It’s important to have a good foundation. Whatever you’re building, no matter how beautiful the architecture is, if the foundation isn’t strong, the building won’t be either. If you’re building a school or a house, the foundation must be firm. If you’re building a skyscraper or an office building, the foundation must be strong. If you’re building your knowledge of the world and the way you look at it, the foundation of your worldview must be reliable. Today many people wonder if the Bible is true. Some people don’t believe any of it, some believe all of it, and some just choose which parts they want to believe. Is the Bible a reliable source? It’s a good question. After all, if the Bible isn’t reliable, then we wouldn’t know which parts to believe, and how would we know that what we believe is true? If we’re going to base our lives and salvation on the truths found in the Bible, we must know that the Bible is trustworthy. Thankfully, God gives us ample evidence of the truthfulness of His Word.
The Bible is the only book that claims to be written by God. Isn’t that interesting? No other book even pretends to be the work of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all Scripture is “God-breathed”. (Also of note, 2 Tim. 3:16 says that “All Scripture is God-breathed”. Not some Scripture, but all of it.) 2 Peter 1:21 says that Scripture resulted when “men spoke from God”.
Have you ever eaten a fortune cookie? Many Chinese restaurants have them. Inside the cookie, there is a piece of paper with a prediction on it, usually something like “You will be very successful in life.” The predictions in fortune cookies are extremely general (not to mention they don’t come true!). These simple predictions are nothing like the detailed prophecies we read in the Bible. Biblical prophecies are very specific, and they always come to pass. The apostle Peter wrote that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). Many Old Testament prophets claimed to be writing the very words of God (Jeremiah 1:4). Additionally, in Jeremiah 31, the LORD promises that Israel would once again be a united nation, instead of a captive people. Centuries passed after the promise was made, and Israel was still a people without a country. More centuries passed, yet Jeremiah 31 still hadn’t been fulfilled. At long last, in 1948, after World War II, Israel was recognized as a country. Jeremiah 31 was fulfilled, even though it took longer than man expected. God always keeps His promises! In Psalm 22, David wrote in detail about the death that the promised Messiah would one day suffer. He described crucifixion with incredible detail, using phrases such as “they have pierced my hands and feet” (Psalm 22:16) - exactly what happened at the crucifixion. David even mentioned that, at the Messiah’s (Jesus’) death, the soldiers would “divide my garments among them...for my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:18). Psalm 22 masterfully describes crucifixion. Now that’s interesting - because crucifixion wasn’t even invented until hundreds of years after Psalm 22 was written. David never saw a crucifixion, and yet he penned an incredible description of it. These are only a few examples. When God wrote His book, He included prophecies like these to help convince us that His Word is true.
Have you ever heard of Aristotle? Aristotle was a famous Greek philosopher. He wrote a book called Poetics. The oldest copy we have was written (copied) 1,400 years after Aristotle lived, and there are only five known manuscripts. Yet have you ever heard anyone question that Aristotle existed? Have you ever heard someone suggest that maybe someone else made up his books? No, of course not - everyone believes that Aristotle existed. Contrast the evidence for Aristotle with the evidence for the Bible: there are 5,500 known manuscripts of Biblical text. The oldest known manuscript was copied within eighty years of the original. Amazing! Why do we question the reliability of the Bible and never wonder about Aristotle? There is so much more documentary evidence for the Bible.
It is amazing to me that, even after it was discovered that the Tower of Pisa was leaning, construction continued. Even though the foundation was faulty and couldn’t be trusted, the workers labored on. And now the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous buildings in the world - famous for its inadequacy. The Leaning Tower of Pisa shows how important it is to check the reliability of one’s foundation. Is the Bible reliable? The evidence is truly incredible: the Bible claims to be written by God, its prophecies have come true, and it has more documentary proof than any other ancient manuscript. As Dr. Voddie Baucham has observed, "We cannot forget that the Bible is comprised of 66 different books. These books were written on 3 different continents - Asia, Africa, and Europe. They are written in 3 different languages - Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. They were written by over 40 authors - most of whom never met one another because they were written over a period of over 1,500 years." Why do we doubt the reliability of the Bible? What more evidence do we need? Jesus said, ‘“Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock’” (Matt. 7:24). Isn’t it great to know that the foundation of our faith is trustworthy? ‘“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock’” (Matt. 7:25).
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