For the Internet Church of Christ founded by Dr. Bob Benchoff: Main Site: click here.
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Bible.
--Sermon by Dr. Bob Benchoff April 27, 2003
Click here for mathematical proof that God exists.
How do you know the Bible is right? How do you know what you're reading is true? How do you know if that sermon is correct and accurate? How do you know?
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Some people believe in money. They use their checks and credit cards and cash and depend on that. They don't even open the Bible.
Some people believe in sports. They spend as much time as they can pursuing sports statistics, and/or weight training and exercising.
Some people believe in food supplements. They do all they can to ensure they take those little pills often throughout their days.
Some people believe in themselves, believing they don't need anybody else. They can quit their job at any time, and they are filled with grand delusion.
Some people believe in a rock star, or a captain, or a welder, or an auditor. Some people believe in the TV.
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If you feel so free and self-justified that you can quit your job in a moment without a second thought, then you likely don't know the meaning of life. A good job is not simply something that you can make happen. The good job is something permanent. One doesn't quit the good job, rather one may graduate (so to speak) from the good job and rise to greater matters, losing nothing nor no one along the way.
A rock star will cease to entertain you, an auditor will cease to be reliable; money comes and goes, as does health.
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Someone testified in the court-house, how do you know they're telling the truth? Someone wrote a sermon, how do you know it is holy and not unholy?
You have inherent genetic information stored in your brain. Your body relys on it to breathe and pump blood. But your genetic code can be altered. Your memory can be changed.
You have the ability to gain from learned response, yet what will you choose to learn? What will be your guide?
Will you rely on gravity to dictate your mental mechanics? Will you rely on pleasure?
How often have you been told to do what is right, but you would not? How often have you been instructed to get to work, yet you hesitated?
How can you overcome the tendancy to rest? How can you reach beyond work to higher reasoning? How can you out-smart your boss? How can you out-think your competition? How can you keep from hurting others?
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The Bible comes in many forms. Some books called "Bible" are large, some small. Some have red letters, some have many extra notes.
Some "Bibles" have similar authors, some are very different. Some Biblical texts have no paper at all, and are viewed on the Internet, or are spoken, or sung.
Some people disagree with some Bibles or parts thereof, will you? How will you know? What will guide you?
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Some people say use this and your teeth will get whiter. Some say use that and it will make you rich. Some want you to buy a car because you deserve it.
The truth will set you free. Love conquers all. Seek and ye shall find. Give and it will be given unto you.
How do you know these are true? The sum of all your knowledge is a good indicator, but good jurors are tricked and innocent people go to prison.
Knowing what the sales person will get out of the deal is a good indicator, but again, it's just an indicator.
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You have something...something precious. Something of value is yours, and it is of more value than anything else you have.
You have something, and you ought to give it back.
You are one of the lucky ones...one of the fortunate few. You have something and it helps you. It is of great benefit to you, and you might not even know it's there.
It's not a wristwatch, it's not a shoe. And it's more than a friendly smile, much more.
You have something great, you have something powerful, you have something splendid, beautiful, awesome, and terrible to such an extent that if revealed would cause your enemies to fall down before you.
You have something gracious and kind, dear and understanding, compassionate yet unyielding. A blessing yet a gift; it is yours to enjoy; you are expected to use it wisely for it is the source of wisdom.
You didn't purchase the gift you have, and you should return it many fold.
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You have the power and the might, and you can have more. You have the wisdom to use your forces, because God does not cast pearls before swine. You have the aptitude and ability, not because of you: because of God.
You have the strength to share, you have the energy to give as Christ showed you.
Except to fulfill Christ's Plan, Christ did not have to walk on the earth to show you, Christ is much more than that. Before Jesus Christ in human form walked on the earth, people had Holy knowledge, from the Garden of Eden. If you are a Christian, then Moses knew what you know, that God keeps his word. God is reliable and the proof is all around as the angels behold the face of God. God is the answer and God is in you.
Christ came to make it easy on you, for you. Christ came to give you a better job, a better television, and a better life. Christ came to give your life new purpose and new meaning, better than before. Christ came to give you reason for righteous faith.
You have such faith as all people have. Whether a grain of mustard seed in size, or an ocean in volume, you have that good which shall not be taken from you, because it is pure and honest and plain for all to see.
You have the gift of life and more abundantly in Christ Jesus our Lord! You have the cause and effect, you have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
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You meet with other people from time to time throughout your life. Those people that in your opinion are worthy, you invite to be your friends.
Your friends are worthy because you know something deep down inside.
In other words, you know something beneficial about those devices and so you want the devices to come alive, so to speak, and be your friends and work together with you.
So for this example, you use your computer (body) and type (soul) your instructions (your spirit), and logon (meaning you get your spirit to mingle with the Holy Spirit), and send your information through the Internet to each hospital device that can accept the information and turn-on (or reject the information and not turn-on, such as due to their firewall).
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So you can invite people to be your friends because in your opinion and spirit, there is something good and right about them; they have shown you qualities of friendliness that make you happy.
More to the point, since Heaven is within you, you invite worthy people toward Heaven.
As you find reliability and joy as the closeness of your friendship grows toward love and Heaven, you grow to trust them.
Friendship with yourself demands the same high standards of excellence. If, for instance, someone tried to con you out of money, you would likely be offended and want to distance yourself from them; and remove them from Heaven within you. Using similar reasoning, if you try to con someone out of their money, you distance yourself from Heaven.
If, for instance, you discover ancient manuscripts but other people want the credit and contrive a wild story and claim they themselves found the manuscripts at another location, they distance themselves from your Heaven and perhaps wreck havoc on the lives of many. They distance themselves from Heaven in many ways.
Similarly, if you claim credit for something you shouldn't, you separate yourself from Heaven. If you wrongly claim credit for something that pure, generous, and loving Christ did, how much worse is that?
Christ was careful to give credit, praise, and glory to God, rather than focus the glory to the bodily form created by God, although otherwise in Jesus Christ's case these are one and the same.
Give credit to Christ God almighty, and have your friends and others do the same, and you draw closer to Heaven.
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So as you gain trust in your friends and their words, especially their more valuable and precious thoughts, then when they say something holy that can impact your life, you will likely respond with acceptance of their holiness, as together you have honed their relationship with you: in friendship, care, and love.
You are free to choose to agree or disagree with them, yet you tend to accept what they say as you have previously found them reliable and have established a solid foundation of trust with them.
If someone you've just met words the Bible in a way you haven't previously considered, you test it to see if it matches your ideas, and if you are firm in the right belief system, you logically find resolution quickly. Yet if it is a far more reliable friend that presents something new for your consideration Biblically, then your decision making time (similar to hesitation) is minimized because you have found them constantly reliable. To reach decision making perfection, have Christ as your friend and leader.
So, through perfection is how you know the Bible is right. The Bible is a collection of writings, inclusions varying among the various churches.
The writings are not selected because they are the best sellers (that is an extra blessing). The writings are not selected because they are fun to read, documentaries of the times, or because people buy that author's works. The writings are selected by revered groups who have relentlessly worked to find correct information about Jesus Christ. Such groups have shown steadfast knowledge in information about Jesus Christ. Their integrity is acknowledged by others that investigate, especially by others that have logically studied the same and related subjects. So experts in their field find them in agreement, or friends, at least for the most part, typically.
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So according to the greater body of knowledge, as with those who revere the dictionary, the atlas, the encyclopedia, and so on, the Bible too is revered and accepted.
So this logic is true even if politicians and employers don't discuss the Bible. This logical progression of faith is true even if many governments and religions object, since advocacy and opinion is logically subordinate to truth and righteousness.
The Bible is not exclusively based on faith. The Bible is founded on facts and logical principles of faith.
This is true, even though historically many Christian religions have prefered the word faith over the word logic. As logic is logical, Christian faith is also logical, the three being one: the pure and undefiled logic, the pure and undefiled Christian, and the pure and undefiled Christian's faith.
While the following sentence may represent opinion rather than fact to some people, they nonetheless should at least appreciate that worldly governments do not take responsibility for their actions, in part. There are many non-Christian religions in the world, yet it is important to mention that those are typically among nations having many less learned, the less logical in complex matters.
Within United States of America, even if Christianity is cast out of the governmental schools, education and Christianity are very much united. According to the wording of the United States Declaration of Independence and according to the United States Constitution, United States government is founded on the principles of Christianity.
The first paragraph of the Declaration places Christianity above the law and above government, and places government subjective with the statement "God entitle them"; and the Constitution's last Article's closing statement for ratification founds United States of America on Christianity:
"Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth."
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So we find logical adherence to Biblical material. When many expert leader scholars in the field agree, a Biblical book or letter might be added or removed, according to their body of knowledge in agreement.
So we can have logical faithful confidence [absolutely and/or as much as humanly possible] in the most important parts, the major theme of the Bible. Generally, the less important parts may logically be less thoroughly scrutinized by pertinent experts, so it is relatively more likely that there may be challenges to particular bits of text and their interpretations.
When there is a lack of logic so that our thinking seems unable to logically progress from known logical thoughts to further known logical thoughts in a given area, the test of time is a good indicator. When a widely known thought goes undisputed over time, then the indication is that it conforms to the logical pattern. So while logical proof may be missing, some non-logical data may be entered into a given body of knowledge.
So thusly we find interpretations are true, as far as we can reasonably establish, although due to sin (or due to choosing randomly or due to lack of choosing perfection) associated with the body, errors do exist.
The Bible teaches us to do all for Christ's greater glory. This is not to say intentionally perform errors, since that is contrary to Christ's greater glory. So we must do goodness.
To do that, all things were placed subjective to Christ. So when you are a Christian, one with Christ, all things are subjective to you.
Therefore, while you should follow the Bible, revered as being Christ's teachings, the Bible was given for you, not you for the Bible if you are steadfast in Christ's Holy Word.
So while under the law, you have the authority in Christ to change the law, according to Christ's logical way. That extent would be permission to sift through the Bible to find errors, if any, to purify it. Even the devil does that, and you in Christ are of greater authority.
In Christ you also have the authority to choose to investigate other works to see if they fit in solid logic. If so, are they logically worthy of being entered into the Bible, or perhaps in official (according to your religious affiliation) Bible supportive documents. Such authority to investigate Christian faith more deeply, or such authority to logically progress to higher (perhaps more complex, and/or perhaps more simple for greater clarity) realms of glory are not restricted by law and therefore according to grace.
The Bible is ours. If we want to change it, we should first logically work to justify to others Christ's pertinent intent. Some say that all interpretations are true; let them logically prove it.
We have each been given a great and personal gift from God: it is Christ, revealed in the Word in the Bible.
Make friends: "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me."--Jesus Christ, Bible Book of John, Chapter 6 verse 45.
Take care of the Bible, and let your logic flow.
For new Bible Physics, click here.
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To visit the Main Site of the Internet Church of Christ founded by Dr. Bob Benchoff, click here.
To visit the Second Page of Sermons of the Internet Church of Christ founded by Dr. Bob Benchoff, click here.
To visit the Third Page of Sermons of the Internet Church of Christ founded by Dr. Bob Benchoff, click here.