"Can I Really Believe The Bible?" Series

“Can I really believe the Bible?”

2nd Peter 1:20-21 and 2nd Timothy 3:14-17

The slide you see here is the Museum of the Bible. It is located in Washington D.C. Let me give you a few quick facts about it ….

• The total square footage is 430,000

• It is 8 stories high

• It cost over 500 million dollars to build

• If you wish to see everything in the museum you need 9 eight hour days.

Seeing this museum is definitely on my bucket list.

As far as I know this is the first Bible I ever owned. Got it as a child. I now over 30 Bibles. At least that is the number I have in my office. Through the internet we can access over 100 different versions of the Bible. Free. I have now read the complete Bible in 7 different versions. I love the Bible. And I believe I have the greatest calling on my life anyone can have and that is to preach/teach the Bible. To teach God’s word. Now here is a fact you may not know. Over 80% of all households in America have a Bible. 70% have at least two.

Now consider this. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. It is also the best-selling book every year. Since 1815 we believe there have been over 5 billion Bibles printed. It is available now in 2150 different languages. Now to me that’s pretty impressive. No other books have ever come close to those kinds of sales. The influence of the Bile cannot be overstated. But at the same time it is one thing to collect books; it is quite another to actually read them. I have read 32 books this year and am on target to read 100 before the end of the year. In this slide you can see that only about 10% of the people who own a Bible have actually read all of it. To me that is not impressive. Many people say they believe it yet they have never bothered to actually read what it has to say.

There are also millions who still ask the question … can I really believe the Bible? How can I know that it is actually true and based on fact? How do I know that it is actually God’s word? How do I know that God is actually the author? Well first of all ……

1. The Bible actually claims to be the inspired Word of God. 2nd Peter1:20-21. “Above all, know this: no prophecy of scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead man spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So the very writers of scripture have claimed that this book is actually God’s word. Now I know the response of the skeptic at this point and this is it. Big deal. So what? Just because a few men say it’s so doesn’t mean it’s so. And I would agree with that argument.

2. This book carries the endorsement of Jesus himself. Jesus not only recommended the Bible by His words but by His lifestyle as well. When Jesus was tempted He fought Satan by using scripture. When he suffered, he quoted scripture to bring peace the situation. He quoted frequently from the OT. And all the OT Jesus said: do not think that I came to abolish the Law of the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.

Now I know the skeptic at this point would say something like this --- just because the Bible says it God’s word and Jesus says it is also, does that really make it so? In other words, I’m still asking you to take me at His word and at my word here.

3. The unity of the Bible confirms it. You will want to write this down.

Forty different authors, writing over a period of 1600 years, penned the 66 books of the Bible. It was written using 3 different languages o the day. The OT and NT were separated by 400 years of silence yet from Genesis to Revelation the Bible unfolds as one story. All of the important questions of life are answered…

• What is my purpose?

• Why are we here?

• How can I rise above my circumstances?

• How can I make peace with my brothers and sisters?

• How can I make pace with God?

All of these questions and many others --- the answers are found in these pages. 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years --- all in agreement. That is next to impossible.