131103 A1 Why Believe
Why Believe? I. Internal evidence –a. 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Cor. 2:13b. 66 books. 40 different authors. Written over a period of 1500 years.e. Written in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, & Greek)f. No contradictions. No historical or scientific mistakes. One unified message. One complete picture. 24,000 extant manuscripts of the NT i. Only 643 of the Iliad, the next best documented ancient writing k. 40 of the 20,000 lines of text are in question and pertain only to punctuation/spelling i. 764 of the Iliad’s 15,600 lines are still in question II. Science confirms the Bible a. The earth’s suspension in space (Job 26:7) b. Ideal dimensions for ships (30:5:3 – Gen. 6:15) c. Life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11, 14) d. “Kinds” of animals (Gen. 1:24) e. The earth is round (Isa. 40:22) f. Ocean currents (Matthew Maury, 19th century – Psa. 8:8) g. All mankind is of “one blood” (Acts 17:26) h. 1st law of Thermodynamics (Gen. 2:1-2) i. 2nd law of Thermodynamics ( Psa. 102:25-26) j. The water cycle (Job 36:27-28; Eccl. 1:7) k. The law of Biogenesis (Gen. 1) I. The jet stream (Eccl. 1:6)m. Reproduction explained (Mark 10:6) n. Purification via running water (Lev. 15:13) o. Sanitation (Deut. 23:12-13)p. Our bodies are made of dust (The human body can be broken down into 28 basic elements – Gen. 2:7) Ill. Fulfilled prophecy a. The fall of Tyre – Ezek. 26i. City was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. 13 years later, the mainland city was destroyed (vs. 7-8). ii. 241 years later in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great took the island city for Greece. This was accomplished by “scraping” the debris of the mainland city into the sea to create a land bridge (vs. 4, 12) iii. 1 600 years later in 1 291 A.O., the Muslims thoroughly crushed the island city. It has been rubble ever since. All that remains is a small fishing community (vs. 3, 5, 14). b. Cyrus the Great i. Isaiah prophesied that Babylon would fall to the Medes and Persians (Isa. 13; 21:1-10) ii. Cyrus was cited as he who would facilitate Babylon’s fall and, once in power, allow the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Isa. 44:28; 45:1-7). iii. Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. almost 200 years after Isaiah had written. God called this man by name and foretold his accomplishments almost 150 years before he was born. c. Messianic prophecies i. Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7) ii. A forerunner to Christ (Mal.3:1; Mark 1:2-8) iii. Christ to enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1-11) iv. Christ to be betrayed by a friend (Psa. 41:9; Luke 22:21) v. Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12; Matt. 26:15) vi. 30 pieces of silver used to buy a potter’s field (Zech. 11:13; Matt. 27:3-10) vii. Kept silent when on trial (Isa . 53:7; Mark 14:60-61) viii. Christ crucified (Psa. 22:16; John 19:17-18) ix. Dr. Peter Stoner (author of Science Speaks ), using the laws of probability, determined that the likelihood of one man fulfilling all eight previously listed prophecies {of over 300) would be 1 in 1017 or 100,000,000,000,000,000. x. The above number is one hundred quadrillion.xi. The likelihood of being struck by lightning in one year’s time is 1 in 700,000. IV. The miracles of Christ {John 20:30-31) a. Power over nature (Matt. 8:23-27) b. Power over ailments (Matt. 9:20-22) c. Power over natural laws (Matt. 14:25-26) d. Power over death (John 11) e. Power over physical items (Matt. 14:13-21) f . Power over Satan (Mark 5:1-20)g. The resurrection (Rom. 1:1-4; Acts 17:30-31;1Cor. 15:12-22)• If the apostles were lying about Christ’s resurrection … 1. Why be subjected to persecution and death?2 . Why willingly sentence themselves to hell fire for lying (Rev. 21:8)?• The tomb was guarded (Matt. 27:65)• The disciples were defeated (John 20:19; Acts 1:6)• Christ was confirmed dead (Mark1 5:44-45)IV. Will you believe? (John 8:24; Heb.11:6; Mark1 6:16; Acts 2:38; Heb.10:39)- Material arranged by Devin Roush |