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You know, a while ago I was staying in this hotel when I came across the work of a vandal that—oddly enough—clearly pointed out one of the biggest problems on planet Earth. So stick around, and in a moment I’ll tell you what I found.

 

It was lunchtime, and I was eating lunch with a friend I’ll call Jim. And somehow, as we discussed the great philosophers and our opinions on the state of the world, the subject of religion came up. But as Jim and I discussed the topic of religion, it became obvious to me that he didn’t think much of the Christian faith.

“As far as I’m concerned, the Bible’s just a crutch for people who can’t make it in life,” he said.

Well, the implication, of course, is that Bible reading is for weaklings, and Jim was letting me know that he wasn’t a weakling. “Well Jim,” I said, “have you ever actually read the Bible? I mean, all the way through?”

He responded, “Well, I haven’t really read the Bible. I mean, I’m, well, kind of busy. Um, don’t really have a lot of time.”

“Jim,” I said, “don’t you think your opinion of the Bible would be more valuable if you actually knew what it said?”

“Yeah, I guess I should read the Bible before I pass judgment on it. I should know it before I criticize it.”

But I suppose, in reality, that’s the way it’s been for hundreds—or maybe thousands—of years. It’s been my personal observation that most people who attack the Bible or openly question its authenticity have never actually read it. Oh, they’ve heard other people’s opinions, they’ve read other people’s critiques, but for some reason they’ve never gotten around to actually checking it out for themselves.

And so a lot of the world just assumes there’s something wrong with the Word of God without ever actually reading it. And to be honest, there are a couple of possibilities when it comes to figuring out why people are so opposed to the Book of Books.

One of those possibilities is very painful for Christians to admit, but I think we really need to face it. One of the reasons people turn against the Bible is because so-called Christians haven’t set much of an example when it comes to letting the Bible actually change our lives. In fact, at the time I was discussing the Bible with Jim and trying my best to defend it, most of my friends at that point in my life knew I’d been raised in a Christian home and that I still snuck into church once in a while, but at that point in my life, I wasn’t really a Christian. My life wasn’t much different than anybody else’s. So I have to admit, as painful as it is—if Jim wanted to see a life that was actually changed by the Word of God, he wasn’t going to find it in me. And maybe that’s one reason why so many people simply don’t have time for the Bible.

It’s because they’ve never actually seen someone whose life has been changed. Every day they run into so-called Christians who are just as materialistic, self-serving and, well, nasty, as themselves. And they just don’t see much point in exploring the Christian faith at all.

But, you know, as serious as that problem is, the Christian community doesn’t have to take all the blame on themselves. Because even if there were absolutely no genuine Christians on the face of the planet, God could still speak to human hearts and change their lives.

The Bible says in Acts 14:17 that God did not leave himself without witness, which means that He speaks to every group of people on the face of the earth. In fact, if you read the context of that verse carefully, you’ll find it’s talking about people who have walked away from God entirely but still have a lot of evidence in their lives that God exists. And if those people simply won’t open a Bible, they can still see crystal clear evidence that God exists by reading His other book, the created world.

The fact is, there are a lot of people who just won’t read a Bible because they’re afraid of what they might discover inside. A little while ago, I was staying in a hotel in Orlando, Florida, and as I usually do, I pulled open the nightstand to see if there was a copy of the Bible. Sure enough, there was. But when I pulled that Bible out of the drawer, I made a pretty interesting discovery. Someone had taken a pen and written “Big Book of Lies” down the edge of that Bible.

“Man,” I thought. “Who did that?”

Then I opened the front cover of the Bible and I found out who did it. The logo for the Gideon Society was printed on the inside cover. You know the logo—it’s an oil lamp inside of a large circle. The vandal who had defaced the outside of the Bible had also left a mark on the inside. They turned that circle into a pentagram, and then they’d written some pagan catchphrases right underneath.

Now, I know for a fact that the irresponsible behavior of the person who vandalized that Bible is not representative of all the practitioners of Wicca or other pagan religions, because a lot of those people simply wouldn’t resort to damaging other people’s property. But when I saw what had happened to that Bible, I wondered, “Why in the world is this person so opposed to this Book?”

Now, chances are, just like Jim, this angry vandal had never actually read the Bible all the way through. And just like so many other people, this person had probably been severely disappointed or even hurt by so-called members of the Christian church. But more than that, I suspect this person was actually afraid to read the Bible. Let me see if I can explain.

In the ancient Roman Empire, you could belong to any religious group you wanted, so long as you still worshipped the Caesar as a god. Now, of course, the Christians couldn’t bring themselves to do that, because their hearts belonged exclusively to Christ, and the Ten Commandments plainly state in Exodus 20 that we must never worship other gods.

So the Christians became ostracized, not because their religion was different, but because it was exclusive. There was just no other room for other gods or manmade philosophy or self-directed religion.

Now, what does that have to do with a vandalized Bible in the Orlando Marriott? More than you might think. When you begin to read the Bible in earnest, you’re going to hear the voice of the Creator making claims on your life. And some people just don’t want to hear that. They’d rather ignore what God has to say and just keep running things their way. They’re afraid of what they might have to do if they took the Bible seriously.

It’s kind of like going to the doctor. That’s something a lot of men just don’t want to do unless the problem gets so bad they don’t have a choice. And why is that? Well, if we’re really honest about it, most guys don’t want to admit they have a problem that they can’t fix by themselves. We think it’s a sign of weakness and we’re afraid of what’s going to happen when we finally set foot in the doctor’s office. The fact is, the Bible has a way of pointing out what’s wrong with our lives. And unfortunately, most people just don’t want to hear it. But that’s kind of like ignoring a new lump under your skin, hoping it’s going to go away all by itself. And all along, you have cancer and you need a doctor’s help.

Just listen to what the Bible says in a famous passage found in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 53:6):

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Now, at the very same time, that is one of the most beautiful and one of the most difficult passages found anywhere in the Bible. First of all, it tells us we’ve got a serious problem. Every one of us has turned away from God, and we’re like sheep without a shepherd.

Now, that’s something most of us don’t want to admit, even though we strongly suspect it’s true. Our sinful, selfish hearts are set in opposition to God. We’d much rather have him leave us alone so we can run things the way we want. And if that’s really the way you want things, God’s not going to force you into the kingdom of heaven. Throughout the Bible you discover that if people really want to turn their backs on God, He reluctantly lets them go—but not without trying to warn them about how foolish their course of action is. The Bible says in Proverbs (Proverbs 14:12):

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

This Book, this Book that we read every week on this show, this is God’s warning to the world that you’re free to turn against Him. But when you do that, you are on a path you will regret. Now, that’s the difficult part of Isaiah chapter 53. We’re all like sheep who have run away. Then we read that part that makes the devil angry, where it says, “And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

It’s such a short sentence, but it sets the stage for one of the most profound concepts in the universe. Because you couldn’t save yourself, because your heart and your mind are so stained with pride and sin that you can’t fix them, God sent his Son to take your place. All of your sins, all of your rebellion against God, it’s all been laid on Jesus. Because of the gift of God’s own Son, you can consider your record clean by faith. And you can know that God’s deepest desire is to have you in the kingdom of Heaven.

Now, that’s a message the forces of darkness just don’t want to hear. And they don’t want you to hear it, because the cross of Christ is proof positive that God is absolutely everything He’s ever claimed to be.

I mean, who can stand at the foot of the cross and argue even for a moment that God isn’t love? Who can stand at the foot of the cross and argue that God doesn’t care about you? And who can stand in the shadow of Calvary and claim that God is some sort of arbitrary dictator who just loves to order people around? The truth is that the cross of Christ robs the devil of any argument he might have against God. And it’s that cross he’s trying to hide when he convinces someone that they don’t need the Bible.

Just listen to this amazing passage found in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation (Revelation 12:10-12):

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.’”

Now, here’s the reason a lot of people just frankly hate the Bible. First of all, it’s honest enough to show us that we’re sinners in desperate need of help. Secondly, it shows us that God’s made that help abundantly available. And thirdly, it shows us that the devil himself has been proven a liar and murderer by the cross of Christ.

So it’s no wonder we find this subtle voice whispering in our minds that we really shouldn’t read the Word of God. And it’s no wonder that we find someone who worships different gods angrily defacing a Bible in a hotel room in Orlando.

Let’s face it: if you really knew for sure that the Bible was nothing but a big book of fairytales, what in the world could you possibly be angry about? But if you suspect that there might be truth, well then, your sinful heart begins to cringe like a patient afraid of an honest diagnosis.

“Oh, but Pastor, surely by now we’ve discovered that the Bible is just a good bit of propaganda written by people who wanted to defend their way of life.”

Well, to be honest, if the Bible is just religious propaganda, it’s not very good propaganda. Again, it seems like the people who want to pick apart the Bible the most haven’t actually taken the time to read it—because the Bible seems to spend more time talking about the failures of God’s people than their triumphs.

Just think about the track record you find between the covers of this Book:

Jacob, the man who became the namesake for the entire nation of Israel, turns out to be a liar and a cheat.

Noah, the most righteous man on the face of the earth and the father of every nation alive today, well, he turns out to be a drunkard.

Abraham, the man who all of the world’s monotheistic religious want to lay claim to, well, he lies to the king of Egypt and betrays his own wife.

And David, whom the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart, well, he committed adultery and then had the husband murdered.

The disciples, the very ones that Jesus chose to start his church? This Book says they were petty and selfish.

So if you want to call the Bible a piece of propaganda, you’re going to have to give it a failing grade, because it spends an awful lot of time pointing out the mistakes and failures of God’s own people.

Then you come down to the cross of Christ, which more than anything else proves that self-interested people didn’t write this Book. Just think about this for a moment. What mere human author would have his hero die the most shameful death imaginable at the time? What bit of mere fiction would place the Messiah on a cross instead of a throne? If you want to call the Bible the propaganda of the Jewish people or the early Christian church, it doesn’t make sense. The very content of the Bible runs contrary to prideful human thinking. And that’s likely the reason so many of us are actually afraid to read it.

I’ve been reading this Book for a lot of years now, and I’m continually struck by just how honest the tone of the Bible is. Even the miracles are simple, honest ones—more believable than the fantastic feats of pagan heroes. And as you page through the stories of the Bible, you continually run into solid evidence that the authors just weren’t making this stuff up.

In my library I have this remarkable book, written a long time ago, called Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences. It’s by J. J. Blunt of Cambridge University. Now, somehow God gave that man the remarkable ability to notice little details in the Bible that underscore its authenticity—stuff that just wouldn’t be in the Bible if someone was making it up. And one of the most amazing points that Mr. Blunt raises has to do with the story of David and Bathsheba.

Sometime after David’s moral transgression, his own son Absalom turned against him and staged a massive rebellion. And when Absalom was building his rebel army, he recruited a man by the name of Ahithophel. Now, that was a very surprising development because Ahithophel, according to the Bible, was one of David’s right-hand men and a personal friend. So how in the world did Absalom convince a good friend of David’s to join in the rebellion against David?

Well, the Bible doesn’t actually say, but Professor Blunt noticed an unusual string of details in various parts of the Bible that actually spell out the whole story. And the amazing thing is that all of the details Mr. Blunt discovered are found in incidental facts that are mentioned in other parts of the Bible. Nobody who authored the Bible actually tried to tell us the story of Ahithophel’s conversion away from David. But still, the details all add up to give us a remarkable picture.

Just listen to this. In 2 Samuel 23 we have a list of David’s personal guards. One of them was Uriah the Hittite, the man David murdered. And another one was Eliam, the son of Ahithophel. Now, that means that Ahithophel’s son was likely a good friend or at least close acquaintance to the man whose wife David stole. But you know, it gets even more personal than that. It turns out in 2 Samuel 11 that Bathsheba, the woman David stole and the wife of the murdered soldier, was actually the daughter of Eliam. And that means that she was Ahithophel’s granddaughter. And the murdered man was actually part of Ahithophel’s family.

You know, for generations readers of the Bible wondered why one of David’s best friends would turn against him. It just didn’t make any sense. And then Professor Blunt discovered the truth, buried in the incidental details of the Bible record. Ahithophel was out for revenge because of what David had done to his family.

And if you remember the details of the story, you’ll remember that Ahithophel encouraged Absalom to steal his father’s wives near the end of the rebellion. The reasons for his rebellion against the throne of David are never stated by the authors of the Bible, but the details all add up. And that happens so often that we know that no human being purposely designed this Book.

The fact is, the whole Bible just has this ring of honesty to it. The details all make sense, and the different books of the Bible confirm each other without even trying.

Some years ago I was in Brazil. Somebody handed me a bunch of counterfeit money in my change. Now, at first I didn’t notice it because it was buried in a stack of genuine bills. But when I pulled out one of the counterfeits from my wallet later, I could tell right away something was wrong. It just didn’t feel or look like the real thing. And you know, when I read a lot of the books available in the bookstore today, I get that same sense that something’s wrong. Those human books just don’t add up. But I never get that sense when I read the Bible. In fact, the more I read this Book, the more it becomes obvious that it’s telling the truth.

A good friend of mine used to say that you can pick out the truth, because it’s like a snowflake. The closer you look, the more perfect it becomes. You can take a snowflake and put it under the microscope and it’s still beautiful. But manmade fabric, no matter how beautiful it looks, never looks as good under the microscope. You can see the flaws and the imperfections.

For centuries, people have been carefully examining the words of the Bible. And to this day, nobody has ever pulled the Bible down or destroyed the Christian faith. That’s because the Bible is like that snowflake. The closer you look, the more obvious it becomes that God himself designed it.

The real issue when it comes to the Word of God is not the imperfection of the Bible. It’s the imperfection of the human heart. It turns out we really do have a problem as sinful human beings. But a set of crutches isn’t going to help. The problem’s too serious for mere crutches, and God doesn’t want you to limp along through life anyway. The Bible actually proposes something much better than crutches.

Just listen to this verse (2 Corinthians 5:17):

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

You know, maybe Jim was right, at least a little bit. Maybe the Bible is for people who know they need help. The only thing really wrong with his way of thinking was the fact that he believed he didn’t need that same kind of help. I suppose that’s the real difference between people who find hope in the Bible and people who get angry when they read it.

For simple prideful human beings, it’s really tough to admit that we don’t have our act together. We don’t want to hear that we have a problem. But somewhere deep in every heart, we know it’s true. We all desperately need God’s help, and I can’t help but hope that the hotel vandal is somehow watching this show today.

So let me ask you this question. If you find the Bible offensive, what exactly is the thing that offends you most? Have you come to terms with the fact that you need the help that God is offering? Have you really read what the Bible says, or are you just going on what someone else said? Is the Bible really just a crutch for the weak?

It’s a lot better than that. It’s better than crutches, because if you get to the bottom of what God is saying, you’re never going to have to limp your way through life. I promise you, you’re going to run.

Maybe you haven’t cracked this old Book open in quite a while and you’re not really familiar with the promises of God. Why not get a copy of the Bible and actually read it for yourself? I think you’re going to be delighted with what you find.

Most of the time, when people actually read the Bible cover to cover, read the whole thing and they’re honest with it, they make a remarkable discovery. This Book is telling the truth, and God is real.

Why don’t we take a moment and pray together?

PRAYER:?Gracious Father in Heaven, today we’re excited by the fact that you love us enough to be completely honest with us. And today we want to be honest with you. We need your help. We need what you’ve put in the Bible. And so we ask that you would open our eyes so that we would understand it clearly, and that we too would be found ready for Jesus to come. For we pray it in his wonderful name, Amen.