Are God and His word trustworthy?
1)
Many years ago a man was travelling through southern
2)
It was hot—very hot—and this traveler wanted something
to eat.
3)
He found and stopped at a watermelon stand where he
picked out a watermelon.
4)
He asked the stand owner how much the watermelon cost
and the stand owner said $1.10.
a)
The potential buyer realized that he only had a dollar
with him – not a penny more.
b)
The stand owner said that was okay since he “trusted”
this customer.
5)
The customer said that was a great attitude so he took
the melon.
He also put the dollar back in his pocket and started to leave.
6)
As he started to walk away the stand owner said, “Hey,
wait a minute. Where is the dollar?”
7)
The customer said, “You said you trusted me.”
8)
The stand owner must have stuttered a bit.”
9)
The reality of the situation was that the stand owner
did not really trust the man.
10) The
customer actually said this to the fellow.
He said, “You don’t really trust me.”
11) “You
were going to take a ten cent gamble on my integrity.”
12) Trust
is a very important topic.
a)
It is something that concerns and involves parents and
children.
b)
Trust is important to spouses, employers and employees,
and many is a part of most relationships.
c)
It is also important in the spiritual realm.
d)
In fact, one of the questions we should as is
this: If God exists, is He trustworthy?
e)
If the Bible is the word of God, is it trustworthy?
13) We
live in a world where some say the Bible is not a trustworthy book.
14) It
has been claimed that the scriptures are little more than myth and folk tales.
15) If
this is true, the Bible is not trustworthy.
16) A
very important question for Christians is:
How trustworthy is the word of God?
How fully can God be trusted? If all our
hope is in Him, is God a “sure thing?”
17) People
who have critically looked at the Bible have come to a rather unanimous
conclusion.
18) There
is more evidence to substantiate the Bible as being true than any other ancient
book.
a)
One of the things that used to intrigue me a bit was
going on an archaeological dig.
b)
This is where someone takes a week or more to work with
a team that looks for ancient artifacts.
c)
Suppose we had the opportunity to go on such an
adventure and we found some things.
d)
What if we found 2 artifacts that actually verified
something from the past?
e)
For us 2 artifacts would be impressive proof that
something we have read or heard it is true.
f)
What if instead of 2 artifices we found 20 ancient
items that confirmed we had heard?
g)
20 individual pieces of evidence would be completely
convincing.
19) What
if we didn’t find 20, but found 200? Now
the evidence from digging in the dirt is conclusive.
20) What
if instead of 200 pieces of evidence we found 2,000? We would have more than enough.
21) There
are thousands of items that have
been uncovered that confirm (help prove) the Bible to be true.
22) Archaeology
has helped verify the integrity of the Bible time and time again.
a)
On the 6th of this month someone from here
was kind enough to share an e-mail with me.
b)
This e-mail made mention of a PBS show that is going to
air on Nov. 18 of this year.
c)
As of now the show is to be entitled “The Bible’s
buried secrets.”
d)
This program will contend that some of the things in
the Bible are simply not true.
e)
It will say that Abraham was not a real person. It will say his wife Sarah was not real.
f)
It will claim that the Egyptian Exodus did not happen –
it is myth and fabrication.
23) Our
world creates these types of shows and engages in some very aggressive
promotion.
24) People
should go back and look at the field of archeology.
a)
Digging into the past has left us with conclusive proof
that Abraham and Sarah existed.
b)
People like David really did serve as kings of
c)
Issac and Jacob lived; there really as a
d)
Archaeology has proven that Solomon had a temple and
that
e)
The Old Testament mentions pagan temples and for a time
people thought the Bible was wrong.
f)
Time has passed and archaeologists have found pagan
temples to deities such as Dagon.
g)
Let’s not get facts about the Bible from places like
h)
People from the world may base their religious believes
on what is said in the Enquirer.
i)
This is the wrong type of source to use.
25) A
well known man – William F. Albright—was a well known archaeologist.
a)
This man was a liberal.
He was not a friend to the Bible and Christianity.
b)
The more he studied the Bible and archaeology, he less
liberal he became.
c)
The more he learned, the more
conservative he got.
d)
He came to realize that archaeology goes hand in hand
with the Bible time and time again.
e) God’s word is specific about
many things and people digging in the dirt find confirmation of what is said.
26) If
the Bible corresponds with the findings of archeologists time and time again,
we have a question.
27) Would
these repeated confirmations not suggest that other things in the scripture
would also be true?
28) If
the Bible is right on things such as ancient places leaders, cities, etc, …
29) Might
it not be correct in the other things it describes?
30) This
is a reasonable conclusion and it is a conclusion we should test.
a)
When we look at the Bible we find multiple indications
of it being a true and divine product.
b)
Many times we have heard people read from Isa. 53
before the Lord's Supper.
c)
Have we ever taken the time to carefully examine this
chapter?
d)
There are twelve distinct things (12 prophecies) made
about the Messiah in Isa. 53.
e)
700 years in advance 12 detailed statements were made.
f)
Tonight I want to briefly look at this material.
g)
I will initially start with just the third verse.
31) Verse
3 – READ
a)
Here are many of the predictions. The Messiah was going to be “rejected.”
b)
This is a rather unusual prophecy. We would expect that a Messiah would be
welcomed.
c)
Hundreds of years in advance Isaiah said the chosen one
would be spurned.
d)
By itself this would have been a stunning prophecy;
this is just the first of 12 items.
e)
Item 2: Jesus
would be a “man of sorrows.” This was
literally true.
32) He
sorrowed over the fate of
33) He
sorrowed over those who He said the people were like sheep without a shepherd.
34) Item
3: Jesus would live a life of
suffering. This is another highly
unusual prophecy.
35) We
would expect a Messiah to live well; Jesus said He had no specific place to
call Him.
36) Even
His brothers rejected Him (Jn. 7:5). He
literally lived a life of suffering.
37) Item
4: He was despised by others. Some became disciples and left Him.
38) People
like the Pharisees hated Him so badly the wanted to (and tried to) kill Him.
a)
Items 5 to 12 in this prophecy are found in verses 4-12
– READ
b)
Jesus carried our sorrows; He was to be the savior of
the whole world.
c)
He was to be smitten and afflicted by God. He was to be “pierced” for our
transgressions.
d)
He was to be “wounded for our sins,” “suffer as a
lamb,” and “die with the wicked.”
e)
He would be sinless and pay the price for others.
39) How
do we account for such detailed prophecies and a perfect fulfillment of each?
40) This
is one more proof that the Bible is a divine book.
a)
Jesus could not control these prophecies.
b)
They were in the hands of officials—officials who did
not want Him to appear as the Messiah.
c)
People were trying to prevent Jesus from fulfilling
this Old Testament role.
41) Jesus’
ancestry fits precisely what was needed to be the Messiah.
42) There
was no way He could have manipulated His genealogy.
43) The
time of His birth corresponded exactly to what the Old Testament prophets had
foretold.
44) There
was no way (if He were a mere man) that He could have determined the time of
His birth.
45) Archaeology
as well as prophecy attest to the Bible being
trustworthy book.
46) They
also affirm that God is a trustworthy God. God made promises and He fulfilled each one.
47) A
third type of proof is found in miracles.
a)
Ex. 7 is just one of the places where we read about
miracles.
b)
This is an important chapter because it tells us there
were some who tried to mimick the miracles.
c)
I want to read from Ex. 7 verses 9-12.
d)
These three verses were perplexing to me for almost 20
years.
e)
READ
48) I
was always curious about Pharaoh’s magicians being able to change their staffs
into snakes.
49) Was
the author using figurative language? Did
God help the non-believing magicians?
50) Were
the magicians using some type of trick to change their rods into snakes?
51) At
the first part of this year I finally found what I believe is the key to this
passage.
a)
Some snakes in this part of the world can be held in
such a way where they are paralyzed.
b)
They can be made to actually look like a rod (stick).
c)
When the snake is released, it looks like it changes a
stick becomes a snake.
d)
This is a very good trick that could be done by
virtually anyone who knows how it works.
e)
The last verse that was read brings out a key piece of
information.
f)
Aaron’s rod (serpent) ate all the snakes brought by the
rest of the magicians.
g)
This was not some type of trick; this was an example of
power.
h)
This was a miracle that people saw and could not
explain.
i)
Other miracles were seen by many but could not be
explained.
j)
There were the plagues that came upon the Egyptians but
not the Hebrews.
52) There
was the opening and successful crossing of the
53) There
was the supernatural providing of manna and quall – Ex. 16.
54) The was a miraculous providing of water from a rock, Ex.
17:1-7.
55) There
was the miraculous overthrow of
56) The
sun and the moon stood still (Josh. 10:12-13).
57) There
were supernatural events when Elijah offered a sacrifice (1 Kgs. 18:16-40).
58) A
prophet brought rain and drought (1 Kgs. 17-18).
59) Elisha
was able to make a sunken axehead float (2 Kgs. 6:1-7).
60) The
dead were raised (1 Kgs. 17:17-214).
61) A
fantastic supply of oil was supernaturally given to a widow by Elisha (2 Kgs.
4:1-7).
a)
Naaman was supernaturally cleansed of his leprosy (2
Kgs. 5).
b)
Jesus fed thousands of people on more than one
occasion.
c)
Jesus was killed and His opponents sealed and guarded
the tomb, but the body disappeared.
d)
Jesus and the apostles healed people who had never
walked; they cured the blind.
e)
People who could not hear were healed.
f)
A fig tree was cursed and died in a day.
62) A
wide variety of miracles was given over a period of time of several hundred
years.
63) These
miracles were sometimes set side by side with people who claimed supernatural
power.
64) Tens
of thousands of people saw these things and drew a conclusion: It was the power of God.
65) There
are other proofs to believe the Bible is true, but tonight we put three of them
together.
66) There
are thousands of pieces of evidence from the field of archeology. There is fulfilled prophecy.
67) We
have miracles. Then we have the facts
about how the Bible was assembled.
68) The
Bible has 66 books written by some 40 different authors.
69) There
are about 10 different literary styles in the scripture.
70) The
authors came from diverse backgrounds and span about 1,500 years.
71) One
would expect to find a ton of mistakes, errors and problems with such a book.
72) How
could all these men keep the prophecies, archaeologies, and miracles all lined
up together?
73) Rather
than disunity and error, we find amazing unity and a single story.
74) What
we find allows us to look at the word of God and say it is trustworthy.
75) We
find a document authored by a God who is also trustworthy.
76) In
life there are many things we cannot trust – we can trust the scriptures.
77) This
is why Col. 3:16 says, “let the word of God dwell in your richly.”
78) Timothy
had been “assured” about the reliability of God’s word (2 Tim. 3:14).
79) Prov.
3:5-6 says trust in God with all the heart; acknowledge Him in all our ways.
80) We
can and should have full trust in God and His word.
81) If
we know that God and His word are reliable, are we trusting
Him and the gospel?