Da Vinci Code (Part 1)

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HAVE WE BEEN FED A LIE? (PART 1)

(Sermon: June 13, 2004)

I'm doing something different this morning, my friends, than I usually do. I'm wanting to read from several different opening texts to begin with. These came to my mind as I was thinking about my subject (they relate to it!). I'll be bringing these verses into play and especially highlighting them again at the end of this message next Sunday. The first text is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. If you could turn there. ******* This passage has to do with the great apostasy/falling away from the faith that's predicted to take place in the last days. Notice...

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, 2:2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy ("a falling away"--KJV--from the faith) comes first . . . (and let's just stop right there). *******

And if you could please turn now to Galatians chapter 1 and v. 6. Paul talks about a perversion and distorting of the gospel of Christ in Galatians chapter 1 and v. 6. ******* Do you have it yet? ******* Notice then now, it reads...

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 1:7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 1:8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 1:9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.

And if you would notice with me further down at v. 11 now, it continues there...

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 1:12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. *******

And now if you could please turn to First John chapter 4. ******* I want to read beginning at v. 1 of First John chapter 4. Notice - we have the importance of testing the spirits and discerning false prophets and their messages stressed here...

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard it is coming, and now it is already in the world. *******

And one last opening passage, my friends. Turn to John chapter 8 and v. 44. ******* Notice it says in John chapter 8 and v. 44 that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. And ultimately it's the devil who's behind false prophets and messages, the distorting of the gospel of Christ and he's the prime instigator of the great apostasy/falling away from the faith that'll take place in the last days. Notice John 8:44. Jesus is speaking to those who refuse to accept His Messiahship...

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies."

And let's just stop right there, beloved.

My brothers and sisters, I want to spend some time over the course of the next two weeks talking about a New York Times bestselling fictional book entitled, "The Da Vinci Code." You may have heard of it. How many of you have heard of it? Raise your hand. Or read it? The Da Vinci Code is a runaway, smash hit and success with millions. (Over 6 million copies have been sold and it's been on the bestseller list for over a year now.) And it's even going to be coming out as a movie soon. I recently heard it might be Ron Howard who will direct the film (Opie on Andy Griffith, Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, etc.). ******* And so The Da Vinci Code is getting all this attention and press. And everybody's talking about it in our present day. *******

And why shouldn't they be? After all, it is well-written (by a man named Dan Brown) and exciting to read and you can't hardly put The Da Vinci Code down. You've read books like that before. It's eleven o'clock at night and, "I'll just read a few more pages and then I'll go to bed," even though you have to get up for work the next morning. Right? And then it's eleven-thirty and you're still reading. And then it's midnight and you're still reading. "Just a couple pages more," you say to yourself again. (The recent "Glorious Appearing" from the Left Behind book series is like that!) It's the kind of book The Da Vinci Code is. Author Dan Brown has done very well as good stories get the public's attention. And intrigueing plots lay hold of all of us. *******

And let me just give you a brief synopsis of the basic story line from an article I read in Jerry Falwell's National Liberty Journal. The Da Vinci Code is summed up so well here. I thought I would just read it to you - a summary of the story line. Here it is...

"An extremist sect of the Catholic church sends a monk on a killing spree, wiping out four noteworthy art figures who are safeguarding age-old secret documents that allegedly prove [something about Jesus Christ that's been suppressed by the church]."

And we'll be getting to that something (if you don't already know it!) that these age-old and secret documents allegedly prove about our Lord in just a moment. But I don't want to give it away just yet for others of you that don't know what it is.

And as I wanted to bring out a picture of mine now that I've had on the wall in my office through the years I've served here. ******* And I'll be passing it around in just a moment for you to look at if you're interested after a couple of comments so you can see it for yourself.

Leonardo Da Vinci plays a prominent role - and his paintings, especially "The Last Supper" - in The Da Vinci Code. (I don't remember where I ever got this copy of the painting.) It seems that there's a code in The Last Supper, my friends. And I thought it would be good to talk about this painting as it relates to the book for a bit.

There's a code here that will turn Christianity upside down, Dan Brown states as fact in The Da Vinci Code. And everything we've ever believed and held to be true and not to be disputed as regards the gospel story, it's to be tossed out the window and because of this code in The Last Supper painting and what this code reveals. *******

"'The Last Supper is a painting of thirteen men.' 'Is it?' [Sir Leigh] Teabing arched his eyebrows. 'Take a closer look'" (The Da Vinci Code, pg. 243). *******

And I'm reading right out of the book now, my brothers and sisters, The Da Vinci Code. We have two characters discussing and considering The Last Supper painting and reading the code in it. Character Sir Leigh Teabing, an expert in the search for the Holy Grail - that cup Christ used to serve the wine during the Last Supper (or so we thought that's what the Holy Grail was!) - is speaking with a woman criminologist, Sophie Nevue, in his study at this point in the book. ******* And the woman criminologist, Sophie, says to Sir Leigh Teabing as they're both looking at a copy of Da Vinci's painting...

''The Last Supper is a painting of thirteen men." And Teabing responds, "Is it?" "Take a closer look." *******

And I'm passing my copy of The Last Supper painting around now so that you can see it and see if you can figure out the code while I continue to read from the book. Do you see the code, my friends? Do you see it? *******

And the book continues on now...

"'Uncertain, Sophie made her way closer to the [Last Supper] painting, scanning the thirteen figures--Jesus Christ in the middle, six disciples on His left, and six on His right. 'They're all men,' she confirmed. 'Oh?' Teabing said. 'How about the one seated in the place of honor, at the right hand of the Lord?' Sophie examined the figure to Jesus' immediate right, focusing in. As she studied the person's face and body, a wave of astonishment rose within her. The individual had flowing red hair, delicate folded hands, and the hint of a bosom. (Hold on to your seats now!) It was, without a doubt . . . female. 'That's a woman!' Sophie exclaimed. Teabing was laughing. 'Surprise, surprise. Believe me, it's no mistake. Leonardo ws skilled at painting the difference between the sexes.'"

And let me just read you a little bit more, my friends...

"Sophie could not take her eyes [off] the woman beside Christ. The Last Supper is supposed to be thirteen men. Who is this woman? Although Sophie had seen this classic image many times, she had not once noticed this glaring discrepancy. 'Everyone misses it,' Teabing said. 'Our preconceived notions of this scene are so powerful that our mind blocks out the incongruity and overrides our eyes.' ******* . . . 'Another reason you might have missed the woman,' Teabing said, 'is that many of the photographs in art books were taken before 1954, when the details were still hidden beneath layers of grime and several restorative repaintings done by clumsy hands in the eighteenth century. Now, at last, the fresco had been cleaned down to Da Vinci's original layer of paint.' He motioned to the photograph. . . . Sophie moved closer to the image. The woman to Jesus' right was young and pious-looking, with a demure face, beautiful red hair, and hands folded quietly. This is the woman who singlehandedly could crumble the Church? 'Who is she?' Sophie asked. 'That, my dear,' Teabing replied, 'is Mary Magdalene'" (The Da Vinci Code, pg. 243).

And let's just stop right there, beloved.

That something now about our Lord the age-old and secret documents allegedly prove in The Da Vinci Code and that painter Leonardo Da Vinci himself was trying to communicate in his painting, The Last Supper, is that Jesus Christ was really married to Mary Magdalene, that they had a baby together and even down to our present-day one of these from Christ's bloodline still lives (The Da Vinci Code: Fact Or Fiction by Hanegraaff & Maier, pg. 11). ******* And this is communicated as fact in The Da Vinci Code, my brothers and sisters. *******

TWO OTHER "FACTS" THE DA VINCI CODE PROMOTES.

And there are other "facts" to go along with this one as regards our Lord and the Bible and Christianity that The Da Vinci Code promotes. We'll be discussing each of these in our study along with whether or not Jesus was married over the course of the next two Sundays. (Again, Dan Brown's character, Leigh Teabing, is his primary vehicle of his "fact" promotion!)

Fact #1: The Bible isn't divinely-inspired.

In the book, Teabing speaking to Sophie...

"The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions" (The Da Vinci Code, pg. 231).

Fact #2: Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

I've already read to you the passage.

Fact #3: Jesus was nothing more than a human being and not God.

In the book, Teabing speaking to Sophie...

"My dear . . . until that moment in history (when Constantine was in power circa A. D. 300-ish), Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet . . . a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless'" (The Da Vinci Code, pg 233).

And we will be dealing with each of these "facts" in this order over the course of this discussion.

The title of my message finally now is: "The Da Vinci Code: Have We Been Fed A Lie?" ******* Have we been fed a lie, my friends? Have we been? ******* And all this stuff we know and believe and have based our lives upon, could it be that it's not even true as Dan Brown's book states with certainty? ******* Or could it really be it's the other way around? ******* And it's really The Da Vinci Code that's the vessel through which we're being fed a lie? ******* And if it is The Da Vinci Code that's in the wrong, what do we say to people who've bought into it? *******

And despite that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, many people are believing what it says about Christianity and Christ and falling for it's deception. And even some who are believers are being caught off guard and shaken by it. And that's why we, the Church, ought to be concerned with The Da Vinci Code despite that it's a work of fiction. And we ought to have answers to give. And we ought to be ready to offer proof for our faith to those who are being caused to stumble by this latest attack on Jesus and the Bible and faith. *******

And as it is The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown who are doing, I have written here, the feeding of a feast of falsehood. And they're feeding it to us! Make no mistake about it! Have we been fed a lie? Yes, we have! And it's not the other way around like Dan Brown says it's the church whose been doing it. And we have real, solid facts to disprove The Da Vinci Code's "facts," my friends, which I've tweaked and dubbed "flimsy facts" because that's what they really are. *******

I. Flimsy Fact #1 Of The Da Vinci Code: The Bible Isn't Divinely Inspired.

And I want to deal with Flimsy Fact #1 of The Da Vinci Code now and for the rest of today (and we'll do the other two next Sunday). Flimsy Fact #1 of The Da Vinci Code: The Bible isn't divinely inspired. (I'm doing this one first as opposed to the other two because the other two "flimsy facts" hinge upon it!)

And if a person can prove this, then the whole of our faith can be toppled. *******

Is the Bible really a product of man, like I read the quote from the book a moment ago, and not of God? How do we determine either way? How do we know for sure this isn't a book like other books, the only one of it's kind--the Word of God--and that it hasn't been revised and altered and changed down through the years? *******

I had it passed on to me, the book, "The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction" by Hank Hanegraaff & Paul Maier which is just so good in giving proof as regards the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. And as this book was released as a counter to The Da Vinci Code. And I want to share out of it with you. Why reinvent the wheel? Right?

And in it the question is answered: How do we know that the Bible is not just a product of man and really is the Word of God?

Well, we know, my brothers and sisters, from the following powerful witnesses to the accuracy of biblical documents: (#1) the Scripture manuscripts, (#2) the archaelogical findings & and then finally (#3) and most especially, the Bible prophecies which are fulfilled and specifically, the Messianic prophecies which are fulfilled. Each of these is powerful evidence of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.

The first two I will only lightly touch upon. First of all...

(#1) the Scripture manuscripts (Hanegraaff & Maier, pg. 43ff).

(A manuscript is a copy of the original/autograph.)

And I won't say anything about this other than to say that there is more manuscript evidence backing the accuracy of the Bible than there are for the most revered works of other writers and philosphers, etc., of antiquity.

And there are more than 5,000 copies of Greek manuscripts in existence today of the Scriptures (some 20,000 in other languages!) showing them as virtually unaltered from circa the 1st Century forward compared with Plato (not the planet or Mickey's dog or that soft, squishy stuff that kids play with, playdoh!)--rather Plato!--"only seven of Plato's manuscripts [remain]--and there is a 1,300-year gap separating the earliest copy from the original writing!" (Hanegraaff & Maier, pg. 43-44). And the Bible's and New Testament's manuscripts, some of the earliest ones, are still in hand! 5,000 versus seven, my friends? And virtually no gaps versus 1,300 years? Should we not respect the Bible as being an accurate and authentic account based on the evidence at least as much as Plato? And we ought to respect it infinitely more, my brothers and sisters! Yet, when was the last time that you heard somebody question Plato versus God's Word? *******

And so there are the Scripture manuscripts that play into whether or not the Word of God is the Word of God. Across the board they compare and say the same thing and are virtually unaltered as copies dating back to the 1st Century make known. The simple fact is the manuscripts haven't been doctored over the many years as Dan Brown states as "fact" in The Da Vinci Code.

Teabing speaking to Sophie: "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions" (The Da Vinci Code, pg. 231).

And now, real briefly, we come to...

(#2) the Archaelogical Findings (Hanegraaff & Maier, pg. 45ff).

And here's a quote from the book, "The Da Vinci Code: Fact Or Fiction" by Hanegraaff and Maier. It says it all about the archaeological findings that continue to prove the historicity of the Bible (that the Scriptures are historical and set in history) which is important. If it can be proven that the Word of God is inaccurate as regards the people and places it talks about, then it's not hard to make the jump to discounting it's validity let alone it's inspiration. Here's the quote...

For years, critics dismissed the book of Daniel, partly because there was no evidence that a king named Belshazzar ruled in Babylon during that period. Later archaeological research, however, confirmed that the reigning monarch, Nabonidus, appointed Belshazzar as his coregent while he was raging war away from Babylon.

Another example where archaeology backed the Bible has to do with the books of Luke and Acts...

Sir William Ramsay, a biblical skeptic who was trained as an archaeologist, set out to disprove the historical reliability of this portion of the New Testament. But through his painstaking archaeological trips throughout the Mediterranean region, he became converted as, one after another, the historical allusions of Luke were proved accurate.

And the book continues on with more examples. And I could, too. But I didn't want to spend so much time on these first two areas other than to say they're very important and they have a lot to do with proving the divine inspiration of the Bible. If it could be proven that the Bible is inaccurate in the area of the manuscripts/copies of it or in the area of history/the people and places it talks about, then it's a fraud, point blank. But the fact is it isn't inaccurate in these areas.

Which brings us to the third area now and I'm convinced the greatest proof of all that the Word of God is indeed the Word of God...

(#3) the Bible prophecies (Hanegraaff and Maier, pg. 48ff).

Simply put, they are fulfilled just like the Bible said they would be. Did you hear that? ******* And especially the Messianic prophecies are fulfilled which is the highest evidence of divine inspirationl And we'll look at a few Messianic prophecies in just a moment. But before that...

How could these things be known except that there was a God who revealed the future to man?

Liberal theologians say the Biblical texts were doctored after the fact. Somebody went back and changed the Bible so it would fit. And that's a greater conspiracy to swallow than that the entire L.A. police department framed O.J., my friends! ******* For one thing, there are too many prophecies/predictions in the Bible to go back to and change and keep them all straight! Can somebody say, "Amen"? *******

SOME EXAMPLES OF FULFILLED BIBLE PROPHECIES (partly from Hanegraaff and Maier's book):

A. The book of Daniel. It accurately predicts the succession of kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. Daniel also speaks of Antiochus Epiphanes who would set up his abomination of desolation in Israel and then the Maccabees would overthrow him. How could Daniel know this stuff except that God showed him?

B. The book of Zechariah. We studied it last year and it's predictions of the conquests of Alexander the Great in chapter 9 which were fulfilled in the 4th century before Christ. Zechariah prophesied decades before! How could Zechariah know about Alexander the Great except that the Lord let him in on it?

C. The Messianic Prophecies. There are numerous concerning Christ. We can't look at them all today. Nevertheless, how could the prophets of old know these things as well? For instance, that Jesus would be born of a virgin when it had never happened ever in the history of mankind! Can you just imagine telling somebody that the lady next door was going to have a baby without ever having been with a man? No one would believe you, let alone if you said it was going to happen hundreds of years in the future. But that's exactly what Isaiah spoke (Is. 7:14). And then what of saying that during the Christ's crucifixion, while He was hanging on the cross, soldiers would gamble for His clothes? That's what the Psalmist declared (Ps. 22:17-18). How could he know that? ******* And think of this for a moment. Think of if somehow Jesus could have finagled (it's a word - I used the spellcheck!)--Think of if Jesus somehow finagled the whole thing, can you just imagine Him speaking to the soldiers, "Hey guys, don't forget now. You need to throw some dice to see who gets my pants and shirt. After all, we want to make sure the prophecies are fulfilled"? And that's completely ludicrous. ******* And what of the whole issue of how none of Jesus' bones were broken near the end when He died? The Psalmist predicted that, too (Ps. 34:20). And listen! That just didn't happen! The Romans always broke the bones to hasten death! The Romans always broke the bones! Is somebody still awake this morning? The Roman always broke the bones to hasten death. But they didn't have to with our Lord because He was already dead. How could the Psalmist know? It was probably just a lucky guess! ******* And I could go much further as there are many more Messianic prophecies which have been fulfilled to a "T." It's proof, my brothers and sisters, of the inspiration of the Scriptures--that they are divine! It's proof that's beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's proof that's stood the test of time.

Have we been fed a lie? Yes, we have. And it's been The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown that's done it. Flimsy Fact #1: The Bible isn't divinely inspired is just that: a flimsy fact. And we'll continue considering two more flimsy facts from The Da Vinci Code next Sunday: Was Jesus really married? Was He only a human being and not God? You'll want to be in attendance to hear the answers.

Shall we close in prayer?