“How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119:103).
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
It is inspired by God, and it is profitable– it has the power to change & transform your life!
8 REASONS WHY THE BIBLE IS PRECIOUS, AWESOME AND AMAZING:
1. You will be blessed! “Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the undefiled who walk (order their conduct and conversation) in the law of the Lord.” (Psalm 119:1, Amplified). Quote Psalm 1 & Joshua 1:8. If you wnat to be blessed, lived according to God’s Word!
2. God’s Word will make you pure! “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word… Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:9,11). A great preacher said once, "God’s Word will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from God’s Word."
3. You will see amazing and miraculous things! “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” (Psalm 119:18). The Bible is full of miracles, but remember Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."
4. God’s Word will revive you. “My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word” (Psalm 119:25). You want revival? It will never happen apart from God’s Word getting into your heart!
5. God’s Word reveals His love to us. “The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy and lovingkindness; teach me your statutes.” (Psalm 119:64). God’s Word reveals His LOVE to us.
6. God’s Word reveals His faithfulness. “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.” (Psalm 119:89-90). God is FAITHFUL! People have tried to destroy and discredit the Bible - but to no avail.
7. God’s Word gives wisdom and direction. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:104-105).
8. God’s Word will give you great peace. “Great peace have they who love your law, nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.” (Psalm 119:165).
Number of Stars
150 B.C., Astronomer named Hipparchus laid down his pencil and smiled, “it’s done”! He believed he had counted all the stars in the sky. 1,022! That was the number used in Universities for 250 years. Then Ptolemy came along and laughed, 1,022, that’s ridiculous, there’s 1,026! He found 4 more! And that was science for 1,300 years. Then Galileo came along with his invention, the first crude telescope, he looked thru it for the first time, and gasped. We know now that there are billions and billions of stars in each of the galaxies, which are innumerable!
What did the Bible say long before any of them were even born?
Jer. 33 22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered God said to Abraham, your seed will be innumerable, (then used an illustration) like the stars of heaven.
Historical Accuracy:
Moses
The Bible records the fact that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, and Jesus verified that in the NT. For many years, unbelieving historians laughed at the thought that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. ‘that’s impossible’, they said, for there was no written language when Moses lived! Archaeologists continued their work, and in 1887 in N. Egypt 300 clay tablets were unearthed, we know them as the “tel-el-armana” tablets. What were they? Letters and business transactions between Egypt and Palestine, dated centuries before Moses was even born. And now it has been proven not only did they have a written language, they had a postal service!
Prophetic Accuracy
No book in history has dared to predict the future to the degree the Bible has, without being proven wrong.
For the sake of time, let’s narrow it down to just the prophecies that dealt with the coming of Christ, 2000 years ago.
Over 300 direct prophecies in question, like,
• Is. 7:14 He would be born of a virgin Lk. 1:7 it happened!
• Micah 5:2 born in Bethlehem Lk. 2:4 that happened!
• Gen. 49:10 born of tribe of Judah Mt. 3:3 that happened!
• Psalm 78:2 speak in parables Mt. 13:34 that happened!
• Zech. 9:9 ride on colt of a donkey Mt. 21 that happened!
• Is. 61 heal broken-hearted Lk. 4:18 that happened!
• Is. 53:3 rejected by own Jn. 1:11 that happened!
• Is. 53:7 stand silent before accusers Mk. 15:5 that happened!’
• Ps. 22:18 cast lots for His robe Jn. 19:23 that happened!
• Ps. 22 (hundreds of years before crucifixion ever invented or thought of) prophets said they would pierce His hands and feet, and it happened!
• Ps. 22:1 “my God, why forsaken me?” Mt. 27:46 that happened!
v. 5 tongue cleave to jaw Mt. 26:15 that happened!
• Zech. 11:2 sold by enemies for 30 silver Mt. 26:15 that happened!
• Is. 53:9 buried w/ rich Mt. 27 that happened!
One skeptic said, “certainly this is the most striking coincidence of details.”
Dr. Charles Ryrie points out that, by the law of chance, it would require 2 hundred billion earths, each populated with four billion people, to come up with one person who could achieve one hundred accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. But, in Christ’s coming alone, there were not one hundred, but over 300 prophecies fulfilled! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, the prophecies dealing with His first coming!
Here is an illustration – cover the state of Texas with twenty cents piece, half a metre deep, mark the back of 1 of them with an X. Fly a man in and drop him anywhere you want in the state, blindfold him, and ask him to find that quarter with the X first try! That’s the same chance of just 8 of the Bible’s prophecies being fulfilled by coincidence!
It’s more than just a coincidence, it’s evidence that demands a verdict!
Conclusion
PostModernism hates the bible ….they hate the whole concept of absolute truth and absolute authority….
But the Bible stands on its own merits. And as it does it therefore demands that we answer the question – What are we going to do with the truth that it preaches?
Eyewitness Testimony
The crux of the matter of the New Testament's authenticity is the reliability of the New Testament writers as eyewitnesses to the events. In establishing their reliability there are several points to consider. First, it is reasonable to believe that the witnesses to the New Testament events were willing and able to tell the truth. The early followers of Jesus had absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose by claiming what they did about Him. Generally, the reliability of eyewitness testimony can be mitigated if it can be shown that the witness has a vested interest in what he is claiming to have seen. But early Christianity was certainly not the lucrative enterprise it sometimes is today. There is no reason to suppose that the writers of the New Testament would fabricate the events of the New Testament since they had nothing to gain. Not only was there nothing to gain, but there was everything to lose by claiming what they did about Jesus. It was their Christian commitment that brought about the martyrdom of possibly every New Testament writer except John. Generally, the reliability of eyewitness testimony is strengthened if it can be shown that the witness has a vested interest in the opposite of what he is claiming. For example, one probably would not doubt a child who confessed to a misdeed that certainly would elicit a spanking from the parent. Since the child has a vested interest in the misdeed not occurring, if he admits to it and risks a spanking, then it is reasonable to believe that the child is telling the truth . Thus, the most reasonable explanation for why the New Testament writers claimed to witness what they did is that in fact they did witness it.
Second, the presence of adverse testimony (i.e., the testimony of those who could have contradicted the New Testament writers if the events had not taken place) would have hampered the spread of Christianity. In other words, if the witnesses' testimonies were false, others would have been able to contradict and squelch the growth of Christianity. It is interesting that the enemies of Christianity did not so much try to contradict the claims of the early Christians about such events as, for example, the resurrection, as they instead tried to offer other explanations for the events. Matthew 28:12-15 tells us:
When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
If it had not been the case that Jesus had risen from the dead, there certainly would have been overwhelming testimony to that effect. Indeed, the early Christians sometimes appealed to the knowledge of current events of their hearers in making their case for Christianity. Notice how Paul argues here before Festus in Acts 26:24-26:
Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad!" But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner."
Thus, the most reasonable explanation for why the claims of the New Testament writers flourished right in the area where the events allegedly took place is that they indeed took place.
These and other evidences that could be marshaled make it more than reasonable to believe the veracity of the eyewitness testimony. However, the case for the authenticity of the New Testament does not stop here. It can be shown that the New Testament bears what some have called the "earmarks of historicity."
People say "I can’t trust. Bible been corrupted by translators and scribes." Can I trust the writings of the Bible if they’ve been so corrupted and changed over the years?
In summer of 1947 a young Arabian boy, Juma, lost track of one of the goats he was supposed to be watching. Region was Qumran, in Middle East. Lowest point on earth. Hillsides overlooking dead sea. When one of his goats wandered into a cave, the boy chased it. Lost...Hillside overlooking the dead sea, there are thousands of little caves. He threw a rock into the cave opening hoping to scare the goat out...heard crash--sound of pottery breaking. Ran home told his dad that there were ghosts in the cave. Father said, "No, no. not ghosts." Maybe there’s treasure in the pottery. Maybe silver or gold. Next day, they went and checked out what happened. Looked inside one of the caves and found old worn out jars, and broken pottery. Inside were old scrolls with leather backing. Took scrolls, sold to trader, who was going to sell to them to a shoe cobbler. Since the scrolls had a leather backing, the shoe cobbler was going to rip them up and make shoes out of them. Good thing didn’t happen. Eventually some Israeli scholars secured them, They looked in caves, found over 20 caves full of scrolls. the Dead Sea scrolls--the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament ever found...written over 100 years before Jesus was born. 1000 years earlier than any of the other manuscripts available. Every book in whole or fragments of the Old Testament, except Esther. Some fragments. Isaiah scroll best from verse 1 to end. These scrolls would answer the question...is our bible today different than these older records. What’s been changed? Conclusion---nothing.
The New Testament has far more manuscript evidence than any other ancient work. There are more than 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament, with only a 25 year time span between the original and the earliest manuscript copies. The Iliad ranks next -- it has 643 manuscript copies with a 500 year time span between the original and the copies. Only 40 lines (400 words/variations) of the New Testament are in doubt between the 24,000 manuscript copies, compared to 746 lines in doubt of the Iliad’s 643 copies. Shakespeare, which has been in existence less than 250 years, should be far more uncertain and corrupt than that of the New Testament, now almost 2000 years old. "But in every one of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, there are estimated to be a hundred or more readings still in dispute, a large portion of which materially affects the meaning of the passages in which they occur."
New Testament more reliable than Shakespeare.
ILLUS: When the American army stormed across Okinawa, soldiers found villages of unbelievable poverty, ignorance, and filth. But Shimmabuke, a small obscure community, was different. Homes and streets were clean, the villagers poised and cultured, enjoying a high level of health, happiness, intelligence and prosperity.
Why was Shimmabuke different? Thirty years previously an American missionary on his way to Japan had stopped there. Before he moved on he made two converts, left a Bible, and passed on. From that day the people of Shimmabuke had seen no other missionary, had no other visit with any Christian person or group. But in those 30 years the inhabitants had made the Bible come alive. The two converts had taught the villagers its truth until every one became a Christian.
Then came the American army. Clarence Hall, a war correspondent wrote the following...
"I strolled through Shimmabuke one day with a tough old Army sergeant. As we walked he turned to me and whispered hoarsely. "I can’t figure it, fellow--this kind of people coming out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus!" Then he added what was to me an infinitely penetrating observation: "Maybe we’ve been using the wrong kind of weapons to make the world over!"
