not included in our Bible. The church chose only those gospels that would strengthen the deity of Jesus, thus excluding other gospels that show him as a mere man. One of Browns leading characters, Teabing, states on page 234: ¡°Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ¡¯s human straits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.¡±
2. It undermines the reliability and authority of the Scriptures by overlooking the canonization process (canon: officially accepted list of books). Brown believes that other Gnostic gospels reveal more about the Jesus story than we know and that they should be listened to.
3. It challenges the integrity of the church that existed from the first century to the fourth century. ¡°History is told by the winners,¡± Brown would assert. Brown suggests that the church has lied to us. The church has stolen Jesus from his original followers ¡°hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their power (233).¡±
Summation: So the controversy really centers on these three issues: Is Jesus God? Is the Bible reliable? Is the church credible? If you want to just read only those pages that speak to these issues in The Da Vinci Code, just read chapters 55-58, and 60 in Browns book.
Key Word: God¡¯s word has spoken to these issues. Rather than being diverted from our Christian mission by some novelist with aberrant theological viewpoints and a strange reinterpretation of church history, the Scripture¡¯s themselves spell out what we must do in order to keep our focus and decode the Code.
Title: Decoding the Da Vinci Code
Series Plan: Here¡¯s our plan.
May 7 ¨C Remember the Manual ¨C The Scriptures are Reliable!
May 14 ¨C Listen to Your Mother ¨C Mom Knows Best (Not Dan Brown)!
May 21 ¨C Walk with the Master ¨C Jesus is God and the Church is Credible!
May 28 ¨C Guide the Misled ¨C People are Lost!
If we are going to navigate successfully cultural trends and values, we must first turn to today¡¯s topic ¡°Remember the Manual ¨C The Scriptures are Reliable!¡± We have to start here.
Recitation/Text: The key call of the book of Jude is found in v.3 where it says ¡°Contend [The word for contend comes from a root that means to agonize. The picture is of a wrestler grappling with an opponent, determined not to give up an inch of territory.] for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.¡± [The complete body and beliefs of Christian truth. ¡°The faith¡± is a non-negotiable completed body of information. We know it as the Word of God. You¡¯ve got something in your hands far more valuable than a Holy Grail! It¡¯s called a Bible. It has been supernaturally preserved over time and has endured persecution and textual criticism and deconstructionists theories.] Jude 17- 23 17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you," In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts." 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
OUTLINE
Background: Evidently, there were some people who were creating chaos and strife unnecessarily in the lives of Jude¡¯s readers. Traditionally the writer of this epistle was Judas, the half-brother of Jesus Christ (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) and the brother of James (Jude 1; Acts 15:13). Jesus’ physical brothers did not believe in Him while He was ministering (John 7:5). James became a believer after Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7), and we may assume that Jude did too. It seems that they were leading some of the churches that Jude wrote to astray with their teaching and lifestyle. In the first 16 verses, Jude gave reasons to contend for the faith by looking closely at the ¡°Anatomy of Apostasy.¡± In the second section of Jude (verses 17-25) Jude tells believers how to contend for the faith by looking at the ¡°Antidote for Apostasy.¡±
Transition: These apostates were raising those same three questions: Is Jesus God? Is the Bible reliable? Is the church credible? What is Jude¡¯s antidote? How does he recommend that we break the code? The second of two imperative commands in the entire letter appears in verse 17 ¨C Remember. This command heads a whole cluster of commands that will follow (keep yourselves, have mercy, and save).
OUTLINE
Recitation: Jude 17- 23 17 But you, beloved, [in contrast with the shallow people heretofore referenced] ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you," In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts." 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
Key Word: Remember. What were they to remember? Three things in particular:
Remember who gave the Word ¨C the Manual
Explanation: Who gave the manual and why do we presently have it in its present form? It was the apostles or someone closely connected to them under the inspiration of the Spirit. The apostles were those few people that Christ selected to be with him and to be commissioned by him to share the Good News, even after he was gone. The requirement for being an apostle was that you had to be a witness to the resurrection (Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor.9:1).
Quotation: ¡°Four forces drove the effort to define which gospel documents bore unique authority for Christians. They were apostolic roots as a ground for truth, widespread use or circulation, the rise of competing views of faith, and persecution (Bock, Breaking, 110).¡±
Not long after the resurrection, false apostles and teachers began to appear, saying things that no one could really verify, and writing things that no one could really document, and so it became necessary to develop a system to protect the body of Christian truth against these alternative expressions of Christianity. One of the main tests in the early church when they were recognizing which books were truly inspired by God and deserved a place in the canon, was that the book had to be written by an apostle or by someone closely associated with an apostle and thus have access to eyewitnesses and this had to be recognized by a wide circulation among Christians (not just a local recognition; these were books that God was obiously using on a broader scale). The canon was formed long before Nicea, contrary to what Dan Brown suggests. Reliable copies of these scriptures were provided by copyists and so they were passed on from generation to generation and circulated among believers.
Illustration: In 303 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered that the sacred books of the Christians be burned or destroyed. How do you destroy their books unless you know what those books were by name? This is why a list needed to be compiled. Those who would defy such an order needed to know which books were worth dying for. I can see this: ¡°What am I dying for again? The Gospel of Judas, Thomas, Phillip, Mary Magdalene ¨C na, burn it. Not worth it.¡±
Amplication: 2 Pet. 1:21 "For prophecy (Scripture) never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along [Luke used this Greek word to describe a sailing vessel carried along by the wind.] by the Holy Spirit." Scripture is from God even though it came through men who used their training and various literary techniques to communicate their point. ¡°Remember the words of the apostles,¡± is a Biblical code phrase for ¡°Remember the Word of God.¡± Jude quoted the apostles with the same air of authority that he quoted the Old Testament and other sources. What they had to say was true. Jude implied that his readers had actually heard the apostles speak in person and that they had heard them say these words several times.
Amplification: 2 Timothy 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 3:2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God¡ 3:16 Every scripture [sacred writing] is inspired by God [It is God-breathed. The Spirit directed the writers in their writing. You can hear from God in any of the 66 books. Men wrote down what is contained in the Bible, except for the 10 commandments ¨C God wrote those Himself, but God breathed all of it. Inspiration ¡ú Canonization ¡ú Transmission (copyists until 1500 AD printing press) ¡ú Translation] and useful for teaching [Showing us Gods way - Jesus], for reproof [Showing us where we¡¯ve gone wrong and the glory we¡¯ve lost], for correction [Restoring us back to an obedient path; it stands us straight.], and for training in righteousness, [Nurtures us in right living so we don¡¯t fall into sin again.] 3:17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work. The Bible is given to us for more than just satisfying our curiosity or solving some code. According to Paul, its intent is to change the way you think, what you believe, and thus how you live! When we give God¡¯s Word permission to speak to our lives, then we free God up to do His work inside of us. A God-encounter is synonymous with a truth encounter.
Illustration: The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls comes to mind. These ancient writings were penned one hundred years before the time of Christ and stored in jars near the Dead Sea. Discovered in 1947, they represented the greatest biblical discovery of the century. Until their discovery, the oldest manuscripts of Old Testament Scriptures only dated back to 900 A.D. Now scholars possessed copies of some Old Testament books that were 1000 years older. Many wondered how much would be different. How much changed over a thousand years of copying? How many errors would now be discovered and corrected? They began to compare their book of Isaiah to the newly discovered copy 1000 years older and discovered that only one word in the whole book differed between the two manuscripts. One word over one thousand years (Scott Cody). I want you to know, that matching up all of the copies that we have (and of the NT, we have over 5,000 Greek copies of various sections of the NT), that there is a high percentage of agreement among all of the copies? That is amazing!
Application: So, when someone says, ¡°I¡¯ve got a new revelation for you¡± or a new gospel, test it by what the apostles wrote. Our Bible is accurate, reliable and authoritative. Jesus quoted from the Old Testament. Prophets predicted things years before they happened and they came to pass. Archeological discoveries have confirmed its accuracy. There are ancient manuscripts to verify their reliability. And the Scriptures refuse to go away.
Illustration: Noted French philosopher and skeptic Voltaire died in 1778. Before he died he said, ¡°Within 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book.¡± When Voltaire died they auctioned off his home and it was purchased for the headquarters of the French Bible Society. The Bible outlives its pallbearers.
Remember what they said
Explanation: What did they say to them?
1. First, they said that we live in the last times or days. According to the New Testament, the last days do not reference what will happen in the last few weeks or months before Christ returns. The last days refer to the time period between Christ¡¯s first coming and his second coming. This period of waiting will be characterized by Jude¡¯s second point¡
2. Second, the apostles said that there would be scoffers. These free-thinking people would deliberately mislead others (Acts 20:28-30; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:3-4). They will do this throughout the inter-advent period.
Observation: What makes this such a sobering concern is that everything that I am reading indicates that biblical illiteracy is on an incredible rise. Most people know about the Bible; they just don¡¯t know what¡¯s in it. If that trend is true of you, you are free picking for the enemy because you have nothing on which to build your life. People will read The Da Vinci Code and take Dan Browns word for it and that is dangerous. What comes out is a convoluted faith.
Illustration: A group of high school juniors and seniors who were headed for college were given a quiz about the Bible. Here are the results of that quiz: Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers; The N.T. was written by Matthew, Mark, Luther, and John; Eve was created from an apple; Jesus was baptized by Moses; Golgotha was the name of the giant who slew the apostle David. A New England high school teacher taught a course entitled The Bible as Literature. Only seniors in the top 10 percent of the class could take this course. A pre-test was given to evaluate the students¡¯ biblical knowledge. One student defined the Epistles as "wives of the Apostles." A pastor was so humored by this answer that he shared it during his next sermon. One of the church members approached him afterwards and asked, "If the Epistles weren¡¯t the wives of the Apostles, whose wives were they?"
Application: In order to remember what the Bible says, you have to read it and listen to it. Jesus said if you love me you will obey what I command. The Bible contains what Jesus taught. Reading his words is the beginning point for the most exciting journey of your life. But be prepared. Your comfortable notions and life axioms are going to be uprooted as you come to understand God¡¯s story.
Remember why they said it
Explanation: I believe the apostles said it for a couple of reasons.
1. One, because it took away that element of surprise for Jude¡¯s readers. By expecting people to come into our lives and our culture with a disposition to create chaos and even turn our hearts away from our God, we are not paralyzed and defenseless when it actually happens. We¡¯re prepared. They also said it in order to expose these individuals for what they really were.
2. A second reason the apostles shared this information was to cause them to evaluate where they were in their faith.
Application: As we evaluate our willingness to contend for the faith, I wonder what we might find. I wonder if, in the process of these last few years, there has been erosion in your faith, maybe a slow, almost imperceptible hardening of your heart, a weakening of your commitment, a loosening of your lifestyle. Do you still have your heart for God? (Insights Study Bible)
Illustration: Ravi Zacharias, a Christian intellectual who travels around the world lecturing in secular settings on spiritual themes, tells of an experience he had in Columbus, Ohio. He writes, ¡°A few weeks ago, I did a lectureship at Ohio State University. As I was being driven to the lecture, we passed the new Wexner Art Center. The driver said, ¡®This is a new art building for the university. It is a fascinating building designed in the post-modernist view of reality.¡¯ The building has no pattern. Staircases go nowhere. Pillars support nothing. The architect designed the building to reflect life. It went nowhere and was mindless and senseless. I turned to the man describing it and asked, ¡®Did they do the same thing with the foundation?¡¯ He laughed. You can¡¯t do that with a foundation. You can get away with the infrastructure. You can get away with random thoughts that sound good in defense of a world view that ultimately doesn¡¯t make sense. Once you start tampering with the foundations, you begin to see the serious effects.¡± [What About the Foundation?, Citation: Ravi Zacharias, "If the Foundations Be Destroyed," Preaching Today, Tape #142.] Do you know people who, like the Wexner Art Center, have staircases going nowhere and pillars supporting nothing? Do you also know some people though who have not only played with the infrastructure of life, but who have also started to mess with the foundation of their? People can try to base their lives upon many different foundations, but only one is reliable. God is the creator and designer of life and He has given us His Word as the foundation for our lives. Building one¡¯s life upon any other foundation will only lead to ruin (Pastor D. Greg Ebie).
CONCLUSION
Applications: To close, allow me to wrap things up¡
1. Don¡¯t label and dismiss this message quickly. You may be thinking, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be a false-teacher and neither would I be deceived by a false-teacher.¡± But yet, deep within, if you¡¯ve set yourself up as the center of the universe, and you refuse to get into and understand God¡¯s will for your life as it is revealed in His Word, you are capable of deception. Your lifestyle may be well camouflaged with the clothes you wear, the personality you project, the positions you hold. But any life that is based on anything other than Scriptural principle is built on sand. Perhaps, you¡¯ve been critical and you¡¯ve entertained the age old questions proposed in Genesis 3, ¡°Hath God said?¡± Because you¡¯re the center and not God; because it¡¯s your word and beliefs over His ¨C something very subtle has happened. You¡¯ve begun to believe the Lie. I know better than God what I need. That subtle life has divided your home. You¡¯ve been envious and it¡¯s robbed your joy. You¡¯ve kept score and it¡¯s made you hard and prone to gossip and faultfinding because after all, you know better than God.
2. The Bible teaches a counter-point to all of this. The Bible reveals a sacred story. In the beginning, God created us good. Something went drastically wrong and we sinned. But God has sent a Rescuer to deliver us from ourselves. In the Old Testament ¨C someone is coming. In the Gospels ¨C He is here. In the Epistles ¨C He is coming again! At the center of this story, stands the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is the center of the story, not me, not Dan Brown, not Mary Magdalene, not you. God broke the code of eternal death through Jesus so that we could all be restored to what God originally intended for all of us. Since we belong to God, we have no right to pick and choose what we want to believe from Him. The manual says that God created everyone and that they are significant. I have no right to always be critical, but should use my words to provide uplift. I have no right to make people around me feel small. I have no right to establish my own morals. God has provided those standards for me. I have no right to spend my life serving me; I must serve others. I will eventually face those situations in life where I must remember the manual.
Quotation: I saw an interview with a soldier and the interviewer asked him, ¡°How do you keep your composure in the heat of the battle when your buddies around you are killed or wounded? How do you handle this emotionally? His response: ¡°We fall back on our training.¡± When the bullets are flying and bombs are exploding and people are dying, you can¡¯t just go to pieces. You have to remember the training manual and fall back on your training. I believe the Bible answers some of the deepest questions of life. In times of uncertainty, you must remember the manual. You must fall back on your training. When life implodes and emotions are numb, you must fall back on your training. God is good. Forgiveness is real. Hope is alive. Family is priceless. The manual teaches all of this. God has spoken. We must never forget it.
Illustration: Solving the Da Vinci Code reminded me of another story about a man obsessed with solving a code. John Nash was the schizophrenic Princeton mathematician who could not distinguish between reality and hallucination. He nearly destroyed his life and his family because he had imagined that his job was to solve a code for the military. His genius mind saw patterns and codes in everything and people who weren¡¯t there. It drove him crazy. Slowly, he saw beyond his problem, learned how to cope, and Princeton gave him another chance at teaching, and he eventually won the Nobel Prize. We’re going to pick up the story where he’s in the faculty dining area of Princeton University. It’s a tradition that when a professor makes a significant contribution in their field, the other faculty members lay down a pen on their table in their honor. After this scene you’re going to see John Nash addressing a vast audience at the Nobel Prize ceremony, but I want you to note how he really talks to his wife in that speech and sums up the real meaning to life’s code. [Show Clip]
Application: We are a society obsessed with the secret codes, the inside knowledge to discover some great meaning in life. We are a culture that pursues some "Holy Grail" that we think will give us meaning. You’ll not find peace in some "Holy Grail" if you leave out Christ. John Nash discovered that life was more than solving a code. Dan Brown will one day realize that the code he seeks to solve has been available all along. It’s in the Son of God. You’ll never find meaning outside of Christ. Jesus is the code. He is our Reasons.
