Pastor Craig
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What Do the Records Say About Jesus By Pastor Craig Sicilia “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” – John 20:30,31When I first became a Christian, I was wavering, uncertain in my faith. I was never sure until I came across this passage of Scripture and another in the Book of Romans where Paul the apostle said, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I used to think, when I first started out on my Christian journey, that this having great faith was something like Dr. Coue suggested in this country years ago. When I was a young fellow, he came here and told us that if we kept on saying often enough, “Day by day and in every way I am getting prettier and prettier: day by day in every way I am getting smarter and smarter: day by day in every way I am getting better and better,” after awhile we would get so pretty, they would give us all jobs out yonder in Hollywood: after a while we would get so smart, we would all be elected president of the United States; after a while woe would get so good that we’d need nothing else, that this world wouldn’t contain us. Some of us were fools enough to fall for that so-called psychology- I know I did, I wanted it to be true, ?????? It dose not work that way. I used to think getting faith was like that. You just kept on asking for it, Kept on talking to yourself about it, Until after a while you had a staunch, firm faith. It will not work that way There is just one way to grow in the faith of God, in the knowledge of God, And that is by the study of God’s Word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Let me illustrate. We have all sorts of definitions for faith. Many of us believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. Why do we believe it? Did we see Him die? We believe it because the Bible says so. There isn’t any other record of it. Why do you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead? Because God says so… Because the Bible says so…. Because we have this inerrant Word of God on which to base our conviction and faith. Now the Bible comes along and says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” The Bible says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” The bible says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Now, if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins, that God raised Him from the dead, because the Bible says so, don’t your see how much easier it is after you believe these miraculous things – Humanly speaking, impossible things How much easier, I repeat, is it then to believe that God will do what He says He will do when you do what God tells you to do? That is what faith means- just dependence on God’s Word. If you were to ask me, “Are you a Christian? I should say, “I am” If you were to ask me “Are you saved? I should say, “I am” If you were to ask me, “are your sins forgiven? I should say, “They are.” If you were to ask me, “How do you know it? I suppose you would expect me to say, “Because I feel it”
Well sometimes I feel it and sometimes I don’t. If any of you would stand before me and say that you have never doubted your salvation, I should be too polite to call you a liar, But I should know you weren’t telling the truth. You have doubted your salvation. So have I. So has every other Christian who has ever lived. But I know that I am saved, not because of my feelings. They are as changeable as Spokane weather And that is plumb chaneable But on the authority of the Word of God which is unchangeable, The same yesterday, today and forever. My salvation depends on the blessed Word of God. Now I want us to think about this theme “ WHAT ABOUT JESUS” First of all, I want us to remember Jesus Christ in prophecy. Back yonder in the Old Testament, in round figures at least fifteen hundred years before the birth in Bethlehem’s manger, Moses made this statement, The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken. Deut 18:15 All orthodox Jewish scholars and all orthodox Christian scholoars are unanimous in the conviction that the “Prophet” refers to the Messiah. Let’s take a look even before that. When Jacob blessed his children, he blessed Judah and said: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come Gen 49:10 Now Judah was not a king Judah was not a prince. He was just the son of Jacob: and Jacob at best was a rich farmer, a prosperous stock raiser, perhaps a large landowner. Orthodox Jewish scholars and orthodox Christian scholars are again unanimous in their declarations, although they differ on the Lord Jesus Christ, But they agree this Shiloh refers to the Messiah. Hundreds of years after Jacob and Moses had passed off the scene, A Jewish prophet, the greatest of all the writing prophets, Isaiah, one of the most brilliant minds this world has ever seen, made this statement, A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his mane Immanuel. Now that is absolutely and totally and unqualifiedly impossible. That is utterly inconceivable… That a virgin should conceive and give birth to a son That has never been heard of before or since One of two things is true: Either Isaiah had lost his mind, or he was telling something outside of himself, something God had given him to say. +if you read the Prophet Isaiah, you will know that Isaiah was a long way from having lost his mind. So surely he must have spoken as God gave him the words. About the same time, another prophet by the name of Micah made this statement: But thou, beth-lehem ephratah, though thou be little among the thounsands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from the old, from everlasting Mic 5:2 Now how did Micah, seven or eight hundred years before Jesus Christ was born, Know that Bethlehem – when the king’s palace and the king’s queen and the king’s children were in Jerusalem – how could he say that a Ruler would come out of Bethlehem And what kind of ruler, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. You say to me wait a minute pastor How do we know that these things were written after Jesus was Born? I say brother, you should talk to a Jew about it sometime, And you think what difference dose that make. Their people’s history proves that Genesis, Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Micah were read in Jewish synagogues hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ was Born. Now that is proof that would be acceptable in any court, municipal, circuit, superior or any other court here in Spokane, Washington or for that matter, in America. So there you have the Christ of prophecy. Hundreds of years before He was born. The prophets of the Jews, the leaders of the Jews, the statesmen of the Jews, the God-anointed seers of the Jews foretold that from Bethlehem would come a ruler of the Jews Who was to be different from anyone else they had ever had, or for that matter, this world has ever had. A God Provided Ruler.
The next thing I want us to think about in this record is the Christ of history. Here was a Man, raised in Nazareth, in Galilee, Galeel Ha Goyins, the circle of the Gentiles, Which to this day among the Jews who know Jewish history is considered an outcast place, A riffraff place, a place from which nothing good was ever to be expected or is to be expected now. There was this Man, raised in a poor town, in a poor home, in a carpenter’s shop. Without any education, any rabbinical training, Who walked up and down the length and great extensiveness of Palestine. How long did He preach? Three years – three and a half years at the very most – and then he died. How long did He work? Three years – three and a half at the very most Supposing you saw the pastor of any church in this town day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year entering saloons, gambling joints, cabarets association with thieves, harlots and whoremongers of this town. Would you believe in him? I seriously doubt it. But here is the Man Jesus who, all of His recorded life, sought out the down-and-outers, Lived by choice with the worst that ever existed among His people: Yet although He has been taken apart, analyzed, studied, discussed more than the rest of the world put together, No one has ever been able to accuse Him of anything indecent, unclean or unholy. Deny that He is the Son of God and answer me these questions: Where did this Man get His learning? Where did this Man get His education? Where did this Man get the wisdom to make pronouncements that have changed the world in almost every way in which it could be changed? Why then, the atheist, the infidel, the idolater, the unbelieving Jews, the unbelieving Gentiles – all, the whole universe Lay the palm at the feet of Jesus in a matter fitting your King. We need a Inerrant, spiritual understanding of God and man. Where did this Man get it all? You say a Jewish rabbi told me, “ I tell you where He got it. He was a Jew. He was brilliant. The Jews are notedly a religious people.” I said Rabbi that is true, but why haven’t the Jews produced another Jesus in all these years? They have Einstein. Just think of the giant Einstein.
Why, they have WEIZMANN Who can in the slightest compare with this Jesus? No, my friends, the knowledge that the Lord Christ has was not His own because He was a brilliant Jew. It came to Him from God. It was inherent in Him. He did not learn it from other men; It came to Him by direct revelation from God. He was divine. His life’s story abundantly proves it. Let us think of the death of this Man. He didn’t have to die. He stood before Caiaphas, and Caiaphas said, I swear You in. Tell me are you the Son of God? And he said, Yes He knew that Caiaphas would destroy Him. He stood before Pilate, and Pilate said Art thou the King of the Jews? And he said, Thou sayest Now either one of two things is true Either jesus was crazy and mad Or He is the Son of God Take your choice I took mine 10 years ago I believe He is the Son of God There is just no other way of explaining it One last thing. Not only is He the Christ of prophecy, Not only is He the Christ of history But He is also the Christ of experience My friends, nationally, internationally, universally, wherever the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has been given a chance, Wherever the teachings of the Son of God have been given an opportunity, Wherever the Galilean has been preached, Wherever the Son of Man has been given the right of way Civilization has felt the impact of His mighty power. Go from one end of this world to the other. Study the east and the west The north and the south Is it not a matter of fact that although the nations The idolatrous nations, Are older than the western nations The western nations are infinitely greater, More prosperous, happier, healthier, better off in every way than those of the East Why? Because Jesus has had His way in the hearts, the lives, the minds, the activities of the Western part of this world of ours. Just think what Christ has done for individuals. There came an infidel lecturer to a certain town in the west A gold mining town To deliver his lectures night after night. When he got on toward the last night, He said Now I have proved to you that Jesus Christ is a myth You don’t have to believe in Him anymore. There stepped out from that crowd a rough, crude man who said Sir, wait a minute I am an ignorant man. I haven’t any education. I don’t understand what a myth is But I want you to explain this Five years ago I was a drunkard, a gambler, an adulterer Five years ago I abused my wife and children Five years ago I was an out cast, An outlaw of the worst kind No one had any regard for me A man came to this town who preached the Lord Jesus Christ to me. I accepted Him as my saviour I enthroned Him as Lord Since then I Hven’t taken a drop of liquor My wife has good clothes My precious children are bright and happy I have a good job A good home Good furniture A little money in the bank and the respect of my fellowman What do you mean by a myth I do not know But I believe in Jesus with all my heart, And I am willing to take my chaces with Him So am I willing to take the risk with Jesus. I plead with you that you do the same There is no risk He is the Christ, The Son of God By believing in him We do have life through this name If here and now you will take “Christ as your own Saviour, Make this definite decision yours Tell God so on your knees, Then sign the decision form below here today Get on your knees and simply tell God I know I am a lost sinner headed for Hell. I believe that Christ came to this earth and died on the cross to save sinners As the Old Testament prophesised he would and as the New Testament says He did I believe He literally arose from the dead Here and now I am putting my trust in Him to be my personal Saviour Depending on Him entirely to forgive my sin and save my soul and take me to Heaven Give it to the Lord here, now , today And see what He has instore for you
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pastor Craig Sicilia productions
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