Month: January 2020

Episode 144

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Disciple Up #144
Death with Dignity?
By Louie Marsh, 1-29-2020

Over the course of my ministry I’ve seen more than a few people die. I remember years ago watching a friend of mine pass and that’s when I first began to ponder the phrase, “Death with Dignity.” I want to make clear that the hospice workers were great! The place was clean, very nice and had everything someone whose terminal could need.

I’ve had several people in my church who do hospice work, and I admire them very much. They do something that most people, including myself, don’t want to do and probably wouldn’t be very good at. And hospice was invaluable to my family during my Father’s and Mother’s passing as well.

God bless them for providing this wonderful and loving service to the community and to those who have such a great need for it.

Years ago I visited a friend who was in a hospice facility in the Phoenix area and would die soon. What struck me as I watched my friend lying there, obviously in the last stages of life, was a phrase that I’ve heard a lot of in the last several years. It’s a phrase that sounds good, but in that moment I felt as though I seeing through it.

The phrase is, “death with dignity.”

I didn’t see any dignity in that room, or the other rooms I passed by that day. I saw someone who was emaciated, alone, and very sad looking, slowly passing his final hours on this earth. Someone who probably wasn’t even aware he was there, much less aware of me.

In spite of that I talked to him and touched him and read Scripture to him and prayed for him. But in all of that I saw no dignity.

I thought about that all weekend and have continued to ponder it. You hear that term used a lot from people who approach life from what I believe is a non-biblical perspective. They tell us that death is just a part of life, it’s a natural close to the cycle of life that we are all part of, and therefore is beautiful when it can be done peacefully and without much pain or discomfort.

Many Christians buy into that, I mean it sounds good and noble and can be comforting if you accept the premise of the statement – that death is a natural part of life.

I don’t accept that premise – and neither does the Bible.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 (NIV)

Paul tells us here that while death became the order of the day after Adam and Eve fell – it wasn’t intended to be that way from the beginning. That’s why I believe all human cultures have rebelled against death. They either fear it or try and deny it and all have some form of belief in an afterlife because human beings were not made to die, but to live forever with their Maker.

He also shows us that death is an enemy! It’s not a friend; it’s not a natural end of the life cycle and therefore a wonderful, beautiful thing. Its evil, it’s destructive and painful and was not in God’s plan for the ages. Which is why in the end, death will be destroyed. It’s such a great enemy of God that it will be the last one to fall before Him, but fall it will!

But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (ASV)

You see sin and death both came into the world at the same time, as part of God’s curse upon mankind and the universe we live in after the fall. As Paul writes, You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. Romans 5:12 (MSG)

So sin and death are partners in this fallen world we live in as we see in Romans. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)

But God has overcome both of these evil twins through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ from the grave! It is in Him and through Him that we find the victory we need over these two things.

So then the Christian approach to physical death is that we are only temporarily submitting to a remnant of the fall. For we shall rise again and live again just as our Lord Jesus has already done.

Jesus goes even further than that in John’s gospel when He tells us that in a real sense believers in Him cannot die at all!

But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:50-51 (NIV)

To eat the living bread means to accept Christ into our lives and become united with him. We are united with Christ in two ways: (1) by believing in his death (the sacrifice of his flesh) and resurrection and (2) by devoting ourselves each day to living as he requires, depending on his teaching for guidance, and trusting in the Holy Spirit for power. Just as the Jews depended on bread for daily strength and relished it as a main part of their diet, so we should depend on and desire the living Christ in our daily lives.—Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary

Since the word death’s basic meaning in Greek is separation you can begin to understand that we actually cannot die in Christ because death cannot separate us from Him, and in Him we are spiritually linked to all believers, living and dead!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)

So in Christ death is conquered once and for all, and even though our bodies will die short of the Lord’s return, we do not and cannot die because of Christ’s life in us! Though His life and the Holy Spirit, we are linked together as one Body of Christ!

Thoughts on Death with Dignity.

  • Believers aren’t as concerned with dignity as we are with serving God and others
  • Dignity comes from within not without
  • To die well is the ultimate way to die with dignity
  • You have to live well to die well, and you have to live right up to the last second for Jesus. If you do then you’ve died well, and you’ve died with dignity.

Please Get In Touch!

Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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Episode 143

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Disciple Up # 143
The Most Oppressive Countries for Christians
By Louie Marsh, 1-22-2020

Christianity Today Article: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/january/top-christian-persecution-open-doors-2020-world-watch-list.html

Disciple Up YouTube Page where the video is available: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLH-5-lQzRDF2RtGe89W6A

Direct Link to the YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/3q89dTMp9iw

Please Get In Touch!

Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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Episode 142

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Disciple Up # 142
Paul’s Prayer For You & Me, Col. 1: 9-14
By Louie Marsh, 1-15-2020

If you were asked to pray for a small, struggling group of Christians who you had heard of but never met, what would you pray for? Would you pray for revival, more warmth in their fellowship, more evangelism or that they try some new exciting program to grow? Well Paul didn’t he prayed that the Colossians – and us! – would know God’s will! Why? Lets see…

I) THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, Colossians 1:9 (ESV)

A) Filled Up
1, filled = filling out to completeness. We should be completely filled with knowledge of His will.
2, This knowledge comes from receiving God’s grace

6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, Colossians 1:6 (ESV)
3, Knowledge = a full grasp of something MUCH deeper than mere mental understanding. This is plague of Bible study!!
4, Paul is asking that we be filled with a complete knowledge of God’s will? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??

B) Through Wisdom & Understanding
1, Wisdom = a mind controlled by the Spirit of God.
2, understanding =applying this God given wisdom to our circumstances
3, This means that we must prayerfully analyze situations before jumping into them.

C) But What About God’s Will?
1, We’ve been talking about it!
2, God’s will in the N.T. isn’t primarily concerned with which job should I take etc.
A, Becoming like Christ.
B, Be obedient.

II) RESULTS OF THIS KNOWLEDGE

10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, Colossians 1:10-11 (ESV)

A) Living Worthy of the Lord
1, Paul doesn’t want our knowledge to be barren orthodoxy!
2, He wants our total understanding of God’s will to show in a transformed life!
a, Knowing God’s will is the only way to live a life pleasing to Him.
b, Full knowledge will make us want to please Him in every way!!
3, A transformed life bears fruit.
a, just as the Gospel does (vs. 6)
b, our fruit is our CONTINUAL good works for Christ
c, the more our full knowledge of God’s will grows the more fruit we’ll show.

B) Powered By God (vs 11)
1, I’m tired, I can’t produce fruit! You need some power to do it!
2, We are to be strengthened with all power.
a, power = dunamis (Acts 1:8) dynamite, dynamic, dynamo

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (ESV)

b, Might = Kratos = God’s perfect power, used of Him almost exclusively.
3, This means that God’s Kratos continually becomes dunamis in us!
a, so we depend on God – not circumstances – for the power to live.

C) The Purpose of the Power
1, Notice how these 3 qualities parallel the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5)
a, the purpose of God’s power is to bear fruit in our lives
2, Great endurance = the kind of perseverance which enables one to hold the position already taken in battle against enemy attacks from without. – Eph. 6

7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 (ESV)

16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 20 For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:16-28 (ESV)

3, Patience = not striking back when attacked
4, Joyfully – these 2 qualities must be tempered with joy for we are not stoics!

III) FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14 (ESV)

A) Give Thanks!
1, for what? The Power and the will of God! And for what follows.
2, Qualified to share with the saints.
a, notice that GOD qualified us – we didn’t qualify ourselves. HOW?

B) Rescued From Darkness (vs. 13)
1, Domain = exousia = the right or legal authority to rule
2, How does the Darkness or the Devil get this authority over us?
a, We give it to him by sinning
b, ALL non-Christians are helpless slaves of the Dark rebel kingdom – totally helpless to free themselves, just as all of us once were!
3, The Father must rescue us!
a, How? Through Christ’s death for us and His resurrection which gave Him the exousia, the legal authority, over Darkness.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Matthew 28:18 (ESV)
b, The Beloved Son died – that we might live.
c, And He died that we might be transferred to the Kingdom of Light!
1, aorist tense – it’s an accomplished fact for those who believe!

C) The Way Out!
1, Redemption – the O.T. concept is of paying a price to buy something back that once belonged to you.
a, Christ died to buy us back from Satan to God Again

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (ESV)

2, Forgiveness of Sins.
a, Forgive = to release or let go
b, What happens when WE don’t forgive?
1, It’s like an ancient penalty for murder, being chained to the corpse till it falls apart!
2, By dragging around your pain you’re stinking up your life, and everyone else’s you know!

3, Christ’s death forgives ALL OUR SINS!
Please Get In Touch!

Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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Episode 141

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Disciple Up # 141
Is the Bible Reliable?
By Louie Marsh

Show Intro – Read E-mail from John Explain this was part of my Basic Bible Questions and this chapter was taken largely from Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell found here: shorturl.at/eoQ68

I have asked this question about the truth of the Bible first for good reason. Everything in Christianity hangs on how this question is answered.

If you say, “Yes, the Bible is true,” then you approach the Scriptures as the very Word of God, accept everything it says as truth revealed by God, and have a standard for truth and morality that transcends time and cultural shifts and quirks. If the Bible is true, then the Christian faith is true also, Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world, and everyone should believe and follow Him.

On the other hand, if you say, “No, the Bible isn’t true, it’s simply a collection of writings of men who lived a long time ago,” then you have no eternal standard and are left on your own to decide what’s true and what isn’t. So our faith and the identity of Jesus are left hanging.

The so-called middle ground, that the Bible contains both truth and error, doesn’t really leave you in any better position. Because the end result is that you are the one who decides what’s true and what isn’t. So again we have no standard, and in essence are left to be our own little “gods,” deciding between right and wrong.

The historic Christian position is to accept the Bible as God’s Word, inspired and true in the normal sense of that word. And yes, that is the position I hold.

As will be seen below God has provided us with an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the truth and validity of the Bible. We will only be able to cover a small part of this evidence, but even that should go a long way to answering this question is the Bible Reliable?

What Does the Bible Say About Itself?

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.  2 Tim. 3:16-17 (NLT)

 The Bible makes the astounding claim that it is God message to mankind! The real author of the Bible is God Himself – working through men that He picked! Not only that but Paul makes it clear that it’s not only inspired by God, but practical as well. The Bible tells us that it is God’s Word and is to be used and followed in every area of our lives!

 Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place—until the day Christ appears and his brilliant light shines in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. 2 Peter 1:19-21 (NLT)

 The reason we are told to obey the Bible is that it is God authority for living. Peter says it came about when God moved people to speak or write things down, not when they felt like it themselves. The Bible is like a light directly from God that shows us what to do and how to do it, and what not to do as well.

People sometimes think that this status as God’s Word was something given to the Bible by people who lived long after it was written. But that’s just not true! Look at what Paul and Peter said about their writings:

 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 1 Cor. 14:37

 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:15-16

You can see from the emphasis I placed in the verses that Paul knew God was inspiring him, and that Peter agreed, placing Paul’s writings in the same class as the writings of Moses or David!

It’s clear from these few Scriptures that we’ve studied (and there are more we don’t have time for now) that the Bible claims for itself a unique status – God’s Message to Mankind!

But is there any evidence to back this up? Are we being asked to believe the Bible is true just because it says so? Or is there credible evidence to support this amazing claim?

How do we know the Bible is true?

1) Through it’s Uniqueness.

  • The Bible is unique in its continuity. It was written over 1500 year span (that’s more than 40 generations), by over 40 different authors. These men came from every walk of life, including Kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, scholars, etc.
  • The Bible is Unique in its Languages. The Bible was written on three different continents (Asia, Africa, Europe) in three different languages.
  • Hebrew, was the language of the Old Testament. In 2 Kings 18:26-28 its called “the language of Judah.”
  • Aramaic, was the “common language” of the Near East until the time of Alexander the Great (6th century BC).
  • Greek, the language of the New Testament, it was the international language of the Roman Empire during the time of Christ.
  • The Bible is Unique in its translations. As far is known today, the Bible was the first book to be translated into another language. The Greek translation of the Old Testament was made in c. 250 B.C. The Bible has been translated, retranslated and paraphrased more than any other book in existence. By 1977 the number of translations stood at 1603.
  • The Bible is Unique in its survival. It has survived through time better than any other book in history. The Bible is one of the oldest books in the world, yet more copies of the Bible exist than any book its age.
  • It’s also Unique in its survival through Persecution. The Bible has withstood more attempts to destroy it than any other book every written. Here’s just a few examples…

In 303 A.D. Diocletian issued an edict to destroy Christians and the Bible. Twenty-five years later Constantine commissioned Eusebius to prepare 50 copies of the Bible at the expense of the Roman Empire.

Voltaire, noted Frenchman, said before his death in 1778 that in 100 years Christianity would be extinct. Fifty years after he died the Geneva Bible Society was using his printing press to publish Bibles!

  • The Bible is Unique in its survival of Criticism.  For more than 1800 years critics have been attempting to destroy the trustworthiness of the Bible. They have made about as much headway as a man armed with a tack hammer facing the Pyramids of Egypt would (John W. Lea, paraphrased). Bernard Ramm says, “A thousand times over the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and the committal read, but somehow the corpse never stays put!”
  • The Bible is Unique in its Teachings. No other book in history presents truth like the Bible does. Below are just three of the many unique ways the Bible teaches truth.
  • Prophecy: The Bible contains by far the largest and most detailed predictions ever assembled. They include prophecies about the Messiah, Israel and her neighbors, etc. Not one prophecy in the Bible has ever been proven wrong – and that’s unique too!
  • History: Distinguished archaeologist Professor Albright wrote in his book, The Biblical Period, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 stands absolutely alone in ancient literature without a remote parallel even among the Greeks…The Table of Nations remains an astonishingly accurate document…(it) shows such remarkable ‘modern’ understanding of the ethnic and linguistic situation in the modern world, in spite of all its complexity, that scholars never fail to be impressed…”
  • Personalities: The Bible deals very frankly with the faults of its main characters. Many ask why the Bible reveals the flaws of its hero’s. Well, the Bible has the habit of telling it like it is, it is indeed the Word of Truth.

2) Through Archaeology

 The science of Archaeology has greatly assisted Christians in showing the world that the Bible is what it claims to be – the Word of God and absolutely true. This only makes sense since if the Bible does give us an accurate account of God’s dealing with mankind you would expect it to be backed up by historical evidence.

Nelson Glueck, well known Jewish archaeologist wrote, “It may be well stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” He also wrote about “the almost incredible accurate historical memory of the Bible, and particularly so when it is fortified by archaeological fact.”

Let’s first examine the Old Testament to see how well it’s stood the test of science and time.

At one time critics rejected the Old Testament because it spoke about a mighty tribe called “Hittites.” Since no other reference to Hittites was then extant, the Bible must be wrong. Only it wasn’t. Since the late 1800’s the fact of a huge and powerful Hittite empire in the ancient east (Turkey was its center) has been proven and is now accepted by everyone.

Here’s a short course on what the Bible says about the Hittites:

  • Descended from Canaan’s son, Heth. Genesis 10:15
  • Called
  • Sons of Heth. Genesis 23:3, 20
  • Children of Heth. Genesis 23:5
  • One of the seven nations of Canaan. Deut. 7:1
  • Dwelt in Hebron. Genesis 23:2-3, 19
  • Governed by kings. 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6
  • Land of, promised to Israel. Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8
  • Israel commanded to destroy. Deut. 7:1-2, 24
  • Part of their land given to Caleb. Joshua 14:13
  • Not entirely destroyed by Israel. Judges 3:5
  • Made tributary in the reign of Solomon. 1 Kings 9:20-21

Not bad for an imaginary tribe is it?

For years Genesis 14 was considered to be historically unreliable. Yet the archives of Elba, discovered in 1964 contained thousands of clay tablets. One of those tablets lists the five cities mentioned in Genesis 14, and does so in the exact order found in the Bible!

Okay, okay – you might be saying, but what about the New Testament, how reliable is it?

Of all the New Testament writers Luke has often been singled out for a great deal of criticism. This is due to the fact that he wrote the book of Acts which is the only history book in the New Testament.

At one time most scholars agreed that he had completely missed the boat on the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Critics argued that there had been no census that Quirinius was not the Governor of Syria at that time and that everyone could not have been made to return to their ancestral home.

Once again archaeology comes to our rescue again! Discoveries were made that show the Romans had a regular enrollment of taxpayers and also held a census every 14 years. This practice was begun by Augustus and the first one took place in either 22-23 B.C. or 9-8 B.C. The latter one is the one referred to by Luke.

We also now know that Quirinius was indeed Governor of Syria around 7 B.C. We know this because he name was found on an inscription in Antioch dated to that time period.

A papyrus found in Egypt gives directions on how to conduct the census. It reads, ‘Because of the approaching census it is necessary that all those residing from any cause away from their homes should at once prepare to return to their own governments in order that they may complete the family registration of the enrollment and that the tilled lands may retain those belonging to them.”

Luke gives to Publius the chief man in Malta the title, “The First Man of the Island in Acts 28:7. Inscriptions have been unearthed which give him the title of “First Man.”

Luke used the Greek word Politarchs to denote the civil authorities in Thessalonica (Acts 17:6). Since this title wasn’t found in classical literature Luke was thought to have been wrong. However, some 19 inscriptions have been found that make use of the title. Interestingly enough five of these are in reference to Thessalonica.

The Apostle Paul, writing from Corinth in Romans 16:23 makes mention of the city treasurer Erastus. A pavement was unearthed during the excavations of Corinth in 1929 which read ERASTUS PRO:AED:S:P:STRAVIT (“Erastus, curator of the public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense”).

https://www.foxnews.com/science/biblical-town-emmaus-may-have-been-found

So what conclusion can we draw from the evidence so far seen? Obviously it speaks loudly that the Bible is a true, historically accurate and trustworthy document. Surely it is worth of our respect, attention and obedience.

Evidence from the Prophets

If you think that Archeology has produced an impressive amount of evidence to support the Bible as God’s Word, wait till you take a look the fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament. Below is a list of prophecies we know from archeology and history have been fulfilled, with a estimation of the odds against it coming true.

 

#

Scripture Reference

Subject

Odds Against Fulfillment
1 Ez. 26:3-21 Tyre 1 in 7.5 X 107
2 Hosea 13:16, Micah 1:6 Samaria 1 in 4 X 104
3 Amos 1:8; Jer. 47:5; Zeph. 2:4-7 Gaza & Ashkelon 1 in 1.2 X 104
4 Ez. 25:3-4; Jer. 48:47, 49:6 Moab & Ammon 1 in 103
5 Isa 34:6-15; Jer 49:17-18; Ez 25:13-14, 35:5-7 Petra & Edom 1 in 104
6 Isa 13:19-22, 14:23; Jer. 51:26,43 Babylon 1 in 5 X 109
7 Jer. 31:38-40 Jerusalem Enlarged 1 in 8 X 1010
8 Lev 26:31-33; Ez 36:33-35 Palestine 1 in 2 X 105
9 Josh 6:2-5 Jericho 1 in 2 X 105
10 Ez 44:1-3 The Golden Gate 1 in 103
11 Jer 26:18 Zion Plowed 1 in 103

The probability of these 11 prophecies coming true is 1 in 5.76 X 1059. Let’s try to visualize that number. First of all we’ll round it off to 5 X 1059. Then let’s suppose that we had that many silver dollars. How big a pile would that make?

The volume of the sun is 1,000,000 times larger than that of the earth, yet out of 5 X 1059 silver dollars would could make 10 silver balls the size of the sun!

 It has been estimated that the whole universe contains about two trillion galaxies and that each galaxy contains about 100 billion stars. From our 5 X 1059 silver dollars we could make all of the stars in these galaxies 2 X 105 times!

Now suppose that we marked one dollar and stirred it into the whole pile before making them into balls the size of the sun. Then suppose that we blind fold someone and told him to go over to each of the balls and pick up the dollar which he thinks is the right one.

What chance would he have of picking the marked silver dollar?

Assuming he could travel 60 mph day and night it would take him 5 years to go once around each star, or 500 billion years for each galaxy! So let’s suppose that this guy is really fast and is able to look over all the dollars contained in the 100 billion stars of a galaxy in one second!

It would still take him 3 X 10 years (that’s 3 billion years!) to cover them all!

It is absurd to think that he would pick the marked coin! It is just as absurd to think that these prophecies were fulfilled by chance! Only an all-powerful and all knowing God could have written a book that is so amazingly accurate.

This is powerful evidence that the Bible is true and is a good reason for you to put your faith in the Bible as God’s Word! [This section was taken from the book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Vol. 1, page 318, Written by Josh McDowell.]

Evidence From Ancient Literature

 Many people are bothered by the age of the Bible. They wonder how we can know that the Bible we have today is the same as what was originally written? After all how would we know if it had been changed several hundred years ago?

The answer to these questions are found in manuscript comparison.

The number of copies left of any ancient piece of literature is the main way to tell how accurate it is. Even more important than that is the period of time between when it was written and the date of our earliest copy is. The more copies and the shorter the gap between the original copy and the manuscripts we have means the more accurate the manuscript.

Below is a chart comparing the Old and New Testaments to some of the best known ancient literature.

 

Author

 Date Written Earliest Copy Time Span # of Copies
Homer (Iliad) 900 BC 400BC 500 yrs. 643
Caesar 100-44BC 900 AD 1000 yrs   10
Plato 427-347 BC 900 AD 1200 yrs     7
Tacitus 100 AD 1100 AD 1000 yrs   20
Pliny the Younger 63-113 AD 850 AD 750 yrs     7
Thucydides 460-400 BC 900 AD 1300 yrs     8
Suetonius 75-160 AD 950 AD 800 yrs     8
Herodotus 480-425 BC 900AD 1300 yrs     8
Cataullus 54 BC 1550 AD 1600 yrs     3
Euripides 480-406 BC 1100 AD 1500 yrs     9
Demosthenes 383-322 BC 1100 AD 1300 yrs 200 (all from 1 copy)
Aristotle 384-322 BC 1100 AD 1400 yrs 49 (of any 1 work)
Aristophanes 450-385 BC 900 AD 1200 yrs  10
 
New Testament 40-11 AD 125 AD 25 yrs More than 24,000
Old Testament 1500-350 BC 200 BC ??? Over 800

As you can see we have more copies of the Bible than we do of any other piece of ancient literature. So why is it that only the Bible is attacked as untrustworthy? When was the last time you heard someone say that Caesar or Aristotle didn’t really write the books that have their names? If we are going to be fair we must judge all ancient literature by the same standards. By that standard the Bible stands head and shoulders above the rest as true and trustworthy!

Evidence From the Early Church

 If the Bible is indeed true and trustworthy then we would expect to find that it was widely read, used and quoted by the early Christians. Indeed it was!

If every single copy of the New Testament was completely destroyed, we could reconstruct the entire New Testament except for 11 verses!  How? Through the writings of the early church leaders, known as the Church Fathers.

 

The New Testament & the Early Church Fathers
Writer Gospels Acts Paul’s Letters General Letters Rev. Total
Justin Martyr 268 10 43 6 3 330
Irenaeus 1038 194 499 23 65 1819
Clement of Alex. 1017 44 1127 207 11 2406
Origen 9231 349 7778 399 165 17922
Tertullian 3822 502 2609 120 205 7258
Hippolytus 734 42 387 27 188 1378
Eusebius 3258 211 1592 88 27 5176
             
Totals 19368 1352 14035 870 664 36289

This chart leaves little doubt two things:

  • The New Testament was recognized quickly to be the Word of God.
  • The Bible we have is the same one that the early Christians had.

Conclusion

 After reading over this brief look at some of the evidence available the question we started with seems easy to answer now. Is the Bible reliable?

Yes! The evidence is amble and overwhelming – you can trust the Bible as God’s Word!

Yeah But…

 YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO ARGUE ANYONE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

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Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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