The Apostles Creed

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From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio. And now, the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland. The story is told of a certain man who was facing some great struggles in life. Growing up in England, the man had dreams of becoming an attorney, achieving success, accumulating lots of money, but by the time he was a young adult, the man had reached many of his goals already.

He had earned a degree, had a job in a prestigious law firm, he married well, purchased the car of his dreams, but despite his many successes, he had this lingering sense of emptiness and futility, and when several unexpected circumstances put his family and his career in a crisis, he thought about turning to God. So this man was walking through a London park, and he sat down on a bench and he stared at a patch of flowers, and landscapers had decorated the park's gardens with a number of brightly colored sticks, painted wooden sticks, and the man watched as a caterpillar inched upward, climbing up one of the decorative sticks. He reached the top and the caterpillar had nowhere else to go, and he groped in the air for anything more that it could reach. The caterpillar finally inched its way back down, and the man watched as the worm crawled over to the next painted stick. And it dawned on the man that this was pictorial of his own life.

He had climbed many of his own, quote, painted sticks, only to realize that they didn't really lead anywhere. Hi, Alex McFarland here, you're listening to Truth For A New Generation, and I want to begin talking with you about twelve timeless truths of Christianity, and I'm going to draw from the Apostles Creed. This is an ancient document, I'll tell you about that in a moment. But my point is, we're in the time of COVID, we've got a new administration in Washington, the economy is fluctuating up and down, what the future is going to look like, people are uncertain, people are apprehensive. And you know, a lot of people are spiritually hungry, I know because we hear from hundreds of people a week that are asking about where they stand with God, asking about eternal security in Christ, is the Bible true, you know, what about all these things? And just like the man in the story, the accomplishments, the wealth, the purchases, the goals, so many of the things that we tell us will bring us fulfillment ultimately leave us empty.

And we find that they're very, very fragile and can be taken away. And now, we're at a point where our nation itself, we have got to realize that we must turn back to God. It is imperative, after the sexual revolution of the 60s, abortion, no fault divorce, the mainstreaming of homosexuality, taking God out of schools, you can't pray, you can't post the Ten Commandments. As one scholar said 20 years ago, and how much more true this is today, we are paying the price for having banished God from American life. Dr. Erwin Lutz, the pastor of the historic Moody Church in Chicago, a dear friend and a frequent speaker at our Truth for a New Generation conferences, he said once, how sad to climb the ladder of success and reaching the top at the end of one's life.

Discover that the ladder you climbed was leaning against the wrong wall. You know, the brevity of life, we saw the passing of Larry King, the famous broadcaster, oh my goodness, he interviewed, they said in his 60 year career, 50,000 interviews. I was a very shy college student, I was such an introvert, I was very socially backward, and I had become a Christian, and I never knew God would call me to the ministry, but I was in Greensboro, North Carolina, and I saw this book, How to Talk to Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime, the Secrets of Good Communication. I read that book, and it began to bring me out of my shell. Larry King's book really made a big impact on my life at that time, on how to communicate, and it's been my privilege as an evangelist, apologist, broadcaster, to interview everybody from just regular people to famous Christian leaders to candidates for office and aspiring vice presidents and aspiring presidents.

I've interviewed a lot of people that were running for president, and musical celebrities, and just different people, and I learned so much from that book. And I often prayed for Larry King, I have no idea where he was spiritually, I know that he had a very close friendship with Franklin Graham and the late Jerry Falwell, and he had heard the gospel many times, he interviewed Billy Graham, and I pray that in his heart he did come to know Christ, but during COVID we've seen the passage of many celebrities, we've seen the passage of many people, a lot of people have died and sadly will die, but Lutzer's words and the illustration of the man in the park, what is life worth anyway if all that we have is in this world? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, we of all people are most miserable if in this life only we have hope or joy. And an honest evaluation of our heart and life can lead us to the realization that without God we have nothing, without a relationship to Christ, the one dependable constant in our otherwise unpredictable lives, without Christ we have nothing. Now, centuries ago, Christian leaders saw the need to clearly spell out the basic truths of Christianity, and I frequently come back to this, regardless of all the things that we broadcast and we write, and I've got the book out now, America Under Assault, What We Must Do to Save Our Nation Before It's Too Late, I would urge you to read this book, you can find it at Barnes and Noble or anywhere, but regardless of where we are in history, I keep reiterating these truths that the basics, God exists, the biblical God, the Bible is the Word of God, Jesus is deity, the Son of God, he died on the cross to pay for our sins, by the blood he shed on Calvary, our sins are washed away. I keep reiterating these basic truths because in spite of the noise of culture and the changing headlines and just the sociologists call it white noise, the life that we live amidst unrelenting media, these timeless truths of Christianity do not go out of date. Now, when we come back, I'm going to read the very widely accepted Apostles' Creed that presents the message of Christ, and early Christians would memorize it, we read it in church to this day, and I want to bring out twelve timeless truths about Christianity from the Apostles' Creed that point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that our nation, our world, and maybe even you listening now so desperately need.

Stay tuned, Truth for a New Generation will be back after this brief break. Join Alex McFarland for Spiritual Awakening in Our Times. Study in the book of Acts, June 25-27 in the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove near Asheville, North Carolina. Acts records the first days of the early church and tells the story of a powerful spiritual awakening among Jews and Gentiles alike. The book of Acts also contains personal lessons about revival for believers like us today. In the seminar, Alex will examine God's principles for spiritual renewal and evangelism that work in every age, including ours.

You'll also discover how you could personally walk in the power and joy of the Holy Spirit, regardless of your circumstances. To register for Spiritual Awakening in Our Times, study in the book of Acts with Alex McFarland, June 25-27. Go to thecove.org.

Seminar packages include options for seminar, meals, and lodging. Register online at thecove.org. Welcome to the podcast, I Hear You. We are so excited that you joined us. And this is just going to be a great new podcast dealing with issues around race, issues around friendship, and how do we deal with the tough issues. And I'm so excited to be here with my good friend, Alex.

It's great to be with you, Adell. And on the I Hear You podcast, we talk about race. We talk about culture. We talk about politics. And sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we find resolution and common ground. And you know what's really cool? Not only do we learn new things, we make friends, we grow. And that's good for all of us. We're just two friends, one white, one black. And we just invite everyone to come and join and share with us.

It's a big difference between hearing and listening. And we're going to show people. We love it.

We look forward to it. And audience, thank you so much for giving us this chance. I Hear You with Alex and Odell, wherever you get your podcasts. Timeless Truths in a Soundbite Culture. Truth for a New Generation Radio. Welcome back to Truth for a New Generation.

Alex McFarland here. And I want to read the Apostles' Creed. Many churches read this in their worship service.

And you know, it's interesting. Oftentimes reading a creed in church is maybe associated with high church kind of, you know, old, dead orthodoxy. But in reality, this creed is just amazingly relevant for today. For one thing, it's God's eternal timeless truth of the gospel message.

But you know what? I remember when I was in graduate school and I had a church history course at the grad level and the professor, the first assignment, and I was a little apprehensive, you know, going to work on a master's program, you know, a little intimidating. The professor for the first assignment wanted the class to memorize the Apostles' Creed. Well, having grown up in Buffalo Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, I had memorized the Apostles' Creed since about first grade.

And it reads this way. It says, now listen carefully, quote, I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead, or the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen. Now, just a word of clarity, the word Catholic here does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. It denotes believers worldwide, the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word Catholic means whole or universal. In Latin, the word creed, credo, C-R-E-D-O, means I believe. A creed is what you believe. Now many Christian creeds and statements of doctrine have been developed over the centuries. And all have been attempts by different groups to codify or clearly state, to summarize, the basics of what they believe. You know as I was reading the Apostles Creed just now, no doubt many of you listening, if you grew up in a church where you memorized the Apostles Creed, or you had a dear mother and daddy that taught you the Apostles Creed, you might have said it along with me, I believe in God the Father almighty.

And from memory you recited that, and that's a wonderful thing. Now listen, stating our Christian beliefs is an ancient tradition. Christian creeds have influenced people for hundreds of years. Within the Bible, certain verses appear to be brief but organized creeds, statements of words, indicating that believers had been in the habit of preserving and teaching specific Christian truths since the very beginning of the church. Now one of my dear friends in ministry, Michael Licona, who is a professional historian, he and Gary Habermas have written a number of books about the creedal statements that are in the New Testament.

Because think about this, Jesus rose, Jesus ascended, Peter preached at Pentecost, the church was birthed, but the New Testament wasn't finished yet, and they didn't have printed Bibles like we do now obviously. So part of what worship and discipleship was included memorization. And as I teach the Bible, and as I travel, and as I see the great need for a movement of God in our nation, we need an awakening so desperately, and we really really do. We need the scripture, because there's never a true authentic move of God without the Word of God.

And I would encourage preachers preach the Word, teachers, leaders, small group overseers, teach the Word, and encourage your constituency to memorize the Word of God. This goes back to the very earliest times of Christianity. You know I think about in 1 Corinthians 15, 3 through 4, this is an example of one of the creedal statements in the New Testament. Paul said, I delivered unto you that which I first received, how that Christ died, was buried according to the scriptures, the third day rose again from the dead. In Colossians chapter 1, 12 through 20, which talks about by him were all things created, and through him all things consist or hang together. Scholars like Laconia, Habermas, and others recognize this was a creedal statement. Philippians 2, Jesus talks about his divinity and the incarnation, it's called the divine kenosis.

Kenosis means to empty. He emptied himself, not of deity, he was always and will always be divine, but he voluntarily subordinated his divine powers while he was here on earth. And it says he was made a little lower than the angels, and for the glory set before him endured the cross, even going all the way to Calvary's cross, Philippians 2, 5 through 11, one of the creedal statements. Now about this Apostles' Creed, it's a fourth century statement of belief, quote unquote, which remains the basic doctrinal statement for many churches. The content of the Apostles' Creed dates from probably around 150 AD. Now tradition, church tradition says that these words were derived from Christ's twelve apostles, hence the name the Apostles' Creed. But godly leaders, concerned that the church maintained purity of belief, they set forth the summary statement on the essential truths of Christianity.

These are the non-negotiables. By the way, if you ever hear people in the news, often times politicians speaking very politically, they'll say, I'm a Christian but I respect that other beliefs have truth too. People say that. And somebody will say, I'm a believer but I understand that other people have different opinions. Or they'll give a caveat like, we all are working for the same place, quote unquote.

I always kind of cringe when people say things like that because these are non-negotiables. Jesus Christ, virgin born, God incarnate. And remember Christ in verses like John 8-24 and John 14-6. He said that he was the only way to be saved. Mark chapter 2, Jesus said that he had the power to forgive sins. The purity of what we teach and what we believe the church must ever strive to preserve and maintain.

And the writers of the Apostles' Creed and those that promoted it, and here in the 21st century we still recite it, they endeavored to come to agreement on the most basic core beliefs of the Christian faith and to preserve these and perpetuate these. We've got a brief break. We're going to come back and we're going to talk about the really apologetics and worldview content that emanates from this blessed and beautiful statement of belief that points us to Jesus.

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Learn the real source of America's current problems that no one else is talking about and what you can do now to face tomorrow, regardless of what tomorrow brings. The assault on America, how to defend our nation before it's too late, available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and local Christian bookstores. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth for a New Generation radio. Welcome back to Truth for a New Generation.

Alex McFarland here, so honored that you're listening. We're going to begin to unpack the 12 timeless truths about Christianity from the Apostles Creed. And by the way, in our events all around the country over the last 23 years, we've given out a little book, What Does God Say About My Relationship With Him? Now the first half of this book, it's a book that's, I don't know, 25 pages. The first half explains how to have a relationship with Christ. The second half contains much of what we're going over regarding the Apostles Creed. We try to help people get grounded.

Christianity 101, just the basics of the faith, how to not only understand what you believe, how to share what you believe, and even explain and defend what you believe. Now, oh I don't know, a quarter million people have gotten this little booklet over the last 23, 24 years. I want to send you one. And if you write to us, you can write to us either at alexmcfarland.com, just go online alexmcfarland.com, or you can write to us P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313.

That's P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. We want to send you this little booklet just to help us cover expenses. If you could send a contribution of at least $5, and that will help us with this little booklet, the postage. I'll send you a couple of copies. One for you to read, one for you to give away.

It might lead somebody to Christ. But also, I want to make you aware that we've got the new book out, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. I want to encourage you, if you would, to go to amazon.com, Google my name, Alex McFarland, you'll find that book. You'll also find a number of other books and products that the Lord has allowed me to create and write. You can also get our books at any Barnes and Noble in America. Part of the reason that I like to drive traffic to Barnes and Noble, even if they don't have one of my books in stock, frequently they do. But if you have them order my book, they'll get several and they'll put it on the shelves and people will stumble across these books without, maybe they weren't even looking, and they'll end up finding a Christian book in Barnes and Noble. And then finally, at afastore.net, as in American Family Association, I'm on the radio every day, Monday through Friday, with Exploring the Word, and we've got a lot of products that I've created with my friend Bert Harper and afastore.net. Then the last thing before we get back to the teaching, June 25-27, I'm going to be at The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. It's in western North Carolina, it's just beautiful right near Asheville. We're going to go through the book of Acts, the New Testament book of Acts, verse by verse.

We'll go through Acts and we're going to look at the principles of revival and spiritual awakening from the book of Acts. Their website is thecove.org. It's wonderful. My friend Will Graham is the Executive Director. I would encourage you to check it out.

I'd love to see you at our seminar there, or any of the other great seminars they have at The Cove. Well, the Apostles Creed, it begins with this great statement, and it really is the foundational, fundamental presupposition, either you believe it or you don't, and whether or not you do will shape everything else about your life. I believe in God, the Father Almighty. Now, you know, my friend Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, wonderful, brilliant, amazing leader. You know, Genesis 1 says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Ken Ham has said, and I agree, you either start assuming the belief of God or you don't. Many people don't. There are influential atheists today.

Do you know what? Sadly, I just read a statistic about Germany. Recently a survey was done in Germany of thousands of people that were 28 years old and younger. How they came up with that number, I don't know. But in Germany, about two years ago, this survey revealed that the surveyors could not find anyone under the age of 28 that believed in God. Now, certainly there are. Their survey wasn't exhaustive of every single citizen in the nation of Germany, but the vast majority.

And it's fast becoming that way in America as well. I just recently spoke to a group of middle school and high schoolers, and I asked how many have a friend or you know somebody your age that would claim to be an atheist? And many, many, many hands went up.

Ten years ago even, it would have been zero. And so this presupposition, I believe in God. So many people today, because they've been conditioned by media, secular education, they've not grown up where mom and dad took them to church, and they've not really had the discipline of going to church and ultimately being groomed to be a disciple. This first precept of the Apostles' Creed, which is so powerful and so significant, nations, individuals, entire denominations rise or fall with whether or not you truly accept all that this implies.

I believe in God the Father almighty. That's the first line of the Apostles' Creed. Now, what we believe about God is called theology. That's from the word Theos, T-H-E-O-S, the ancient word Theos means God. Now theology, it's two words, Logos and Theos.

L-O-G-O-S, Logos, Greek word for word. So theology is a word about God. The Christian faith is built on the foundational trust in almighty God, who has revealed himself to humanity. And as our Heavenly Father, God is the one who created the universe and who sustains it. The word almighty means that God is sovereign over his creation. With wisdom, love, and in power and in complete control, God presides over all things. God's sovereignty, we use the word sovereignty, it's a source of comfort and truth for the believer.

We know that nothing happens without God's knowledge or God's permission. Well it goes on and it says He's the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord. But it begins with this, God. We often talk about creation, conscience, scripture, Savior.

These things are best understood in terms of God existing. We hope that you believe in God. We hope that you have a relationship with God. And we want to do all that we can to help you grow and experience all of the wonderful things God has for you as you're His child and hopefully you rise to the call to be His witness. Thanks for listening to this edition of Truth For a New Generation. Call us at 877-Yes-God-1.

That's 877-Yes-God and the number 1. Or give online at AlexMcFarland.com. While you're there, listen to program archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event, or contact Alex with a question or comment. AlexMcFarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG Radio.