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