Story about someone who relied on another person’s word and
the person was wrong.
Turn with me to 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 “ALL SCRIPTURE IS
GOD-BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING,
CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, SO THAT THE
MAN OF GOD MAY BE THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY
GOOD WORK. I want you to look at that WORD USEFUL (ΦΕΛΙΜΟΣ;
ŌPHELIMOS): PROFITABLE, VALUABLE, RELIABLE.
PROVERBS 30:5 “EVERY WORD OF GOD IS FLAWLESS; HE
IS A SHIELD TO THOSE WHO TAKE REFUGE IN HIM.” Notice that
there is no real distinction between God’s word and God’s person.
BECAUSE HE IS FLAWLESS, HIS WORD IS FLAWLESS.
ISAIAH 40:8 THE GRASS WITHERS AND THE FLOWERS
FALL, BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER.”
The Bible itself leaves no room for the notion that is NOT
reliable; that it is NOT trustworthy; that it is not accurate.
THE BIBLE IS THE ULTIMATE BASIS FOR FAITH AND
LIVING.
But let’s drill down a bit more. What other evidence is there to help us
answer the question: “How can we trust the Bible?”
1. IT IS HISTORICALLY ACCURATE: IT HAS NEVER BEEN
DISPROVED.
COSMOLOGY
GENESIS 1:1 “IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED THE
HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.”
That word HEAVENS (SHAMAYIM): 1) THE SKY; 2) PLACE
WHERE MOON & STARS ARE; 3) ABODE OF GOD That’s everything,
right? That’s what we call the universe. And you recognize what
universe means, don’t you? Uni-one; verse-statement. The word
universe points to this one verse: In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth.
Notice that the Bible says that there was a beginning. When I
was going through high school and college, the standard secular
explanation for the existence of the universe was that it always had
been; that it had no beginning.
But then a new idea began to get some traction. It had been
proposed back in the 1920s and 1930s, but the scientific community was
locked into their assumption that the universe had no beginning. Just
always had been. This new hypothesis became known as the Big Bang
Theory. The overall framework of the big bang theory came out of
solutions to Einstein's general relativity field equations and remains
unchanged, but various details of the theory are still being modified
today. Einstein himself initially believed that the universe was static.
When his equations seemed to imply that the universe was expanding or
contracting, Einstein added a constant term to cancel out the expansion
or contraction of the universe. When the expansion of the universe was
later discovered, Einstein stated that introducing this "cosmological
constant" had been a mistake. Singularity illustration (ON SCREEN).
It hypothesized that the universe began as one hot, dense state, called
singularity, and that it has been expanding ever since. Scientists
estimate that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. They NOW say that
there was a beginning. Sound familiar?
ARCHEOLOGY
Sodom and Gomorrah GENESIS 19:24-25 tells of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: “THEN THE LORD RAINED
DOWN BURNING SULFUR ON SODOM AND GOMORRAH—FROM
THE LORD OUT OF THE HEAVENS. THUS HE OVERTHREW THOSE
CITIES AND THE ENTIRE PLAIN, INCLUDING ALL THOSE LIVING IN
THE CITIES—AND ALSO THE VEGETATION IN THE LAND.” For
years, secular archeologists said there was no Sodom or Gomorrah.
But recent discoveries have located them. Buildings were discovered
that had burned by fire starting on the roof first. Scientists now concede
that a geological fault line in the area could have erupted, shooting
bitumen up in the air. With such pressures, it could have exploded,
raining down brimstone onto the two cities. Bitumen is plentiful in the
area and there is evidence that layers of sedimentary rock have been
molded together by intense heat.
Jericho Again, secular archeologists for decades contended
there was no archeological evidence for ancient Jericho being in
existence at the time Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho. But that changed
with modern archeological digs. Picture of Jericho dig site (on screen).
Time magazine did a story in March, 1990: “KENYON’S
(Kathleen, secular archeologist) DISCOVERIES AT JERICHO WERE
LARGELY CONSISTENT WITH THE BIBLE STORY. FOR ONE THING,
SHE FOUND THAT THE CITY’S WALLS HAD FALLEN IN A WAY
SUGGESTIVE OF SUDDEN COLLAPSE. . . . MOREOVER, KENYON
FOUND BUSHELS OF GRAIN ON THE SITE. THAT IS CONSISTENT
WITH THE BIBLE’S ASSERTIONS THAT JERICHO WAS
CONQUERED QUICKLY.” Philistine cities
The Bible mentions five Philistine cities: Ekron, Gaza, Askelon,
Ashdod, and Gath. For decades, secular archeologists contended the
Bible was not reliable because these cities did not exist. Well guess
what? They found them! An Associated Press article says,
“Archeologists uncovered a stone block inscribed with the name of the
biblical city Ekron and its kings, the 1st conclusive evidence of the
Philistine city, which was burned more than 2,500 years ago. . . . The
find confirms written accounts of Ekron and its kings, archeologist
Seymour Gitin said yesterday.” Assoc. Press
I could go on all day citing recent archeological findings that
prove, not disprove, the Bible.
LITERATURE
OLD TESTAMENT SCRIBING
1. SCRIBES WERE TRAINED UNTIL THEY WERE 30 YEARS
OLD
2. EACH LETTER OF THE SCROLL WAS VISUALLY
CONFIRMED, ONE BY ONE WITH THE MASTER SCROLL.
3. A THREAD WAS OFTEN PLACED BETWEEN THE
LETTERS TO ENSURE SEPARATION AND ACCURACY.
4. EACH LETTER IN EACH SCROLL WAS COUNTED, AND
THE COUNT WAS COMPARED TO THE MASTER SCROLL.
5. EACH WORD IN THE SCROLL WAS COUNTED AND
COMPARED TO THE MASTER SCROLL.
6. THE MIDDLE LETTER IN EACH ENTIRE COPIED SCROLL
WAS LOCATED AND COMPARED TO THE MASTER.
7. IF A SINGLE MISTAKE WAS FOUND, THE SCROLL WAS
DESTROYED.
The Bibliographical Test: process by which scholars evaluate
current copies of ancient writings and test them for reliability. So if you
have 2 copies of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, written 400 years ago,
and your 2 copies are 300 years old and 100 years old, which one do
you think is more reliable? The one 300 years old because it is closer to
the date of the original text.
TABLE
AUTHOR TEXT DATE EARLIEST GAP # OF COPIES
WRITTEN COPIES
HOMER ILLIAD 800 B.C. C.400 B.C. 400 YRS 643
PLATO 400 B.C. C.900 A.D. 1300 YRS 7
CAESAR GALLIC WARS 100-44 B.C. C.900 A.D. 1000 YRS 10
NEW TESTAMENT 50-100 A.D. C.114 <50 YRS 5,366
LUKE 1:3-4 “THEREFORE, SINCE I MYSELF HAVE CAREFULLY
INVESTIGATED EVERYTHING FROM THE BEGINNING, IT SEEMED
GOOD ALSO TO ME TO WRITE AN ORDERLY ACCOUNT FOR YOU,
MOST EXCELLENT THEOPHILUS, SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW THE
CERTAINTY OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT.”
2. IT’S MATHEMATICALLY CERTAIN
This is a picture of the Barringer Crater (ON SCREEN) in the
desert of Arizona.
Did anyone see this to verify it is the result of a meteor hitting the earth?
The process of scientific discovery involves the development of hypotheses, tentative
explanations which may or may not account for the observable facts. A good scientific
hypothesis will generate a number of logical consequences or predictions, which are
capable of being tested directly. Ultimately, the hypothesis will be accepted as valid only if:
• repeated tests of these predictions, by different investigators, tend to confirm it;
• it is consistent with other well-confirmed hypotheses;
• it is more useful than other hypotheses in accounting for a broad range of observed
facts; and
• it is more economical or "elegant" than other hypotheses, in the sense of requiring
fewer additional assumptions.
If something approaches the certainty of 10 to the 20th power, a 10 with
20 zeroes after it, scientists consider it virtually certain. Keep that in
mind.
Depending on who is talking there are between 200 and 800
Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament. Here are just a few:
BETRAYED BY A FRIEND PSALM 41:9 (ON SCREEN)
SOLD FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER ZECHARIAH 11:12 (ON
SCREEN)
PRICE GIVEN FOR A POTTERS FIELD ZECHARIAH 11:13 (ON
SCREEN)
ACCUSED BY FALSE WITNESSES PSALM 35:11 (ON SCREEN)
DESCRIPTION OF DEATH PSALM 22:1, 6-8; 12-18 (SCREEN)
Remember I said in the scientific world 10 to the 28th is virtual
certainty? When we examine the prophecies of Jesus, IF JUST 48 OF
THE 456 PROPHESIES CONCERNING JESUS AS THE MESSIAH
WERE TRUE, THE PROBABILITY WOULD BE 10 TO THE 157TH
POWER!
3. IT’S SINGULARLY UNIQUE.
No other sacred writing, whether you talk about the Koran of
Islam, or the Four Vedas of Hinduism, or the Tao de Ching of Taoism--
rise the level of breadth of authorship and unity of purpose as does the
Bible.
One God, God seeking relationship, redemptive love,
sovereign, sin, justice.
It was written over 1500 year span, over 40 generations by 40
different authors from every walk of life: shepherds, soldiers, scholars,
statesmen, slaves, masters, fishermen, and financiers. It was written
from a variety of places from the wilderness, a palace, a dungeon, a
prison, in Israel and in exile. It is written in 3 languages, and yet it is
simply declared the word of God. They were, as we saw last week,
“MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY
THE HOLY SPIRIT.” 2 PETER 1:21
4. IT’S LIFE-CHANGING
Prophets were put to death, swearing that they were speaking
the word of God.
Disciples were martyred for insisting they had seen the
resurrected Christ.
Missionaries have willingly given their lives for the cause of its
message.
Believers down through the ages have experienced first hand the
life-changing power of its truths.
John Simmons story
Invitation
