• When you read the Word, don’t look for yourself. Look for God.

• You can trust in His Word. It is the infallible Word of God.

Psalm 119:1-8 (ESV)

1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,

3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!

6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.

8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

I want to share 7 facts about the Bible that will help you understand why The WORD IS TRUE!

THE WORD…

#1) IS THE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIME

• Translated over 670 languages
• The most read book on the planet by far
• Over 5 Billion Bibles sold

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

#2) HAS SURVIVED THROUGH IT ALL

• In 175BC, King of Syria ordered to destroy the Scriptures and were banned from worshipping God.
• Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered to have Christianity outlawed, its leaders killed, and their Bibles burned.
• In AD 1229, banned by the Council of Townhouse
• The Bible has been burned… AD 1234- Council Tarragona
• Men have died for the Word
  • John Wycliffe (“Morning Star of the Reformation”) AD 1415
  • William Tyndale & John Huss and many others died in the same way

• At least three of the apostles are known to have died horrific deaths in the name of Jesus.
  • Before Jesus died they were weak men.
  • After Jesus resurrected they were brave men.

Matthew 24:35 NKJV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

John 10:35a NLT

And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’

#3) HAS BEEN PRESERVED OVER TIME

• The N.T. Over 5,800 manuscripts in the original Greek
  • Over 24,000 manuscripts— far more than any other ancient book

1 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV)

for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Psalm 12:6-7 NKJV

The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

#4) IS SUPPORTED BY SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Isaiah 40:22 NKJV

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

Job 28:25 NKJV

To establish a weight for the wind, and apportion the waters by measure.

• Sanitation (Deuteronomy 23:12-13)
• Germs (Numbers 19:11-12)
• Ship Engineering (Genesis 6:15)
• Quarantine (Leviticus 13:46)
• Blood, the liquid of life. (Leviticus 17:11, 14)
• Here’s a few of many Archaeological findings that have confirmed the Bible to be historical accurate.
  • City of Sodom (Clay Tablet found)
  • Herod’s Palace (trial of Jesus)
  • Pool of Siloam (Jesus miracle with spit and mud) Found in 2004
  • Seal of the prophet Isaiah (found next to the seal for King Hezekiah)
  • Rosetta Stone 204-180BC
  • Dead Sea Scrolls (Confirms we still have the same OT) 408-318BC
  • Tel Dan Inscription 733-722BC
  • Ketef Hinnom Scrolls (4th Century BC)
  • Moabite Stone 850BC
  • Lachish Letters 589/588BC
  • Hezekiah’s Tunnel (8th century BC)

#5) HAS INTERNAL CONSISTENCY

• 66 Books written over a period of more than 1500 years by 40 different authors

2 Peter 1:21 NKJV

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

#6) IS PROPHETIC

• There are 1,817 prophecies in the Bible.

• Jesus
  • There’s over 100 references to prophecies of the coming Messiah.
  • Jesus fulfilled many of them and a few are yet to come.
    • Ex: The odds of one man fulfilling 8 of those prophecies is 1×10^33
  • Jesus did die. Jesus did resurrect with over 500 witnesses. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

#7) TRANSFORMS LIVES!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Colossians 3:10 (NLT)

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT)

22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

CONCLUSION

Psalm 119:17-18 (NLT)

Be good to your servant, that I may live and obey your word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.

Psalm 119:20 (ESV)

My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.

Psalm 119:50 (NLT)

Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.

Psalm 119:163-165 (NLT)

163 I hate and abhor all falsehood, but I love your instructions.

164 I will praise you seven times a day because all your regulations are just.

165 Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.

• God wants you to experience His Word in a different level… in a transformative way. To live a holy life is to live according to His Word.

Sin will keep you from your Bible. Your Bible will keep you from sin.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 Voice

I will plant a new heart and new spirit inside of you. I will take out your stubborn, stony heart and give you a willing, tender heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit inside of you and inspire you to live by My statutes and follow My laws.

• BIBLE CHALLENGE: Study Psalm 119
  • Love letter to God’s Word.
  • 22 Hebrew letters and 8 words used to describe God’s Word and what it does.
    • Law
    • Testimonies
    • Precepts
    • Statutes
    • Commandments
    • Ordinances/Rules
    • Word
    • Promises

• The Word is True and the Word points to the Truth. And the Truth is Jesus Christ.

John 1:1-2 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:14 NKJV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

• Jesus is the living expression of the Word!