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#2 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
BIBLE
Illus.: The French atheist Voltaire was a famous writer who owned his own
printing press in
the 1700s. He did everything he could to disprove the Bible and once
boasted that within
25 years he would have the Bible lodged in a morgue! Within 25 years
Voltaire was in a
morgue having died a miserable death. Ironically, the Geneva Bible
Society bought
Voltaire's property and press for printing the Word of God to be distributed
around the
world.
The Bible was inspired and given by God
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (II Pet. 1:21)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, ..." (II Tim. 3:16)
The Bible will guide us through life .. Psalms 119:105, Thy word is
a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.. Matthew 4:4, (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Bible is the source of truth (Jesus said).. John 17:17,
Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy Word is truth. (II Tim. 2:15 mentions; the [W]ord of truth.) People are searching for
the
truth. The Bible is our Creator's instruction manual on life!
*It is impossible to govern the world without God and the
Bible. (George Washington [USA President])
The Bible is the pathway to find God ...
Romans 10:17, faith [to find
God] cometh by
...the [W]ord of God. The Bible will show us what is
‘missing in life’ ... Hebrews 4:12,
The Word of God is powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword ...and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Side note: After winning three Super Bowls,
[football] quarterback Tom Brady still said, ‘there has got to more to life than
this!’
The Bible is God's Word .. 1 Thessalonians 2:13, When ye received the Word of God ...ye
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word
of God. II Timothy 3:16,
All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine ... for correction,
for instruction in righteousness.
God values it above His own Names.... Psalms 138:2, thou [God] hast magnified thy
[W]ord above all thy name. The Bible is the only
thing Jesus ever quoted (many times).
The Bible was greatly reverenced by the prophets... Jewish scribes
would take a bath &
get a new quill before writing ‘Jehovah’. There are 3800
references in O.T. alone to the
Bible being called the Word of God. The
Bible is the only source of information about;
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Who God is, where we have come from, why we are here, what happens when we
die, the
flood, the Jewish nation, all doctrine, 10 Commandments, God's standards on
all the issues,
i.e.- right & wrong, marriage, children, finances, political matters, the way
to Heaven, etc).
The Bible is the only source of information about Jesus ... Jesus
said, Search the
scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are
they which testify of me,
(John 5:39) ... John 20:31, these [Scriptures]
are written, that ye might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through
his name.
The Bible is more sure than seeing or experiencing something ... 2
Peter 1:18-21, And
this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy
mount.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed.
The Bible has been preserved... Psalms 12:6-7, The words of the LORD are pure
words ...Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from
this generation for
ever. Psalms 119:160, Thy word is true
from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous
judgments endureth for ever.
*In 1948, a young Arab shepherd in Israel found the Dead Sea
Scrolls in a cave while looking for a lost
sheep. Additional findings in ten other caves in the same Qumran region
over the next decade gave the
world a jigsaw puzzle of 100,000 pieces of ancient texts that were the remains
of 870 scrolls representing
all or portions of every book of our Old Testament. These O.T. scrolls
date back hundreds of years before
Christ, and line up exactly word for word with our current King James
Bible! (Masoretic text [Hebrew])
Luke 21:33, (Jesus said) Heaven and earth shall pass
away: but my words shall not pass
away. Millions have died upholding it, preaching it, and
preserving it..
Satan hates the Bible and his first attack was to cast doubt on what God
said ...
Genesis 3:1, He said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said? ...(sounds like scoffers today).
The Bible interprets itself ... 2 Peter 1:20-21, No prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (We
are not to just interpret the
Bible as we please, but compare Scripture with
Scripture - I Cor. 2:13). Example: There
are thing mentioned in the last book of the Bible (Rev. 12:1) that are
interpreted in the first
book of the Bible (Gen. 37:9).
The Bible has always miraculously come to pass (prophecy).
When originally written,
1/3rd of the Bible was prophecy (predictions). Through
hundreds of predictions it has
always been 100% accurate in foretelling the future. 1 Kings 8:56 Blessed be the LORD,
... there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he
promised. Ex.; God
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started the Jewish race 3500 years ago and promised to preserve it for all
time. While
many other races and civilization have been eliminated, the Jews still
survived all
persecution (Babylon, Greece, Rome, Hitler, etc). God predicted the
Jews would go into a
70 year captivity beginning in 606 BC (Jer. 29:10). One hundred years
before King Cyrus
was born, God predicted him by his name and said he would free the Jews from
captivity,
(Isa. 44:28). God drove the Jews from their land in 70 AD for 1900
years. In May of 1948
the Jews returned in a fulfillment of prophecy. Ex.; There are
333 O.T. prophecies about
Jesus; (born of tribe of Judah, lineage of David, born of a virgin in
Bethlehem, Herod seek
to kill, Mary & Joseph flee to Egypt, (Dan. 9, Jesus appears ‘to the day’.. April, 32 AD)..
rejected of the Jews, betrayed by Judas for 30 pc. of silver, His trial, spit
& beat on, gall &
vinegar, cast lots, crucified between 2 thieves, buried in borrowed tomb,
(Illus.: University
study; the odds of fulfilling just 8 of the 333 prophecies ... TX, 3'
silver dollars). Ezekiel
12:25, For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I
shall speak shall come to pass.
The Bible will be there on Judgment Day and we'll be judged out of
it... John 12:48,
(Jesus said) He that ...receiveth not my words, hath one
that judgeth him: the Word that I
have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day... Rev.
20:12, The dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, (there are 66
books to the Bible).
The Bible should never be tampered with ... Revelation 22:18-19, If any man shall add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book [found
in Hell]: And if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God
shall take away his part out of the book of life, (he will not go
into Heaven).
Many will reject the Bible.. II Timothy 4:2-4 Preach the word... For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine; .... And they shall turn away
their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables [religious
tradition, evolution, humanism].
It is dangerous not to believe the Bible .. Hebrews 3:7-8,12, To day
if ye will hear his
voice [speaking from His Word], Harden not
your hearts ... Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.
Accepting the Bible will change your heart and life...
Illus.- Lew Wallace was an
agnostic writer and territorial Governor in the 19th Century.
His best friend Robert
Ingersoll was a famous atheist who continually tried to ‘debunk’ the Bible. While
traveling together through St. Louis and observing all the church steeples, a
disgusted
Ingersoll challenged Wallace to write a book to disprove the Bible and the
life of Christ.
Wallace accepted the challenge and departed to the holy land while studying
the Bible.
Instead of disproving anything, Lew Wallace himself became a devout believer
in the
Bible and went on to write the famous novel; Ben Hur!
[If you would like to continue having this Bible study with
either Pastor Scheving or
someone from the staff of FBC, please call Elaine our secretary at 232-
5500.]
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Go to Lesson #3
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