Is The Bible Reliable?

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We're going to be reading from the book of Nehemiah, chapter 8, verses 1 through 13, and verse 18 as printed in the liturgy.

Nehemiah 8:1–13

A reading from the book of Nehemiah.

I think I better change these.

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,

all the people came together as one in the square before the water gate.

They told Ezra, the teacher of the law, to bring out the book of the law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra, the priest, brought the law before the assembly,

which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.

He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the water gate

in the presence of the men, women, and others who could understand.

All the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

Ezra, the teacher of the law, stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.

Beside him on his right stood Mattathiah, Shema, Aniah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maseah.

And on his left were Padaiah, Mishael, Malchiah, Hashem, Hashbadanah, Zechariah, and Meshulam.

Ezra opened the book.

All the people could see him because he was standing above them.

And as he opened it, people all stood up.

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded,

Amen, Amen.

Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The Levites, Joshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akub, Shabbathai, Hodiah, Messiah, Kalita, Azariah,

Josabad, Hanan, and Paliah instructed the people in the law

so that they understood what was being read.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the law,

and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all,

This day is holy to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep.

For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law.

Nehemiah said,

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared.

This day is holy to our Lord.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

The Levites calmed all the people, saying,

Be still, for this is a holy day.

Do not grieve.

Then all the people went away to eat and drink,

to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy,

because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families,

along with the priests and the Levites,

gathered around Ezra, the teacher,

to give attention to the words of the law.

Day after day,

from the first day to the last,

Ezra read from the book of the law of God.

They celebrated this festival for seven days,

and on the eighth day,

in accordance with the regulation,

there was an assembly.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

I don't know about you,

but I thought not many people could have read all those names

the way that Joan just read those names.

So is that not amazing?

I mean,

I was trying all week and couldn't do it.

So way to go, Joan.

We are continuing today in this journey of exploring God

and looking at these various questions that we have about God,

and today's question is,

is the Bible reliable?

Is the Bible reliable?

18th century French philosopher Voltaire said that,

he predicted that the Bible would become a museum piece

within 100 years of his lifetime,

and would be replaced by more advanced philosophies of life.

But of course, today,

the Bible persists

in remaining one of the most popular books,

the most popular book in the world.

And why is that?

Well, the Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament,

he says this in 2 Timothy 3,

he says,

all Scripture is inspired by God.

All Scripture is inspired.

It's breathed out by God.

And what exactly did God inspire?

What did he breathe out in the creation of the Bible?

Well, over 1,600 years,

about the Bible was written by 40 authors

on three different continents

and two different languages

and over two testaments.

It was written by kings, scholars, philosophers,

fishermen, poets, statesmen, historians,

teachers, prophets, and doctors.

And they all wrote different types of literature,

history, poetry, prophecy, letters, and so forth.

And throughout the Bible,

it makes an amazing claim for itself

that on the one hand,

it's 100% the work of human authors,

and yet it also claims to be 100% inspired by God.

Now, many people in the secular West,

particularly,

increasingly have questions

about the reliability of the Bible.

And maybe that's you,

or maybe that's people in your life

that you're having conversations with.

A lot of people I've met over the years

in the East Bay say that

science has disproved the Bible.

And I believe in science,

and so I can't believe in the supernaturalism

and the miracles of the Bible.

Or another person may say,

as a believer in evolution,

I can't accept the Bible's pre-scientific accounts

of the origin of life.

Or you may say,

well, science isn't necessarily my issue,

but I see much of the Bible

as historically inaccurate.

And I can't be sure,

I don't think any of us can be sure

that the Bible's account of events

is what actually happened.

Or maybe you say,

my problem's not so much science or history.

My problem with the Bible

is that it's culturally obsolete,

that much of its social teaching

is morally regressive.

The things it says about slavery

and women and sexuality,

all of this is impossible to,

makes it impossible for me

to accept that the Bible

has the complete authority

that Christians say that it does.

And if that's you,

we welcome you.

A lot of us have those questions too.

And I cannot begin to even barely address

one of those questions today.

So sorry to disappoint you.

I'm going to lead a lot on the table.

But I do hope that you'll come

to our Q&A afterwards.

And you can grill me

and we'll talk at length

as long as you'd like

about those questions.

I do want to say up top though

that in a way,

the Bible is unreliable.

The Bible can be unreliable

if you read it as an anthology

of helpful thoughts

and a collection of nuggets of wisdom

where we pick and choose different parts

to give us comfort and guidance and direction.

If you read the Bible that way,

it's going to be unreliable for you.

If you come to the Bible

as a series of isolated sayings,

which you dip in at random

and extract little bits with no context,

and then you take those fragments

and you fit them into the various nooks and crannies

of a larger enlightenment story of the world

that says reason is going to conquer nature

and science and technology

is going to help us progress toward a utopia,

the Bible is going to be unreliable to you.

If you try to make the Bible

be about a story

that's completely different

than the story the Bible is actually telling you,

it's not going to be reliable for you.

If you come to the Bible

without a map,

without a framework,

and without particular lenses

for how the different parts

of the Bible fit together

in a unified,

coherent story of the world,

a unified,

coherent story of the kingdom of God

and the covenants

that bring about the kingdom of God,

it's not going to make sense to you

and it's going to be unreliable to you.

And so I want to turn today

to this little book.

I'm guessing not a lot of us

have read Nehemiah lately.

And I want to turn to

the book of Nehemiah chapter 8

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

where we have 50,000 people

gathered together

to hear,

read,

and taught

the Bible.

And I want to ask the question,

why?

At least for these 50,000 people,

why do they think

the Bible is reliable?

And what might that mean for us?

How might that help us?

So I want to talk a little bit about

listening attentively,

interpreting faithfully,

and responding properly.

Because I think these are keys

to engaging with the Bible

in a reliable way.

Listening attentively,

interpreting faithfully,

and responding properly.

First of all,

listening attentively.

Look at verse 1.

It says that

all the people

assembled with one accord

in the square,

and they told Ezra,

the teacher of the law,

to bring out the book

of the law of Moses

which the Lord had commanded

for Israel.

And then verse 3,

it says,

he read it aloud

from daybreak till noon

as he faced the square

in the presence

of the men,

women,

and the others

who could understand,

and all the people

listened attentively

to the book

of the law.

So this is a gathering

of 50,000 men,

women,

and children

which tells us

that it assumes

that kids have the mental

and spiritual capacity

to understand the Bible

and that these parents

have obviously done something

to prepare their kids

to come and receive

whatever's about to happen

with some benefit.

They've been working

with their kids at home

probably on the Bible.

And if you don't have

any kids' Bibles at home,

I brought a stack

and I'm going to leave them up here

for you to look at afterwards.

But it says that they came

as one.

There was a unity.

There was a solidarity

about this gathering.

And what have they come for?

They say,

bring out the book.

Bring out the book.

They summon Ezra.

Ezra,

is he summoning the people?

Is Ezra imposing the book on him?

Is he begging people

to come to his Bible study?

No, it says the people

take initiative

and they make a demand.

They're eager

and they're enthusiastic

to come and stand here

for six hours

from dawn until noon

and the heat

in the Middle East.

They say,

bring out the book.

And that's how you know

you're in a living church

and you're experiencing

a revival

in the Spirit of God

when the Spirit of God

comes down

and the people are saying,

bring out the stinking book.

And what is this book?

Well, it's called

The Law of Moses

that the Lord commanded.

Right?

The first five books

of the Bible,

Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, Numbers,

and Deuteronomy,

The Law of Moses

that the Lord commanded.

And so the question there

is who wrote it?

Did Moses write it

or did the Lord write it?

And the answer is yes.

Fully human,

fully divine.

Just like Jesus,

it's fully humanly authored

and fully divinely inspired

at the same time.

And these people come here

because they trust

that this book is reliable.

Why do they trust that?

Well, to give you

some backstory,

last week we looked at

Exodus 19 through 24

which is actually

the first public reading

of Scripture in the Bible.

Israel had just been

rescued from Egypt.

They were no longer slaves

and they needed

a new identity.

They needed a new story

to live by.

And so God gathers

the people at Mount Sinai

and Moses reads

the Scriptures aloud

and as they hear it

they're reminded

of where they came from

and who they are

and the new future

that they're being called

to live for.

And that wasn't the last time

they did that.

Like when they finally got

to the promised land

they did it again.

Joshua pulled out the book.

He pulled all the people together

and they listened

to the Scriptures read aloud

and they remembered

this is where we came from

and this is how

we're to keep living

as part of this new story

that God is writing.

Sadly, after Joshua died

there are no more stories

about people coming together

to hear God's Word.

You get to the book of Judges

and it says that they forgot

the story.

We're told in Judges 2

that the people,

a whole generation arose

who did not know the Lord

or what the Lord

had done for them.

That went on for centuries.

King David brought

the Scriptures back

to the people

and yet they forgot again

and then King Josiah

discovered the law

and the temple

and he got excited

and called all the people

together to practice

this reading of Scripture

and he sparked

this renewal movement

but then of course

they forgot again

and they ended up

in exile in Babylon.

And so that is why

in this moment

when Ezra and Nehemiah

come back from the exile

in Babylon

they know

that the thing

they need to do

above all else

is to remind the people

who they are

and whose they are

and how they're to live.

And so reading Scripture

together became

a core part

of Jewish life.

It was done every week

when they would gather

in the synagogue.

Jesus Himself

participated in this practice

and you may know

that He launched

His public mission

during the weekly reading

of the Scripture

from the scroll of Isaiah

when He said

today in your hearing

this Scripture

is being fulfilled.

And this is why

the Apostle Paul

writes to Timothy

and says devote yourself

to the public reading

of Scripture

and to its preaching

and its teaching.

Do you see why

these people

are listening

so attentively?

Because they know

the pain

of forgetting

their identity.

They know the pain

of losing track

of what story

they're living in.

They know the pain

of not knowing

who they are

and where they came from

and where they're going

and how they're supposed

to live

in light of that.

So I want you to look

at the context

and the posture

for how they're listening

to the Bible.

It says in verse 4

that Ezra the teacher

of the law

stood on a high

wooden platform

built for the occasion

and then in verse 5

it says Ezra opened

the book

and all the people

could see him

because he was

standing above them

and as he opened it

the people all stood up.

Now this high platform

was practical

so that everybody

could see

and everybody could hear

but it was also

symbolic

to say that the word

of God

is above us.

This word of God

is coming down

to us from on high.

It has an authority.

Now think about that.

What's the first question

that Satan asks

human beings

in the scriptures

in Genesis 3?

He says

did God really say?

It's the first question.

Did God really say?

And in that moment

he's tempting

human beings

to rise above

the word of God

to put themselves

over the word

as the critics

of scripture

and to put themselves

in a position

where they are

the judge

and the jury

about the truth

of God.

But these people

in Nehemiah 8

are doing the opposite

of that.

They're sitting

in humility

under the book.

They're standing

with reverence

before the book

because they know

that these are not

mere human words

from Moses

but that this is

the eternal word

of God.

You're supposed

to say amen

at that point.

And the reason

I know you're supposed

to say amen

is in verse 6

where it says

Ezra praised

the Lord

the great God

and all the people

lifted their hands

and responded

amen and amen.

Then they bowed down

and worshipped the Lord

with their faces

to the ground.

I'm not making that up.

Like it's not

just my preference.

It's biblical.

Notice that Ezra

is not standing up there

giving his perspectives

on world history

or giving his opinions

on current events.

He's simply

reading the book,

explaining the book,

applying the book.

And notice that

the book

is neither this

cold cadaver

in a lab

that you

clinically cut on

nor is it

a literary composition

in a classroom

that you critically

comment on.

When the people

heard the book

it says

they along with Ezra

praised the Lord

who is both

the author

and the subject

of this book.

This moment

is thick

with meaning

because the word

of Yahweh

the word

of this great God

who has spoken

is speaking now.

The word

of I am

who I am.

this God

who is infinite,

eternal,

almighty,

holy,

and majestic

is speaking

to us

and he's telling us

the true story

of the world.

He's telling us

who we are

and revealing to us

where we're going

and showing us

how we're supposed

to live.

And this tells us

that this is a glorious God

who's worthy

of our hands

being lifted up

in praise to him.

And I know that makes

some of you uncomfortable

but it's right here.

This is a glorious God

who's worthy

of our loud shouts

of amen,

amen

which means

yes,

yes,

I need that,

I want that.

May that be true

in our lives.

You want to practice?

Let's say

amen,

amen,

amen,

amen.

This glorious God

is worthy

of our bent knees

in humility

and reverence

before him.

He's worthy

of our bowed faces

and our bowed heads

with awe

and wonder

and worship

in his presence.

And as I read this

I say

may the spirit of God

loosen our hands

and loosen our tongues

and loosen our knees

and loosen our faces

in worship

because this is how

Jesus read his Bible.

Did you know

this is how

Jesus read his Bible

as a devout

and passionate Israelite?

He listened attentively

because he discerned

in these words

the authoritative voice

of the Lord

and the story

of the kingdom of God

breaking into this

broken world

from heaven

to earth.

So,

do you want to hear

from God?

Bring out the book.

Open the book.

Listen humbly

and reverently

to the book.

Let the book

sit above you.

Get yourself

below

and beneath

this book.

That's the only way

you're going to find

the Bible

to be reliable

to you.

And may it be said

of us

that when we

Christchurch

opened this book

we praised the Lord

the great God

and we all lifted

our hands

and responded

amen and amen

and we bowed down

to worship the Lord

with our faces

to the ground.

If you read the Bible

in any other way

in any other context

with any other posture

it's not going to

make sense to you.

So,

they're listening

attentively

but also it says

that they're

interpreting

faithfully.

They're interpreting

faithfully.

It says in verse 7

that the Levites

instructed the people

in the law

while the people

were standing there

and they read

from the book

of the law

of God

making it clear

and giving the meaning

so that the people

understood what was

being read.

Now,

they're not

just at home

alone

in a comfy

chair

with a cup of coffee

reading their Bible

by themselves

which is great.

You should keep

doing that

but they're gathered

together in person

with real people

who have faces

and they're not

at home

or on their phone

Googling questions

you know,

finding anonymous

answers on the internet

and believing the first

thing that they click.

Right?

That drives pastors crazy.

It's like

when you go to your doctor

you're like

I've been studying

WebMD

you know

and I have like

five minutes of knowledge

about this.

No,

it says that they

gather together

and Ezra's in the pulpit

and they have 13

teachers on the platform

and 13 Levites

in the pews

these are the

trustworthy and trained

authorized and accountable

interpreters of the scriptures

and what they're doing

is a combination

of preaching

Q&A

small groups

and Sunday school.

They're basically

reading the text

in Hebrew

they're translating it

into Aramaic

which is the

common language

of the people

and they're turning around

after like each chapter

going

do you understand?

And the people say

actually no I don't

I have a question

about this

or a question about

that

and so they go on

to explain

the original

intended meaning

of the text

the plain sense

of the passage

so that everybody

can comprehend it

and apply it

to their lives.

The technical term

for that

is exegesis

it means to

draw out

what is actually

already there

in the text.

The opposite of that

is eisegesis

which is to read

your own ideas

into the text.

We do not want

to do

eisegesis

we want

to do

exegesis

we're not

coming to the

Bible

to see ourselves

reflected back

to us

as in a mirror

we're coming

to the Bible

to draw out

the truth

of God

that's there

and I need

to press on this

because in the

digital age

and this

Amazon culture

that we live in

you click a button

and a book

shows up like an hour

later on your doorstep

magically

these books

that are called

Christian books

with that label

or we have blogs

or podcasts

or sermons

and we need to ask

more critical questions

is this book

giving me

a feel good

message

with some life hacks

or is it giving me

the truth

of the word of God

is what I'm taking

in right now

drawing out

what the Bible

meant

and what it means

or is it imposing

its own meaning

on the Bible

and baptizing

the dominant paradigm

and giving to me

the modern

or postmodern

zeitgeist

is what's coming

into my eyes

and what's coming

into my ears

aligning

with the prophets

and the apostles

can Moses

and David

and Isaiah

and Ezra

can Jesus

and Peter

and Paul

and James

hear this

and say amen

and amen

that is such

an important question

for us to ask

the gospel

of John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

says that Jesus

is the eternal

word of God

made flesh

he's the final

word of God

and so

it's important

for us

to think about

how did the word

of God

interpret the word

of God

right when Jesus

read the Bible

how did he interpret

the Bible

well quickly

you know

when he was tempted

by the devil

Jesus says

it is written

and then he quotes

Deuteronomy

which he has memorized

and he says

man shall not live

on bread alone

but what

on every word

that proceeds

from the mouth

of God

that's our spiritual food

that's our spiritual

nourishment

is the words

of God

and he opens

the sermon

on the mount

and what does he say

he says

do not think

that I've come

to abolish

the law

and the prophets

that I've come

to tear them down

that I've come

to deconstruct them

no I've not come

to abolish them

but to fulfill them

for truly I tell you

until heaven

and earth disappear

not the smallest letter

not the least stroke

of a pen

will by any means

disappear from the law

until everything

is accomplished

therefore Jesus says

anyone who sets aside

one of the least

of these commands

and teaches others

accordingly

will be called

least in the kingdom

of heaven

whoever unties

or relaxes

or plays fast

and loose

or tries to accommodate

this word

to our time and place

you're going to be

least in the kingdom

of heaven

Jesus says

but whoever practices

and teaches

these commands

will be called

great in the kingdom

of heaven

and Jesus continues

on in the sermon

on the mount

taking issue

with illegitimate

interpretations

of the bible

confronting head on

erroneous interpretations

of this book

he says later

in the gospel of Matthew

you're in error

because you don't know

the scriptures

or the power of God

he says in the gospel

of John

scripture

cannot be

broken

so if you believe

Jesus is

who he claimed

to be

then we've got

to honor the fact

that Jesus quoted

and alluded to

almost every

book in the Old Testament

authoritatively

and that Jesus

reads the bible

with respect

to the original

intended meaning

of the text

but what's so

astonishing

astonishing

it's not so much

that

every faithful

Israelite

did that

what's astonishing

is the way

that Jesus

interprets

the story

of the bible

because he

basically says

I'm the hero

of this story

I'm the golden

key that unlocks

this book

he says in

John 5

you study the

scriptures diligently

because you think

that in them

you have eternal

life

these are the

very scriptures

that testify

about me

if you believed

Moses

you would believe

me

for he wrote

about

me

he goes on

and he

says

that this is

after his

resurrection

from the dead

he meets

with two

disciples

and it says

that beginning

with Moses

and all the

prophets

he explained

to them

what was said

and all the

scriptures

concerning

himself

and then he

meets with

all of his

disciples

and he says

everything

must be

fulfilled

that is

written

about me

in the

law of

Moses

the prophets

and the

Psalms

now you

might object

to that

and say

well the

gospels

that you're

quoting from

these are

legends

right

these are

myths

that the

church

made up

we don't

really have

the real

Jesus

of history

he's been

lost

in the

midst

of time

and none

of what

he said

none

of what

he did

can be

historically

validated

but I

would just

like to

invite you

to begin

examining

the original

documents

and sources

I think

we actually

have a

slide

if we

want to

pull that

up

what

you'll

find

is

overwhelming

an overwhelming

amount

of evidence

for the

life

and the

death

and the

resurrection

of

Jesus

when you

think about

the copies

that we

have

and the

time it

took

between the

original

and the

copies

and the

amount of

manuscripts

that we

have

compared with

everything else

that we

know in

the

ancient

world

I think

we'd have

to say

that Jesus

Christ

and the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

is the

most

and best

attested

fact

in ancient

history

I love

this

that I read

this week

from Andrew

Wilson

he says

ultimately

our trust

in the

Bible

stems

from our

trust in

Jesus

Christ

the

man

who

is

God

the

king

of

the

world

the

crucified

risen

and

exalted

rescuer

I don't

trust in

Jesus

because I

trust in

the

Bible

I trust

the

Bible

because I

trust

in

Jesus

I

love

him

and I've

decided

to follow

him

so if

he

talks

and

acts

as if

the

Bible

is

trustworthy

authoritative

good

helpful

and

powerful

I

will

too

even

if

some

of my

questions

remain

unanswered

or even

if

some

of my

answers

remain

unpopular

what we

want to

do

at

Christ

Church

is to

help

you

learn

how to

read

the

Bible

as

one

book

with

one

author

with

one

storyline

with

one

subject

and

we

want

to

teach

you

how

to

interpret

this

amazing

book

faithfully

right

they're

listening

attentively

and

they're

interpreting

faithfully

and

I

want

to

conclude

by

talking

about

how

they're

also

responding

properly

they're

responding

properly

look at

verse

nine

then

Nehemiah

the governor

Ezra

the priest

and teacher

of the law

and the

Levites

who were

instructing

the people

said to

them all

this day

is holy

to the

Lord

your God

do not

mourn

or weep

for all

the people

have been

weeping

as they

listened

to the

words

of the

law

why

were

they

weeping

this word

had been

reverently

read

it had

been

painstakingly

interpreted

it had

been

worshipfully

received

and now

they're

beginning

to weep

over

their

laxity

they're

beginning

to weep

over how

loosely

they've

sat

to the

things

of

God

they're

beginning

to weep

because

they're

convicted

of their

sin

and their

disobedience

before

God

they're

beginning

to weep

because

they've

not acted

in accordance

with

God's

word

they're

grieved

because

they realize

that they've

grieved

the heart

of God

and they've

quenched

the spirit

of God

if there's

one thing

that the

Bible

can be

relied

upon

to do

it's

to show

us

that

all the

great

problems

of the

world

they're

not

out

there

they're

right

here

and

that's

why

they're

weeping

and

through

the word

of God

and through

the spirit

of God

God's

grace

begins

to move

upon

these

people

and

the spirit

of God

begins

to awaken

the sleepy

and enliven

the dead

and quicken

the lethargic

right

all scripture

is God

breathed

Paul says

and it's

useful

for teaching

rebuking

correcting

and training

and righteousness

and that's

what's

happening

right now

they're

being taught

and corrected

and rebuked

and trained

in righteousness

not as

detached

objective

critics

who are

just

receiving

a bunch

of

information

but as

engaged

subjective

characters

who are

being

invited

to be

involved

as the

people

of God

in

the

unfolding

story

of God

but

they're

not only

weeping

their

weeping

is replaced

with joy

it says

in verse

10

Nehemiah

said

go and

enjoy

choice

food

and sweet

drinks

which is

why we

have

donuts

and coffee

after church

he says

go and

do that

because

this day

is holy

to our

Lord

do not

grieve

for the

joy

of the

Lord

is

your

strength

at this

moment

the

eternal

and

infinite

joy

of

the

Lord

almighty

is

beginning

to

flow

into

the

people

of

God

and

give

them

strength

for

their

souls

and

to

fortify

them

in

their

inner

being

why

is

that

because

they

celebrated

with

great

joy

because

they

now

understood

the

words

that

had

been

made

known

to

them

the

way

to

get

the

joy

of

the

Lord

is

to

understand

the

word

of

the

Lord

you

know

what's

amazing

is that

this was

just

day

one

they

stayed

for

seven

days

to

read

God's

word

like

this

and

why

did

they

want

more

and

more

of

the

Lord's

word

and

more

and more

of

his

day

because

they

were

preparing

themselves

for

the

coming

day

of

atonement

they

say

look

don't

be

so

sad

stop

crying

and

start

partying

because

the

holiest

day

of

the

year

is

coming

in

a

couple

of

days

when

the

great

high

priest

is

going

to

take

the

blood

of

the

sacrificial

lamb

into

the

very

presence

of

God

and

the

holy

of

holies

and

he's

going

to

make

an

atonement

to

cleanse

us

all

from

these

sins

that

we're

weeping

about

so

stop

weeping

this is a

time for

joy

it's a

time to

celebrate

the

God of

all

grace

and to

let

his

joy

become

our

joy

and

friends

as we

prepare to

come to

this

table

we have

a much

greater

atonement

to rejoice

in

today

we

we have

an

atonement

that's

not

symbolic

but

that's

actual

we have

an

atonement

that's

not

temporary

but

it's

eternal

the

law

of

God

should

come

and

make

us

aware

of

the

great

and

deep

problem

of

our

sins

so

that

we

weep

but

the

gospel

of

God

brings

us

this

great

solution

of

the

priest

and

the

sacrifice

Jesus

Christ

who

cleanses

us

of

our

sins

and

makes

us

one

with

God

and

that's

why

I

believe

the

Bible

is a

reliable

book

because

it's

telling

us

about

the

one

author

the

one

storyline

the

one

subject

of

the

book

bring

out

the

book

open

the

book

read

the

book

understand

that

this