------------------------------------ [ IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD? ] ------------------------------------ [ 'The Word of God, ] [ which liveth and ] [ abideth for ever.' ] [ _________________ ] [ | | | ] [ | Holy | Bible | ] [ | | | ] [ | KJV | 1769 | ] [ |________|________| ] ------------------------------------ 1. The Bible itself claims to be the inspired Word of God. We read in II Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, ... :" God said to Moses: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, ...." (Deuteronomy 4:2) Paul claims that his very words were given him by God. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (I Corinthians 2:13) Peter tells us the prophets were under the complete control of the Holy Spirit as they wrote. "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 Peter 1:21) The Bible states two? thousand times that it is God's Word. So, explain the moral tone of the Book, if these writers were not what is written of them. 2. The Old Testament was written over 2,000 years ago, yet it contains many scientific facts which were discovered during the last 500 years. Isaiah tells us the earth is a circle, or round (Isaiah 40:22), written 700 B.C. "(22)It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:" Job tells us the earth hangs in space (Job 26:7), 1500 B.C. "(7)He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." Copernicus discovered these two great facts. Before his time, 1475? A.D., all men thought the earth was flat and rested upon some great solid foundation. Job knew there was a great empty space in the North, without a single star. Over 3,000 years later man rediscovered this fact. "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." (Job 26:7) 3. No scientist before Galileo (1630? A.D.) was aware that air had weight, the winds regular circuits, and the clouds were nothing but evaporated water. Yet these facts were in the Scriptures over 2,000 years before Galileo was born. Read Job 28:25[-26], and Ecclesiastes 1:6-7, written 1000 B.C. "(25)To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure." "(6)The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. (7)All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." The Bible tells us messages can be sent by 'lightning' or electricity. Read Job 38:35, written 1500 B.C. "(35)Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?" 'Lightning' is the only? word the Hebrews had for electric currents. And as to the human body, William Harvey, in 1616 A.D., discovered the circulation of blood; and through this discovery he ascertained one of the greatest scientific facts of modern times: viz., that the life of the flesh is in the blood. Now read Leviticus 17:14, (1500 B.C.): "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: ... : for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: ....." 4. The Bible tells us the earth revolves around the sun, the center of gravity of our solar system is in the Pleiades, and the starlight produces musical sounds. The Bible revealed all these facts and many others far in advance of their discovery by the scientists. All these are positive proofs of the Divine authorship of the Scriptures. "(20)Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (21)For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved [inspired] by the Holy Ghost." (II Peter 1:20-21) 5. Thus 'Prophecy' is the great, outstanding, indisputable proof of the Divine origin of the Bible. A large part of the Bible is prophecy, that is, prediction of future events; and, everything that has been predicted in the Bible, up to the present time, has come to pass exactly as foretold in Scripture. Centuries, even, before Christ, we find page after page tells of His first coming, while in the social world today one sees the signs of Christ's second coming, which were predicted in the Bible over 1800 years ago. The following signs, or indications, show the return of the Lord is near. 6. The sure signals are: rapid traveling (Daniel 12:4); increased knowledge (Daniel 12:4); the automobile (Nahum 2:3-4); the airplane (Isaiah 31:5, 60:8); Israel returning to Palestine (Ezekiel 36:11-36; Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 30:3); the birth of Israel as a nation (Romans 11:25; Acts 15:11-16); the building of Jerusalem (Psalms 102:16); scoffers denying the reality and nearness of Christ's coming (II Peter 3:3); distress of nations with perplexity (Luke 21:25); elaborate war, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes (Matthew 24:6-8). -- "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel 12:4) "(3)The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. (4)The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." (Nahum 2:3-4) "(5)As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. (8)Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" (Isaiah 31:5, 60:8). "(11)And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (12)Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. (13)Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; (14)Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD. (15)Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD. (16)Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (17)Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. (18)Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: (19)And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. (20)And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. (21)But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. (22)Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. (23)And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. (24)For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. (25)Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (26)A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (27)And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (28)And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. (29)I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. (30)And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. (31)Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. (32)Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. (33)Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. (34)And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. (35)And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. (36)Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it." (Ezekiel 36:11-36) "(5)Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; (6)I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;" (Isaiah 43:5-6). "For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." (Jeremiah 30:3) "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." (Romans 11:25) "(11)But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. (12)Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. (13)And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: (14)Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (15)And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, (16)After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:" (Acts 15:11-16). "When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." (Psalms 102:16) "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts," (II Peter 3:3). "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;" (Luke 21:25). "(9)Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: (10)Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. (11)Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD." (Joel 3:9-11) "(6)And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (7)For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (8)All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:6-8) -- 7. Between the years 1914-18?, twenty-seven? nations formally declared their participation in a war which involved forty-three? of the principal nations of the earth. Fifty-three? million men fought in the first world war, and about twelve? million men were killed. During that war 28,379,000? people died of germ diseases. After the war millions of people died of starvation in Russia and China. Also earthquakes became very frequent, 476? occuring between Jan. 1, 1935 and Jan. 1, 1940. About thirty? million persons were killed in the second world war. This war, like the first, was accompanied by famine, pestilences and earthquakes. There have been more earthquakes since 1914 than there were in a period of 500 years preceding the first world war. 8. In the Bible Israel is called the fig tree which was cut down for unfruitfulness, but the root was still left. Read Luke 13:6-9, 3:9. "(13:6)He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. (7)Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? (8)And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: (9)And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (3:9)And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." In Matthew 24:32 Jesus tells us the fig tree (Israel) springs up again. The birth of Israel as a nation in May, 1948, is what Jesus called the budding of the fig tree; and this event marks the beginning of the closing generation of the age. Read Matthew 24:32-35: "(32)Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: (33)So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. (34)Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (35)Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." The revival of Israel and the building up of Jerusalem as predicted in Psalms 102:16 tell us very clearly that Jesus is coming soon. Are you ready to meet Him? 9. We are all hell-deserving sinners, but God offers us free pardon and life eternal, because Christ died for our sins as a Represenative and Substitutionary Sacrifice on the Cross. See the following verses: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23). "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (I Peter 2:24) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) "(7)But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (8)If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9)If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:7-9) What more could a Saviour do? Be not deceived; God loves you; Christ died for you. The Bible is God's own Message to your soul. Read the following salvation verses: "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9) "(26)A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (27)And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27) "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). "(12)But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (24)Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 1:12, 5:24) "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" (Titus 3:5). "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;" (Hebrews 2:3). Have you confessed your sins to Christ and yielded your life to Him? Come to Him now -- tomorrow may be too late. 10. As to the infallibility of the Bible, think of the reasons, if any, why the writers of the Bible would agree if they were not inspired of God. The writing of the Bible occupied about 1600 years. It was written by approximately forty men representing every class of society and grade of culture. It deals with law, science, life, death, the resurrection of the human body, judgment, hell, Heaven and almost every conceivable subject in the range of human thought. Yet there is such perfect agreement that there are no contradictions. How can you explain this? There is but one explanation -- GOD ^^^ superintended the writing of the Bible, His own holy Word. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 11. The Bible has been printed and published in over 1,000 languages, and is the world's best seller. 'It is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in value, infinite in scope, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, and inspired in totality.' The Bible is God's own Book. Will you receive it of Him and be saved by repenting of your sins to God the Father and placing all your faith in Jesus Christ, God the Son, alone? K. L. Paulson U.S.A.