Four R's for A Great New Year
R-1 Read the Bible
The Christian does everything by the "Book." It is
our only rule of faith and practice.
Since so much depends upon it, we need absolute confidence in it.
What The Bible Says About Itself.
It is the written word of God. Ex 34:1, 27-28; Jer 36:2, Rev
1:10-11
It is preserved by God. Ps 119:89; Mat 24:35; 1Pet 1:25
It is not to be altered.
Deut 4:2; 12:32; Pr 30:6; Rev 22:19
It is trustworthy 1Kings 8:56; Ps 111:7; Matt 5:18
Reliability Of The Bible
(From "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell.)
The Bible is Unique in its Continuity.
It was
written over 1,500 year time span, Over 40 generations, by 40 different
authors, in 3 different languages. (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.) On 3 different
continents, (Africa, Asia, Europe.) Yet it speaks with one voice, the voice of
God.
Unique in its Circulation.
To print
every Bible, New Testament and individual portion of the Bible, published up to
1974, one printer would have to produce: 1 copy every 3 seconds, 20 copies
every minute, 1,200 copies every hour, 28,800 copies every day, 10.5 million
copies every year nonstop for 245 years.
That's enough pages of scripture to circle the globe 1,000 times.
Unique in its Translations.
First major
book to be translated into another language, Hebrew to Greek, in 250 BC called the
Septuagint. The Bible has been translated into more than 2000 languages, over 95%
of all the earth's languages.
Unique in Survival, Preservation
No other ancient writing has more documentary evidence than
the Bible.
|
Work of Antiquity
|
Written
|
Earliest Copy
|
Time Span
|
Surviving Copies
|
|
Pliny
|
61-113AD
|
850AD
|
750 yrs
|
7
|
|
Plato
|
100-44BC
|
900AD
|
1,200 yrs
|
7
|
|
Caesar
|
427-347BC
|
900AD
|
1000 yrs
|
49
|
|
Aristotle
|
384-322BC
|
1100AD
|
1400 yrs
|
49
|
|
Sophocles
|
496-406BC
|
1000AD
|
1400yrs
|
193
|
|
Homer (Iliad)
|
900BC
|
400BC
|
500yrs
|
643
|
|
New Testament
|
40-100AD
|
125AD
|
25yrs
|
24,633
|
Inspiration
Revelation is the communication of truth that cannot be
otherwise discovered, inspiration is how that truth is recorded.
Theories of the modes of inspiration.
Which of the following definitions of inspiration is correct
if we hold to a verbal (every word), plenary (every thought) inspiration of
scripture?
Intuition: a superior insight on the part of the natural man
into moral and religious truth.
Illumination: an intensifying and elevation of the religious
perceptions of the believer.
Dynamic: God supplied the enabling need for the trustworthy
transmission of the truth in matters of faith and practice.
Dictation: the writers of scripture were secretaries who recorded
God's exact words.
Guidance: the Holy Spirit guided the authors of scripture
even in the employment of the words used, and preserved them from all error and
omission.
"It is essentially 'guidance'. That is, the Holy Spirit supervised the
selection of the materials to be used and the words to be employed in
writing. (He) finally, preserved the
authors from all error and omission. We
have, therefore, in the Bible the verbally inspired Word of God." -Henry
Thiesen in Lectures in Systematic Theology.
Internal evidence of inspiration.
Timothy 3:16 Scripture is inspired, and we need nothing
else.
1 Peter 1:10-11 Writers recorded what they didn't fully
understand.
2 Peter 1:21 Writers were moved, empowered by the Holy
Spirit.
Revelation 1:1 Writers reported on what they saw.
"
Whenever the Bible writers allude to themselves, they invariably say that their
words are not their own but that they come from God. God used their facilities, traits and
abilities. Some write that God put words
in their mouth; others that God directed them to use their own words to convey
what God had transmitted unto them. .. but all are unanimous in declaring that
their writings came direct from God and that God simply used them as agents...
." - W A Criswell
"John
Wesley argued that the Bible must have been written by bad men or angels, good
men or angels, or by God. He showed that
it could not have been written by bad men or angels, for it condemns their
souls to hell for all eternity: nor could it have been written by good men or
angels, for they would not say, "Thus says the Lord" when it was they
who said it; it must, therefore have been written by God."-Henry Thiesen
Confirmation of the Bible
The Bible, like God. does not need to be confirmed or
proven, it is true no matter what I can or cannot prove. Still there is ample evidence to show time
and again that the Bible is absolutely without error or omission.
Confirmation by archaeology.
Jericho was destroyed by Joshua and the invading Israelite
armies in Joshua 6:20. The city of
Jericho was excavated in 1930-36. They
found the wall had fallen down flat just as the Bible had said.
The Five Cities of the Plain are recorded in Genesis
14. These were considered fictitious
until the discovery of the Kingdom of Elba site which not only mentions the
cities but even lists them in the same order on clay tablets 1000 years before
Moses wrote Genesis.
Ninevah was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. It was excavated in 1846. They found the palace of Sennacerchib and an
account of his conquest of Judea which matched the Biblical account.
Confirmation by Prophecy
Prophecies of Daniel (580 BC)
Daniel 2:1-49 Image of the future Gentile Kingdoms.
Daniel 9:24-27, The 70 Week prophecy for Israel's return to
God.
Daniel 11:1-4
Prophecy of Alexander the Great.
Messianic Prophecies
Ps 22:1,7,16,18 Messiah's suffering. (1000 years before
event.)
Ps 69:21 Messiah's drink . (1000 years before event.)
Isaiah 53:8,9,12 Messiah's grave. (700 years before event.)
Micah 5:2 Messiah's birthplace. (700 years before event)
Zechariah 9:9 Messiah's entrance. (500 years before event.)
Peter
Stoner in his book Science Speaks says that "the probability of someone
fulfilling just 8 of the messianic prophecies is 1 in 1 in 1017 or 1 in 100000000000000000. To better illustrate it, "if we take 1017
Silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet
deep. Now mark one of these silver
dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can
travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that
this is the right one." Remember that this is only 8 prophecies, there are
actually over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during his time on earth.
Bible Study Basics
Prepare your heart.
Pray for an open mind
Pray for a spirit of discovery
Pray for God to speak to you through His word.
Gather your resources.
Bible
Bible Concordance
Bible Commentary
Word Study Guide
Dictionary, Encyclopedia, or Handbook
Bible Software and websites.
Remember the rules.
Follow customary usage of language.
Commit no historical-cultural blunders.
Make Christ central in all interpretations.
Be conscious of context.
Interpret by the analogy of faith.
Recognize the progress of revelation.
Grant one interpretation to each passage.
Choose the simplest alternative.
Beginners, read a chapter or two a day starting with:
The Gospel of John
Paul's letter to The Ephesians
The Book of Genesis by Moses
Psalms written by David and others
Read Psalms (150 chapters) and Proverbs (31 chapters) this
month.
Read from Psalms 5 chapters each day according to day of
month. Example: If today is 5th read
Psalms 25 -29 (5th x 5 chapters)
Read from Proverbs 1 chapter a day according to day of
month. Example if today is the 5th read
chapter 5.
Read the New Testament this year.
Read 1 chapter each day.
(232 chapters by 365 days)
Read the Old Testament this year.
Read 3 chapters each day.
(929 chapters by 365 days)
Read the Bible through this year.
Read 1 chapter from the New Testament & Read 3 chapters
from the Old Testament (1111 chapters by 365 days)
More Bible Facts
The first book, Genesis, is about 6000 years old, the last
book, Revelation, is almost 2000 years old.
There are 39 Old Testament books and 939 chapters.
There are 27 New Testament books and 232 chapters.
That is a total of 66 different books and 1111 chapters all
collected by God into one volume we call the Holy Bible.
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