printer friendly version

Brethren, I have a question:
Do you - that is each and every one of you - and I am talking to you teenagers and young people as well, do you believe that the Bible - this book here - is the Word of God, and not just the word of man?

I feel confident to answer the question for you in the affirmative, for should your answer be NO, I would say that you are in the wrong place. Sort of like the pilot who just before takeoff reminds his passengers that his plane is going to Miami and if you expect to go any place else - now is the time to get off.

But I am sure that all of you are in the right place because you do believe that the Bible is the Word of God, taking you to the right place - the Kingdom of God.

Now, that was the easy question. The next question I have is a little harder and I would like to take this sermonette to answer it.
The question is: WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND NOT JUST THE WORD OF MAN?

It's easy enough to tell someone that you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but if someone would challenge you and ask you why - could you, would you have an answer?
The Bible admonishes us to be ready always with an answer about the hope that is within us. And so I like to give you six reasons why believers say that the Bible is the Word of God:
But before I do let me point out one common, but wrong reason why many people accept the Bible as the Word of God.

The logic (or more correctly the illogic) goes like this:

It was good for my father
It was good for my mother
and it's good enough for me.

Well, that's very admirable, but God wants a personal relationship with each one of his children. He wants each individual to personally understand who He is and what He is all about. So, believing the right thing but for the wrong reason is ultimately still unacceptable to God.

Now, let's look at some of the reasons why believers say that the Bible is the Word of God:

Reason No. 1: The Old Testament writers affirmed that they were speaking the Word of God and not the word of man.
And so "Thus says the Lord" or an equivalent, is found more than 2000 times in the Old Testament. What that simply tells us  is that the real author of the Bible is not man, but God, and we can see this in the Bible right from the start in the book of Genesis. God, through Moses, sets the stage: "In the beginning God created" verse 1, "God moved" that's in vs.2  and “God said" that's in vs. 3. And so we have over 2000 references to the fact that God spoke through and by His Word.

Let's look at a couple more examples: II Sam. 23
This is David’s testament and in verse 1 there is a description of David the man, where it says: "These are the last words of David, the oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on High, the anointed of the God of Israel." It speaks here of David the anointed of God and he says: "The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me."

Isaiah in 8:1 said: "Then the Lord said to me" and in Jeremiah the 1st chapter in verse 9 it says: "Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth".

So we can see that all of the Old Testament writers affirmed that this is the Word of God and not the word of man.

Reason No. 2: The Apostles regarded the whole of Scripture - that is the Old and the New Testament - as the infallible Word of God.
Timothy simply said: "All scripture is inspired by God". That's  in II Tim. 3:16, and Peter in II Pet. 1:21 said: "No prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God". Or consider Paul who really wanted to make sure in many scriptures  that it wasn't he that is speaking, but God. In Galatians 1:11 and 12  he said: "For I would have you know, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ".

Why do we believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Because Paul and all the other Apostles said so.

Reason No. 3: Jesus Christ unqualifiedly endorsed the Scriptures as the inspired Word of God.
A couple of many examples are found in John and Matthew:
In John 10:34 Jesus speaks to the Jews saying: "Is it not written in your law - that's the O.T. he is referring to - Is it not written in your law, I said you are gods?” verse 35 “If he called them gods to whom the Word of God came and scripture can not be broken.” Notice how Christ refers to the Old Testament scriptures as the Word of God that can not be broken -- can not be, not true! And in Matt. 5:18 Christ said: “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished."

How is this possible? Because it is the Word of God and not the word of men!

Reason No. 4: Fulfilled prophecy unmistakably demonstrates the authoritativeness of scripture.
The history of a whole nation, the nation of Israel, was prophesied and has been to a large part already fulfilled. Look at all of the prophecies about the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But one of my favorites is found in Daniel the 2nd chapter where the interpretation of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar  outlines 4 major world empires, not only in terms of what was then already the existing Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, but of empires that were yet to come and are historical fact today, giving us the absolute confidence that that which hasn't happened yet will also be fulfilled. Prove positive that the Bible is the Word of God.

Reason No. 5: Archaeology confirms the accuracy of Scripture.
You know if there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's not to get to impressed by the facts - the so-called facts and opinions of experts when they find themselves at odds with the Word of God. Oh, they come up with all kinds of scientific reasons why the Bible must be wrong, but all I have to remember is what the Psalmist said: “The sum of thy word is truth” (Ps 119:160), and Jesus said: "Thy (the Father’s) Word is truth" (John 17:17). Let me give you an example:

There are 13 references in the Bible to the nation of the Hittites. It speaks of them as a nation, a people, a land. It speaks of their Kings and in Joshua 1:4 there is a description of its location. Ah, but for centuries the experts, historians and others alike, called it "a mythical people fabricated by Bible writers", or at best they called it "a small and unimportant tribe". Then in 1906 God decided to have a little fun and he led some archaeologists  to a place on the Euphrates River and they found 1000'th yes 1000'th of documents proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Hittites were indeed a great nation with much land and many kings. Yes, God has used archeology in many instances to prove the Bible is indeed the infallible Word of God.

Reason No. 6: The pragmatic or practical test.
Here I am talking about the fact that the Bible - the Word of God performs what it promises. We have all experienced the trustworthiness of the Bible, in many different ways, in our daily lives. We all know that it works in actual human experience in response to faith. In other words, believing and acting upon the Word of God is necessary to bring about the promised blessings and desired changes in our lives.

Well, there you have it. Six reasons why believers say the Bible is the Word of God and not the word of man. As the end time draws near, Christ says: "many will come in my name to deceive if possible even the very elect".

One way to avoid becoming a victim of deception is to know why you believe what you believe. Remember, that the old adage:
“If it was good enough for my parents, it's good enough  for me", just isn't good enough!

God desires a very personal relationship with each and everyone of His children.

Click here for a printer friendly version of this article.

Click here to return to the sermonettes index.