Sermon Tone Analysis

How can I know The Bible is true?

Introduction:

How do I know The Bible is true?

That question is one of the battle cries of our generation, which is also saying, “Who says I have to obey it?”

Today it is something of a colossal understatement to say that we live in a world that doesn’t respond to authority very well.

In fact, just about the whole culture rebels against authority.

If you doubt it, ask the police.

Ask teachers, coaches, and congressmen.

Ask employers, the Supreme Court, and the President.

Deep in the soul of every person is a streak of rugged individualism (the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant).

We all want things to have our own way, we want to be free and not controlled, and when we grow up, (some want to be our own god) we want to be captains of our soul and masters of our fate.

No, we don’t respond to authority very well at all.

People don’t want to change their lifestyle.

Is it any wonder then that people question the authority of the Bible?

As a minister I can say, “The Bible is the absolute authority for everyone.

It is infallible, inerrant, effective, and absolutely authoritative.

It is the final word on how we should all live our lives.”

The typical response—which can come from Christians as well as non-Christians—is: “How do I know that?

I’m not going to accept what you say unless you show me.”

In other words, we want proof.

What can you say when someone wants you to prove the Bible is true, and that God exists?

see Romans 1.19-20

Five Ways I know the Bible is True.

1. Personal Experience

If I want to play the “prove-the-Bible-is-true” game I start by speaking from my personal experience.

I believe the Bible is true because it gives me the experience that it claims it will give me.

For example,

· The Bible says that God will forgive my sins.

I believe that.

I accepted God’s forgiveness, and it happened.

How do I know?

I have a sense of freedom from guilt.

· The Bible also says that if I come to Christ I will be a “new creation.”

Old things will pass away, and all things will become new.

I believed in Christ one day, and it happened just as the Bible said it would.

Old things did pass away, and all things did become new.

I know, because I experienced it in my own life.

Yes, the Bible really changes lives.

Millions of people—from the greatest heads of state to brilliant educators and scientists, from philosophers and writers to generals and historians who have believed— they could all testify about how the Bible has changed their lives.

Millions of people are living proof that the Bible can put lives together, and keep them that way.

I was studying Moses’ encounter with the Burning Bush.

His life was completely changed

God is.....

2. Fulfilled Prophesies

When God wanted to communicate specific messages, it was not necessary for Him to appear in person.

He also spoke through the mouth of a prophet.

The man of God would open his mouth and say, “Thus says the Lord.”

God would take control of his mind and mouth.

In fact, sometimes in studying the Prophets it is impossible to isolate God from the prophet who spoke.

Moses wrote the first 5 books of the OT.

for example: So This is how it works...

When God commissioned Jeremiah

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Jeremiah (Prophet))

640–587 B.C.

To name a few Fulfilled Prophesy,

Jesus was born in the right place, in the right family and precisely at the right time in history.

Isa 7.14

Hundreds of prophesies have come true with 100% accuracy

The Principle of Probability

3. Archeological Evidence - modern discovery

Pools of Bethesda,

Chariot wheels found in the red sea, King Solomon’s wealth, the existence of the Hittites.

Pontus Pilot inscription

Anklebone with nail.

Dead Sea scroll video –

4. Scientific Evidence - things we did not know until modern discovery

Hydrological cycle.

Rain or snow falls to the ground and runs off into streams, which run into rivers, which run into the sea.

Water evaporates from the surface of the ocean and returns to the clouds, where it becomes rain and snow and falls to the ground again.

The hydrological cycle is a discovery of modern times, but the Bible speaks of it in Isaiah 55:10-11

Isostasy.

Geologists speak of a state called Isostasy, which can be used to describe the balance of the earth as it orbits through space.

Basically the idea behind isostasy is that equal weights are necessary to support equal weights.

Land mass must be balanced equally by water mass.

In order for the earth to remain stable as it spins in orbit, it must be in perfect balance.

But again, the scientists haven’t discovered anything that is significantly new or beyond the Bible.

The prophet Isaiah also wrote that God

The complexity of human life and the body.

The circulatory system – Blood is the life of the flesh;

The human eye.

5. Faith – The Holy Spirit confirm in our hearts

While there are many solid arguments for the authority of Scripture, none of them are of much use if someone doesn’t want to be convinced.

Ultimately this question of the authority of the Scriptures is a matter of faith and not of argument.

You may convince a man intellectually of what you’re saying, but still he may not believe in and accept the authority of the Scripture.

Actually there is only one argument that can prove to us that the Bible is true and authoritative for our lives: the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.

Paul says, that no mind has conceived what God has prepared.

Worldly wisdom can’t know God through the study of objective facts.

The world is in a hopeless state because of sin; but God has a great plan.

The secret to knowing God is loving Him through Jesus Christ.

The human mind does not discover God.

God revealed Himself to the human mind in Christ.

God revealed Himself because He loves us...

John 3:16 (NASB95)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 17:6–8 (NLT)

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world.

They were always yours.

You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me.

They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.