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[0:00] This morning I'd like to look at why we can trust the Bible. And as Bible believers we do exactly that. We believe and we trust the Bible that it's true.

[0:12] ! The Bible is true. We hold it to be fully true. That it has no mistakes. It matches the evidence. And here is the oldest tree in the world is one of the pictures I had cued here. And it's found in Tanzania. It's 6,000 years old. The oldest tree in the world. And the book that we hold in our hands is the manufacturer's handbook. It's God's handbook for life. It shows us the origin of life and our reason for being. The Bible. In it we read Genesis 1 verse 1. It says in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God created the heaven and the earth. Many attack the Bible today. They consider that it is not reliable. That it is not truthful. And some would use the argument of evolution in contrast to cast doubt on the word of God. The Bible. At the heart of a denial of the Bible is a denial of God. It's atheism.

[1:14] Atheism. And atheism is really the belief that there was nothing. And nothing happened to nothing. Then nothing magically exploded for no reason. Created everything. Then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating tiny bits which then turned into dinosaurs. That's atheism in a nutshell. Nothing became everything. And some would attack the Bible. They would deny the Bible. They would protest that it does not fit with science.

[1:49] Science. As if it's somehow contrary to science. It's opposite to science. But however, the Bible is not contradictory to proven science. The creation model is scientific. So let's take an honest look together at what can often lie at the heart of atheism. Evolution. Evolution lies at the heart.

[2:12] Evolution is a belief system that tries to explain the origin of life and of the universe without a God. Evolutionists hold that everything came out of nothing by mere chance. And we've got, of course, the renowned Charles Darwin. In his time, he did not know, as we know now, the complexity, the stunning complexity of life that is all around us. We have discovered way more complexity than Darwin could have ever imagined. When he published his theory way back in 1859. 1859. A long time back, really. And think about, as we know now, what we know these days of some of the complexities of even one human cell.

[3:00] For example, we know today that there are 100 million bits of information in just one single living cell. All of which are functionally aligned. Darwin did not know that. He did not know these things.

[3:16] He did not know that at the moment of conception, a fertilised human egg about the size of a pinhead contains equivalent to 6 billion chemical letters, enough to fill 1,000 books with information, 500 pages thick.

[3:34] With print so small you'd need a microscope to read it. This human egg the size of a pinhead becomes trillions of cells, the human body. Evolutionists just cannot explain that. How all this complex information came to be.

[3:57] And then we see, what's more, as some would try to use examples of mutations, we see with mutations they always reduce the genetic information.

[4:10] They do not increase it. There is no increasing of information, only a degradation, a reduction of genetic information. There's common design, there's common features of design in bones and such between various animals.

[4:25] It doesn't necessitate that they transitioned one to the other. It really points to the common designer. That's what the point is, the common designer. And these complex life forms multiply after their kind.

[4:40] There's no so called transitional links, as some would make out between different kinds of creatures. There is no such thing. The different kinds reproduce after their kind.

[4:53] The fossil record does not show evolution. That's the fact. It shows life appears abruptly and in complex forms. This is what we see. And these complex forms, they multiply after their kind.

[5:07] There's no transitional links between different kinds. There's no partial features such as new limbs, bones or organs. Genesis 1.21 it says, And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth which the waters bring forth abundantly after their kind.

[5:25] And every wing fell after his kind, and God saw that it was good. The point is here, as we see through Genesis 1, repeatedly after their kind. They are separate kinds of animals.

[5:37] In contrast to evolution, the Bible gives a step-by-step account of creation. It shows that the universe is by design. There is much evidence that backs up the reliability of the Bible.

[5:49] Next, for example, we have the witness of history. There is evidence that long before missionaries came to some lands, people living in those remote tribes already had some awareness of Bible truth.

[6:02] There's many cultures around the world where we see ancient oral traditions of a creation account, of a catastrophic flood. And researchers have found that many cultures already had some awareness of one true God.

[6:16] For example, in 1795, deep in the jungles of Burma, a missionary encountered remote tribespeople. Hundreds of the people rushed on the missionary to greet the white-skinned stranger.

[6:27] And they wondered if the missionary was the person they were expecting, who would bring the book that their forefathers had lost many centuries ago. And their traditions spoke of a book that tells the secrets of Yawa, the supreme God.

[6:42] Sounds like Yahweh, doesn't it? The Karen people worshipped Yawa as God the Creator. And their traditions tell of a white foreigner who would come and would bring them the lost book.

[6:54] And so when the missionaries came and the Karen people received the Bible in their own language, they readily received Christianity.

[7:05] How do we explain such events in world history if the Bible is not true? The logical explanation based on the observable evidence is, of course, that the Bible is indeed true.

[7:18] Across the world, there's many people who had some prior knowledge of such things that we read of in the Genesis, this account of creation, the fall, the flood, the dispersion of Babel in their history.

[7:29] Here we see a man called Joseph Scaliger. We see the witness of chronology. Joseph Scaliger is the leading scholar of the 16th century who really led the field of the science of chronology, which is a science of arranging events in order, in a timeline.

[7:50] And Scaliger developed our modern calendar system. And he set out to record the chronology of the entire recorded history of mankind. So Scaliger set about creating this timeline, this day count, for dating the earth from day one, which is set as the day of creation, 4713 BC, 4713 BC.

[8:14] Now, unknown to Scaliger, the Mayans of Central America also had a day count, which they started from the time of a gigantic flood. And the flood ended the previous age and started their own history.

[8:27] This was prior to the invention of the atomic clock. And the Mayans' calendar was the most accurate calendar in the world until the atomic clock. So what's significant is the difference between Scaliger's date, this man we see here, for the date of creation, and the Mayan date for the flood is 1600 years.

[8:47] The biblical timescale for creation to the flood is 1656 years. So there's only a difference, they're only out by 56 years. Basically, Scaliger's independently thought out and constructed chronology, his timeline for the age of the earth, of the date of creation, and the Mayan calendar is essentially the same.

[9:12] Next, we have the witness of astronomy. The book of Job is believed to be the oldest book of the Bible. It tells of the stars. We see here, God asks Job, can you bind the sweet influence, literally the cluster, of Pleiades, or lose the bands of Orion?

[9:29] He's talking about two constellations. The constellation of Pleiades, by the way, it's the only constellation you can see in both the north and south hemispheres.

[9:40] It's called the Seven Sisters in both hemispheres. We see our next picture here, is how scientists define the constellation of the Pleiades as a bound cluster.

[9:51] We see where it says number seven there, the Pleiades is a bound cluster. And this is because the stars are moving away from us in the same direction, but they're staying together.

[10:02] They're moving away from the earth, but they're staying together in the same direction. As long as this universe lasts, there will always be a cluster known as Pleiades.

[10:13] On the other hand, we see this other one, the one with the number three there, Orion, the stars are moving away from us in different directions, so they're moving apart. So this means that one day, the constellation of Orion will cease to exist.

[10:28] Scientists call this a loosed cluster, whereas Pleiades is a bound cluster. And we see that, as we just read in Job, where it tells of that reality of how can you bind the cluster, as it were, of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion.

[10:49] So it reflects how we could see that the Bible writers had this supernatural wisdom. The Bible is no ordinary book. Amen?

[11:02] That's what we see. We see the fingerprints of God right through this book. And the book matches the findings of science and of reason. It does not contradict the evidence. Consider the witness of the earth.

[11:14] Next slide. Job 26, 7, it says, He stretcheth out the north over the empty place and he hangs the earth upon nothing. Consider this planet on which you live.

[11:26] It's clear that the earth has a perfect position in the universe. As the Bible shows us, the earth's geological and chemical processes are finely tuned.

[11:37] Planet Earth is amazing. A safe place for humans to live. Astronomers know we need a star with the highly unusual properties of our sun, the right mass, the right light, the right age, the right distance, the right orbit, the right galaxy, the right location to nurture living organisms on a circling planet.

[12:01] Next time you go out and get some sunshine on your skin, think how just amazing it is that we as planet earth would be located exactly where we are.

[12:13] And there are many other factors within the solar system that show to us our location in the universe is just the right habitable environment.

[12:25] A NASA scientist said, If the universe had not been made with the most exacting precision, we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in.

[12:39] Isn't that obvious? And they are still searching vainly in space for some other sign of life out there. But in all their findings they found nothing.

[12:53] Nothing like earth. It is another witness of the Creator, isn't it? That he hangs the earth upon nothing, as the Bible says. Next we see the witness of the dinosaurs. We see two strange creatures in the book of Job.

[13:06] They appear now to be extinct. Behemoth is a massive herbivore. In other words, an animal that eats plants only. And in the book of Job it says of Behemoth, Job 40 verse 15, it says, Behold now Behemoth which I made with thee, he eateth grass as an ox.

[13:24] It says his strength is in his loins, his force is in the navel of his belly, he moves his tail like a cedar, and so on. It says his bones are like bars of iron. This is a huge beast.

[13:35] And the description fits what we would know today as the Apatosaurus, or what was called the Brontosaurus, an Apatosaurus.

[13:46] And these creatures grew to about 30 ton in weight. Next we see the Bible tells us also of Leviathan, a great marine reptile. Now we can't really fully picture, as of course this is just an artist's impression.

[14:03] Job 41 says in part, verse 14, his teeth are terrible round about, his scales are his pride. This is a great marine reptile. And the mention of such creatures fits with the Bible's chronology, which indicates man and dinosaurs, really all animals were alive on earth at the same time.

[14:22] And dinosaurs and man lived together before, of course, the dinosaurs became extinct. Next we see the witness of the flood of geology.

[14:33] The worldwide flood, recorded in the Bible, is a real historical event. Creationists hold the earth's geologic features were fashioned largely by rapid catastrophic processes that affected the earth on a global scale.

[14:49] Catastrophic events have characterised the earth's history. Huge floods, asteroid collisions, volcanic eruptions, devastating landslides and huge earthquakes have left their mark on the earth.

[15:04] And so we see the result of that, we see the sedimentary rocks with fossils, these various layers. And we see, likewise, in the histories of various people groups across the world, records of a global flood.

[15:24] Our ancestors did all come from the dispersion from Babel. And if so, we would expect the same history, there would be tellings and retellings of that same history in different countries all over the world.

[15:38] If it were so. And this is what we do, in fact, find. The Karens, the Wa, the Chin of Burma, they have the Genesis account in their genealogy.

[15:50] In their histories, the Miatsu people of China have a genealogy which starts with the first man. His name in English is dirt.

[16:01] Adam was of the soil. You know, Adam means soil. And as we mentioned, the Mayans as well, they dated their history's beginnings from a gigantic flood. So there's many independent authorities that we could show, indicate the truth of the Bible.

[16:19] Of course, we see the ark itself as pictured here. The biblical design of Noah's ark has been tested by the Korean Institute of Ships and ocean-going vessels.

[16:30] They've tested it scientifically with various hull shapes. And they've found that as a floating vessel, the ark, the design of the ark is the very best design for a floating vessel.

[16:41] And this vessel can negotiate waves as high as 30 metres, 100 feet, as high as the highest recorded wave on the earth. The design of the ark is perfectly fitting.

[16:53] In 1609, there was a man, Jensen, a Mennonite shipbuilder, started building ships according to this design. He found he could get 35% more cargo into his ships.

[17:07] And since that time, most ships have been built using the ark model. Until the 19th century, when people started building ships more for speed, long and thin.

[17:18] So there's many evidence as we could cite. So in contrast with the corroborating evidences and the witness of history, of chronology, of the stars, of the flood, and the other, consider honestly the choice to believe in evolution, the impossibility of evolution.

[17:38] Really it's a pseudoscience, science falsely so called. It's made up, a made up construct that doesn't fit with the evidence. For one example, the next slide we see, evolutionary reasoning uses what they call vestigial organs.

[17:55] Years ago, the evolutionists thought there was vestigial organs, some hundred and plus, 185, some record of these organs, such as the tonsils, adenoids, appendix.

[18:08] The idea that the evolutionists had, these various organs became obsolete over time. They were kind of leftovers from our evolutionary past.

[18:19] They served no beneficial purpose. They've become useless, redundant, sometime in our evolutionary past. Modern medical science has looked at these so-called vestigial organs, and really has found that the organs once thought useless are functional.

[18:37] They've found function. There's really no so-called vestigial organs. Every organ is useful. You know, I'm glad my mum and dad didn't take my tonsils out when I was younger.

[18:49] We got close, but you know, you think, well, it could be useful. It could be useful. Next slide, we've got the idea of an old age earth. Really, an old age earth, it comes from this atheistic worldview.

[19:04] Because some would consider, well, if the earth came into existence without a god, without a designer, it had to be stacks and stacks of years old. You know, they say 4.5 billion.

[19:15] Somehow, 4.5 billion years ago, give or take a few million here or there, there was some supposed big bang explosion. An explosion of nothing.

[19:26] A big bang. In reality, the big bang theory of the origin of the universe contradicts much physical evidence. It can only be accepted by faith. The idea that the universe is 4.5 billion years old was some figure that Darwin plucked out of the air one day.

[19:43] He assumed it would take so long for a universe and creation to come into existence without there being a god. As if time can somehow create matter and such.

[19:55] And this idea is the belief known as Darwinian evolution. Now, friends, Darwin is not aware, as we are aware today, of the mind-blowing size of the universe, for one.

[20:11] Or of the astonishing complexities of DNA, those incredible building blocks that make up humanity and the world. Darwin was not aware of the incredible variety of species of plant life and animal life that we are conscious of now.

[20:30] Evolutionary and atheistic scientists really ignore these many startling facts. There is no evidence for the idea of a spontaneous creation of life and ecology.

[20:43] Scientists, the most brilliant minds of our day, can't manufacture life in a test tube. It's not possible. Next we see the second law of thermodynamics.

[20:54] Now, here we see pictured what evolution basically says, is that you've got some broken pottery that somehow pieces itself together and joins together and then it becomes a cup sitting on your bench.

[21:11] Of course we know the opposite is true, don't we? The second law of thermodynamics says that we tend to go from order to disorder. Essentially that.

[21:22] We go from order to disorder. Scientific findings are not in conflict with the creation account. The earth, as I say, is astonishingly complex.

[21:36] It's unique. This earth teeming with varieties of creatures and ecosystems. It's fundamentally unique. Evolution requires an increase in information from a lower to a higher life form.

[21:53] But we see the opposite of that. Things go from higher to lower. The atheistic evolutionist idea of amoeba to man is simply impossible.

[22:06] As if we're some highly evolved pond scum. But really we know that there is no intelligent input to supply the extra information which we have to see for it to be true.

[22:21] When you actually look at the fossil record, it's evident that men and apes have a separate ancestry. Scientists are admitting this.

[22:33] That the fossil record documents the separate origin of primates in general. That monkeys, apes and men are different species, different kinds. They always have been.

[22:45] Always have been. In fact, there was a man called Lord Zuckerman, not a creationist. He says there are no fossil traces of a transformation from an ape-like creature to man.

[22:57] It's a flawed, faulty, false idea. There's no transition from apes to men. Next we see when you consider atheism and what it's led to.

[23:13] Consider the bankrupt philosophy that is atheism. It's led to misery and the uprising of evil dictators. Men like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot.

[23:25] Between them they've been responsible for the deaths of about 200 million people. These evil dictators have based their philosophy on the works of Charles Darwin.

[23:36] The fundamental problem with the evolutionary view is that there is no evidence for it. When you objectively study the evidence you come to appreciate the wonder of creation.

[23:48] The observable scientific, historical, archaeological evidence, it actually supports the finding that the world we live in was made. Made by a special divine creation.

[24:01] Made as the Bible records that it is made. Made. There is nothing, actually nothing in true science that proves the Earth is more than 6,000 years old.

[24:12] Now some would try and appeal to dating methods. There are in fact approximately 200 various methods people use for dating the Earth. And of course they're all subject to ifs and buts and maybes.

[24:25] They're not factually testable. They've been found often to be unreliable and inconsistent. And really the assumptions of people using them tend to be more the factor about how people view the rocks, the stars, the fossils and such as to how old they are.

[24:43] I've been told that 180 dating methods actually indicate a young Earth. 180 out of the 200. Or that the Earth is too young for evolution as people would call it.

[24:56] And there's only about 20 that indicate an old Earth. Yet the methods are flawed and uncertain and evolutionists know it. So we can't depend on that kind of thinking.

[25:07] The reality is the Earth is not millions of years old. It's really this idea is part of the religion of evolution, of atheism. A religion that stands against science more often than it stands with science.

[25:22] And all around us I put to you today that we do see evidence of a young Earth. There is widespread historical evidence as we've cited that vindicate the belief in biblical inerrancy that this book is true.

[25:37] In the beginning God created. The first verse. Another clear evidence from history is really the witness of the impact of Christianity. Just think about how Christianity has impacted the world.

[25:50] Now of course we know there's some sad history with those who claim to be of the church or of Christianity. We know it hasn't been consistently the case because some who profess Christianity have done damage to nations and people groups and in some fashions.

[26:10] But as we know those who are Bible believing Christians when they've come with that ethos and with that truth of the word of God and of life in Christ and of knowing Jesus as Saviour.

[26:24] Those who have heralded and brought the Christian faith and the Christian worldview, they've left a remarkable impact on planet Earth as to key advancements in science.

[26:36] Christianity has upheld wholesome systems of government and law across the globe. It's the biblical worldview that's enriched the world. Think about how the biblical worldview has enriched the world morally, spiritually, culturally, scientifically.

[26:53] Why? Because it's the Bible that underpins it. Our democratic and legal systems founded from the Bible. Essentially founded on the work of Bible believing Christians.

[27:05] The biblical worldview is due the credit for the civilised world sound system of government, of our legal system, our moral code, freedom of religion, parliamentary democracy, scientific knowledge.

[27:19] There's many advances we can attribute to Christians. People who have upheld the veracity, the truthfulness of the Bible. Yet what do we see now?

[27:30] Sadly, we see modern society abandoning the Bible, abandoning that moral foundation for a decent society. And the fruits of it, the fruits of this rejection, what are they?

[27:42] An escalation of drug abuse, of homosexual behaviour, of fornication, of easy divorce, of the murder of unborn infants. We see many witnesses to the truth of the word of God.

[27:55] We see when the word of God is abandoned, we see this moral slide into decadence and destruction. But when we see a people upholding the truth of the word of God, it's a stark contrast.

[28:11] Yet, friends, today we see those vain philosophies of godless atheism and evolution.

[28:22] May we be encouraged this morning to consider these truths that we've spoken of, to consider the great blessings that our Creator has given to us.

[28:34] The spiritual blessings that we can know, that we can be saved. We can be radically saved. We can know Christ, the one and only Saviour. We can know for assurity that His word that He's given to us, it is true.

[28:48] The Bible is true. The Bible records creation. It records the fall of man, of sin. It records the creation of life.

[29:00] It records the meaning of life and it tells us of the meaning of life, to know Him who is life. All things were made by Him.

[29:13] And without Him was not anything made that was made. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your word is true. And we can know that for sure.

[29:24] No matter what the attacks upon it, we can trust it for our life and for eternity. Lord, the message of this book that tells of the Creator of life, that you who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made yourself of no reputation, took upon you the form of a servant.

[29:48] You were made in the likeness of men, yet without sin. Lord, we thank you that in Christ you came to rescue this planet from that dread condition of sin.

[30:00] And Lord, we can put our trust in you individually. Lord, we can know your word is true. We know, Lord, that in the beginning you created the heaven and the earth.

[30:13] You created this universe. You created earth uniquely and specially to be that perfectly inhabitable planet to sustain life.

[30:27] We see that, as it were, the heavens declare the glory of God. We see so many witnesses, so many signs in world history, past and present.

[30:42] And Lord, we know in future you're coming back. We pray if there's any present here today that know you're not, that they will put their trust in you right now.

[30:55] That they will trust you. That they will take you at your word. And they'll take your promise and receive your salvation gift.

[31:07]  Lord, bless each one we pray in Jesus name. Amen.