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Why We Take the Bible Over Other Books 

The idea for this sermon came from: “Holy books? Which one are you going to trust?” by David Catchpoole in Creation 26(1):19 December 2003; also found at http://creation.com/holy-books

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • September 8, In the year of our Lord, 2013 

 

Prelude: 

  1. We claim the Bible is the only true Scripture. 
    1. We also say that the Scriptures of other religions are false. 
      1. Have you read the Koran? 
      2. Have you read the Book of Mormon? 
      3. Have you read any others? 
        1. If you have, 
        2. you have noticed something different. 
    2. Yet, those people claim their books are the only true and holy Scriptures. 
      1. Why then should people listen to us? 
      2. Why should people ignore the other books? 
  2. This is a reasonable way to approach the matter. 

Persuasion: 

  1. Divine Inspiration 
    1. All these books, 
      1. including the Bible, 
      2. claim to have come from a source greater than man. 
        1. They cannot all be true, because 
        2. they contradict one another. 
    2. Some people take a middle of the road approach and say 
      1. that all religions are the same, or 
      2. that all religions have some element of truth, or 
      3. that they are different paths to God, or heaven, or whatever. 
    3. Yet, Christianity and the Bible are unique in comparison to the rest. 
    4. Consider what the Bible claims for itself.

      128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things
      I consider to be right;
      I hate every false way.
      (Psa 119.128)

      6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14.6).

      12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.12).

  2. Heavenly Things and Earthly Things 
    1. We cannot verify what any Scripture of any religion says about heaven, because 
      1. we have never been there, but 
      2. we can test what those books say about earthly things. 
        1. Geology 
          1. The Bible shows a global flood. 
          2. Geology shows that every part of our planet has suffered a massive flood. 
          3. That explains why we find fossils in the various layers. 
        2. Biology 
          1. We observe reproduction. 
          2. Genesis 1 shows God made reproduction possible and after one’s kind. 
          3. Why do women have pain in childbirth? – Gen 3 
          4. All humans appear to be of one blood – Acts 17.26! 
        3. Population disbursement 
          1. Genesis 10 and 11 show how and why the people disbursed. 
        4. Languages 
          1. Genesis 10 and 11 show how the different languages came into being. 
    2. Jesus reasoned like this with Nicodemus,

      12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3.12).

      1. Jesus spoke earthly things 
        1. that Nicodemus should have been able to understand, 
        2. which would then lead to an understanding of heavenly things. 
      2. Nicodemus had trouble understanding, because 
        1. he wanted to understand that which he could not verify. 
        2. However, if he had understood the point of Jesus, 
          1. that there are things you can see and experience on the Earth, 
          2. although you cannot fully see them, 
            1. such as the wind, 
            2. that should lead you to understand 
              1. that there are invisible spiritual truths 
              2. we cannot verify, but 
                1. we accept the testimony of Him 
                2. who has seen these things, because 
                  1. He speaks accurately concerning the things we can verify. 
                  2. He always speaks harmoniously with the operations of this world. 
      3. For example, 
        1. when the apostles went into lands 
          1. where no one knew them, and 
          2. where no one knew the truth, 
        2. the apostles worked miracles, 
          1. doing things in this world 
          2. that showed a divine source, 
            1. so that whatever the apostles then said, 
            2. people knew to be the truth. 
      4. So, it is with the Bible in comparison to other holy books. 
        1. How do they each address the things of this world? 
        2. I maintain that the Bible addresses it perfectly. 
          1. The Bible and our world 
          2. worked perfectly together like gears. 
  3. Other Unique Features of the Bible 
    1. God dies for the people, not so much that the people have to die for God. 
    2. The Bible presents a God of love and wrath. 
    3. The Bible records both history and prophecy perfectly. 
    4. When there appears to be a contradiction between the Bible and history, or the Bible and science: 
      1. With the Bible we have all the facts. 
      2. With history and science we do not always have all the facts. 
      3. Later historical, scientific, geological, etc., facts surface, verifying the Bible. 
  4. Attitude 
    1. See how others react to your logical reasoning. 
    2. John 7 shows that attitude is everything,

      17 “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7.17).

Exhortation: 

  1. [Expound on Second Timothy 3.13–17] 
  2. Test the Bible. 
    1. Compare it with the world. 
    2. Compare it with history. 
    3. Compare it with science. 
      1. I have done these things, but 
      2. your conclusion has to be your own. 
        1. I have discovered that the Bible and the world 
        2. fit together perfectly.