8-19-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: Part 3 of Series " LIFE: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY"

[Disciple]

LIFE: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY
#3- “A Guide For Your Journey”
Psalms 119: 11, 16, 105

Intro

A. If you have a sense of humor one of the funniest things that can happen when you start out a journey is that you end up going the wrong direction and get lost
1. It is always good to have a map to serve as a guide for your journey

ill- I like this story I found the other day- the teacher of the earth science class was lecturing the students about reading a map- after explaining all about latitude, longitude, degrees, and minutes, the teacher then offered a question- ‘Supposed I asked you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude...?’- there was a confused silence and then suddenly one student spoke up- “I guess you’d be eating alone.”

2. You definitely need to know how to use and read the map to help you arrive safely at your destination-

3. Maps are the result of someone’s hard work and research-

ill- when Lewis and Clark made their trek to the Pacific Ocean it took them two years, four months and nine days- they had traveled about 6,000 miles- they brought back much new material for the map makers and specimens of previously unknown wildlife- American settlers and traders soon began to travel over the route they had blazed- after they had gone before it made it easier for those who would follow – today we can travel across America with ease because they had blazed the trail

4. We have a map to use as a our guide for this ultimate journey-
a. others have gone through this journey before us and they have left us this guide to make our journey better

5. Are you using your map to help you make this journey successfully and reach the eternal destination of heaven?
a. Jerry Vines- ‘An unread Bible is like food uneaten, a love letter never read, a buried sword, a road map unstudied, gold never mined’ (A Practical Guide To Sermon Preparation, pg. 69)
b. it certainly is not a funny thing if on this ultimate journey of life you would go in the wrong direction and end up being lost for eternity






I. Our Map Is Reliable
A. When you begin your journey, you want to have a map that is reliable and trustworthy

1. Occasionally when I’m going to make a trip to somewhere I haven’t been before I will get on the internet and get directions
a. you type in your address and the address of your destination – you can get turn- by-turn directions.
b. but sometimes a disclaimer comes up that will say ‘Be sure to consult an up-to-date map’
1. there may be detours or other changes along the route

2. This map is reliable and it is up-to-date for your journey
3. One reason it is reliable is because of the sources that were used to make the map
4. Eyewitnesses were used to write the Bible-
a. an eyewitness is someone who directly parti****ted in the activity
b. an eyewitness is not someone who heard something about something from someone who heard something from someone
1. hearsay evidence is not accepted in a court of law
2. the most accepted form of evidence is an eyewitness
5. Look at what the N.T. tells us about its origin-
a. I John 1:3- We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
b. 2 Pet. 1:16 – We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

c. Acts 4:19-20- But Peter and John replied, Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.
1. note that both John and Peter say they are telling what they have ‘seen and heard’

ill- you may have heard of Green poet Homer and his classic the ‘Iliad’- he wrote this about 900 B.C.- the earliest copy of this work is dated 400 B.C. or 500 years from the original writing- yet people do not doubt its authenticity- there are only 643 manuscripts still in existence from antiquity- the N.T. has more than 24,000 manuscripts with the earliest dating 125 A.D., which is within 25 years of the completion of the N.T.- there is far more and superior evidence for the N.T. than any other historical do***ent- why would anyone doubt its authenticity



6. What is the significance of the N.T. being written by eyewitnesses?
a. if you are going to follow a map, wouldn’t you want to follow a map made by someone who has traveled that way?

II. The Method Used For Making The Map
A. Another reason the Bible is reliable as our guide for this journey is the method used for making the map

1. The N.T. claims for itself to have been written by the ‘inspiration’ of God – 2 Tim. 3:16- All Scripture is God-breathed....

a. Peter clarifies what this ‘inspiration means-
1. 2 Pet. 1:20-21- Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke form God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2. I don’t want anyone to think that the writers of the Scriptures were only robots and had not input of their own
3. There is a significant passage I would have you consider in this regard-
a. Luke is the author of the 3rd gospel that bears his name-
1. Luke was a doctor- he tells us several things about how and why he is writing- Luke 1:1-4
2. he has been in communication with the eyewitnesses- handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and
servants
3. all of the information that Luke is writing has come from trustworthy sources he says- they were eyewitnesses
4. notice in v. 3, he says ‘...I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning...’
a. some of those eyewitnesses may have included Mary, the mother of Jesus- the brothers of Jesus- the apostles
b. Luke has done a lot of research and study so that he can write an ‘orderly account’ of what has happened
5. his purpose in writing is that Theophilus will know for certain the things he has been taught about Jesus
4. The writers of the Bible did not just make up a bunch of stuff and write it down- Luke is just one example of how he investigated and established the accuracy of what he was writing

ill- March, 1947- an Arab shepherd was looking for one of his sheep- he threw a rock into a cave and he heard pottery break- he discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls- these scrolls had been written about 200-100 B.C.- among those scrolls was a full scroll over 24 feet long- it contained the book of Isaiah- in Isaiah 53, of the 166 words only 17 letters were in question, 10 of which were simply a matter of spelling and did not change the meaning at all-

5. The method used for writing the Bible has resulted in accuracy that can be proven and affirmed today
6. The Bible was written over a 1,500 year period time-more than 40 different authors from every walk of life- (Kings, farmers, poets, fishermen)
a. written in three different languages- it covers 100’s of subjects and it has a central theme pointing to and leading to the coming of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the sins of all mankind-
b. the Bible has such incredible accuracy that there is not a single contradiction
7. This book is a reliable map for your journey through this life

III. The Purpose For the Map
A. Another reason that the Bible is a reliable guide for this ultimate journey is the purpose for it being written
1. Luke wrote to Theophilus so he would know the certainty of the things he had been taught
2. The ultimate reason for the Bible being written is declared by John-
a. John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
3. God doesn’t want you to believe a bunch of made-up, wild stories, He wants you to know the truth
a. He doesn’t want you to just take a blind, uniformed leap and then say, ‘Yes, I believe it’
b. God wants you to examine the evidence of the Scriptures and then follow it and live it because you believe it
1. Rom. 10:17- Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
4. God had the Bible written and He has kept the integrity of the Bible, so that you and I can find Jesus
5. The Bible is filled with information- information that will acquaint you with God’s will and way for your life
a. someone has said that ‘B.I.B.L.E’- means Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
b. God has given us this book so we will have a good, successful journey through this life and reach the destination of eternal life
c. Dwight L. Moody said, The Bible was not given to us for information only- it was given to us for transformation
6. God did not hide his Son, Jesus, so that we could not find him-
a. God gave us a road map so we could find our way to Jesus and have salvation
b. 2 Tim. 3:15- and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Conc.
I like the old story of the dad who settled down in his easy chair to read the newspaper one evening- he was having a hard time reading because his small daughter was bothering him and wanting to play- he remembered he had seen a picture of a map of the world in a magazine earlier- finding that magazine he tore that page out and tore it into small pieces- he gave it to his daughter and said, ‘Go into the other room and see if you can put this puzzle together’-thinking she would be occupied for quite a while he settled back into his chair to continue reading- but in just a few minutes his daughter was back and handed him the picture of the world map correctly put together- he was surprised that she had finished it so quickly and he asked her how she had managed to work the puzzle so fast- her answer ‘Oh, on the other side of the paper was a picture of Jesus. When I got Jesus in his place, then the world came out all right.’

If you want your life, your ultimate journey, to come out right, then you need to get Jesus in his place in your life.

This book is a treasure map that will guide you to the greatest treasure of all- Jesus Christ and eternal life in heaven with God the Father
Will you follow the map that God has given you? The psalmists says God’s word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path- this book will light your way to Jesus