RoparnaThe Word of God – Can the Bible be trusted?
Puprose: To show that the Bible is trustworthy.
Focus: The Bible is the Word of God to our souls.
Introduction
The Bible is actually 66 books, written in three different languages by 40 authors on three continents during a period of 1500 years. It makes huge claims about itself. Are there intelligent reasons to believe these claims?
We will begin to look at some of the extraordinary claims that the Bible makes…
2 Tim 3:16
How much of the Bible is said to be inspired by God?
Let’s look at another one…
2 Pet 1:21
How did the Bible come about? (v.19-20) Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary proof. IE: Claim to have a million €. IE: Write a book. Why should we believe these claims?
Let us find out what evidence Jesus gave…
John 14:29
Why does Jesus predict the future? Jesus wants our faith to rest on evidence. He doesn’t want us to have a blind faith.
We see the same thing in the OT…
Isa 41:21-23
What proof does God ask for from someone that claims to be a god? Only a supernatural being, who is above time, can know the future. If the Bible accurately can predict the future, there is not only a God, but the Bible is inspired by this God. IE: Bible = 30 % prophecy.
Let’s look at one of the prophecies…
Dan 2:1-5, 10-13
Background: Babylon, 600 BC. Israelites are captive in Babylon. Daniel is one of them. How does king Nebuchadnezzar react to his dream?
We read on…
Dan 2:14-19
What does Daniel and his friends do? When does God answer Daniel?
Daniels goes in before the king to tell the message…
Dan 2:26-28
Who does Daniel give the glory to? What is the dream about? (v.29)
Let’s read the dream…
Dan 2:31-35
What did the king see? What metals were present? What happened with the statue? (Draw the statue). IE: Different interpretations, how can we know? Let the Bible explain itself.
What does this statue mean?
Dan 2:36-40
What do the metals represent? Whose kingdom is the head of gold? (v.38) What kingdom would come after Babylon? (Dan 5:28) Which is the third kingdom that would reign over all the earth? (Dan 8:20-21) What empire would come after the bronze kingdom? (John 11:48)
What does the feet represent?
Dan 2:41-43
What kind of kingdom do the feet represent? What kingdom conquered Rome? How many parts was it divided into? Have people ever succeeded in uniting the divided Roman Empire? Have they tried? 2500+ years of political history is correctly predicted!
What about the stone that struck the image?
Dan 2:44-45
Whose kingdom does the rock represent?
Appeal
[Skeptic]: I won’t pretend that I have answered all of your questions. But do you see from what we have studied today, that there are intelligent reasons for why people choose to believe the Bible? Is it your desire to learn more about this book, and continue to study what it says?
[Christian]: So many people own a Bible and profess to believe it, but very few actually read and study it. Is it your desire to continue to study the Bible together so that we may grow in grace and be ready for the Rock (of Ages) when it strikes?
