Shawn Boonstra

Voice Of Prophecy

The Truth About the Historical Jesus

People will claim from time to time that they've discovered the truth about Jesus, that they've uncovered some kind of hidden information, some kind of ancient secret that disproves the story of Jesus as told in the New Testament.

But how can they be sure that What they've supposedly uncovered isn't just another story.

How can they be sure they found the truth?

I'll be back in just a moment to talk about that on today's episode of The Voice of Prophecy.

You know, every so often I come across people who claim that the world's 2000000000 Christians somehow have been deceived—that the real historical Jesus wasn't anything like the Jesus you read about in the Bible.

And sometimes these people manage to get enough attention that they can stir up a lot of controversy, which of course also means that sometimes they make a lot of money.

So for example, consider a really well known example, a book and movie that swept through our world just a few years ago, Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

Even though the book was clearly labeled fiction in the bookstore, and even though the plot kind of reads like a bad conspiracy theory, and even though perfectly secular historians were actually embarrassed by the misuse and restructuring of actual history, that book still did manage to cause some people to doubt their Christian faith.

Is it possible that Christians are wrong?

That we bought into some kind of sinister plot?

Is it possible Jesus was just an ordinary human being?

Is it possible he didn't even die on a cross, that he actually survived that and he started a family with Mary Magdalene.

Is it possible that his top secret bloodline has been a carefully guarded secret ever since?

Is it possible that the real Christianity is a secret society and the rest of us have been left with nothing but a clever fairy tale.

You know, even when you say this stuff out loud, it sounds a little bit silly.

Except that Dan Brown's work actually appears to be based on a more serious book written a few years earlier by some authors who really meant this stuff and really believed it, or at least that's the way they make it look.

The earlier book was called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and the authors were a couple of guys by the name of Bajent and Lee.

And you might've seen their book kicking around the used bookstore in maybe 1 of the more obscure corners.

The premise of Holy Blood, Holy Grail resembles the Da Vinci Code.

And it bears such a resemblance to the Da Vinci Code that the authors actually took Dan Brown to court for copyright law, copyright infringement.

Now, ultimately they lost the case because, I guess, Dan Brown had dramatized their theory, which is a legitimate art form.

But the influence from their book is undeniable.

Even a lead character in the Da Vinci Code is a guy by the name of Li Tibing, which is the letters in these guys' last 2 names all mixed up to make a new name.

And if that were the only coincidence, that'd be 1 thing.

The premise in Holy Blood was essentially the same premise as the Da Vinci Code.

Lee and Bajan said, look, Jesus stayed on earth and had a family with Mary Magdalene.

And These guys seem like they're serious about this.

They said the children of Jesus supposedly made their way to southern France, where they intermarried with local nobles and created the famous Merovingian dynasty.

And they say that's the supposed descendants of Jesus, his family to this day.

Now as you would expect, as they explain this whole theory, there's a secret society in the mix.

There always has to be a secret society, and this 1 is a clandestine group known as the Priory of Sion.

Now, you can tell, probably you can tell, that I'm a bit of a cynic.

And my first instinct is to say that Lee and Bajent were just following the dollar.

They were trying to stir up controversy so they could make a buck.

But when you glance through the book, you get the idea that, hey, these guys are serious.

And I've got to give them credit, they did a lot of work to build their case.

It's just that the book had limited circulation, and people didn't really care about what they said.

And people who do care about Jesus found the book so completely at odds with the biblical record that they didn't care for the book either, so it didn't make big, big waves.

But then came the Da Vinci Code and the movie that followed the Da Vinci Code, and suddenly you had a lot of people questioning the history we've always been told in church.

Suddenly you had people wondering if there isn't more than 1 version of Christianity.

You even have nominal Christians now exploring other versions of Jesus, alternate histories of the man from Galilee.

And some of those ideas have started to make their way into the outer edges of the Christian world.

And, frankly, Dan Brown and Leon Bajan aren't the only ones selling these new ideas.

There seems to be no shortage of theories for a mind that wants to wander away from what the Bible says.

On YouTube, there's this movie sensation called Zeitgeist.

This might be the mother of all conspiracy theories because It connects the dots between just about everything that's ever happened in world history.

They tie world-changing events like 9-11 to an international banking conspiracy, and then they tie it to the story of Jesus.

And when they get to Jesus, the producers of this film claim he was nothing but a retelling of pagan mythology.

They borrowed that from some of the skeptics who tried to sell us that story in the 1800s.

But judging by the number of views that this movie has gotten, a lot of people are now paying attention to this idea.

This idea that Jesus never even existed, at least not the Jesus you read about in the Bible.

Now this movie is popular enough that we should probably examine some of the claims that it makes.

They're saying Jesus is just pagan mythology retold, and that Jesus is just as mythological as all the pagan gods.

So for example, the movie claims, look, Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December, and it says we borrowed that date from pagan mythology.

And what gets me is that they're saying this as if Christians believe that Jesus was born on the 25th of December.

And most of us thinking Christians know He wasn't.

We've always known that wasn't the day he was born.

We've known he wasn't actually born on Christmas Day.

Historically, we know we borrowed that date from pagan religions that worshiped the sun.

The fact is, we got December 25 from people who watched the days get shorter and shorter in the winter solstice.

And the ancient pagans used to mourn the death of the sun as the days got shorter.

And so they engaged in all sorts of rituals to try and bring the Son back, and then they would celebrate his return.

That's where we get December 25, and it gets mixed into traditional Christianity in the city of Rome.

When the Roman Empire officially becomes a Christian empire under Constantine—and this is in the 4th century—a lot of the pagan rituals and holidays they used to have were now whitewashed to give them Christian meaning.

And December 25th appears to have made it through.

As far as the movie goes on this point, it's true.

But does that shake my faith in the Jesus of the New Testament?

In fact, you'll notice that the New Testament never gives us a date for the birth of Jesus.

So the makers of the film might be arguing with a Christian tradition, but they are not not arguing with the Bible.

And if there's 1 thing that Christians are historically sure of, it's that Jesus wasn't born that day.

In fact, he was probably born in the spring when shepherds were more likely to be out watching their sheep by night—exactly the way the Bible says it happened.

Pagans did observe that date, and Christians did start using it for the birth of Christ, but that doesn't kill my faith because that is not part of the Bible story.

So let's move on, because the movie actually makes another claim that's a little more troubling, and this one's been making the rounds on the internet, so I want you to understand what's behind it and what the truth of it is." They say that the whole story of Mary and Jesus, the story of the virgin birth, they say, look, that's just a rehash of the Egyptian story of Isis and Horus.

So the conspiracy theory, the version they tell, goes something like this.

They say Horus was born of a virgin, he had 12 disciples, he was crucified and rose from the dead 3 days later, And on top of all of that, he was born on the 25th of December.

Now, I know people who come across this on the internet, and it kind of disturbs them.

Because the odds that Horace and Jesus would have so much in common just by coincidence, well, it's next to nothing.

H.M.S. Richards

Repentance and Conversion Necessary

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God.

Will you pray with all your power While we try to preach the word, All is vain unless the spirit of the Holy 1 comes down.

Brethren, pray and holy fetal will be showered all around.

Brethren, see poor sinners round you, trembling on the brink of woe.

Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go.

See our fathers, see our mothers, and our children sinking down.

Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer seeking grace and filled with fears?

We're here a-weeping, Mary, Pouring for the blood of Jesus.

Pray, oh pray, that holy manna May be scattered all around.

We're happy to be with you for this worship service.

We hope it will bring to you the encouragement and the strength that you'll need for this coming week.

Here now is my father with the special message from God's Word.

1 afternoon soon after the day of Pentecost, the Apostles Peter and John attended a prayer service at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

As they started to go through the gate called Beautiful, they saw a lame man lying there who had never walked in his life.

His family brought him every day, laid him there at the gate, hoping he might receive some little gift from the worshippers.

The man looked at the Apostles, asked an alms.

It was customary for those who attended the temple to give to the service of God or to the poor or to both.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

When Peter said, Look on us, the layman did so.

Then the apostle added, Silver and gold have I none, But such as I have, give I unto thee.

In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.

Taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up.

Soon he walked, entered into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

When the people saw it, they were all filled with wonder.

They ran together, an excited crowd, amazed at this display of divine power.

They gazed with astonishment upon the Apostles, as if they by their own power had performed this miracle.

All the people around about learned of it.

The Apostle Peter took advantage of the audience, declared that this miracle had been accomplished through Jesus, the Prince of Life, whom these very people had delivered up to be crucified and whom God had raised from the dead.

It was through his name that this lame man had been made whole.

It was through his power that he was able to leap and walk and try out his newfound strength.

The Apostle assured his listeners that although it was a terrible sin to put to death the Prince of Life.

Though they had put the Son of God to death, the Apostle comforted them by saying, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began.

3 Acts 19 Notice the successive steps which must be taken to reach the Kingdom of God.

Then conversion, the blotting out of sins, the times of refreshing, the appearance of Christ Jesus, and last, the restitution of all things.

While man here in his physical life is a unit, yet according to scripture he possesses a threefold nature, spirit, soul, body.

In this all-wise arrangement of the divine Creator, it is necessary to nourish all 3 of these natures, or they will not properly develop and live.

To sustain the physical nature, we must have proper elements of nourishment, not only water and air, but food, grains, nuts, vegetables, etc.

That is what God planned in the beginning.

Dependent upon the physical nature of man but superior to it is his mental nature, his intelligence.

Psychology, the youngest of the sciences, is just beginning to discover some of the wonders of man's mind.

There would be no civilization on earth, no planning, no building, no planting, nothing would be done without a mental life, without intelligence.

And so man must sustain by reading, by study, by proper association.

These things are all food for the intellect, the beauties of philosophy, the accomplishments of science, the modern exploration of the voids of space.

But beyond and above the physical and mental natures of man is the spiritual which can thrive only on spiritual things.

Its food is the word of God and the instruction of the Holy Spirit.

1 reason why so much of the spiritual life of today is shallow, undeveloped, is that people do not feed on the Holy Scriptures, they neglect prayer, do not exercise Christian faith.

Sin has blackened and blighted mankind in every phase of life.

The nature of man has been darkened spiritually, marred mentally, lowered physically.

In order to remove this stain, God has ordained that man should repent, be converted, his sins blotted out.

There should be a great spiritual refreshing from heaven, that when Christ, the Son of Man, returns to this earth in power, there should be a restitution of all things as in the Eden day of man's beginning.

We repent first by manifesting a godly sorrow for our sins.

We must really be convicted that we have done wrong.

Not only regret, but know and feel that we have sinned against God and against man, that we have transgressed the holy law of heaven.

Second, we must confess these sins to God, whose law we have transgressed, for sin is the transgression of the law, we read in 1 John 3, 4.

And further, we must confess our faults to any person who has knowingly been wronged by us.

So we see that repentance means a real sorrow for sin, not merely a sorrow for the evil results to us, but sorrow for the thing itself, sorrow that we have grieved the heart of God by disobeying Him.

We must have an earnest desire to be cleansed from sin.

It comes as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the heart.

In fact, it is the gift of God, for it is the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance, we read in Romans 2.4.

The Apostle Peter declared that God exalted Jesus with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior for to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.

What we need for a new life today is repentance.

We need to repent and do the first works as we read in Revelation 2.5.

We need a real repentance and the only way we can tell that our repentance is real is when we bring forth fruits proper for repentance.

Tennyson said that few of us repent because few of us are willing to make a radical change in our habits of living.

He expressed it this way, the world will not believe a man repents.

Full seldom doth a man repent or use both grace and will to pick the vicious quench of blood and custom holy out of him, and make all clean, and plant himself afresh?

That's what we need, planting ourselves afresh, true repentance, changing from the old life to the new, from our sin to God's righteousness, and all through faith in Christ.

Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Now, Friends, the evidences of genuine repentance are true humility, faith, prayer, obedience.

Remember the Sabbath Day

Alane Waters

Tom Waters

Restoration International

Sabbath Memories

Isn't it beautiful how the Lord works through music?

Well today we want to share about special memories.

And even more special because they're Sabbath memories.

You know, in Exodus, the 20th chapter, in the 8th verse, who can tell me what takes place in the 20th chapter of Exodus?

The 10 Commandments, the Law of God, the Law of Love and Holiness.

It says there, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Well, to us it's not only remembering the Sabbath day, but God has continued to draw in our hearts that as we remember the Sabbath day, we find ourselves doing more memorable things upon the Sabbath day.

Special memories that are set in our hearts and we want to share during this time together some of those special memories.

Because even in heaven, we will worship God from 1 Sabbath to the next.

And all through the ages of eternity we will be making special memories with God in heaven.

In Mark 2, 27 and 28 it says, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." And I was noticing that all through the life of Christ, even though he was the creator of the Sabbath, he also was 1 who set an example in making the Sabbath day a very memorable day in the lives of the people that he mixed among.

That's when some of his most special miracles took place was on the Sabbath day.

So not only was it a healing of their physical or their spiritual souls, it was also for their physical healing.

If they would always remember that on the Sabbath day is when they were healed and blessed by God in a special way.

And so as God's people today, we need to turn to the Lord of the Sabbath who can make every Sabbath a very special day.

Christ taught some of his most important lessons on the Sabbath.

He met their needs on the Sabbath and Ever since we've been really young our parents have always tried to make the Sabbath a very memorable day Not just that we should remember that, oh, on the seventh day of the week we need to remember that it's the Sabbath, but that we can always look back and remember the Sabbath of the past because they made it so special for us.

And now as we've gotten older, we help in planning special Sabbaths that we can always look back on and recount what God did for us on that Sabbath day.

We won't always have our children with us.

You know, they get older, they grow up, they leave, they start homes of their own.

And what an opportunity we have to bind their hearts to their creator and their savior.

We should be doing it every day, but a special day God has given us to work on that deep heart binding.

And as we have, you know, as Allison shared, over the years we've done numerous things and we've shared those with you in previous camps.

And there's so many ideas we never have enough time to express them.

But this year we thought we would, in our minds, we went back through the many years and we thought of, well we thought of quite a few, but we thought of 3 special Sabbaths we want to share with you today and the impact that they've had in our family as our young people have grown up.

I remember 1 Sabbath, this is the first 1 that came to my mind, and our children were very young.

Allison was nearly 10, Emily was 8, and Josiah had just rolled over to 5.

And Tom said, let's take this Sabbath and Let's go on a ride We're gonna take you up into the mountains now We live in the mountains, but when he says go up into the mountains, we know he means way back up high in the mountains.

So we all got prepared, we got ready, we got in our truck and we started up the back roads up into the high mountains.

And I had no idea where we were going or what we were going to do, but I just knew that he had something in his heart and he was leading out and I was willing to let him lead.

And so we got to this place and he pulled off the road and I'd never seen this, I mean we'd been by this place before all the way up to the very top where there's some beautiful lakes, but before we got to the lakes he pulled off the side of the road and there was an old logging road and he stopped there.

He says, okay this is the spot we got out and we started walking.

And we walked for nearly, I'd say about 2 miles up this logging road.

And I can remember clearly the road, the scenery around us, the beautiful blue day.

And all through this walk I'm being drawn to nature.

I still don't know what's going to happen.

And we walked and we walked and we walked and we finally came to a place where the road made a little turn and we could hear this creek rushing along the ravine beside us.

And as we turned in the road, because it's all grown up with weeds, as we made that turn there was this old wooden bridge there.

And we got onto the bridge And my husband said, let's stop here.

I found my mind being flooded again with the memory of what prompted this.

We were driving to a camp meeting in New York.

And we stopped at a little rest, like a little rest stop somewhere along the way, and I don't even remember where it was, but there was a big, an unusually big poster, and it was a very personal poster.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

The Truth About the Historical Jesus

30m

Repentance and Conversion Necessary

21m

Sabbath Memories

50m

What’s in the Box

54m

Spiritually Special Sabbaths

1h

The Essence of the Sabbath

1h

Letter to An Atheist Nation

30m

A Convenient Murder

30m

Who Is This Man?

19m

Who Is the Messiah?

12m

Triumphant At Last

35m

Affliction Shall Not Rise Again

41m

Sound Doctrine