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II Timothy 3:16,17 – All
scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 17 That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Sola Scriptura and listening to the message by Steve Woods (a converted
Presbyterian to Catholicism. I listened to his message on Sola Scriptura as I
returned from Lexington, Kentucky a while back. I ordered his tape and the study
guide that went along with it.
His message:
Protestants do not have all the Bible – Catholics have all 73 books,
which include the A-poc-ry-phal. Deu-ter-o-ca-non-i-cal is the Catholic term
for these additional seven books.
He constantly cast doubt on the Bible, claiming the apostles did not
write down all they preached, therefore there are more inspired words than
is recorded in the Bible.
The short of his message is that God gave his inspired word to the Jews
in the Old Testament, then to the Catholic Church, who decided what is
canonical.
The Catholic Church believes the apostles received the Word of God when
the Jews rejected Christ, and that the apostles passed the gift of receiving
the Word of God to bishops, who are priests. (The pope is also a bishop –
a high ranking bishop.)
Today, the pope declares the inspired Word of God when he sits as pope.
Therefore it is right to follow the teachings of the Bible, but it is
more right to follow the teachings of the Bible plus the popes and the
writings of the fathers. (What he never mentions is that the fathers often
disagree with one another.
Notice our text: All scripture is given by inspiration of God. There
are words that are not inspired, and there are inspired words.
Notice II Timothy 3:15 – The scriptures (Old Testament) are the verses that
teach us how to be saved. The Old Testament speaks about Christ, who is to come.
Old Testament written by the prophets and the New Testament written by the
Apostles.
II Peter 3:1-2 - This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in
both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be
mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the
commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
Hebrews 1:1,2 – God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds;
Notice II Peter 1:19-21 - We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For 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. Don’t forget chapter 2 –
which speaks about false prophets then, and false prophets now.
John 1:1-5, verse 14 – The Bible is the Word of God – and the Word of God
is Jesus Christ.
How did we get the Word of God?
Romans 3:1,2 - What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is
there of circumcision? 2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them
were committed the oracles of God. God gave the Word of God to the Jews,
who were supposed to protect the Word, live by the Word and pass the Word
along. They did not do any of these things, but made up their own laws
instead.
Acts 7:38 - This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with
the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who
received the lively oracles to give unto us: The word
"oracles" speaks of the Word of God – the law of God – which
is given to Israel.
Isaiah 22:22 - And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his
shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none
shall open.
Luke 11:52 - Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of
knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye
hindered. God had given the key of the Kingdom of God to the Jews, but
they rejected Christ, and inserted their own rules and standards in place of
the laws of God; therefore Christ rejected them, telling them they hinder
people from entering into the kingdom. The keys of the kingdom and the
Spirit of God are linked together. When the Holy Spirit of God left Israel
(and they saw it go) that was a symbol of Israel losing the power, peace and
strength of God.
Matthew 16:19 - And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus promises to take the keys away from Israel and give the keys of the
kingdom to his church. When Christ promised the comforter to his church,
that was linked to the keys of the kingdom.
John 20:19-23 – Jesus breathes on the church and they receive the
comforter and the keys of the kingdom.
Acts 2 – on the Day of Pentecost the external manifestation of the Holy
Spirit presence is with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I Peter 4:11 – If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of
God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth:
that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be
praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Today, we are to preach the
oracles of God, not what we think is so.
PROOF OF DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
THROUGH FACTS, BIBLE CONSTRUCTION, AND PROPHECY
MALACHI 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
We believe that the most fundamental of all doctrines is the doctrine that
the Bible is God’s divinely inspired word. If you do not accept the Bible,
then you will also reject its teachings. If you think the Bible is merely the
work of men, then you’ll put no more confidence in it than you would in any
other good book. You are wasting your time using the Bible to prove a point to a
man who doesn’t believe the Bible to begin with. In this lesson, we shall
endeavor to prove the Bible is God’s Word without appealing to the statements
it makes as to its own authenticity. We use this text (prove me now herewith)
because you can prove the Bible is truly God’s Holy Word.
I. Examination of two aspects of the Bible will show you
it is not man’s. but God’s book:
A. There are proven facts which show the Bible could not be man’s
product:
1. The circumstances under which the Bible came about are almost
unbelievable-.
Written by about 40 different men over a 1600 year period from B.
C.1492 to 100 A.D. These writers include:
Moses
Joshua
Samuel
Ezra
David
Sons of Kohath
Asaph
Heman the Ezrahite
Haggai
Zechariah
Hezekiah
Ezra
Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
Nebuchadnezzar
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John the apostle
Paul
James
Peter
John of Revelation
Jude
The writers were from all walks of life:
(1) Kings as David and Solomon.
Statesman as Daniel and Nehemiah.
Priests as Ezra.
(4) Educated men as Moses and Paul.
Uneducated men as Peter, James, and John.
A Herdsman named Amos.
A Tax collector named Matthew.
A Medical Doctor named Luke.
(9) Mighty Seers as Isaiah, Jeremiah.
These men were from different lands:
The wilderness of Sinai - Moses.
The cliffs of Arabia.
The hills and towns of Palestine.
In Shushan in Persia.
(5) By the River Chebar in Babylon.
In the dungeons of Rome and Asia Minor.
On the lonely Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.
These men wrote with no intention of producing a part of a book as the
Bible and were often not aware that others were writing.
e. Yet, in spite of these unusual circumstances, they wrote a book that
is consistent with itself and has never been proven in error.
The construction of the Bible attests to its validity:
a. The Bible is many books in one.
(1) The Bible is actually composed of 66 separate and independent
books in two divisions.
(2) Each of these books has its own theme and analysis.
b. Yet, each book is essential to the complete understanding of the
Bible:
(1) No book of the Bible may be thoroughly understood without all the
others.
(2) The Bible is so interrelated that every book, chapter, verse, and
even punctuation is essential to understanding the whole.
In spite of this arrangement which seemingly would surely produce an
incoherent mess, no other book is more harmonious than the Bible:
(1) Like a great jigsaw puzzle, each piece fits into the whole.
This one book made up of these 66 books:
(a) Forms one continuous story (humanity in relation to God).
(b) Has one great theme (the person & work of Christ).
3. The scope of subject matter covered in the Bible makes it a
book alone in a class of its own:
a. No other book covers with such detail such a broad subject:
(1) The Bible is a history from eternity before the creation to
eternity after time and all in between.
(2) The Bible tells the human story from beginning to ending.
(3) The Bible traces a nation (Israel) from beginning to ending.
(4) The Bible describes the earth from stem to stern.
(5) Only the Bible describes sin, Satan, God, and gives redemption.
b. All of this plus much more is found in the Bible, yet the Bible is a
relatively small book:
Many accounts of WWI alone far exceed the size of the Bible.
(2) And many larger books tell far less than the Bible.
4. Now, when you begin to look at the facts alone, it grows ever more
obvious that the Bible is not a mere coincidence; nor could it have come
to be the work that it is except that some great power (we believe God) was
directing it.
B. The prophecies of the Bible are undeniable proof that the Bible
is the work of God; not man:
1. Let me show you that not every prediction is a prophecy. There are at
least five requirements for legitimate prophecy:
It must be made known prior to its fulfillment.
It must be beyond all human foresight.
c. It must give details; not be just general and ambiguous.
d. A sufficient time must elapse between its publication and its
fulfillment to exclude the prophet or any interested party from fulfilling
it.
e. There must be a clear and evident fulfillment of the
prophecy.
The Bible truly is a book of prophecy:
Either by type, symbol, or direct statement, about 2/3 of all
scriptures are prophetic.
The Bible hazards the most unlikely predictions concerning the future;
and when the centuries have brought about the appointed time, records
their fulfillment.
3. Consistent accurate prophecy is beyond the ability of man:
a. Man can hazard enough guesses and sooner or later he may get one or
two right, but he certainly can never get them 100% right.
b. Thus, if we find a book of prophecies, all 100% right, then we know
that book had to be produced by somebody far greater than a man.
Now let us consider a few of the Bible prophecies:
a. Gen. 6:14-17 predicted a great flood would come and cover the
whole earth. Gen. 7:10-24 shows it did. Science today admits that
at one time, every inch of this earth was covered with water. (Consider
the animals in caves with grass in their lungs.)
Gen. 1 7:2-6 gives unlikely prophecies of Abraham which have come
true,
Gen. 50:24-26 says that Joseph’s bones would leave Egypt.
Ex.12:31-40 fulfilled it. Joshua 24:32 declares the bones of Joseph were
brought up from Egypt.
Is. 44:28-45:4 of Cyrus the Persian 2OO years before he was born.
Fulfilled in Daniel 5:30-31 and Daniel 6:1 when Darius the Mede was placed
over the kingdom of Babylon. II Chronicles 36:22.
e. Jer. 34:3. The impossible prediction that Zedekiah would see the
King of Babylon, yet would never see Babylon though he’d go there. Only
God could have known his eyes would be put out, II Kings 25:6-7.
f. Is. 23:1-18 The destruction of Tyre - a fact today.
g. Over 3500 years before man admitted it with the telescope, God said
the stars are too many to number Gen. 15:5.
h. Over 2200 years before Columbus proved it, God said the earth is a
sphere in Is. 40:22. Who, but God, could have known?
i. The prophecies about Christ’s first appearance alone are
sufficient to show the Bible cannot be man’s product:
(1) During the 24 hour period ending with Christ’s burial, at least
25 specific predictions about him were fulfilled:
(a) Such specific occurrences as His betrayal for 30 pieces of
silver (Zech. 11:12), desertion by his disciples (Zech. 13:7), none of
His bones to be broken (Ps. 34:20), that He’d be buried in a rich
man’s tomb (Is. 53:9) etc. were foretold. They were foretold by
numerous prophets over a period ending 500 years before Christ’s
crucifixion.
(b) To give you some idea of how slim the chances were that these
predictions would all be fulfilled, consider:
(i) If I predict an earth quake in Houston next year, by the law
of compound probabilities, the chances are one in two that it
will occur. If I say it will be on Easter, the chances are 1 in 4.
Each time I add another detail, the chances against it double: 1 in
2, 1 in 4, 1 in 8, 1 in 16, etc.
(ii) Applying this mathematical principle to the day Christ died,
the chances were 33,554,432 against 1 that the 25 prophecies would
be fulfilled.
(2) During His lifetime, Christ fulfilled every prophecy concerning
His first coming (109 total):
(a) The chances were 1 in billions that He’d do it, yet He did.
(b) Yet, there are skeptics who say man wrote these prophecies.
Doesn’t it stretch your imagination to believe that?
5. If the chances are 1 in billions that the prophecies, concerning
Christ would be all fulfilled, what would the chances be that these, plus
the hundreds on other subjects which have been fulfilled, would all come
true?
a. If we could successfully prove the Bible in even one error, it would
be different. But, we can’t; not in the slightest way.
b. When you consider that this is literally history written in advance,
written with absolute accuracy, and that man can’t even equal the job
once an event has occurred, you must admit that the Bible truly is a
phenomenal book.
Now compare these facts and figures with man’s greatest intellect.
A. Suppose 40 men, some learned and some ignorant, many different lands,
from many walks of life should unbeknown to each other, and with no one to
initiate-- or coordinate the project, write 66 books over a 1600 year
period:
1. Do you suppose there would be any sense to it at all if all these
books were compiled into one book?
2. If they were all of a medical nature, do you suppose you could doctor
a sick cow (let alone man) by it?
B. Suppose a group of our greatest intellects today should sit down to
predict the events of the next 500 years:
1. Do you suppose they correctly could name coming countries, presidents,
wars, etc.?
Do you suppose that if they made 100 predictions, they’d get even 10%
absolutely correct?
C. If the Bible is such a simple book, and no more than other leading
books, and we are so much smarter and civilized than the Bible writers were,
then why don’t some of our "brains" produce a work equal to
the Bible?
D. By way of comparison we must admit man today is no where near
intelligent enough to produce a work equal to the Bible, nor is there another
work on earth that can touch the hem of its garment.
What then are the only logical conclusions which can be drawn?
A. If man is at best nowhere near capable of producing a document similar
to the Bible, then why think man produced the Bible?
How could man produce what he is incapable of producing?
If man couldn’t produce it, it is safe to conclude he didn’t.
B. If man didn’t produce it, then who else except the God of the
Bible did?
By the laws of plain logic, what other conclusion could possibly be
drawn?
Our conclusion is unequivocally that the Bible is the divinely
inspired Word of almighty God.
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