Download 1 Asking The Hard Questions 1Kings 10:1

Asking The Hard Questions
1Kings 10:1-7
The queen of Sheba came with one purpose
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To see if Solomon’s doctrine was true
Prove (Hebrew) – To put it to the test
Prove (English) – To establish truth
Two different views on God but only one could be right!
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How did she “prove” him? - With hard questions
Hard (Hebrew) – Puzzling
Hard (English) – Difficult to deal with
All of which Solomon answered with no problem
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The result of the hard questions on the table?
Someone got saved! – V4-5
That is our goal when out soul winning! – To see people saved!
We need to be ready to give an answer to those who will be seeking and asking “hard
questions”.
There are many different cults and false religions out there we could talk about.
Three specific false religions most likely to run into:
1. Catholicism
2. Jehovah Witness
3. Atheism
Why? ---- What you will most likely run into out soul winning in our area.
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Three soul winning tips before addressing these false religions
1. We are to answer them with love and not with pride!
~ Yes our doctrine is Biblical
~ Yes we are on the side of truth
But we if we are prideful about it, we will lose that soul to the devil!
1Corinthians 8:1
“…we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth”
1Corinthians 13:1-3
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all
knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
2. Master the art of asking questions mixed with Bible truth
When it comes to religion – 2 things I have learned
1. Everyone loves to tell you how much they don’t know
2. Questions will help them see how much they don’t know their
Jesus was a master at question!
~ Jesus never asked question so he could gain knowledge
~ He asked them so we could gain knowledge
Example: - The rich young ruler (questions with Bible truth)
Mark 10:17-22
First the question to show him that He was God
Second the Bible truth to show His sin
The Catholic woman leaning on the “5” sacraments to get into heaven
- I asked her “aren’t there 7”
- I told her “not by works of righteousness” – Titus 3:5
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3. Use good judgment
Is the person hungry for truth or is he just wanting to debate
I’m not saying debating is wrong – but that is not our purpose on the soul winning field!
Proverbs 26:4
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Fool
1. A silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense.
2. A person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid:
Folly = Foolishness
Proverbs is saying that some in a false religion will be open to truth and some will not.
Some people in a false religion will not be open to truth:
1. An excuse for sin – (not really atheist or catholic)
John 3:19
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”
They know light exists but choose to stay in their sin.
2. Family Tradition
Matthew 10:37
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”
Sometimes you will find people in a false religion that will be open to truth:
John 3:1-2
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with
him.
When discussing truth you must first establish the standard for truth - The Bible must!
There is no other reliable standard for truth:
- Can we use our conscience? - Well Who’s conscience do you use?
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Can we use popular opinion?
What if you were a Jew in Germany during the Holocaust?
The Bible can be the only standard for truth and doctrine.
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How do we prove the Bible to be the Word of God?
1. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy
 350-400 fulfilled prophecies hundreds of years before Christ!
 Birth, life, ministry, death
2. The evidence of harmony
 66 books
 40 different writers (kings to farmers)
 1500 years
 3 languages – 3 continents
3. The evidence of longevity
 Still here after 2,000 years
 Scientist can’t prove it wrong
 It’s still a hot seller around the world
4. The evidence of it’s changing power
 Still changing people’s lives
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You go through the introduction at the door…
You realize you have an atheist at the door, what’s next?
Questioning Atheism
Why don’t you believe in God?
- They will almost always say “there isn’t enough proof”
Question to ask – “Do you walk by faith like me”
They will say usually say “no”
Richard Dawkins
Atheist, evolutionary biologist and writer ‘The god delusion’
“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence.
Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence”
Bill Maher
Atheist, writer and HBO comedy star
“Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking”
Christopher Hitchens
Atheist & writer – “God is not great”
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
“Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence”
“we distrust anything that contradicts science”
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So these popular atheists all agree if it contradicts science and needs faith it must be dismissed!
Two questions to ask:
1. Where did Matter come from?
2. Where did Life come from?
1. Where did Matter come from?
1st Law of Thermodynamics
“Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed”
Does this prove God? No
For matter to just appear violates science!
“we distrust anything that contradicts science” ~ Christopher Hitchens
If you can’t prove it with evidence you have to dismiss it. – Christopher Hitchens
Tell them “It sounds like you walk by faith just like me”
2. Where did Life come from?
Scientist Francesco Redi in 1668 proved that life cannot spontaneously generate – Dynamics of
life
In the mid 1800 Luis Pasteur proved that life cannot arise from non-life. – Dynamics of life
Quote from the Dynamics of Life textbook
“How did life begin on earth? No one yet has proven scientifically that how life began on
earth”
Ask them:
“So if we don’t know then we walk by faith? Right?”
“I thought faith was the great cop out?”
“To say life come from non-life contradicts science doesn’t it?”
Genesis 2:7
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”
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Questioning Catholicism
For the most part, most Catholics will not discuss the lack of Bible in their doctrine.
Why?
1. The Catholic church does not teach it’s people
2. They have been trained to never doubt the teachings of the church
So most of the time I will avoid doctrinal confrontation and simply ask…
“If I knew I was going to die today, could you tell me out of the Bible what God says about how
to get to heaven?”
By asking this you are:
1. Giving the authority to God
2. Making them examine their hearts
If they say they don’t know then ask them:
“Can I show you what the Bible says?”
But if they would like to discuss doctrinal errors, here are some questions to ask:
Question # 1 – Where did the 2nd commandment go?
The Ten Commandments - Exodus 20:1-17
4 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth”
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, ------ nor
his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Question # 2 – Where is purgatory in the Bible?
“Purgatory (to make clean, to purify) in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of
temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from
venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions” ~ Catholic
Encyclopedia
Problem # 1 – Purgatory is not mentioned in the Bible.
2Corinthians 5:6-8 (absent from the body)
Philippians 1:23
“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better”
2Timothy 4:6
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand”
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Problem # 2 – Fire doesn’t take sin away
Revelation 1:5
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood”
Question # 3 – Did you know there were no babies baptized in the Bible but many baby boys
were circumcised?
Question # 4 – Did you Mary said she wasn’t sinless?
Luke 1:47
“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”
Question # 5 – Did you know the Bible says that Mary had other children than Jesus?
Mark 6:3
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and
Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?...”
Question # 6 – Did you know that the Bible didn’t say that Mary was assumed into heaven?
John the apostle who wrote 5 Books in the Bible (John, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John &
Revelation), took care of Mary till she died and never said anything about her assumption into
heaven.
John 19:27
“Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her
unto his own home”
Question # 7 – Did you know that the Bible says Peter had a wife?
Matthew 8:14
“And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a
fever”
Questioning The Jehovah Witnesses
Question #1 – “How do I get to heaven”
They will say “the gospel”
Ask them – “What is the gospel”
They will respond – “The good news of the kingdom”
Then I repeat it a couple of times:
“So you believe it is the good news of the kingdom”
Holding them to that answer
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1Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures:
Then repeat their answer…
“Now you said it was the gospel of the kingdom”
Galatians 1:8
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed”
Question #1 – “Was Jesus God or Michael the archangel?”
I say “Did you know Jehovah said that He alone should be worshipped”
Exodus 34:14
“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God”
I say “Did you know Jesus said that Jehovah alone should be worshipped”
Matthew 4:10
“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”
I say “Did you know that the apostle Peter knew that only Jehovah should be worshipped”
Acts 10:25-26
25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and
worshipped him.
26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
I say “Did you know that angles knew that only Jehovah should be worshipped”
Revelation 22:8-9
8 And I John…fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these
things.
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not… worship God
Then I say…
“If Jesus was an angel and not God, Why did he accept worship and NEVER refused it?”
~ A guy with Lepercy worshipped Him
Matthew 8:2
“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him…”
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~ A certain ruler worshipped Him
Matthew 9:18
“… there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him…”
~ His disciples worshipped Him Matthew 14:33
“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him…”
~ The angels worship Him
Hebrews 1:6
“…And let all the angels of God worship him”
And they know its wrong to worship anyone but God!
~ The 24 elders and 4 beasts worship Him
Revelation 5:14
“…And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and
ever”
~ Jesus calls all to worship Him
John 5:23
“That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth
not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him”
There is no doubt that Jesus Christ IS Jehovah in the flesh
1Timothy 3:16
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the
flesh…”
Conclusion:
Two important ways to make yourself better at answering the hard questions:
1. Keep going out and don’t get discouraged
2. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth” - 2Timothy 2:15
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