June 4, 2018 

Most mornings I wake up pretty early and go for a long walk around the golf course near my neighborhood.  The weatherman was calling for a high chance of rain this morning, but I have learned not to trust weathermen in Texas.  The weather is always the same in the summer, and I think that they want to report that there is a chance of rain just to break the monotony of their weather forecasts from June to September.  Typical weather forecast in Texas: Hot and sunny, with a continued chance of hot and sunny for a solid 3 months.  Well, this morning the weatherman guessed right.  As I reached the furthest point from my house, the lightning started and the deluge began.  I was dodging lightning bolts and was thoroughly drenched by the time I got home. 

This got me to thinking about the reliability and trustworthiness of the weatherman and the Bible.  The weatherman is often wrong so I have learned not to trust him.  I don’t live my life around weather forecasts. The Bible is never wrong and so I do live my life according to what the Bible says.  I trust it completely.

As we live our lives trying to witness to people about Jesus Christ, our evidence is the Bible.  The difficult thing about witnessing is not that people don’t know their Bibles, it’s that people don’t believe what the Bible says.  They think it’s just a human book, written by human authors, is not inerrant, infallible or authoritative, and has no bearing on their lives.  How do we cope with that reality?  Here are a few suggestions: 

1. Know what the Bible says about itself:

·     2 Tim. 3:16-17: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of Godmay be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

·     1 Peter 1:20-21:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

·     Psalm 12:6:“And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times” 

·     Psalm 19:7:“The law of the Lord is perfect”.

·     Proverbs 30:5:“Every word of God is pure”.

Those are just a few of many verses that speak about the Bible’s inerrancy.  But is that enough?  People will say that you can’t use the Bible to argue that the Bible is true.  OK, what if everything else the Bible says is also true?

2. Know some of the many prophesies of the Bible that have already been fulfilled:

Think about all of the prophecies of the Bible that have already come true.  To name but a few: 

·     Isaiah’s prophecy about the death of the Messiah (Is. 53)

·     Isaiah’s prophecy that Messiah would be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14)

·     Jesus’s birthplace (Micah 5:2)

·     Zechariah’s prophecy that they would look on him who they pierced (Zech. 12:10)

·     Not one of Jesus’ bones would be broken (Ps. 34:20)

·     Jesus’ prophecy that He would be killed and rise again (Mark 10:32-34) 

There are so many more that could be cited. What about the secrets that lie in the sands of the Middle East?

3. Know that Archaeology has not disproven anything in the Bible, rather the opposite is true: 

·     The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.C.) shows Jehu, king of Israel, bowing before the Assyrian king, and he is mentioned by name. This is the only known picture of an Israelite king.  It confirms Jehu’s existence.

·     Tablets from the time of Tiglath-Pileser (744-727 B.C.) state that he received tribute from Jehoahaz of Judah. This is the full name of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7).

·     A detailed limestone relief from Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh shows the siege of Lachish. (2 Chron. 32)

·     The cylinder of Nabonidus (555-539 B.C.). He was the last ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. This stele proves that his son Belshazzar was co-regent with him (Daniel 5; 7:1; 8:1). Belshazzar promised Daniel that he would be third in the kingdom rather than second, because there were two kings!

There are many, many more findings that could be cited.  

I want us all to understand that the Bible is inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative and true!  We can depend on it for our salvation.  If the weatherman tells me it’s going to rain tomorrow, I’ll probably go out for my walk again anyway.  His predictions are right about half the time.  The Bible says Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead so that I can have eternal life.  The Bible promises that He will come again.  The Bible has proven itself to be the Word of God over and over again. It is true 100% of the time and I believe its promises!