The DaVinci Code
The DaVinci Code
Sermon Outline
No doubt you have heard of it, or you will. It is a fictional novel and also a movie. The author, Dan Brown, claims that is novel, though fiction, is based on reality. He claims the historical events really happened. The book is titled, "The DaVinci Code".
It is with mixed emotions that I consider this topic. While the motivation of those behind the book and the movie are wicked, they want to tear down faith in Jesus as God's Son and our Savior, I also know that it will provide opportunity for us to talk about our faith. It will cause people to ask us "Why do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?" and I always look forward to the opportunity to tell others why I believe as I do (1 PET 3:14-16). That our faith is attacked is not new. This is merely another way to do it. By all means, prepare yourselves to take advantage of the opportunity to give answer to those who ask!
I. A Serious Divine Warning of Things to Come A. Jesus, the Son of God (JOHN 20:30-31) 1. First, I wish to affirm just who Jesus is (COL 1:13-23) 2. My eternal salvation is in His hands and no one else's (JOHN 3:34-36). B. Some Would Come to Deny This 1. There would arise false teachers (ACTS 20:28-30) 2. They would deny the truth about Jesus (2 PET 2:1) The remedy - return to the teachings given by Jesus and His apostles from the beginning of the gospel (2 PET 3:1-2) C. Specifically, toward the end of the first century, doctrines denying the nature and role of Jesus in God's plan of eternal salvation began to make some inroads at some places. 1. The apostle John is yet alive and deals with this near the end of his life (1 JOHN 1:1-5; 2:18-19; 22; 4:1-3; 4-6; 5:20-21). 2. These teachers made disciples, who in turn made others, and began a movement that became known as "Gnosticism'. They taught that people were not saved by faith, but by mystical knowledge concerning the nature of God, the human spirit and the flesh. This movement lasted for several centuries before dying out. But some of their writings have endured time. 3. While the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John date from the first century, the Gnostic gospels date from no earlier than mid-second century. To get people to more widely accept them, they assigned names to them such as "The Gospel of Peter" or "The Gospel of Thomas" or "The Gospel of Judas" a. “For if what they have published is the Gospel of Truth, and yet is totally unlike those which have been handed down to us from the apostles, any who please may learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves, that that which has been handed down from the apostles can no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth.” - Irenaeus; Against Heresies; Book Three 11:9 - (180 AD) b. "They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas." - Irenaeus; Against Heresies: Book One 31:1 (180 AD) 4. Some early false teachers: Valentinus: considered himself a Christians. Died about 160 AD. Did the most to combine Greek mystical thought with Christianity to produce Gnosticism: Knowledge of and fellowship with the Supreme God is impossible; A lesser God created the world; all matter is evil; Jesus only seemed to be human, did not die on the cross; only men who are spiritual by birth and therefore can know these things can be saved (Gnosticism - "knowledge") Marcion: at the forefront of the false teachers in 140 AD. The God of the OT is different from the God of the NT. Influenced by Gnosticism, but differences as well Arius: lived toward the end of the 3rd & early 4th century. Denied that Jesus was God and that God Himself did not create the physical world. It was to address these views that the Council of Nicea was called in 325 AD. They did this by examining the teachings in light of the writings handed down from the apostles and their associates. II. What is the "DaVinci Code"? A. The DaVinci Code - A Speculation of Futility (ROM 1:21) 1. Denies that Jesus is the Son of God; denies His death, burial and resurrection, denies that eternal salvation from sin depends on Him. 2. Borrows from and depends on ancient philosophies, propaganda, forgeries such as the Gnostic gospels and inaccuracies to formulate the fiction, many of which can be disproved B. Specifics of the False History of the DaVinci Code 1. Up until 325 A.D., disciples of Jesus held Him to be a great Rabbi and teacher, and that is all He was, and all He had ever claimed. He did not die on a cross. He married Mary Magdalene and they had children. He was a great teacher, but that is all. He was not the Son of God. 2. Mary Magdalene has a much more prominent role among Jesus' disciples, becoming "an apostle to the apostles". There is a rivalry between her and Peter. She is actually "the holy grail" and identified as "the sacred feminine." (This was a part of Gnostic teaching) 3. There circulated stories about Him describing His life in this manner. In 325 AD, Emperor Constantine called together a council of church leaders at Nicea and from there changed the doctrine about Jesus. In order to cement his political power, Jesus was changed from a great teacher into the Son of God and it began to be taught that you could be saved from sins and go to heaven through accepting His Lordship. He was never referred to as "Lord" before Constantine. Constantine, with the blessing of the church leaders, became powerful because now people, in order to be faithful to Jesus and go to heaven, had to submit to Constantine. (By the way, why didn't someone notice such a thing? If they were not worshipping Jesus before the Council, what caused everyone to forget that?) 4. A secret society, produced a document. "The Priori of Sion" continued to know the truth about all this through time. DaVinci was associated with this group. Though he did not "spill the beans", he wove into some of his work hints and codes. Especially prominent in this is his painting "The Last Supper". (Show painting: John is really Mary. Who is the "Holy Grail" - notice no Holy Grail on table - its Mary!) 5. The book and movie is a fictionalized account of how the Romans Catholic church resorts to murder and mayhem to keep it all a secret. However, says the author, though the book is fiction, it is based on this concept of Jesus which is true. C. Many people are going to be led to think this is true. What shall we say to them?The Manuscripts Disprove the Code's "History"
Return to Truth Matters Homepage