How can anyone trust the bible?

Sam Williamson

Choose Life - Questions of Life • Sermon • Submitted 8 years ago

2 Peter 1:12–21

The Bible’s Authority

Evidence

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The Bible prooves to be trustworthy and reliable

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As many of you know, 4 years ago I was setting up a mission in Lesotho, southern Africa. I had to get permission from the local chief to allow 5 westerners to live and work with the Basotho shepherds high in the remote mountains.

Having hiked the mountains with my trusty translator we were repeatedly told that the Chief was Ntate Morena Mokolobane.

We tracked him down. He loved our idea and was only too pleased to grant permission. He even took us to the police station in the nearest town to report our intentions.

He was convincing, and everyone else was convinced he was the man!

We trusted him. He promised we could live and work in his part of the mountains with the shepherds.

But a few months later, rather a lot happened all in one day, and I’m not sure what it was, but we got the impression he wasn’t able to deliver on the promises he had made.

When I say I’m not sure what it was, I don’t mean I’m not sure how we realised, I mean I don’t know which of the following gave up his game first? Whether it was the real chief shouting ‘you must be terrorists’, or the minister of immigration who took our passports, or the head of military intelligence who thought we were mercenaries not missionaries, or the chief of Police who was making arrangements to put us in jail that night, or the transport police officer who looked like he’d never been allowed to shoot anyone before!

It was a fantastic day for building a treasury of ‘When I was in Africa’ stories, but a terrible day for ‘trust’ in Ntate Morena Mokolobane.

And I suspect, that some of us here today are in a very similar situation - well not literally - but in how we think about the bible.

People around us keep telling us it’s reliable and trustworthy, the real deal, but you don’t want to be naive (like me with the fake chief), and are understandably concerned that it may not deliver on the promises it claims!

A life spent

It seems very far fetched, very… extremist… very well.. very much like some nutters spent too long isolated in a cave and came up with a massive book to confuse the weak and naive.

I’ll grant you, in todays culture, to suggest that there is a God is on the edge already, but then a God who reveals himself in book that claims to hold predictions that stretch into all eternity!

Sounds like a Harry Potter, made up, make believe and fantasy.

Sounds like a Harry Potter book, made up, make belive and fantasy.

So if you’ll allow me, come on a journey for the next 20minutes to discover if the bible can and does deliver on it’s promises, unlike Ntate Morena Mokolobane!

I think it would be fair to say that many Christians don’t put much thought into the reliability or authenticity of the bible. We simply trust God that it is His word, and therefore try to learn from and live by it.

To a modernday observer that may seem rather nieve. Basing our whole life on something that we haven’t investigated factually and scientifically.

But i don’t really have a problem with that. I trust the weatherman without needing to know the science ebhind his interpretation of meterological charts. I trust the M25 sign boards telling me there’s an accident ahead, without having to see the accident myself.

I trust my bank to invest money and give me interest without checking each trade they do.

My point is, we actually trust many many people and many many things without any real proof or eveidnece that something is as they say. What is it that makes us trust these things? Well it’s if they deliver what they promise.

I trust the waether man because ‘give or take’ they consistently deliver what they promise. The M25 matrix signs consistently (not alwasy) deliver what they promise. The bank consistently delivers a tiny bit of interest, so I trust them to keep doing it.

But NONE of that actually prooves anything about whether it is really all true or not.

And we’re going on a journey today to discover if the bible can and does deliver on it’s promises.

Can it actually be trusted?

Is it actaully reliable and full of truth?

Is it really the book it claims tobe? A book that allows us to meet, know, love, follow and live with the Almightly God of creation for all time!

And while it may seem odd to turn to the bible to prove itself, in a sense it’s the only place to begin. If the bible is the actual Word of God, it ought to be able to defend itself.

end up in todays talk about the bible. Along the way, We’re going to do some historical accuracy analysis on the bible - but ultimately, I hope we’re going to see that bible delivers consistently on it’s promises, so much so that it’s more relaible than the weather man, matrix signs and your bank mananger.

You have a few points on your handout to help you follow, and the first is this

If you today have issues with the reliablility of the bible I’d just like us to be straight with each other to start.

Just becasue you may know people that ‘as you see it’ blindly trust the bible, does not in anyway proove that it is not trustworthy.

Just becasue you may have heard a non-Christian say that the bible is unreliable does not in any wayproove that it is unreliable.

But, equally I can’t just stand here and tell you the bible is reliable. What I say doesn’t make anything true or false. So let me try and prove it to you..

1 - Jesus: Clever Stories or Eyewitness Truth?

The book of 2 Peter was written by a chap called, unsurprisingly, Peter. And in this small section he discusses this very issue of the bible’s reliability.

1 Peter 1:16 ESV

since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

2 Peter 1:16 NIV

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Bible written over X years, X No. authors - 1 theme! Can’t happen without a plan! But it wasn’t nutters in a cave.

So, his claim is that the message he, the other preachers of that time and the other writers of the New Testament were not making up ‘cleverly devised stories’ about Jesus being the Saviour of the world - but that they were eyewitnesses of the actual events.

Let’s think about it, Peter says, we did not follow cleverly devised stories - like Harry Potter books.

a: Cleverly devised stories?

I mean think about it.

If the bible didn’t fit together very well, then a case could be made for some nutters trying to piece it all together.

The Bible contains 66 documents. Approximately 40 authors wrote in three different languages over a period of about 1,500 years. Some of the authors were young, some were old; some were professionals, others were peasants; some were soldiers, others were civil servants, fishermen, farmers, or kings. They wrote in wildly different genres: history, population statistics, poetry, travel diaries, law, prophecy, family trees, biography, geographical surveys, architectural blueprints, song lyrics. They wrote in different periods of history, in different geographical locations, to different groups of people. And, it wasn’t like a relay race, with one author handing on the baton to another. Often, the authors wrote centuries apart.

The bible is made up of 66 books by different authors over thousands of years and didn’t fit together very well, then a case could be made for some nutters trying to piece it all together in the 1st century.

But while we don’t have time to read the whole thing now, there really is a strong and united theme throughout.

As a whole, the bible tells how mankind turns it’s back on the creator God through all generations (which we call sin), and how that same rejected God puts in place a loving covenant (or promise) to rescue mankind from themselves, through a Messiah (a chosen one) who we meet in person in the New Testament.

There is masses of content in the bible, but it all revolves around that very simple Big Picture. Either directly predicting or fulfilling that message, or teaching the world how to live in the light of that Big Picture.

Ask me or a Grace church member about any book of the bible and we’ll tell you how it fits into that Big Picture. We might have to do some homework first, but it will fit very comfortably.

That being the case then the way in which the bible is compiled makes the option of it all being a ‘cleverly devised story’ basically impossible.

One commentator summarises it like this (and it’s worth pointing out that these general statistics are not disputed by secular mainstream historians.

The Bible contains 66 documents.

Approximately 40 authors wrote in three different languages over a period of about 1,500 years.

Some of the authors were young, some were old; some were professionals, others were peasants; some were soldiers, others were civil servants, fishermen, farmers, or kings.

They wrote in wildly different genres: history, population statistics, poetry, travel diaries, law, prophecy, family trees, biography, geographical surveys, architectural blueprints, song lyrics.

They wrote in different periods of history, in different geographical locations, to different groups of people.

And It wasn’t even like a relay race, with one author handing on the baton to another. Often, the authors wrote centuries apart.

For me, that’s enough to rule out nutters making up stories in a cave! 1500 years, 40 authors, 66 documents, but one Big Picture traceable through it all.

But let’s think about Peter’s second claim in v16 - that they were eyewitnesses.

Bible written over X years, X No. authors - 1 theme! Can’t happen without a plan! But it wasn’t nutters in a cave.

(quick summary of prophesies fulfilled, 800 contradictions explained, early church father’s referenced every verse in the NT within X years AD, archeology despite trying to discredit the bible keeps getting proved right )

Barry Cooper

b: Eyewitness truth?

If I even made up a little story about the roof blowing off this school during our service today, then no-one would believe me because other people were eyewitnesses to the truth.

There were eyewitnesses to the life, miracles, death and even resurrection of Jesus.

If I even made up a little story about the roof blowing off this school during our service today, then no-one would believe me because other people were eyewitnesses to the truth.

- even if you’re wishing it would right now so you could all go home.

The Bible is divided into two sections: the Old Testament (39 documents, written in Hebrew with a smattering of Aramaic) and the New Testament (27 documents, written in Greek, again with an occasional dash of Aramaic). The documents in the Old Testament were all written before Jesus Christ was born, with the oldest being written about 1500 years BC. The ones in the New Testament were all written after he was born, with the latest being written in about AD 90, roughly 60 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.

You see, while the OT was written over a period of 1000years, there is then a 400 year silence awaiting the messiah as promised.

Now, the NT, made up of 27 documents, was all written within about 60 years of Jesus death and resurrection.

The writers of the NT were eyewitnesses, they met and saw Jesus before and after his resurrection. Not only that but there readers were also often going to have been eyewitnesses or knew eyewitnesses.

The ones in the New Testament were all written after he was born, with the latest being written in about AD 90, roughly 60 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.

Bible written over X years, X No. authors - 1 theme! Can’t happen without a plan! But it wasn’t nutters in a cave.

2 pet 1 16b-

If it was made up then it would have been easily and quickly discredited by eyewitnesses who knew it to be false.

2 Peter 1:16b–18 NIV

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

They witnessed a voice from heaven declare Jesus to be the Son of God! They witnessed miracles, teachings, good things and bad things.

A Doctor alive during these times, called Luke, puts at the beginning of his account:

People witnessed the events and could ratify the accounts of Jesus!

2 Peter 1:16–18 NIV

2 pet 1 16

What%20becomes%20very%20clear%20as%20we%20read%20the%20New%20Testament%20is%20that%20the%20Bible%20documents%20aren%E2%80%99t%20the%20wild-eyed%20delusions%20of%20lone%20religious%20fruitcakes%20who%E2%80%99ve%20spent%20way%20too%20much%20time%20in%20a%20cave.

hundreds if not thousands eywitnessed these accounts..

Luke 1:1–3 NIV

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

luke 1 1 to 3

It is also worth pointing out that there is no secular historical doubt that a man named Jesus existed and was crucified at these time.

But it gets even more convincing than this:

c: I swear on my life - literally!

2 Peter 1:18 NIV

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

1 Peter 1:18 NIV

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,

The NT writers had nothing to gain in terms of money or protection or worldly power. In fact, the reverse was true. They had everything to lose, and they knew it. Peter was imprisoned repeatedly, and was eventually executed for continuing to speak and write as he did.

Many of the NT writers were imprisoned, stoned, persecuted and killed.

There is no doubt that these people and events existed in history.

If it was a made up story they would have only taken their claims so far.

Another NT author, Paul, writes it like this:

1 Corinthians 15:3–6 NIV

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

This letter was circulated while, as he says himself, most those 500 who saw Jesus resurrected, were still alive themselves!

Paul also suffered terribly for his insistence about the reliability of his message

2 Corinthians 11:23–25 ESV

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;

2 Corinthians 11:26–28 ESV

on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

2 Corinthians 11:23–28 NIV

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

2 Corinthians 11:5 ESV

Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

This was a mass movement of eyewitness accounts confirming the same testimony all in the face of persecution and death!

They literally would swear to the resurrection of Jesus with their life!

You decide ‘cleverly devised stories, or eyewitness truth that men and women were prepared to die for.

2 - The Old Testament:

a: Completely reliable?

2 Peter 1:19–21 NIV

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:19 NIV

2 pet 1 19

2 pet 1:19-22

Peter reminds his readers now, that not only are they eyewitnesses prepared to die for what they have seen, but that as we’ve already talked about, these new events that he reports about Jesus are part of that Big Picture of scripture. He calls the OT ‘completely reliable’.

v19 - the message is reliable becasue the HS helped them write it.

Fallible men were not allowed to ‘fall’ becasue the HS stopped them, so that God’s word is infallible.

What gives him that confidence, because it’s basically what we’re asking today?

Is it blind faith, a hunch or actually the intelligent conclusion?

Well, Peter knows the OT is complete reliable because he has seen it’s promises come true. The OT is not Ntate Mokolobane, it is ‘totally reliable.

You can count them later, but for now take my word for it..

You know

There are approximately 2500 predictions and foreshadowings of future events in the bible. Of these, about 2,000 have already been fulfilled. More than 300 predictions refer specifically to Jesus, 29 of which were fulfilled in the final 24 hours before and including his crucifixion.

Peter has just been an eyewitness not only to the physical realities of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, but to 300 promises in the OT coming true in his lifetime.

Now, granted, some of those fulfillments do require faith to believe them. But most of them are very physical, historically provable predictions! Promises that we still can’t deny today.

But many are very physical, historically provable predictions! Promises that we still can’t deny today. Any renowned historian will testify to the historical accuracy of the bible.

b: Promises kept?

The OT is full of promises about God’s messiah, and while you may be able to put 1 or 2 down to coincidence or argue that Jesus was just pretending to be the Messiah because he realised 1 or 2 promises matched his own experience, you cannot explain away 300 promises.

Micah 5:2 NIV

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Fulfilment of prophesy

Before Jesus the man was born into history the OT had already promised, to name but a few:

He would be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5v2

Be born to virgin, Isaiah 7v14

He would spend time in Egypt as a boy, Hosea 11v1

We knew what his family line, (2 name just one)

That he would entre into Jerusalem on a donkey,

That his own town would reject him,

That he would die by crucifixion,

even that his hands and feet would be pierced, Psalm 22

Even small details like the casting of lots of his clothing at his death

and The very words Jesus spoke as he exhaled his last on the cross

‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ -

I don’t know about you, but if Jesus wasn’t who he said, then that is some act to even as he breaths his last, to still be in character!

The OT It of course also predicts His resurrection after his death, and we’ve already considered the 500 plus people who witnessed that event. (Hosea 6,1-3)

Have you ever thought what an amazing thing it is that God ordained beforehand that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem (as the prophecy in shows); and that he so ordained things that when the time came, the Messiah’s mother and legal father were living in Nazareth; and that in order to fulfill his word and bring two little people to Bethlehem that first Christmas, God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus that all the Roman world should be enrolled each in his own town? - Piper

Luke 2:1–5 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Secular archeology is also full of examples of historians finding apparently contradictory evidence that disagrees with the bible, only to have found later non-biblical artefacts that explain the apparent contradiction away - in fact showing the bible to be more accurate and more trusted than many other historical document.

The bibilcal chracter of Belshazzar is a good example. He was the king of Babylon at the time of its fall, as recorded in the book of Daniel. The ancient Greek historians, Xenophon and Herodotus, provide comprehensive histories of the fall of Babylon, but do not supply the name of Belshazzar. During the rise of more critical treatments of the historicity of the Bible, this fuelled scepticism over the historical value of the book of Daniel. Perhaps the book was really the product of a zealous Jewish imagination telling a story three hundred years after the time in which the story was supposed to have been set? Perhaps Belshazzar was a fictional character or just a mistake in the record?

However, an archaeological discovery in 1854 brought Belshazzar to life and also helped in the interpretation of Daniel. It came in the form of a clay cylinder carrying a royal prayer declaring that Belshazzar was a co-regent with King Nabonidus. More than a crown prince, the son of Nabonidus was entrusted with the rule of the kingdom during the king’s ten-year absence. This casts useful light on the words of Belshazzar in . Having convincingly interpreted the appearance of supernatural writing, Daniel’s wisdom is recognized, and he is proclaimed ‘third highest ruler in the kingdom’. Why only third highest? Why not second in command? Belshazzar had no authority to grant Daniel a position higher than third, as he himself was only second in command. King Nabonidus, somewhere out of town, continued to claim the top spot. Today no-one doubts the existence of Belshazzar in Babylon or Hittites in Canaan. 6 Those who doubted the reliability of the biblical text were allowing the absence of evidence to count as evidence of absence. Their doubts have since been dispelled, but the grounds of their doubts were always tenuous. - Confident Chrstianity

We could go on all day with these sorts of examples, but for now that will have todo.

You see, again and again the bible proves to be trustworthy and reliable, just as Peter tells us.

And there is only one explanation for this kind of accuracy, reliability and predictions of the future and Peter gives us that answer as well.

3 - Isn’t God’s the only answer?

2 Peter 1:20–21 NIV

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

v19 - the message is reliable because the HS helped them write it.

Fallible men were not allowed to ‘fall’ (as it were) as they wrote because the HS (God himself) stopped them, so that God’s word is infallible.

It’s a very simple answer if you’re prepared to believe it, but if you’re not, then you’re left with a big problem to explain how you think the bible holds together as one big picture, why men and women suffered and died for something you don’t believe happened and how 2000 prophesies/promises have already come true after they were written about!

2 Peter 1:10–11 NIV

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:1 ESV

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

So, as we move to a close, what should we do now?

2 Peter 1:12–15 NIV

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

To a modernday observer that may seem rather nieve. Basing our whole life on something that we haven’t investigated factually and scientifically.

I want to encourage you that the bible is not intended as a mysterious book that you need to be suspicious and confused about. It is written to answer the very question we’re looking at.

I trust my bank to invest money and give me interest without checking each trade they do.

It is God’s way of consistently and reliably revealing himself to all people for all generations until he returns.

That is why Peter and the others wrote it down, so that we remember these eye witness accounts

SO, what now?..

Much of the NT is specifcally written to ensure we rememeber the life of Jesus accurately and reliabley.

2 pet 1 12

2 Peter 1:12–15 ESV

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

SO, what now?..

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, there is overwhelming evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. Proving that all the promises of the bible ought to be taken seriously.

Meaning God does exist, we have turned out back on him, but he does love us enough to send his Son Jesus to die the death that we deserve. Perfectly dealing with our sin justly, but perfectly restoring us to an eternal relationship with him.

so, you have 3 options:

4 - Our Three Options

1 - Hide

2 - Seek

3 - Find

1 - Hide from the evidence of the most important aspect of human existence. But ignoring or hiding doesn’t prove anything to be false, and if it is all true, you will face the consequences of your ignorance.

2 - Seek more information, join us each week at Grace Church, join our Life Explored course starting on the 20th April. Speak to me or your Christian friends about the good news of Jesus.

3 - Find Jesus as Lord. He did die and take the punishment we deserve before God because he loves us. He is King, Messiah, Lord, King and Friend - and face the glorious consequences of being an adopted child of God Almighty! The bible is trustworthy and reliable, Jesus did rise from the dead to save us.

Or - believe it

There are those 500 promises that haven’t been fulfilled yet. We have evidence of the first 2000 being fulfilled, I think we can trust that those next 500 will… and I know I want to be on the right side of those fulfillments when Christ returns. What about you.

Let me leave the final words to a legal journalist called Lee Strobel who worked for the Chicago Tribute newspaper. He was furious that his wife became a Christian and so set out to historically prove that Jesus did not rise from the dead.

Lee Strobel was a legal journalist for the Chicago Tribute, and after the conversion of his wife he set out to disproove that Jesus rose from the dead.

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t, in fact the evidence was so compelling that he wrote this:

"In short, I didn't become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. Indeed, following him would inevitably bring divine demotions in the eyes of the world. Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved his divinity by rising from the dead. That meant following him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take."

How can anyone trust the bible?

1 - Jesus: Clever Stories or Eyewitness Truth?

1 - Jesus: Clever Stories or Eyewitness Truth?

​

a: Cleverly devised stories?

b: Eyewitness truth?

People witnessed the events and could ratify the accounts of Jesus!

c: I swear on my life - literally!

2 - The Old Testament:

a: Completely reliable?

b: Promises kept?

Fulfilment of prophesy

​

3 - Isn’t God’s the only answer?

​

4 - Our Three Options

1 - Hide

2 - Seek

3 - Find