10 Reasons Why We Believe the Bible is the Word of God - Part 3
10 REASONS WHY WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
PART 3
I. INTRODUCTION
A. WE’RE BEGINNING THE NEW YEAR with an affirmation of the Word of God...
IF THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD, then we better heed it as such...
AS THE REFORMERS said, we ought to make it our ultimate authority for all matter of faith and practice...
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK VERY FAR TO SEE that the church in 2007, for the most part anyway, doesn’t believe that anymore...
THEY CAN’T BELIEVE the Bible is the Word of God or they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing and embracing what they’re embracing...
WHAT I’VE BEEN ABLE TO SEE slipping by the wayside more and more, even in my short lifetime in the church, is that deep, unwavering, non-negotiable conviction about the Word of God...
IT’S CERTAINLY NOT ENTIRELY GONE, but it is becoming rarer than it ever was before among the men who stand in the pulpits of our churches...
AND IF I UNDERSTAND JUDE AND PETER AND PAUL correctly, this situation is going to get even worse in the days ahead...
AND IT IS A SERIOUS SITUATION for the church...
GOD’S TRUTH, as recorded on the pages of Scripture, is the only thing that has the power to save lost men and sanctify believers...
IT’S THE ONLY THING that has the power to change people’s lives...
BUT AS SOON as the man in the pulpit starts regarding the Bible as anything less than the Word of God, he will start feeding the people other things; he’ll start giving them things out of the bankrupt wells of human wisdom...
AND THE CHURCH WILL DIE and slip into apostasy, the very thing that Jude warns about in his epistle...
II. BODY
IT’S WITH THESE VERY THOUGHTS IN MIND that I have decided to start this new year with an affirmation of our conviction about the Word of God...
WE’VE BEEN WORKING DOWN THROUGH 10 REASONS why we believe the Bible is the Word of God...
I’M JUST GOING TO LIST the first 7 this morning as a lead up to #8...
WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD because of...
A. THE TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE itself to that fact...
(The Bible itself claims to be the Word of God...)
B. SECONDLY, WE CONSIDERED THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST to that fact...
(It’s very clear that Jesus Christ regarded the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and I gave you lots of evidence to support that...)
C. THIRDLY WAS THE TESTIMONY OF THE WRITERS...
(They knew they were penning the Word of God and made clear statements to that fact...)
D. WE ALSO BELIEVE the Bible to be the Word of God because of its textual unity...
(40 different authors writing over a span of 1600 years fully and perfectly agree on everything... That’s more than just a coincidence and it’s even more than amazing... that can only be supernatural...!)
E. A FIFTH REASON is the Bible’s miraculous preservation...
(How many other books do you know of that are still in print and still being read some 2000 years or more after the first copy came out...? The Bible is the only book like that...!)
F. REASON #6 IS THE BIBLE’S HISTORICAL ACCURACY...
(What is says about people, places, and events is always right as is continually proven by the archaeologist’s spade...)
G. AND THEN A 7TH REASON we talked about is the Bible’s scientific accuracy...
(Once again, the Bible has never been proven wrong with regard to a scientific statement and that’s because the Bible’s Author is also the Author of science...)
H. THIS MORNING WE PICK UP with reason #8...
THIS IS A VERY SIGNIFICANT REASON and a very fascinating one...
WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD because of its prophetic accuracy...
AND LET ME INTRODUCE THIS SUBJECT to you by reading a couple paragraphs out of a book called “Science and the Bible” written by the well-known commentator, Henry Morris...
An especially powerful type of historical evidence for the Bible and Christianity is that of fulfilled prophecy–historical events written down long before they actually happen. Hundreds of prophecies in the Bible have been remarkably fulfilled exactly as foretold but often hundreds of years later. This type of evidence is unique to the Bible and can be explained only by divine inspiration. God, the Creator of time, is outside of time. He is the only One who controls the future and, therefore, is the only One who knows the future.
Bible prophecies are not vague and rambling, such as those of Nostradamus and other supposed extrabiblical prophets. Prophecies in the Bible deal with specific places, people, and events, and their fulfillments can be checked by reference to subsequent history.
AGAIN LET ME SAY that this is a huge reason, really an indisputable reason to believe that the Bible is the Word of God...
TO STUDY this subject of fulfilled prophecy as a Bible critic and deal honestly with your findings is to ultimately bow the knee to its divine origin...
(Josh McDowell and the now great apologist and Biblical scholar, John Warwick Montgomery would both testify to the truth of this statement... They both studied the Bible in an effort to disprove it...)
THERE IS JUST NO WAY AROUND this magnitude of fulfilled prophecy for the critic; divine inspiration is the only option...
AND I SIMPLY WANT TO DEMONSTRATE that for you this morning...
AND LET’S BEGIN with a definition of prophecy, so that we know what we are and are not talking about...
MEN AND WOMEN are able to have certain insights into the future...
VARIOUS INDICATORS, for example, enable the world’s experts to foresee business, political, and social trends...
AND WITH TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY meteorologists are able to predict the weather with greater and greater accuracy...
AND YOU KNOW as well as I do that sometimes these predictions, in all of these various areas, are right, sometimes they’re almost right, and then at other times, they’re completely wrong...
AND THAT’S BECAUSE no mortal can predict future events in exact detail...
AND I GUESS WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY here is that these kinds of things are not what we’re talking about when we use the word “prophecy”...
THESE ARE what we might call “almost-accurate guesses” or “wise bits of speculation based on available data”...
PROPHECY is in a completely different category...
PREDICTIVE PROPHECY is a detailed statement of historical fact, made in advance, which is beyond the scope of any human capability...
GENUINE PREDICTIVE PROPHECY is exclusively a revelation of God...
IN FACT, GOD SAID that Himself through Isaiah in Isa 46:9-10...
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done,
HERE WE HAVE GOD HIMSELF claiming predictive prophecy as His exclusive domain...
HE’S THE ONLY ONE who can do it because He is the only One who is omniscient...
AND HE HAS EVEN GIVEN US in His Word, the divine standard by which we can evaluate all prophecy...
HOW DO WE KNOW if a prophet is genuine or not...?
GOD DOES NOT WANT us to be in the dark on that and made the test of prophecy very clear in Deut 18:20-22...
DEU 18:20 'But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
DEU 18:21 "You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'
DEU 18:22 "When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
THE OMNISCIENT GOD, who claimed exclusive domain over predictive prophecy, also set the standard for it, which is absolute perfection right down to the smallest detail...
IF EVEN ONE SMALL BIBLE PROPHECY departed from this standard, then all of His Word would be susceptible to allegations of error...
BUT HIS WORD is not susceptible to such allegations because there is not one prophecy in the Word of God that has ever failed...
AND YOU SAY, WELL WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT here...?
JUST A FEW SCATTERED PROPHECIES in a couple of isolated places in the back corners of the Bible...?
NO, THE BIBLE CONTAINS HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of prophecies throughout its pages...
THE FIRST ONE concerning Christ, for example, is found as earlier as Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15...
OTHER PORTIONS of the OT that are rich with prophetic material would include 20 chapters in Isaiah, 17 chapters in Jeremiah, 9 chapters in Ezekiel, and 2 chapters in Amos...
AND THOSE PROPHECIES are quite diverse in subject and scope, some relate to individuals, some relate to large groups of people, some of the pronouncements are directed at individual cities, others at entire nations, and some even to the entire world...
A GREAT NUMBER of these prophecies have already been fulfilled and then there are others that are yet to be fulfilled, such as the ones we find in the book of Revelation...
DO NOT DOUBT THE THINGS that are foretold in the book of Revelation just because they haven’t happened yet...
DON’T BE AMONG the last days mockers that Peter talks about in 2Pet 3:3-4...
2PE 3:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
2PE 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
HE IS COMING BACK and all the prophecies in the book of Revelation will come to pass just as surely as all of the other prophecies already have come to pass, right down to the most minute detail...
WELL, I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES now, of fulfilled prophecy...
AND OF ALL THE PROPHECIES there are about all kinds of various things, there are none more exciting than the prophecies that have been fulfilled about the birth, life, ministry, and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ...
ISA 52 AND 53 AND PSA 22, for example, record very specific details about Jesus Christ’s death by crucifixion...
AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING ASPECTS of these prophecies is that they were written hundreds of years before this terrible form of execution was ever practiced...
ALL THROUGH THE OT we find literally hundreds of prophecies about this one Person, Jesus Christ, that were all precisely fulfilled in history as recorded on the pages of our New Testaments...
BIBLE STUDENTS have counted, I think the number is 330 prophecies about Jesus Christ that have all been fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy...
AND WE CERTAINLY can’t take the time to look at that many, but I do want to give you a few examples...
WRITING 700 SOME YEARS before the birth of Christ, Isaiah said this in Isa 7:14...
ISA 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
IN FULFILLMENT OF THAT, MATTHEW RECORDED the birth of Christ as follows in Matt 1:18-23...
MAT 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
MAT 1:19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
MAT 1:20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
MAT 1:21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
MAT 1:22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
MAT 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."
MICAH, WHO WAS A CONTEMPORARY of Isaiah, predicted the place of Christ’s birth in Micah 5:2...
MIC 5:2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."
MATTHEW WRITES THIS IN MATT 2:1...
MIC 5:2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."
LET ME GIVE YOU just one more; Isaiah said in Isa 53:12 that Christ would be numbered with transgressors at His crucifixion...
ISA 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
THE FULFILLMENT comes in Matt 27:38...
MAT 27:38 At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
ON AND ON we could go with these...
PSA 22:18 predicts that lots would be cast for His clothing and John 19:23-34 records the fulfillment of that...
PSA 34:20 says that His bones would not be broken and John 19:33 records that as an historical fact...
PSA 22:15 predicts Him thirsting on the cross...
AND JOHN 19:28 SAYS...
JOH 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty."
AGAIN, KEEP IN MIND the fact that these prophecies and their fulfillments were separated by hundreds of years...
AND THAT WE HAVE, not just these few that I have cited, but approximately 330 such prophecies about Jesus Christ alone, and that’s not even to mention all the other prophecies that have been fulfilled about other subjects...
IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD; have the words in this book been divinely breathed out of the mouth of God...?
THE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE of fulfilled prophecy allows for no other explanation than that...
A SCIENTIST by the name of Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, once ran the numbers and computed the mathematical probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies concerning the Messiah...
THE ESTIMATES were worked out by 12 different classes representing some 600 university students...
THE SCIENCE OF PROBABILITY attempts to determine the chance that a given event will occur, and its accuracy has been pretty well established...
INSURANCE COMPANIES, for example, fix their rates according to these statistical probabilities...
BECAUSE THE NUMBER of prophecies concerning Christ was too overwhelming to deal with, Professor Stoner limited his study to just 8 such prophecies...
AND HERE’S WHAT HE CAME UP WITH...
THE CHANCE OF ONE MAN, he said, fulfilling all 8 prophecies would be one in 10 to the 17th power...
THAT’S A 1 followed by 17 0's, whatever that number is...
(That number is so big I don’t even know what you would call that amount...)
AND BECAUSE DR. STONER knew that we wouldn’t be able to even comprehend the magnitude of what this number is, he went on to make an analogy to help us understand it...
HE SAID IF YOU WERE TO TAKE that many silver dollars (1 in 10 to the 17th power) and lay them all down on the state of Texas, those silver dollars would cover the entire state 2 feet deep...
NOW BEFORE YOU DUMPED the silver dollars on the state of Texas, you marked a black “X” on one of the silver dollars...
YOU STIRRED THEM ALL UP, blindfolded a man and told him he could go anywhere he wanted to go in the state of Texas to pick up one silver dollar...
PROFESSOR STONER said the chance of that man picking up the silver dollar with the “X” on it would be one in 10 to the 17th power, the same as a man fulfilling just 8 prophecies some 700 years after they were made...
AGAIN, LET ME SAY that Jesus Christ fulfilled, not just 8, but some 330 such prophecies...
AND AGAIN LET ME SAY that this provides us with, perhaps, the most convincing evidence of all to substantiate the Bible’s claim to be the Word of God...
WELL, I HAVE 2 MORE REASONS to share with you that we can move through pretty quickly to wrap this study up...
I. REASON #9: WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE is the Word of God because of its proven impact on society...
HISTORY SHOWS that wherever the Bible has been taken and its message accepted, it has profoundly affected the culture into which it was brought...
THE BIBLE is God’s instruction book to man about life and living and it’s life principles work, even for unbelievers...
THE PROBLEMS in societies have never been with the instruction manual...
THE PROBLEMS have always been the men and women who refuse to follow the manual...
J. AND THEN I CLOSE for this morning with reason #10...
THIS IS NOT THE GREATEST REASON, out of the 10 that I’ve cited, from an apologetic perspective...
BUT THIS IS THE GREATEST REASON from my perspective; this is the most precious of all the reasons for me...
WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE is the Word of God because of its impact on individuals...
IN A WORD, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because the truth and the power of its message changed my life...!
PAUL SAID in Rom 1:16...
ROM 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
I KNOW that’s true, not just because Paul said it; I know that’s true because I’ve experienced the saving power of the gospel in my own life...
IN THE FALL OF 1983 the power of the gospel transformed my life and I’ve never been the same since...
PAUL MADE a similar statement in 1Cor 1:18....
1CO 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
AND WHAT’S INTERESTING to me about that statement is that I know, from firsthand experience, about both sides of it...
I REMEMBER thinking of the Word of the cross as foolishness, that is until God gripped my heart with the power of its saving truth...
THE WORD OF GOD transformed my life in 1983 and it continues to transform my life...
WHEN YOU KNOW ITS AUTHOR the Bible is a living book...
PHIL 2:16 REFERS TO IT as the word of life, and it is...
AND THEN THERE’S HEB 4:12...
HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
YOU CAN’T EVEN BEGIN to understand the significance of that statement about this marvelous book until you enter into a personal relationship with its Author through faith in Jesus Christ...
III. CONCLUSION
A. SO, WHY DO WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE is the Word of God...?
I’VE GIVEN YOU 10 GOOD REASONS to make that one of those non-negotiable convictions in your heart...
HERE THEY ARE ONE MORE TIME in closing...
1. THE TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE...
2. THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST...
3. THE TESTIMONY OF THE WRITERS...
4. THE BIBLE’S TEXTUAL UNITY...
5. THE BIBLE’S MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION...
6. THE BIBLE’S HISTORICAL ACCURACY...
7. THE BIBLE’S SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY...
8. THE BIBLE’S PROPHETIC ACCURACY...
9. THE BIBLE’S IMPACT ON SOCIETY...
10. AND THE BIBLE’S IMPACT ON INDIVIDUALS...
B. NEXT LORD’S DAY now, based on this conviction that the Bible is the Word of God...
WE’RE GOING TO PICK UP our verse by verse study where we left it a few weeks ago in Ecclesiastes chapter 2...