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Your Move with Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley - Miracles: Then and Now (Part 1)

April 19, 2025 | S25:E17

Andy Stanley - Miracles: Then and Now (Part 1)
Your Move with Andy Stanley to help people make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.
#Faith #Purpose #GiftsoftheHolySpirit #Prayer #Religion #WordofGod #Miracles #inActive #Resurrection #YourMovewithAndyStanley #AndyStanley #Heaven #Foundation

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Your Move with Andy Stanley | Andy Stanley - Miracles: Then and Now (Part 1) | April 19, 2025
  • Andy stanley: hi, everybody, welcome to "your move," where we
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  • Help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.
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  • I'm andy stanley, and i'll be your guide.
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  • So, have you ever needed a miracle, asked god for a
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  • Miracle, and nothing?
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  • And did it leave you wondering if god even still
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  • Performs miracles?
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  • And if so, why didn't you get yours?
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  • Maybe you were asking wrong or maybe you were praying wrong or
  • 00:00:18.103 --> 00:00:20.738
  • Were you believing wrong or maybe just not believing enough?
  • 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:23.274
  • If that has been your experience or the experience of someone
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  • Close to you, stick around because today we are tackling
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  • The big questions about miracles right here on "your move."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Andy: so today we are beginning a brand-new series, entitled
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  • "miracles: then and now."
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  • And here's how i'd like for us to start.
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  • I want to start by asking you a question in a second, and i'm
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  • Gonna ask you to raise your hand, but don't raise your hand
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  • Till i give you the cue because i just kinda wanna tease out the
  • 00:00:51.636 --> 00:00:54.105
  • Question a little bit to make sure everybody knows where
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  • We're going.
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  • If you have ever, and wait till i cue, if you have ever asked
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  • God for, or even if you're not even sure about god, if you've
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  • Ever wished for or hoped for, or felt like you needed a miracle,
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  • In about 15 seconds i'm gonna ask you to raise your hand, but
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  • I wanna tease this out a little bit.
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  • I mean, going all the way back to high school, because you're
  • 00:01:13.658 --> 00:01:15.927
  • Driving home and you're way after a curfew, and you're
  • 00:01:15.927 --> 00:01:18.363
  • Saying--you're bargaining with god.
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  • "god, i need my parents to be asleep.
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  • I know they're not asleep, but if you could just make them pass
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  • Out and go to sleep, you know, all the way."
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  • Or maybe it was more serious than that.
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  • Maybe in high school you were praying that god would get your
  • 00:01:27.205 --> 00:01:29.707
  • Parents back together.
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  • "please bring my mama home, bring my dad home."
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  • Maybe you just, "god, you know what, please put my family
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  • Back together."
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  • Maybe you're--you prayed for a miracle because you prayed that
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  • The diagnosis that you feared wouldn't be the diagnosis you're
  • 00:01:42.253 --> 00:01:45.623
  • About to get, and everything just looked bleak, bleak, bleak.
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  • And the next day or the next week you were gonna find out and
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  • You're like, "god, please not that."
  • 00:01:50.061 --> 00:01:51.796
  • Or maybe you prayed for a miracle, not for you, but for
  • 00:01:51.796 --> 00:01:54.098
  • Somebody you love, maybe a younger brother or younger
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  • Sister, maybe a parent or grandparent.
  • 00:01:56.134 --> 00:01:59.537
  • So if at any point in your life, even if it was back when you
  • 00:01:59.537 --> 00:02:02.907
  • Were more of a believer than you are now, but you're like, yeah,
  • 00:02:02.907 --> 00:02:05.343
  • Back then, or maybe it could be current, if you've ever asked
  • 00:02:05.343 --> 00:02:08.413
  • God for a miracle or just hoped for a miracle, even if you
  • 00:02:08.413 --> 00:02:12.016
  • Weren't sure there was a miracle worker, would you be so bold to
  • 00:02:12.016 --> 00:02:15.653
  • Just raise your hand?
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  • My mind's up, yeah.
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  • Look around, yeah.
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  • It's amazing, isn't it?
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  • It's what we have in common.
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  • Here's something else we have in common.
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  • This is part of why we're doing this series.
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  • Many of us, most of us, didn't get the miracle we asked for.
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  • And in some cases, it was for the best, you know?
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  • I mean, it's true that one of god's greatest gifts to us is
  • 00:02:37.508 --> 00:02:40.545
  • Unanswered prayer because some time went by and it was like, oh
  • 00:02:40.545 --> 00:02:44.582
  • Yeah, mm.
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  • Glad that didn't work out.
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  • Thank you, god, for ignoring that.
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  • That was--yeah, this is better, you know?
  • 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:49.988
  • But for most of us it was devastating.
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  • It was devastating because you couldn't figure out, god, if you
  • 00:02:53.825 --> 00:02:56.060
  • Did this for them and you did that for them and you did things
  • 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:58.663
  • In the past and you believe the--you know, you were raised
  • 00:02:58.663 --> 00:03:01.633
  • With the bible and, god, you can do this.
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  • And i'm not asking, you know, for you to part the seas.
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  • I just need this one little thing and--or she just needs
  • 00:03:07.272 --> 00:03:10.241
  • This one little thing, or my dad needs this one thing, or my
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  • Older brother, whoever it was.
  • 00:03:12.577 --> 00:03:14.779
  • And not getting your miracle was devastating.
  • 00:03:14.779 --> 00:03:17.015
  • In fact, it was devastating to your faith.
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  • Maybe you clawed your way back and eventually regained your
  • 00:03:19.450 --> 00:03:22.086
  • Bearings with faith, but perhaps you didn't.
  • 00:03:22.086 --> 00:03:24.555
  • Perhaps your faith didn't survive, and as a result your
  • 00:03:24.555 --> 00:03:28.960
  • Disappointment with god in that season of life, you were in
  • 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:31.362
  • College or maybe it was a few years ago or in that first
  • 00:03:31.362 --> 00:03:33.531
  • Marriage, your disappointment with god has left you navigating
  • 00:03:33.531 --> 00:03:37.168
  • Life without god.
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  • And maybe kind of, you know, poking around a little bit,
  • 00:03:39.237 --> 00:03:41.906
  • Maybe religious people like me get on your nerves because you
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  • Did it all right and you prayed it all right and god didn't come
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  • Through for you, and you kinda consider people like me naive
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  • And you consider religious people naive.
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  • That makes perfect sense.
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  • If we'd had your experience, maybe that's where we would be
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  • As well.
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  • Or maybe it's the opposite, and maybe you wouldn't use this
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  • Word, so i'm not trying to read your mail, but maybe there's
  • 00:04:05.163 --> 00:04:07.965
  • Something in you that kind of envies people that have faith
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  • Because you used to have faith, you used to be a person of
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  • Faith, and god didn't come through for you and you lost
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  • Your faith and you kinda miss it.
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  • You kinda--you listen to the songs and it kinda stirs
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  • Something inside of you and you remember when you'd go to bed at
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  • Night and pray, and every once in a while you catch yourself
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  • Praying, and you're like, "what am i doing?
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  • I don't even believe in that stuff anymore."
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  • But you kind of wish that you could, but you're honest, you're
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  • Honest with yourself, and you're not gonna pretend, and you're
  • 00:04:33.124 --> 00:04:37.328
  • Kind of stuck.
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  • If that's you, part three of this series is for you, so i
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  • Hope you'll stick with us through this whole series.
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  • But today, as we launch this series, i wanna back up and, you
  • 00:04:45.403 --> 00:04:49.807
  • Know, this is gonna be a bit of a lighter note message.
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  • In fact, it's gonna be a bit academic.
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  • And if it's your first time with us, just so you know, sometimes
  • 00:04:55.380 --> 00:04:58.216
  • When i launch a series, there's not a lot of scripture because
  • 00:04:58.216 --> 00:05:00.818
  • I'm introducing a topic, and today's one of those.
  • 00:05:00.818 --> 00:05:02.954
  • And if you're like, "oh my goodness, i don't even have to
  • 00:05:02.954 --> 00:05:04.622
  • Open my bible," show up next.
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  • We'll be back there.
  • 00:05:07.291 --> 00:05:08.659
  • So i just want to introduce the topic, and it's such an
  • 00:05:08.659 --> 00:05:10.395
  • Important topic, i want to get us all on the same page.
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  • So i want to begin the series and the message today by
  • 00:05:12.530 --> 00:05:15.900
  • Answering a couple of basic questions as it relates to
  • 00:05:15.900 --> 00:05:19.170
  • Miracles so when i say the word "miracle," we're all thinking
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  • About the same thing.
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  • So i wanna answer a couple of questions.
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  • One, i wanna answer the question, "what makes a miracle
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  • A miracle?"
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  • And then we wanna talk about what's the relationship between
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  • Miracles and christianity because christians always
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  • Believe in miracles and it's like, "do you have to believe
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  • In, you know, miracles to be a christian in order"--in fact,
  • 00:05:36.087 --> 00:05:40.391
  • That's one of the questions i wanna answer today, is, do you
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  • Have to believe in miracles to be a christian?
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  • And do you have to believe all those miracle stories in the
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  • Bible in order to be a christian?
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  • I mean, is that absolutely necessary?
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  • And so, if you're not a christian, or you used to be, or
  • 00:05:52.537 --> 00:05:55.139
  • You're reconsidering faith, or you're considering faith for the
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  • First time, i wanna actually, it's kind of a strange place to
  • 00:05:57.375 --> 00:06:00.144
  • Start a series.
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  • I wanna begin with this question.
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  • I wanna answer this one now.
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  • Do you have to believe in miracles to be a christian?
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  • And the answer is yes, but you only have to believe in two
  • 00:06:08.286 --> 00:06:14.959
  • Miracles to be a christian.
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  • So i wanna talk about those two, and there's a reason for that,
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  • And that's gonna become clear over the course of the next
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  • Few minutes.
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  • And the interesting thing about these two miracles that you have
  • 00:06:22.867 --> 00:06:24.368
  • To believe in to be a christian is most of you, and most people
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  • In the world, actually, already believe in one of them.
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  • And if you accept the second miracle that you have to believe
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  • To be a christian, if you accept the second one, it opens the
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  • Door to making the other miracles more acceptable.
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  • So, hang with me for just a minute.
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  • Now the reason i say you probably already believe in the
  • 00:06:41.018 --> 00:06:43.454
  • First miracle has to do with our answer to the first question.
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  • And the first question i put up here was, "what makes a miracle
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  • A miracle?"
  • 00:06:48.826 --> 00:06:50.161
  • So i wanna begin or continue by giving you a textbook definition
  • 00:06:50.161 --> 00:06:54.098
  • For what is a miracle, again, so when we say a miracle, we all
  • 00:06:54.098 --> 00:06:57.034
  • Are talking about the same thing.
  • 00:06:57.034 --> 00:06:58.503
  • This is very academic, okay?
  • 00:06:58.503 --> 00:07:00.471
  • You don't need to memorize this.
  • 00:07:00.471 --> 00:07:01.806
  • This came from a professor i had almost 40 years ago in graduate
  • 00:07:01.806 --> 00:07:04.876
  • School named norman geisler in his little book, "miracles and
  • 00:07:04.876 --> 00:07:08.379
  • Modern man."
  • 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:09.747
  • And here's how he defined--"miracles and modern
  • 00:07:09.747 --> 00:07:12.016
  • Thoughts," excuse me, "miracles and modern thought."
  • 00:07:12.016 --> 00:07:13.451
  • Here's how he defines a miracle.
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  • A miracle is a divine intervention, so there's--god is
  • 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.089
  • Behind a miracle, divine intervention into, or an
  • 00:07:18.089 --> 00:07:21.058
  • Interruption of, the regular course of the world, like that
  • 00:07:21.058 --> 00:07:23.694
  • Could not have happened.
  • 00:07:23.694 --> 00:07:25.029
  • I can't believe that happened.
  • 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:26.397
  • That would not have happened without divine intervention.
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  • That produces a purposeful but unusual event that would not, or
  • 00:07:27.932 --> 00:07:31.002
  • Could not, have occurred otherwise.
  • 00:07:31.002 --> 00:07:32.503
  • So that's kind of the academic definition of a miracle.
  • 00:07:32.503 --> 00:07:36.841
  • Here's a simple and, admittedly, simplistic definition of a
  • 00:07:36.841 --> 00:07:41.646
  • Miracle that i made up, okay?
  • 00:07:41.646 --> 00:07:43.848
  • This one's better, i'll just say that up front, but just to kind
  • 00:07:43.848 --> 00:07:46.484
  • Of get us on the same page, here's what we're talking about
  • 00:07:46.484 --> 00:07:49.120
  • When we're talking about a miracle.
  • 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.621
  • A miracle is the temporary, it's never permanent, suspension or
  • 00:07:50.621 --> 00:07:55.159
  • Reversal of the laws of nature.
  • 00:07:55.159 --> 00:07:57.461
  • We'll just simplify it, that a miracle is the temporary, it's
  • 00:07:57.461 --> 00:08:00.998
  • Not permanent, okay?
  • 00:08:00.998 --> 00:08:02.366
  • It's just this, like, this--it's sort of an interruption of the
  • 00:08:02.366 --> 00:08:04.669
  • Normal things, the suspension or the reversal of the laws
  • 00:08:04.669 --> 00:08:07.805
  • Of nature.
  • 00:08:07.805 --> 00:08:09.140
  • Now regarding the laws of nature, here's specifically what
  • 00:08:09.140 --> 00:08:11.042
  • We're talking about.
  • 00:08:11.042 --> 00:08:12.410
  • We're talking about the laws of physics, the laws of chemistry.
  • 00:08:12.410 --> 00:08:15.613
  • We're talking about what makes the world work or what makes the
  • 00:08:15.613 --> 00:08:19.116
  • World predictable and observable.
  • 00:08:19.116 --> 00:08:22.520
  • This is what makes science possible.
  • 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:26.090
  • And a miracle is an aberration or temporary suspension or
  • 00:08:26.090 --> 00:08:30.895
  • Reversal of the laws of nature.
  • 00:08:30.895 --> 00:08:35.032
  • Let me tell you something interesting about that, and you
  • 00:08:35.032 --> 00:08:37.034
  • Can check this out if you don't believe it, and you may not.
  • 00:08:37.034 --> 00:08:39.170
  • Did you know that christians actually launched the modern
  • 00:08:39.170 --> 00:08:42.807
  • Science movement?
  • 00:08:42.807 --> 00:08:44.575
  • So these things work in tandem, and science explains to us how
  • 00:08:44.575 --> 00:08:49.246
  • God did it.
  • 00:08:49.246 --> 00:08:51.148
  • But a miracle is an interruption in the ways that god normally
  • 00:08:51.148 --> 00:08:56.053
  • Behaves and the way that god designed things to happen.
  • 00:08:56.053 --> 00:08:58.155
  • So for example, if a tree in your front of your yard, if you
  • 00:08:58.155 --> 00:09:01.525
  • Own a home, or if you're parked out in your apartment complex,
  • 00:09:01.525 --> 00:09:04.195
  • And there's a tree, if a tree falls and misses your car by
  • 00:09:04.195 --> 00:09:09.200
  • Inches, i mean, it is a big tree, it falls, and you walk out
  • 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.637
  • There and your car is undamaged and you can't even get in the
  • 00:09:12.637 --> 00:09:15.640
  • Driver's side because that tree fell so close.
  • 00:09:15.640 --> 00:09:18.209
  • If a tree falls and and it's that close to your car, that's
  • 00:09:18.209 --> 00:09:21.812
  • Amazing, but it's not a miracle because no natural law
  • 00:09:21.812 --> 00:09:25.416
  • Was violated.
  • 00:09:25.416 --> 00:09:26.784
  • There was no suspension or interruption of natural laws,
  • 00:09:26.784 --> 00:09:29.153
  • Rather, but the laws of nature.
  • 00:09:29.153 --> 00:09:30.855
  • And if you walked out and saw that, if you're a theist or a
  • 00:09:30.855 --> 00:09:34.725
  • Christian, you would be like, thank god.
  • 00:09:34.725 --> 00:09:36.961
  • I mean, you'd give god credit, right?
  • 00:09:36.961 --> 00:09:39.463
  • But if you walk out and a tree is suspended in the midair,
  • 00:09:39.463 --> 00:09:46.237
  • Root, ball, and all over your car and you get in your car and
  • 00:09:46.237 --> 00:09:51.776
  • Move your car, and the tree comes crashing down where your
  • 00:09:51.776 --> 00:09:54.545
  • Car was, i want you to call me, okay, because that is a
  • 00:09:54.545 --> 00:09:58.516
  • Verifiable miracle because it conflicted with or worked
  • 00:09:58.516 --> 00:10:02.720
  • Outside the laws of nature.
  • 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.555
  • Okay, so my--the point is simply this.
  • 00:10:04.555 --> 00:10:06.757
  • The formation of a baby in a womb, wondrous, wondrous.
  • 00:10:06.757 --> 00:10:12.630
  • That the fact that we are currently spinning through space
  • 00:10:12.630 --> 00:10:16.200
  • In the goldilocks zone, you know, not too hot, not too cold,
  • 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:19.837
  • Just right, amazing.
  • 00:10:19.837 --> 00:10:22.373
  • But those things aren't miraculous.
  • 00:10:22.373 --> 00:10:25.042
  • They are explainable according to the way that the universe
  • 00:10:25.042 --> 00:10:28.646
  • Works according to the laws of nature, which leads me, at last,
  • 00:10:28.646 --> 00:10:33.217
  • To the miracle that pretty much everybody believes in, whether
  • 00:10:33.217 --> 00:10:36.454
  • You consider it a miracle or not.
  • 00:10:36.454 --> 00:10:38.723
  • And the reason this is important is if you believe the miracle
  • 00:10:38.723 --> 00:10:41.592
  • I'm about to describe or if you believe what i'm about to
  • 00:10:41.592 --> 00:10:44.095
  • Describe, and if i can convince you it is a miracle, then here's
  • 00:10:44.095 --> 00:10:47.665
  • What it means for you, and for most of us sitting--this isn't a
  • 00:10:47.665 --> 00:10:50.034
  • Big deal, but this may be a huge first step for somebody.
  • 00:10:50.034 --> 00:10:53.137
  • Then if you believe what i'm about to describe as a miracle,
  • 00:10:53.137 --> 00:10:56.574
  • Then that means you believe in miracles, you at least believe
  • 00:10:56.574 --> 00:10:59.009
  • Miracles are possible.
  • 00:10:59.009 --> 00:11:01.378
  • And that's a huge step, that's a huge step of faith.
  • 00:11:01.378 --> 00:11:03.781
  • And maybe it's a huge step back to faith for you, because the
  • 00:11:03.781 --> 00:11:07.651
  • Most widely attested to miracle, the most widely attested to
  • 00:11:07.651 --> 00:11:10.654
  • Miracle, is the birth of the universe.
  • 00:11:10.654 --> 00:11:15.192
  • And here's why i say that's a miracle.
  • 00:11:15.192 --> 00:11:17.294
  • The beginning of the universe constitutes a miracle because
  • 00:11:17.294 --> 00:11:21.565
  • The birth of the universe, that singularity, as stephen hawking,
  • 00:11:21.565 --> 00:11:25.569
  • You know, i think he's the one that came up with that, that
  • 00:11:25.569 --> 00:11:27.304
  • Idea, that singularity, we would call it that big bang,
  • 00:11:27.304 --> 00:11:30.674
  • You're--we're tempted to say "that moment in time," but it
  • 00:11:30.674 --> 00:11:32.943
  • Wasn't even a moment in time because there wasn't any time
  • 00:11:32.943 --> 00:11:35.279
  • And there weren't any moments.
  • 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.614
  • But that thing, that singularity, where the universe
  • 00:11:36.614 --> 00:11:39.984
  • Came into being and all that energy just unfolded and
  • 00:11:39.984 --> 00:11:43.988
  • Continues to unravel and--not unravel, but continues to
  • 00:11:43.988 --> 00:11:47.758
  • Unfold, that happened outside of and, in fact, in spite of what
  • 00:11:47.758 --> 00:11:54.665
  • We would consider the laws of nature because the laws of
  • 00:11:54.665 --> 00:11:58.502
  • Nature didn't exist.
  • 00:11:58.502 --> 00:11:59.870
  • In fact, the birth of the universe coincided with the
  • 00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:03.240
  • Birth of the laws of nature.
  • 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:06.177
  • So it is not an exaggeration, in fact, it's accurate, to say that
  • 00:12:06.177 --> 00:12:09.980
  • The beginning of the universe, the beginning of the universe,
  • 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:12.416
  • Because it happened outside the laws of nature, in conflict with
  • 00:12:12.416 --> 00:12:15.753
  • The laws of nature, superseded the laws of nature, that the
  • 00:12:15.753 --> 00:12:19.256
  • Birth of the universe was actually a supranatural, we
  • 00:12:19.256 --> 00:12:23.828
  • Don't have any other word for it, event.
  • 00:12:23.828 --> 00:12:26.330
  • "supra" means above and beyond, above and beyond.
  • 00:12:26.330 --> 00:12:29.099
  • It was above and beyond nature as we know it, nature as we are
  • 00:12:29.099 --> 00:12:32.970
  • Confined to inside our universe.
  • 00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:36.473
  • It wasn't caused by nature because there was no nature or
  • 00:12:36.473 --> 00:12:39.643
  • Laws of nature to cause it.
  • 00:12:39.643 --> 00:12:41.011
  • So the point being, the birth of the universe was by definition a
  • 00:12:41.011 --> 00:12:45.883
  • Super or above natural event.
  • 00:12:45.883 --> 00:12:50.354
  • Again, event doesn't describe it exactly, but it's the only word
  • 00:12:50.354 --> 00:12:53.224
  • We have.
  • 00:12:53.224 --> 00:12:54.558
  • It was a supranatural event.
  • 00:12:54.558 --> 00:12:55.926
  • Now, don't rush ahead.
  • 00:12:55.926 --> 00:12:57.261
  • I'm not saying god did it.
  • 00:12:57.261 --> 00:12:58.629
  • I'm gonna get there in a second.
  • 00:12:58.629 --> 00:12:59.964
  • I'm just saying it's almost undeniable that the birth of the
  • 00:12:59.964 --> 00:13:03.734
  • Universe, since it happened outside of nature, was outside
  • 00:13:03.734 --> 00:13:07.905
  • The bounds and the laws of nature, so it was supranatural.
  • 00:13:07.905 --> 00:13:11.909
  • It was supranatural.
  • 00:13:11.909 --> 00:13:13.844
  • It was supernatural.
  • 00:13:13.844 --> 00:13:16.513
  • However, this is important.
  • 00:13:16.513 --> 00:13:18.916
  • And if you're like, "i'm not so sure about that," you can talk
  • 00:13:18.916 --> 00:13:20.951
  • About it over lunch or think about it later, or look it
  • 00:13:20.951 --> 00:13:22.753
  • Up later.
  • 00:13:22.753 --> 00:13:24.121
  • Here's--this is important.
  • 00:13:24.121 --> 00:13:25.456
  • However, everything that has a beginning, everything that has a
  • 00:13:25.456 --> 00:13:28.926
  • Beginning, has a cause.
  • 00:13:28.926 --> 00:13:30.594
  • Everything that has a beginning has a cause.
  • 00:13:30.594 --> 00:13:32.396
  • The universe and the laws of nature all had a beginning.
  • 00:13:32.396 --> 00:13:38.135
  • Nobody even argues with that.
  • 00:13:38.135 --> 00:13:39.470
  • The universe and the laws of nature had a beginning, which
  • 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:42.239
  • Means the universe and the laws of nature had a cause, something
  • 00:13:42.239 --> 00:13:45.743
  • Caused that beginning.
  • 00:13:45.743 --> 00:13:47.077
  • And of course, most people believe the cause of the
  • 00:13:47.077 --> 00:13:49.813
  • Universe and the cause of the laws of nature, most modern
  • 00:13:49.813 --> 00:13:52.383
  • People believe that that was actually god.
  • 00:13:52.383 --> 00:13:56.854
  • And if you don't believe it's god, that's okay, but listen,
  • 00:13:56.854 --> 00:13:59.323
  • This is what's so fascinating.
  • 00:13:59.323 --> 00:14:02.059
  • If you don't acknowledge that god was the cause of the
  • 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.296
  • Universe, which, again, is fine, you certainly wouldn't argue
  • 00:14:05.296 --> 00:14:10.067
  • That the universe caused itself.
  • 00:14:10.067 --> 00:14:12.069
  • Nobody acknowledges that.
  • 00:14:12.069 --> 00:14:14.271
  • The best we can do is to say something caused the universe,
  • 00:14:14.271 --> 00:14:17.241
  • Because everything that has a beginning has a cause, and the
  • 00:14:17.241 --> 00:14:18.909
  • Universe had a beginning, because according to the laws of
  • 00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.445
  • Nature, something can't precede itself.
  • 00:14:21.445 --> 00:14:23.981
  • So if it created itself, it preceded itself, that's
  • 00:14:23.981 --> 00:14:26.617
  • A miracle.
  • 00:14:26.617 --> 00:14:27.952
  • If something preceded itself and caused itself, that's a miracle,
  • 00:14:27.952 --> 00:14:30.054
  • Too, because that's outside of the bounds of the laws of nature
  • 00:14:30.054 --> 00:14:32.656
  • And what we experience and how our world works.
  • 00:14:32.656 --> 00:14:35.225
  • So the point is i'm not--this isn't like a gotcha thing.
  • 00:14:35.225 --> 00:14:37.761
  • I just want you to think.
  • 00:14:37.761 --> 00:14:39.296
  • So either way, we all pretty much believe that miracles are
  • 00:14:39.296 --> 00:14:42.466
  • Possible because we believe at least one happened.
  • 00:14:42.466 --> 00:14:44.668
  • And the nature of that miracle, the birth of the universe,
  • 00:14:44.668 --> 00:14:48.372
  • Required something above and beyond nature.
  • 00:14:48.372 --> 00:14:52.209
  • It required something supra nature, supranatural, or we
  • 00:14:52.209 --> 00:14:55.846
  • Would just say supernatural, something above and beyond.
  • 00:14:55.846 --> 00:14:59.083
  • Now christians believe, this is where we're kind of coming back
  • 00:14:59.083 --> 00:15:01.652
  • To this first miracle we've all got to embrace, christians
  • 00:15:01.652 --> 00:15:04.088
  • Believe that the cause, of course, or the causer or the
  • 00:15:04.088 --> 00:15:08.625
  • Beginner, the one who began it all, began the universe, of
  • 00:15:08.625 --> 00:15:11.662
  • Course, was god.
  • 00:15:11.662 --> 00:15:13.397
  • And god had no beginning, which means god didn't require
  • 00:15:13.397 --> 00:15:18.135
  • A cause.
  • 00:15:18.135 --> 00:15:19.503
  • He is the uncaused beginner.
  • 00:15:19.503 --> 00:15:21.672
  • He is the beginner who had no beginning.
  • 00:15:21.672 --> 00:15:25.275
  • So we don't have to say, "well, who caused god?"
  • 00:15:25.275 --> 00:15:26.877
  • And keep going backwards forever.
  • 00:15:26.877 --> 00:15:28.312
  • You can't have an actual infinite backwards or we never
  • 00:15:28.312 --> 00:15:30.314
  • Get to this moment in time, which is a wonderful thought you
  • 00:15:30.314 --> 00:15:32.716
  • Can think about later.
  • 00:15:32.716 --> 00:15:34.051
  • So the birth, or the--the birth of the universe is the first of
  • 00:15:34.051 --> 00:15:37.388
  • Two miracles that you have to believe in in order to be
  • 00:15:37.388 --> 00:15:39.790
  • A christian.
  • 00:15:39.790 --> 00:15:41.125
  • Christians believe that god created the universe, and
  • 00:15:41.125 --> 00:15:43.660
  • Everybody agrees the universe had a beginning.
  • 00:15:43.660 --> 00:15:45.262
  • It's just a matter of who began it or what began it.
  • 00:15:45.262 --> 00:15:47.631
  • And if you believe nothing caused something, that's
  • 00:15:47.631 --> 00:15:49.600
  • A miracle.
  • 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.934
  • And if you believe we don't know, but whatever caused the
  • 00:15:50.934 --> 00:15:53.370
  • Universe was outside the laws of nature, that's a miracle too.
  • 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:56.874
  • So if a miracle is kind of the way we define it or the way it's
  • 00:15:56.874 --> 00:15:59.610
  • Traditionally defined, almost everybody would agree, okay, if
  • 00:15:59.610 --> 00:16:03.247
  • That's what a miracle is, something above and beyond
  • 00:16:03.247 --> 00:16:05.215
  • Nature that is an interruption or suspends the laws of nature,
  • 00:16:05.215 --> 00:16:09.620
  • The beginning of the universe was a miracle.
  • 00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:12.256
  • Now one more thing about that.
  • 00:16:12.256 --> 00:16:14.258
  • I did a series years ago.
  • 00:16:14.258 --> 00:16:15.626
  • It's my favorite sermon series.
  • 00:16:15.626 --> 00:16:16.960
  • It's called "the bible for grown-ups," and in that sermon,
  • 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.664
  • One of those messages, i go--kind of do a deep dive into
  • 00:16:20.664 --> 00:16:23.067
  • This, so i just wanna mention it real quick because this is
  • 00:16:23.067 --> 00:16:25.069
  • So important.
  • 00:16:25.069 --> 00:16:26.403
  • Okay, the point of the genesis account of creation, since we're
  • 00:16:26.403 --> 00:16:30.374
  • Talking about the beginning, the point of the genesis account of
  • 00:16:30.374 --> 00:16:32.443
  • Creation, "in the beginning, god created the heaven and the
  • 00:16:32.443 --> 00:16:34.344
  • Earth," the point of the genesis account of creation is not how
  • 00:16:34.344 --> 00:16:40.084
  • God created the heavens and the earth, is not how he did it.
  • 00:16:40.084 --> 00:16:43.687
  • The point of the genesis account is that god created the heavens
  • 00:16:43.687 --> 00:16:47.024
  • And the earth.
  • 00:16:47.024 --> 00:16:48.392
  • God, yahweh, the jewish god, who is the christian god, that
  • 00:16:48.392 --> 00:16:52.362
  • Yahweh created the heavens and the earth, not the menagerie and
  • 00:16:52.362 --> 00:16:56.433
  • Not the pantheon of pagan gods that the pagans believe somehow
  • 00:16:56.433 --> 00:17:01.038
  • Put together the universe.
  • 00:17:01.038 --> 00:17:02.406
  • So when this was written, there was a sumerian creation myth,
  • 00:17:02.406 --> 00:17:05.409
  • There was an egyptian creation myth, there's all these
  • 00:17:05.409 --> 00:17:07.611
  • Creation myths.
  • 00:17:07.611 --> 00:17:08.946
  • And the jews came along and said, "no, you have it wrong."
  • 00:17:08.946 --> 00:17:11.348
  • That this is the--it's not this gathering of gods whose bodies
  • 00:17:11.348 --> 00:17:16.186
  • Split apart to create the earth and the sea and all this stuff
  • 00:17:16.186 --> 00:17:19.089
  • Due to this intergalactic conflict between the gods.
  • 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:21.458
  • They're like, "that's not how it happened.
  • 00:17:21.458 --> 00:17:23.360
  • There is one god.
  • 00:17:23.360 --> 00:17:24.862
  • He is the uncaused causer.
  • 00:17:24.862 --> 00:17:26.463
  • He's the beginner who had no beginning.
  • 00:17:26.463 --> 00:17:28.565
  • He's the eternal god, and he, in and of himself, created the
  • 00:17:28.565 --> 00:17:31.802
  • Heavens and earth."
  • 00:17:31.802 --> 00:17:33.170
  • That's the point of the genesis account, not how god did it.
  • 00:17:33.170 --> 00:17:36.073
  • So the point is, the point is, that christians take the genesis
  • 00:17:36.073 --> 00:17:40.210
  • Account seriously because the point of the genesis creation
  • 00:17:40.210 --> 00:17:42.746
  • Account is that god did it and he created from nothing, and
  • 00:17:42.746 --> 00:17:48.385
  • That's a miracle.
  • 00:17:48.385 --> 00:17:49.720
  • So anyway, that's the first miracle that in the beginning
  • 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.723
  • The uncreated creator created everything.
  • 00:17:52.723 --> 00:17:54.525
  • Now to introduce the second miracle you have to believe in
  • 00:17:54.525 --> 00:17:57.761
  • Order to be a christian, i want to go back to something else i
  • 00:17:57.761 --> 00:18:00.397
  • Learned from dr. norman geisler, almost, i hate to say it, 40
  • 00:18:00.397 --> 00:18:03.367
  • Years ago.
  • 00:18:03.367 --> 00:18:04.701
  • He taught us in class, i had a semester--the whole semester was
  • 00:18:04.701 --> 00:18:06.970
  • Built around what i'm about to share.
  • 00:18:06.970 --> 00:18:09.006
  • He taught us what is commonly referred to as the classical
  • 00:18:09.006 --> 00:18:11.742
  • Apologetic method.
  • 00:18:11.742 --> 00:18:13.143
  • And the classical apologetic method is essentially, there's
  • 00:18:13.143 --> 00:18:16.180
  • Several versions of this, but the version he taught us,
  • 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:18.849
  • There's five statements that serve as the foundation of the
  • 00:18:18.849 --> 00:18:22.986
  • Entire christian faith, five statements that serve as the
  • 00:18:22.986 --> 00:18:26.990
  • Foundation of the christian faith.
  • 00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:28.358
  • And in these five statements we bump into the second miracle
  • 00:18:28.358 --> 00:18:31.395
  • That everybody has to believe it if you're gonna follow jesus.
  • 00:18:31.395 --> 00:18:34.198
  • Now, he spent an entire semester building these five statements.
  • 00:18:34.198 --> 00:18:39.670
  • I'm gonna do it in about eight minutes, okay?
  • 00:18:39.670 --> 00:18:43.140
  • So we're gonna go really fast, but again, i just want you to
  • 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:46.109
  • See the context for why this second miracle is so important.
  • 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:49.813
  • But more importantly, why you can believe it happened.
  • 00:18:49.813 --> 00:18:53.483
  • So here they are, these five statements.
  • 00:18:53.483 --> 00:18:55.786
  • I'm gonna give you the first two together because they
  • 00:18:55.786 --> 00:18:57.955
  • Go together.
  • 00:18:57.955 --> 00:18:59.289
  • Numbers one statement is god exists, which means miracles
  • 00:18:59.289 --> 00:19:01.191
  • Are possible.
  • 00:19:01.191 --> 00:19:02.526
  • So we spent several weeks talking about all the arguments
  • 00:19:02.526 --> 00:19:05.195
  • For the existence of god, and then we spent about a week
  • 00:19:05.195 --> 00:19:08.031
  • Talking about if god exists, and god is outside time and space,
  • 00:19:08.031 --> 00:19:10.867
  • And god created nature, that god then controls nature, and
  • 00:19:10.867 --> 00:19:14.371
  • Consequently he can intervene when he wants to, so therefore
  • 00:19:14.371 --> 00:19:16.740
  • Miracles are possible.
  • 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:18.575
  • The third statement is a hard right turn, okay?
  • 00:19:18.575 --> 00:19:23.146
  • This is so important, and this explains one of the things i've
  • 00:19:23.146 --> 00:19:26.350
  • Come back to over and over and over with you over the past
  • 00:19:26.350 --> 00:19:30.254
  • Several years.
  • 00:19:30.254 --> 00:19:31.622
  • The third statement is this: the gospels are reliable accounts of
  • 00:19:31.622 --> 00:19:35.826
  • Actual events.
  • 00:19:35.826 --> 00:19:37.194
  • The gospels are reliable accounts of actual events.
  • 00:19:37.194 --> 00:19:40.764
  • Not every book in the bible, that's not part of this, we'll
  • 00:19:40.764 --> 00:19:42.933
  • Get there in a minute.
  • 00:19:42.933 --> 00:19:44.268
  • The gospels, matthew, mark, luke, and john, are reliable
  • 00:19:44.268 --> 00:19:47.537
  • Accounts of actual events.
  • 00:19:47.537 --> 00:19:48.872
  • So we spent several weeks asking the question, "why should we
  • 00:19:48.872 --> 00:19:52.209
  • Trust that what the gospel says is true?"
  • 00:19:52.209 --> 00:19:54.478
  • We weren't arguing for the inspiration of the gospels.
  • 00:19:54.478 --> 00:19:57.781
  • We were just asking the question, "are these four
  • 00:19:57.781 --> 00:20:00.317
  • Accounts of the life of jesus reliable based on when they were
  • 00:20:00.317 --> 00:20:04.621
  • Written, who wrote them, and what they say about jesus, and
  • 00:20:04.621 --> 00:20:08.358
  • How they lined up with the current events in the
  • 00:20:08.358 --> 00:20:10.661
  • 1st century?"
  • 00:20:10.661 --> 00:20:12.062
  • So again, i'm not gonna try to convince you that they are
  • 00:20:12.062 --> 00:20:14.131
  • Reliable accounts of actual events, but the point is, in
  • 00:20:14.131 --> 00:20:16.300
  • Terms of the christian faith, that it's built on that.
  • 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:18.568
  • Well, the reason that's important is that all four
  • 00:20:18.568 --> 00:20:21.371
  • Accounts of the life of jesus, matthew, mark, luke, and john,
  • 00:20:21.371 --> 00:20:24.474
  • All attest to one very important event in the life of jesus, and
  • 00:20:24.474 --> 00:20:28.445
  • That is that jesus rose from the dead.
  • 00:20:28.445 --> 00:20:32.149
  • And that is the second essential miracle you have to embrace in
  • 00:20:32.149 --> 00:20:36.953
  • Order to follow jesus.
  • 00:20:36.953 --> 00:20:39.189
  • But if jesus rose from the dead, this leads to the last one,
  • 00:20:39.189 --> 00:20:42.693
  • Jesus is who he claimed to be and what he said can be trusted.
  • 00:20:42.693 --> 00:20:48.165
  • If jesus rose from the dead, if jesus explained his own death
  • 00:20:48.165 --> 00:20:51.468
  • And resurrection and pulled it off, then what he said can be
  • 00:20:51.468 --> 00:20:54.638
  • Trusted and what he said about himself can be taken seriously
  • 00:20:54.638 --> 00:20:58.642
  • Because the resurrection of jesus is the foundation of
  • 00:20:58.642 --> 00:21:01.712
  • Our faith.
  • 00:21:01.712 --> 00:21:03.046
  • It's the event that launched the movement, the resurrection
  • 00:21:03.046 --> 00:21:06.083
  • Launched the movement, the church, and the church
  • 00:21:06.083 --> 00:21:08.719
  • Eventually assembled and published our bibles.
  • 00:21:08.719 --> 00:21:12.422
  • But the bible--if there was no resurrection, there's no bible.
  • 00:21:12.422 --> 00:21:15.192
  • If there's no resurrection, there's no christianity.
  • 00:21:15.192 --> 00:21:17.394
  • If there's no resurrection, there's no matthew, mark, luke,
  • 00:21:17.394 --> 00:21:19.830
  • Or john because jesus's life was not worth documenting.
  • 00:21:19.830 --> 00:21:23.367
  • He was just another wannabe messiah that rome crucified, end
  • 00:21:23.367 --> 00:21:26.837
  • Of the story.
  • 00:21:26.837 --> 00:21:28.205
  • There were a bunch of those.
  • 00:21:28.205 --> 00:21:29.539
  • What makes the story stand out, what--the reason we're
  • 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:32.509
  • Christians is because jesus rose from the dead.
  • 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:35.112
  • It's why i constantly say to you, in fact, i think i'll say
  • 00:21:35.112 --> 00:21:37.814
  • It now.
  • 00:21:37.814 --> 00:21:39.216
  • If someone predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls
  • 00:21:39.216 --> 00:21:42.786
  • It off, you should, or we should, lean into whatever that
  • 00:21:42.786 --> 00:21:46.390
  • Person says.
  • 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:47.724
  • This is your one sentence apologetic--or your one sentence
  • 00:21:47.724 --> 00:21:52.462
  • Statement as to why you're a christian.
  • 00:21:52.462 --> 00:21:54.297
  • Why are you a christian?
  • 00:21:54.297 --> 00:21:55.665
  • Why do you believe that?
  • 00:21:55.665 --> 00:21:57.000
  • I'm a simple man.
  • 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.635
  • If someone can predict their own death and resurrection and pull
  • 00:21:58.635 --> 00:22:02.539
  • It off, i just lean into whatever that person says.
  • 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:05.609
  • "yeah, but what about all this"--i'm a simple man.
  • 00:22:05.609 --> 00:22:08.311
  • I can't explain everything in the bible.
  • 00:22:08.311 --> 00:22:10.213
  • I don't understand the book of revelation necessarily.
  • 00:22:10.213 --> 00:22:12.949
  • There's some things that i'm sure smart people can make sense
  • 00:22:12.949 --> 00:22:15.218
  • Of, but i'm a simple man.
  • 00:22:15.218 --> 00:22:16.586
  • If somebody can predict their own death and resurrection and
  • 00:22:16.586 --> 00:22:18.755
  • Pull it off, we should lean into whatever that person says.
  • 00:22:18.755 --> 00:22:21.224
  • That is the foundation of your faith.
  • 00:22:21.224 --> 00:22:23.427
  • That is the anchor.
  • 00:22:23.427 --> 00:22:24.795
  • It is the second miracle.
  • 00:22:24.795 --> 00:22:26.163
  • And if you acknowledge that one, when we acknowledge that one, we
  • 00:22:26.163 --> 00:22:30.133
  • Are on our way.
  • 00:22:30.133 --> 00:22:33.003
  • But there's more.
  • 00:22:33.003 --> 00:22:35.906
  • If jesus is who he says he is and if what jesus taught and
  • 00:22:35.906 --> 00:22:40.844
  • What jesus said can be trusted, then what jesus said about the
  • 00:22:40.844 --> 00:22:45.315
  • Law and the prophets can be trusted as well.
  • 00:22:45.315 --> 00:22:47.884
  • Now what's the law and the prophets?
  • 00:22:47.884 --> 00:22:49.219
  • In the old--in the 1st century, they didn't refer to the hebrew
  • 00:22:49.219 --> 00:22:52.055
  • Scripture as the old testament.
  • 00:22:52.055 --> 00:22:54.024
  • There was nothing old about it.
  • 00:22:54.024 --> 00:22:55.358
  • It was their bible, the hebrew scripture or the jewish
  • 00:22:55.358 --> 00:22:57.961
  • Scripture, the hebrew scripture.
  • 00:22:57.961 --> 00:22:59.329
  • You can refer to it either way.
  • 00:22:59.329 --> 00:23:00.664
  • They had their own words for that.
  • 00:23:00.664 --> 00:23:02.032
  • So when jesus was alive, when he referred to his bible, the bible
  • 00:23:02.032 --> 00:23:05.635
  • Of what--who would--we would call the jews, they referred to
  • 00:23:05.635 --> 00:23:09.072
  • It as the law and the prophets, or sometimes the law and the
  • 00:23:09.072 --> 00:23:12.042
  • Prophets and the psalms, referring to what we would call
  • 00:23:12.042 --> 00:23:15.445
  • The old testament.
  • 00:23:15.445 --> 00:23:16.813
  • So if what jesus said it can be relied upon, if jesus said--what
  • 00:23:16.813 --> 00:23:20.717
  • Jesus said is true based on the fact that he rose from the dead,
  • 00:23:20.717 --> 00:23:22.919
  • It underscores who he claimed to be and it underscores everything
  • 00:23:22.919 --> 00:23:25.589
  • He said, then what jesus said about, what we would call the
  • 00:23:25.589 --> 00:23:28.425
  • Old testament, what jesus said about the old testament can be
  • 00:23:28.425 --> 00:23:31.194
  • Trusted as well.
  • 00:23:31.194 --> 00:23:33.463
  • So even though the old testament is at the front of our book,
  • 00:23:33.463 --> 00:23:36.166
  • It's at the back of our apologetics, so we can update
  • 00:23:36.166 --> 00:23:38.802
  • Our list.
  • 00:23:38.802 --> 00:23:40.136
  • What jesus said about the hebrew scripture can be trusted
  • 00:23:40.136 --> 00:23:43.773
  • As well.
  • 00:23:43.773 --> 00:23:45.108
  • Another little sidebar comment and i'll wrap this up.
  • 00:23:45.108 --> 00:23:48.144
  • This is so important.
  • 00:23:48.144 --> 00:23:49.813
  • The reason christians take the old testament seriously is not
  • 00:23:49.813 --> 00:23:56.486
  • Because it got bound in a piece of leather or a piece of
  • 00:23:56.486 --> 00:23:59.356
  • Cardboard with the new testament.
  • 00:23:59.356 --> 00:24:01.157
  • The reason we take it seriously is because jesus took
  • 00:24:01.157 --> 00:24:05.529
  • It seriously.
  • 00:24:05.529 --> 00:24:06.930
  • In fact, before jesus, gentiles had very little interest and
  • 00:24:06.930 --> 00:24:12.269
  • Almost no access to the hebrew scripture.
  • 00:24:12.269 --> 00:24:15.639
  • And then suddenly in the 1st century, this is one of the
  • 00:24:15.639 --> 00:24:17.874
  • Evidences for the spread of the church, the evidence for the
  • 00:24:17.874 --> 00:24:19.643
  • Resurrection of jesus, suddenly in the 1st century all these
  • 00:24:19.643 --> 00:24:22.812
  • Gentiles, they just can't get enough of what the jewish or the
  • 00:24:22.812 --> 00:24:25.916
  • Hebrew bible says.
  • 00:24:25.916 --> 00:24:27.284
  • Why?
  • 00:24:27.284 --> 00:24:28.618
  • Because of jesus, because the jewish scriptures, our old
  • 00:24:28.618 --> 00:24:32.789
  • Testament, what we call the old testament, prophesied that god
  • 00:24:32.789 --> 00:24:35.926
  • Is gonna send a messiah.
  • 00:24:35.926 --> 00:24:38.562
  • And the gentile believers were like, "oh my gosh, god kept his
  • 00:24:38.562 --> 00:24:41.998
  • Promise to his people."
  • 00:24:41.998 --> 00:24:43.733
  • And god kept his promise to his people by sending a messiah that
  • 00:24:43.733 --> 00:24:46.903
  • Came to bless the entire world, god's final king.
  • 00:24:46.903 --> 00:24:55.879
  • So god exists, miracles are possible.
  • 00:24:55.879 --> 00:24:59.950
  • God--the gospels are reliable.
  • 00:24:59.950 --> 00:25:01.284
  • This is miracle number one, that god created heavens and the
  • 00:25:01.284 --> 00:25:03.954
  • Earth, so miracles are possible.
  • 00:25:03.954 --> 00:25:05.755
  • The gospels are reliable accounts of actual events.
  • 00:25:05.755 --> 00:25:08.024
  • If that's true, then jesus rose from the dead because all four
  • 00:25:08.024 --> 00:25:10.260
  • Attest to it, so did peter, paul, and james.
  • 00:25:10.260 --> 00:25:12.462
  • If he rose from the dead, then what he said about the hebrew
  • 00:25:12.462 --> 00:25:14.397
  • Scriptures, what he said about anything he said anything about,
  • 00:25:14.397 --> 00:25:16.466
  • What he said about you, what he said about your sin, what he
  • 00:25:16.466 --> 00:25:20.236
  • Said about your future, what he said about heaven, what he said
  • 00:25:20.236 --> 00:25:22.939
  • About the eternal kingdom of god, all of that, can
  • 00:25:22.939 --> 00:25:26.776
  • Be trusted.
  • 00:25:26.776 --> 00:25:28.111
  • This is a big deal and it all hinges on believing in
  • 00:25:28.111 --> 00:25:31.881
  • Two miracles.
  • 00:25:31.881 --> 00:25:33.216
  • So, summing up.
  • 00:25:33.216 --> 00:25:34.584
  • The possibility and the reality of miracles is fundamental
  • 00:25:34.584 --> 00:25:39.456
  • To christianity.
  • 00:25:39.456 --> 00:25:41.057
  • And to sum it up, let me just give you these two statements.
  • 00:25:41.057 --> 00:25:43.593
  • The miracle of the universe, or the birth of the universe, the
  • 00:25:43.593 --> 00:25:46.229
  • Miracle of the universe is the foundation of our faith in god.
  • 00:25:46.229 --> 00:25:49.065
  • We believe that god is the uncaused causer, he's the
  • 00:25:49.065 --> 00:25:52.369
  • Eternal god.
  • 00:25:52.369 --> 00:25:53.737
  • That he brought from nothing everything, including the laws
  • 00:25:53.737 --> 00:25:57.040
  • Of nature that allows us to have science to make our world
  • 00:25:57.040 --> 00:26:00.510
  • Observable, to make things observable and repeatable.
  • 00:26:00.510 --> 00:26:03.246
  • It's like, it's amazing.
  • 00:26:03.246 --> 00:26:04.714
  • It's god unleashed the human mind and said, "it's gonna roll
  • 00:26:04.714 --> 00:26:09.252
  • Out into the future just like the universe rolls out and
  • 00:26:09.252 --> 00:26:12.989
  • You're gonna--you're--i'm gonna give you this gift of
  • 00:26:12.989 --> 00:26:15.458
  • Accumulated knowledge, accumulated knowledge.
  • 00:26:15.458 --> 00:26:18.862
  • That every generations humans accumulate more and more
  • 00:26:18.862 --> 00:26:21.831
  • Knowledge and more and more insight and more and more
  • 00:26:21.831 --> 00:26:24.534
  • Opportunities to go, 'so that's how we did it.'"
  • 00:26:24.534 --> 00:26:27.971
  • This is why when you come to faith in jesus, this is why when
  • 00:26:27.971 --> 00:26:32.909
  • You, you know, are overwhelmed at some point in your life with
  • 00:26:32.909 --> 00:26:36.579
  • The reality of all this, that our only option, our only
  • 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:40.550
  • Option, even when you don't get an answer to prayer, even when
  • 00:26:40.550 --> 00:26:42.252
  • You don't get your miracle, our only option is to fall down on
  • 00:26:42.252 --> 00:26:45.588
  • Our knees and to pray with jesus, "our father in heaven,
  • 00:26:45.588 --> 00:26:50.860
  • Great is your name.
  • 00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:53.296
  • Your kingdom come.
  • 00:26:53.296 --> 00:26:55.432
  • Your will be done on earth, on my earth, as it is in heaven.
  • 00:26:55.432 --> 00:27:00.336
  • And i'm dependent on you for my daily bread.
  • 00:27:00.336 --> 00:27:02.238
  • I'm dependent on you to avoid temptation.
  • 00:27:02.238 --> 00:27:04.941
  • Yours is the kingdom and the power."
  • 00:27:04.941 --> 00:27:06.309
  • I mean, sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't, but
  • 00:27:06.309 --> 00:27:09.279
  • Goodness, the context of my life is you, the glory of god.
  • 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:16.753
  • In the second statement, the miracle of the resurrection is
  • 00:27:16.753 --> 00:27:19.956
  • The foundation of our faith in jesus.
  • 00:27:19.956 --> 00:27:22.459
  • So if you're looking for, and i know you're not, but you know,
  • 00:27:22.459 --> 00:27:25.061
  • If you're looking for the irreducible minimum number of
  • 00:27:25.061 --> 00:27:27.163
  • Miracles you have to believe in order to be a christian, if
  • 00:27:27.163 --> 00:27:29.399
  • You're considering christianity, like, "do i have to believe a
  • 00:27:29.399 --> 00:27:32.135
  • Guy put everybody on a boat, really?"
  • 00:27:32.135 --> 00:27:36.172
  • You just start here.
  • 00:27:36.172 --> 00:27:37.607
  • The foundation--the miracle of the universe, foundation of
  • 00:27:37.607 --> 00:27:39.743
  • Faith in god; miracle of resurrection, foundation of our
  • 00:27:39.743 --> 00:27:41.911
  • Faith in jesus.
  • 00:27:41.911 --> 00:27:43.279
  • But once you accept this miracle, you will find many of
  • 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:46.149
  • Those other miracles far more acceptable.
  • 00:27:46.149 --> 00:27:50.086
  • Andy: hey, everybody. thank you so much for tuning in.
  • 00:27:50.153 --> 00:27:52.856
  • If you'd like to watch this episode again or share it with a
  • 00:27:52.856 --> 00:27:55.024
  • Friend, head on over to the website at the bottom of
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  • The screen.
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  • The website is the best place for you to find other
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  • "your move" episodes, access additional resources, and learn
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  • More about our mission to engage culture with the teaching of
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  • Jesus, because we're convinced following jesus will make your
  • 00:28:07.103 --> 00:28:10.206
  • Life better and make the world a better place.
  • 00:28:10.206 --> 00:28:13.009
  • And now, it's your move.
  • 00:28:13.009 --> 00:28:14.577
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:28:15.445 --> 00:28:24.788
  • ...
  • 00:28:26.055 --> 00:28:29.010