Why Should I Believe the Bible? 2 Peter 1:21 Road to Truth Week 3 Pastor Troy Dobbs Grace Church of Eden Prairie February 7, 2016 It seems that EVERYONE has an opinion about the Bible these days: Politicians / athletes quote it Grammy Award winners refer to it Hollywood has portrayed it on the Big screen And yet most people are oblivious to the Bible s basic content / storyline. The church is different though: 1
We regard it highly and take it seriously! However to those outside of the church the Bible is thought to be: Old school Oppressive Outdated Antiquated Tyrannical Unjust Irrelevant Inconsequential A fable A myth A fairytale 2
And so when we (God s people) say the Bible is God s Word people literally revolt at the idea. i So because of that dynamic I don t want to throw a bunch of worn out clichés at you today: Like the: God said it I believe it that settles it kind of thing. And I don t just want to tell you what the Bible says about itself even though that s important. You see, people who don t believe the Bible don t care what it says. S today I want to back up and explore: A.) HOW the Bible came to us and 3
B.) WHY we should trust the Bible as God s Word. ii DIAGRAM ON SCREEN iii A B C E D F G H 4
A. Revelation: Revelation (apokalupsis) means to uncover, reveal, disclose, or make known; therefore, in terms of divine revelation, God makes himself known to the objects of that revelation, e.g., angels & people. The fact that God must make himself known in order for us to know him is necessary since we are finite and He is infinite, and we are sinful and He is holy (Rom. 16:25 & Rev. 1:1). B. Inspiration: God s Word says that God divinely originated this word through the pen of Spirit-filled men. Just like Jesus Christ was 100% human and 100% divine, the Bible is 100% given from God and 100% written by inspired men of God. The Bible is from the breath of God: God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16-17 & 2 Peter 1:20-21). C. Canonicity: A canon is a rule or standard. The early church father, Origen, used the word canon to denote what we call the rule of faith, the standard by which we are to measure and evaluate. (Bruce, BP, 95). Canon means the officially accepted list of books in our Bible. The church recognizes scripture as canon what the Bible claims as inspired. D. Textual Criticism: The study of manuscripts or printings to determine the original or most authoritative form of a text, especially of a piece of literature. The process/science to help us know that Moses wrote Genesis and Paul wrote Colossians. 5
E. Translation: The Bible was translated from Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) into the English language. F. Illumination & Interpretation: God gives me EARS to hear and EYES to see. God gives illumination or understanding of His Word that His people might believe (1 Cor. 2:14). Interpretation is accurately explaining both what the author is saying and what he is saying about what he is saying! G. APPLICATION: God s people are expected to be DOERS of this Word, not merely readers or hearers (James 1:22-25). H. COMMUNICATION: God s people are expected to communicate the truths of this Word as ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-19). So that s how the Bible came to us. And you can do your own in depth study on any part of the process if you d like to know more. 6
iv Now let me give you 10 compelling reasons why you should believe the Bible: You should believe the Bible because of: 1) It s honesty. v The Bible is brutally honest. It shows Jacob the father of its chosen people to be a deceiver. It describes Moses, the lawgiver, as an insecure / reluctant leader who even killed a man and ran for his life into the desert. 7
It includes all the dirt on every character man or woman. It sugarcoats NOTHING. The Bible (check this out) even included a prostitute / and a woman who pretended to be a prostitute in the lineage of Jesus. Moreover, at one point, the Scriptures accuse the people of God (the nation of Israel) as being so godless that they made Sodom and Gomorrah look good by comparison (Ez 16:42-52). Explore God s Word and you ll see: The Bible represents human nature as hostile to God. 8
It predicts a future full of trouble. It teaches that the road to heaven is narrow and the way to hell is wide. Scripture was clearly not written to appease or tickle people s ears. In that way its honesty speaks to its credibility / reliability. vi The 2 nd reason to believe the Bible is because of: 2) It s indestructibility. vii The survival of the Bible is mindblowing. 9
One author said: The survival of the Bible through the ages proves the Word of God is the Word of God. You know this but a small percentage of books survive more than twenty years. An even smaller percentage last a hundred years. And only an insignificant fraction represent those which have survived a thousand years. So amid the wreck and ruin of ancient literature the Bible stands out like the last survivor of an otherwise extinct race. viii 10
Moreover, it s fascinating to me that not only has the Bible been the most intensely loved book in the world it s also been the most bitterly hated book in the world. For 2,000 years humanity s hatred of the Bible has been persistent, determined, relentless and murderous. ix Every possible effort has been made to undermine faith in the inspiration and authority of the Bible and innumerable enterprises have tried to make it go away! Historically, imperial edicts have been issued that every known copy of the Bible should be destroyed, and when 11
those measures failed to annihilate God s Word commands were then given to put to death every person found with a copy of the Scriptures. So the fact that the Bible has been singled out for such relentless persecution causes us to speculate that if it s not really special then why not leave it alone. Now the story of the Bible s persecution is an arresting one. During the first three centuries of the Christian era the Roman Emperors tried to destroy God s Word. 12
One of them, named Diocletian, believed that he had succeeded. He had slain so many Christians and destroyed so many Bibles, that when the lovers of the Bible remained quiet for a season (to avoid bloodshed) he assumed that he had destroyed (forever) God s people / God s Word. History tells us he was so elated at this achievement that he ordered a medal to be inscribed with the words, The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods restored. x And today, it is the #1 selling book in the world! xi 13
Amazingly, no other book has provoked such fierce opposition as the Bible, so its preservation is the most startling miracle connected to it. The 3 rd reason to believe the Bible is because of: 3) Its claims for itself. xii It s important to know what the Bible says about itself. 2 Peter 1:21 21 FOR NO PROPHECY WAS EVER PRODUCED BY THE WILL OF MAN, BUT MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. xiii 14
If the Scripture writers had not claimed to speak for God, it would be presumptuous for us to say they did. Moreover if the scripture writers didn t claim to speak for God - we would have a different kind of problem. We would have a collection of unsolved mysteries, embodied in historical and ethical literature. Bottom line: A Bible that did not claim to speak on behalf of God would not have become foundational to the faith of billions of Christians. 15
Yet with so much supporting evidence, the Bible s authors did claim to be inspired by God. And billions have staked their present and eternal wellbeing on those claims! The fourth reason to believe the Bible is because of: 4) ITS MIRACLES. xiv Israel s exodus from Egypt provided a historical basis for believing that God revealed Himself to Israel. If the Red Sea did not part as Moses said it did, the Old Testament loses its authority to speak on behalf of God. 16
The New Testament is just as dependent upon miracles. If Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead, the apostle Paul says that the Christian faith is built on a lie (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). Moreover, to show its credibility, the New Testament named its witnesses, and did so within a time-frame that enabled those claims to be tested (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). And many of the witnesses ended up as martyrs, not for abstract moral convictions but for their claim that Jesus had risen from the dead. 17
Now we know martyrdom is not unusual but the basis on which these people gave their lives is what s important. Right I mean many have died for what they believed to be the truth. But people do not die for what they know to be a lie. The fifth reason to believe the Bible is because of: 5) ITS UNITY. xv Forty different authors writing over a period of 1,500 years penned the 66 books of the Bible. 18
Four hundred silent years separated the 39 books of the Old Testament from the 27 of the New Testament. Yet, from Genesis to Revelation, they tell one unfolding story. Together they give consistent answers to the most important questions: Why are we here? Who is God? How can we be saved? How can we get to heaven? How does the world end? How can we have peace with God and people? xvi 19
The Bible s consistent answers to these questions show that the Scriptures are not many books but one! The sixth reason to believe the Bible is because of: 6) ITS HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ACCURACY. xvii Down through the ages, many have doubted the historical and geographical accuracy of the Bible. Yet modern archaeologists have repeatedly unearthed evidence of the people, places, and cultures described in the Scriptures. 20
Time after time, the descriptions in the biblical record have been shown to be more reliable than the speculations of scholars. Go to Israel and you cannot help but come away impressed with the real geographical and historical backdrop of the biblical text. The seventh reason to believe the Bible is because of: 7) ITS ENDORSEMENT BY CHRIST. xviii Lots of people have spoken well of the Bible, but no endorsement is as compelling as that of Jesus! xix 21
Jesus recommended the Bible not only by His words but by His life. In times of personal temptation, public teaching, and personal suffering, He made it clear that He believed the Old Testament Scriptures were more than a national tradition (Matthew 4:1-11; 5:17-19). He believed the Bible was a book about Himself. To His people He said, 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. xx 22
John 5:39-40 The 8 th reason to believe the Bible is because of: 8) ITS PROPHETIC ACCURACY. xxi 0 From the days of Moses, the Bible predicted events no one wanted to believe. Before Israel went into the Promised Land, Moses predicted that Israel would be unfaithful, that she would lose the land God gave her and that she would be scattered throughout all the world, regathered, and then reestablished (Deuteronomy 28 31). 23
Bottom line: Over 300 prophecies have been fulfilled which is a mathematical miracle. xxii The 9 th reason to believe the Bible is because of: 9) ITS SURVIVAL. xxiii The books of Moses were written 500 years before the earliest Hindu Scriptures. Moses wrote Genesis 2,000 years before Muhammad penned the Koran. During that long history, no other book has been as loved or as hated as the Bible. 24
No other book has been so consistently bought, studied, and quoted as this book. It is still the book by which all other books are measured. While often ignored by those who are uncomfortable with its teachings, it is still the greatest selling book of ALL- TIME! The 10 th reason to believe the Bible is because of: 10) ITS POWER TO CHANGE LIVES. xxiv History is marked by people who have been changed by this book. 25
The Ten Commandments have been a source of moral direction to countless numbers of people. The Psalms of David have offered comfort in times of trouble and loss. Jesus Sermon on the Mount has given millions an antidote for stubborn pride and proud legalism. Paul s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 strengthened marriages and relationships. The changed lives of people like Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Newton, Leo Tolstoy, and C. S. Lewis illustrate the difference the Bible can make. xxv 26
Even entire nations / tribes like the Celts of Ireland, the wild Vikings of Norway or the Auca Indians of Ecuador have been transformed by the Word of God and the unprecedented life and significance of Jesus Christ. So I am not just saying believe the Bible. I am saying there are tons of reasons to believe the Bible is God s Word! 27
28
i When God s people say the Bible is God s Word others literally revolt at the idea. ii Today, let s explore HOW the Bible came to us and WHY we should trust the Bible as God s Word. iii Diagram on screen iv 10 Compelling Reasons to Believe the Bible v 1) Its Honesty. vi Scripture was not written to appease or tickle people s ears. Its honesty speaks to its credibility and reliability. vii 2) Its indestructability viii Amid the wreck and ruin of ancient literature the Bible stands out like the last survivor of an otherwise extinct race. ix For 2,000 years humanity s hatred of the Bible has been persistent, determined, relentless and murderous. x History tells us Diocletian was so elated at his achievement that he ordered a medal to be inscribed with the words, The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods restored. xi The Bible is the #1 selling book in the world! xii 3) Its claims for itself. xiii 2 Peter 1:21 xiv 4) Its miracles. xv 5) Its unity. xvi From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible gives consistent answers to the most important questions Why are we here? Who is God? How can we be saved? How can we get to heaven? How does the world end? How can we have peace with God and people? xvii 6) Its historical and geographical accuracy. xviii 7) Its endorsement by Christ. xix Lots of people have spoken well of the Bible, but no endorsement is as compelling as that of Jesus! xx John 5:39-40 xxi 8) Its prophetic accuracy. xxii Over 300 prophecies have been fulfilled which is a mathematical miracle. xxiii 9) Its survival. 29
xxiv 10) Its power to change lives. xxv The changed lives of people like Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Newton, Leo Tolstoy, and C. S. Lewis illustrate the difference the Bible can make. 30