The Word of God

The Greatest Book ever

My life was changed by reading books

In them is knowledge

Knowledge is power: God said His people perish for lack of it

I learned the power of reading for knowledge as a young adult

Dictionary, handbook

Encyclopedia

Self help books, how to manuals

Insurance, securities, Real Estate, mechanical, electrical, computers, software

Databases, research, the amazing power of reading!

Then, I came to a crisis that none of these books could solve: the temporal nature of life and its fragility

I turned to the bible, as I had so many other books; seeking “how to”

I found it to be unlike any other book on earth.

The Bible is the Word of God

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

The Bible is the Word of God

The Greatest Question of All about the Bible:

Is the Bible really the Word of God?

There are many unlearned people who dispute it

Even some Christian ministers now question it

if not, we are wasting our time

If the bible is not the true Word of the Living God, then it would be of no value at all

If so, nothing else even compares in importance

We Believe the Bible to be the Verbally Inspired Word of God

Why?

Because of its Unity and Perfection

What a great library it is!

Over 40 different authors

Writing over a period of 1600 years

All agreeing on one central theme

Compared to any other literature, it is a giant

The great classics shrink beside it

The books of the cults do not compare to it

the koran, the gita, etc.

No contradictions in itself. It is always right

There is a tension between faith and unbelief, between good and evil.

Romans 11:33 NKJV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Romans 11:23–33 NKJV

23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Romans 11:15–23 NKJV

15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

Romans 11:22–23 NKJV

22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

Because of its fulfilled Prophecy

The many hundreds of prophecies

The empires of Daniel’s prophecy

The Babylonian, The Persian, The Greek and Roman empires.

The return of Israel and subsequent dispersion

this alone is of incomparable importance

The details and magnificence if this event would be completely impossible to stage

Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ

His birth ()

The place of His birth ()

His rejection and death ()

is

Isaiah 53:1–9 NKJV

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Isaiah 53:3–5 NKJV

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Prophecies concerning the last days

, Thes., 2 Peter, etc.

The falling away from the faith, the increase of knowledge, the carnality of man, the attack on cash, the rise of Russia (,) , the increase in travel and its ease, the rise of false science,and so much more.

The return of the Jews to their homeland ()

Ezekiel 37:21 NKJV

21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

Ezekiel 37:1–25 NKJV

1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ” 15 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. 18 “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 24 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

Because of its Scientific Accuracy

The Bible is not primarily a book of science

Yet when it speaks on a scientific fact, it is right

The creation of man (; )

Genesis 2:7 NKJV

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Life in the blood ()

Leviticus 17:11 NKJV

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

The roundness of the earth ()

Isaiah 40:22 NKJV

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

The earth in space ()

Job 26:7 NKJV

7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.

The rotation of the earth ()

luk17.34+-

Luke 17:34–36 NKJV

34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”

Because its Accuracy is guaranteed by Jesus Christ

“Heaven and earth may pass away but my words shall not pass away” ()

“The scripture cannot be broken” ()

John 10:35 NKJV

35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

“The scriptures must be fulfilled” ()

Mark 14:49 NKJV

49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

“Things men disbelieve in the Bible are confirmed by Christ

The creation ()

Matthew 19:4 NKJV

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’

Noah (

Matthew 24:37–39 NKJV

37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

c. Sodom ()

Luke 17:29 NKJV

29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

luk17

d. Jonah ()

Matthew 12:39 NKJV

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matthew 12:39–40 NKJV

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:39–41 NKJV

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 12:39–40 NKJV

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Because it Works

1. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved” ()

2. A new creature ()

2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Last night a number of youth got up and gave unsolicited testimony, of how Jesus changed their lives

Profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (, )

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV

16 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2tim

Let the Word Work in You

Too many people are trying to be Christians based on “feeling”

Without God’s Word, we will learn to equate our feelings with the Spirit’s leading.

Turn it Loose in Life

be radically transformed by its power and direction

Respond to its Teaching

Let God be true and every man a liar!

You will never be the same!