IS THE HOLY BIBLE THE TRUE WORD OF GOD? PS.119: 89 +140 +160
Today we’re going to talk for a little while on the many truths we have showing us that the Holy Bible is the True Word of God.
There are many books today that claim to be the Word of God.
The Koran, the Islam holy book, claims to be the Word of God. The Book of Mormon claims to be the Word of God.
The Hindus believe the Bhagavad-Gita is the source of eternal truth.
Karl Marx, with his atheistic worldview, claimed his writing, The Communist Manifesto, was the ultimate truth.
Well there’s one thing that we know for certain, and that is that there can’t be but One Word of God and truth so all of these books except one is false.
So today we’ll read and see why we believe the Bible, the KJV to be the Word of God and the eternal source of truth.
Listen as I read today’s text verses found in Psalm 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
Psalm 119: 140 Thy word is very pure—
Psalm 119: 160 Thy word is true from the beginning:
Let me point out that there are 175 verses in p.s. 119: and ever verse is talking about the Word of God.
The attitude of the world seems to be in rebellion against God, and these people under the influence of Satan are out to destroy our faith.
That is why that we as Christians not only need to know what we believe but also, why we believe it.
There are a number of young people that go to Bible college as believers but after they sit under some of their professors for a while they come out not as grounded as they were when they 1st started going to the Bible College.
And one reason is: after he or she sits in class and hears the professor discredit the Bible, they don’t have a defense, they know what they believe, but not why they believe it.
There is no book in the world that is criticized and attacked more than the Holy Bible. But lets realize that this is the work of Satan. The devil wants people to doubt the Word of God, he did the same with Eve as he talked with her. Yea hath God said? –Genesis 3:1
With such a great assault on the Bible and so many other books that claim to be the Word, how can we be sure?
The evidence for the authority of the Bible falls into two major categories: internal evidence and external evidence.
Internal evidence; is the evidence that is found within the Bible itself.
External evidence; is the evidence that is found outside the Bible, such as archaeology, science, philosophy, and ancient manuscripts.
1st is Self-proclamation
The Bible claims to be the Word of God. The authors knew they were writing the words of God, even though they often didn’t fully understand what they were writing.
2 Timothy 3:16 16All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
2 Peter 1:21 says 21For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Jesus himself viewed the Old Testament as authoritative and quoted from it throughout his ministry.
Second, the Holy Spirit confirms to us that the Bible is the Word of God.
Jesus said in John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come-
The Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin also assures the believer that the Bible is God’s Word because of its transforming Ability.
The Bible has changed the lives of murderers; the Bible has transformed drug addicts, government officials, business people, and students, people from every walk of life.
No other book can make such a claim. This is because the Bible is not a mere book on good living but is has the power of God on it.
Now I know that as wonderful as these great truths are, they still are not the best arguments to use in a debate, but they are evidence. They do support the authority and divine inspiration of the Bible.
And I want us to notice the unity of the Bible.
The Bible covers hundreds of topics, yet it does not contradict itself anywhere. It remains united in its theme.
The Bible was written over a span of fifteen hundred years. More than forty men wrote it from every walk of life.
For example, Moses was educated in Egypt and became a prophet over Israel. Peter was a fisherman, Solomon was a king, Luke was a doctor, Amos was a shepherd, and Matthew was a tax collector.
All the writers were of different occupations and backgrounds.
Also it was written in many different places. The Bible was written on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Moses wrote in the desert of Sinai, Paul wrote in a prison in Rome, Daniel wrote in exile in Babylon, and Ezra wrote in the ruined city of Jerusalem.
And also it was written under many different circumstances. David wrote during a time of war, Jeremiah wrote at the sorrowful time of Israel’s downfall, Peter wrote while Israel was under Roman domination, and Joshua wrote while invading the land of Canaan.
And the writers had different reasons for writing. Isaiah wrote to warn Israel of God’s coming judgment on their sin, Matthew wrote to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, Zechariah wrote to encourage a disheartened Israel who had returned from Babylonian exile, and Paul wrote addressing problems in different Asian and European churches.
As we put all these factors together, the Bible was written over fifteen hundred years, by forty different authors, at different places, under various circumstances, and addressing a multitude of issues.
And with all this diversity, there is such unity in the Bible.
That unity is organized around one theme: God’s redemption of man and all of creation.
There are hundreds of controversial subjects that are addressed and yet the writers do not contradict each other.
If we were to take a number of authors and ask them to write their viewpoints on one controversial subject, none of them would whole-heartedly agree with each other. There would be disagreements from one author to the next.
But as we look at the authorship of the Bible, all these authors, from a span of fifteen hundred years, and wrote on many controversial subjects, and yet they do not contradict one another any where.
The reason is, One author guided these writers through the whole process: the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:21 says, 21For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost
The unity of the Bible is just one more amazing proof of the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible.
***The first external evidence that the Bible is Gods Word is the indestructibility of the Bible.
The Bible is the most well known book in the history of the world, and no book has been attacked more than it has.
Skeptics have tried to destroy the authority of the Bible for the last eighteen hundred years. It has undergone every kind of scrutiny possible from arch-aeol-ogy, science, philosophy, and even computers.
Yet, despite all these attacks, the Bible proves itself to be true again and again. Each time the skeptics have been wrong, and the Bible has proven itself true.
Just the fact that the Bible has remained steadfast in its authority after two thousand years is another evidence supporting its divine origin.
Middle Eastern arch-aeo-logical investigations have proven the Bible to be true and accurate in its historical descriptions.
A man named; Nelson Glueck, who was a renowned Jewish arch-aeo-logist, said, "No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.’’
And then; Dr. William Albright, who was not a friend of Christianity and was said to be the foremost authority in Middle East arch-aeo-logy in his time, said this about the Bible: "There can be no doubt that arch-aeo-logy has confirmed the substantial
histori-city of the Old Testament."
Here are a couple of examples of the historical accuracy of the Bible. In Genesis 14. The Bible speaks of Abraham’s victory over Chedorlaomer and five Mesopotamian kings.
For years, the critics stated that these accounts were fictitious and many people discredited the Bible. But in the 1960s, the Ebla tablets were discovered in northern Syria.
The Ebla kingdom was a powerful kingdom in the twentieth century B.C.
The Ebla tablets are records of its history. Thousands of tablets have been discovered. What is important is that many of these tablets make a reference to all five cities of the plain proving the Genesis 14 account to be accurate.
Another example is the story of Jericho recorded in the book of Joshua. For year’s skeptics thought the story of the falling walls of Jericho was a myth.
But in the 1930s, Dr. John Garstang made a remarkable discovery. He states, "As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely, the attackers would be able to clamber up and over the ruins of the city."
This is remarkable because city walls fall inward, not outward.
The March 5, 1990 issue of Time magazine featured an article called, "Score One For the Bible." In it, arch-aeo-logist Kathleen Kenyon claimed Jericho’s walls had fallen suddenly.
Further study by Brian Wood found the date of the fall of Jericho to match the Bible’s date.
These are great examples of arch-aeo-logy authenticating the historical reliability of the Bible. No book is as ancient, and at the same time, as convincingly accurate as the Bible.
Also the Bible contains hundreds of prophecies, which have come to pass. No book in history has ever come close to the Bible when it comes to fulfillment of prophecy.
In Ezekiel 26, which was written in 587 B.C., Ezekiel prophesies that the mighty city of Tyre would be destroyed. Tyre was made up of two parts, a mainland port city and an island city half a mile off shore.
Ezekiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy mainland Tyre, and many nations would fight against her, and the debris of the city would be thrown into the ocean, and the city would never be found again, and fishermen would come there to lay their nets.
In 573 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland city of Tyre. Many of the refugees of the city sailed to the island, and the island city of Tyre remained a powerful city.
But in 333 B.C., however, Alexander the Great laid siege to Tyre. Using the rubble of mainland Tyre, he built a causeway to the island city of Tyre. He then captured and completely destroyed the city.
Today, Tyre is a small fishing town where fishing boats come to rest and fisherman spread their nets.
The great ancient city of Tyre to this day lies buried in ruins exactly as prophesied.
It was not by coincidence.
There are over three hundred prophecies made of Jesus in the Old Testament. Prophecies such as His place of birth, how he would die, His rejection by the nation of Israel, and so on.
All these prophecies were made hundreds of years before Jesus ever came to earth. Because of the accuracy of the prophecies, many skeptics have believed that they must have been written after 70 A.D.--after the birth and death of Jesus, and the destruction of Jerusalem. They have tried to deny that they are even prophecies.
But in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These scrolls contained the book of Isaiah and other prophetic books. When dated, they were found to be written from 120 to 100 B.C. well before Jesus was born.
It would have been an incredible accomplishment for Jesus to have fulfilled all three hundred prophecies. Some say these prophecies were fulfilled by chance, but the odds for this would be exceptionally large.
It would take more faith to believe in that chance happening than in the fact that Jesus is God and these prophecies are divinely inspired.
No book can match the Bible when it comes to prophecy. This is truly the word of God.
