For the past few days, I've been dealing with a question which was presented by Pastor
Paul Mahan to our young people during Bible school this week.
The question asked of him by a young person is this. Brother Paul, how do you know
that this Bible is the Word of God? How do you know that this
Bible is the Word of God and not just the writings of mere
men? Well, I plan, God willing, to
answer that question for you today as fully and as completely
as I can. as plainly as I can. I believe
without doubt this is the Word of God. The verbally inspired,
infallible Word of God. And I have many reasons for believing
this. I don't believe it just because
my parents told me it's the Word of God, or just because that's
the tradition of religionists I have many reasons why I believe
this is the Word of God. And first, I'm going to give
you some very elementary, very elementary logical reasons why
this is the Word of God and not the words of mere men. First
of all, and you jot these down, here are just elementary reasons,
logical reasons. This is obvious. to everyone. Number one, this book has overcome
the barriers of time. You hear that phrase, time changes
everything. Not this book. Not this book. Some of this book was written
as far back as 3,500 years. 3,500 years, Moses, 3,500 years ago
Moses lived and wrote. Job may have been written before. They say Job is the oldest book
in the Bible, perhaps so. But this, the writings of Moses
back during the days of the pharaohs. Where are the books of men written
back in the days of the pharaohs? Where are any of the books of
men written over 400 or 500 years ago? We have Josephus back farther
than that, but none back this far. None of them have been preserved. And the last entry into this
book was 1500 years, no, 2000 years ago, when John wrote on
the Isle of Patmos. The last entry, 2000 years ago. And when these men wrote in the
New Testament, they quoted the men who were before them. They
quoted accurately what these men wrote. Paul quoted Isaiah
and David. In other words, I read you a
scripture a while ago in which the Apostle Paul said, it is
written, I believe, therefore have I spoken. Where did he get
that? David wrote it hundreds and hundreds of years before
Paul did. And Paul says, that's what I say, I believe, therefore
have I spoken. And this book, which was begun
3,500 years ago and finished, so that God says, if anybody
adds to the words of this book, I'll add to him the plagues of
this book. If anyone takes away from the words of this book,
I'll take his portion out of the book of life. It's finished. It's complete. in its entirety,
and it has been preserved in its entirety all these years,
two thousand years. Secondly, very logically, elementary,
this book not only has overcome the barrier of time, but the
barrier of nationality. This book's been translated into
over one thousand languages, from elite French to pidgin That's
right. And even dialects can in Africa. From the mighty Russian language
to the Mayan language. This book's been translated.
Miraculously preserved by God with no basic changes in any
of the languages. When I go down to Mexico to preach,
I sit down beside Brother Gruber and we go over my text, I read
the English Bible, he's reading the Spanish Bible, I say the
same thing. When I go over with Ken in Africa
and talk to him about the message we're going to preach, he's going
to translate, it says the same thing in the French Bible as
it says in the English Bible. It'll say the same thing in the
pidgin in New Guinea. He'll say the same thing wherever
you go because God miraculous. No other book could be retained
like that with so many people translating it. So many people
translating the book into their languages many times over. It'd
be like that game we used to play as kids when you whispered
something in a fellow's ear and he whispered in the next ear.
When it got down to the end, you couldn't even recognize it.
You recognize this. After all these years and all
these translations, you can go to all these countries. I'm going
in six weeks over to Russia, to people where I've never been.
And I'm going to sit down with them and teach them Ephesians
1. And it will say the same thing
in their Bible it says in mine. Romans 8, same thing. It exalts
Christ, the mercies of God. He'll tell who man is and who
God is and who Christ is and how God saved sinners in the
blood of Calvary. Miraculously, miraculously. In nationality, where are the
Russians that are reading English books? Where are the people in Africa
who are reading Chinese books? Where are the people in India
who are reading books written by Canadians or the starchy Englishmen? Not too many books cross the
national boundaries. This one does. This one does. You find it wherever you go.
Thirdly, this is elementary. This book has overcome the barriers
of age, station, and class. This book is loved by children
and old granddads. Last week we had a Bible school,
and here they were on the front row, six years old, holding this
precious book. And awed by it, as Paul stood
here and read from Proverbs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Proverbs, yeah,
Proverbs! The writings of wise Solomon,
six-year-olds! Read Solomon! Six-year-olds don't read very
many adult books. And old men don't read many children's
books. But this is everybody's book.
Isn't that amazing? Miraculous! This is read by presidents
and paupers. This is read by professors and
prisoners. This is read by masters and servants. This is read by people with PhDs
and people who never got out of the third grade. It's read by the rich and the
poor. It's read by the male and the female. It has the same message
for everyone. It gladdens the heart, rejoices
the spirit, reveals the living God, brings happiness, and never
grows old. You know, you can read a man's
book once, maybe twice, a novel or a fiction or history. And not many books do you read
three or four times. Some of us have read the fourth
chapter of 2 Corinthians a hundred times. Isn't that right? And it's just as fresh this morning.
as it was, more than the first time you read it. Explain that
to me. Explain to me. I've heard that song Mike sang.
I heard that in Chattanooga when I was a preacher boy in school.
It was one of my favorite songs. It still is. I heard it just
more like I never heard it before. None other than that. None can with him compare. And
you read this book over and over and it keeps New things, when
you read a man's book, you can whip him out in about three times. About all he's got to say you
can find out in pretty short order. You'll spend ten lifetimes
trying to find out what God, all that God says. Maybe more
than that. I think it'll take eternity for
us to realize the greatness of our God. This is his book. None like it. Fourthly, Somebody
says, well, it was written by evil men in a conspiracy against
mankind. No, this book wasn't written
by evil men. You know how I know? This book
was not written by evil men seeking to deceive because the words
of this book condemn deception. The words of this book condemn
evil of all sorts, especially deception. Especially hypocrisy. Especially false claims. That's especially condemned. Men do not write things to condemn
themselves, but to laud and praise themselves. Evil men didn't write
this because they condemn evil hearts and evil words. And especially hypocrisy and
deceit. Turn to Proverbs a moment. Verse
6. Can you imagine an evil man writing
this? Can you imagine a liar writing this? Can you imagine
a hypocrite writing this? Can you imagine a man who is
seeking in a conspiracy to deceive men writing this? Listen in Proverbs
6 verse 16. These six things doth the Lord
hate, yea, seven, are an abomination to him, a proud look, a lying
tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief,
a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren." That's what God hates. Evil men didn't write
this. Well, somebody said, well, good
men wrote it. Good men didn't write it either. Good men didn't write it either,
because in every part of it, it declared there's none good. There's none good, no not one. All of the men who wrote these
words, whom God used to write these
words, all of them said, we're sinners, we're not good men,
there's none good, no not one. Man, in his best state is altogether
vanity. David, who wrote the beloved
Psalms, said, my sin is ever before me. That's not good, is it? Isaiah
said, I'm a man of unclean lips. Peter said, depart from me, Lord,
I'm a sinful man. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners,
and he wrote fourteen epistles. See, self-praise and self-righteousness
and self-holiness is condemned as a chief offense of the flesh
by these men. Well, preacher, if bad men didn't
write it and good men didn't write it, who wrote it? God wrote
it. It's God's Word. It's not their
words. Let me show you this in 2 Peter.
Here's the key. It was not written by evil men
in a conspiracy. It was not written by good men
to laud and praise their goodness. It was written by God as He used
men to write it. Read 2 Peter 1 verse 21. 2 Peter
1 verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old times, by the will of man, but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." There's
the author of this book, the Holy Ghost. Use the pen of these
who wrote. One other verse, 2 Timothy 3.16,
2 Timothy 3.16, look at this. 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture is
given by inspiration of God. Right in your margin, God breathed. All Scripture is God breathed. It's given by inspiration of
God and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. Alright, here's the other and
last logical reason. and elementary, those are elementary.
This is a supernatural book, it is clear. It is so plain because
it continues to increase, continues on its way, although most people
do not believe it. Most people do not believe it,
and yet it continues. And though many people, powerful
people, down through the years have spent their lives denying
it. And powerful men have tried to
destroy it. In August, I'll be in a country
where for 70 years they have tried and tried and tried to
obliterate this book. And everybody who believes it.
They cast them into prison. They persecuted them, they burned
down their buildings, they forbade them to meet. And it goes on. And here's another, listen to
this. It's a supernatural book because it continues to increase
although most people don't believe it. Many deny it. Powerful men have tried to destroy
it. Religious leaders have tried to hide it from people. Do you know when they're over
in England and when they wanted to translate this into English
and get it into the hand, print it and put it in the hands of
people, that the church, the Catholic church, the recognized
church, apostate church, but the recognized church, did everything
in their power to keep this book from being printed. The powers
that be did all within their power to keep people from having
this book. And listen to this, and most
of those who claim to believe it today, now hold on to your
seat. It is a supernatural book. Most of the fellows you hear
on television and most of the people around in pulpits today
who claim to believe it, claim to preach it, they misquote it,
they misuse it, They misapply it, they misunderstand it, they
twist its meaning to suit their own goals and ends, and yet it
goes on. It goes on. They deny the power
of God, the sovereignty of God, the grace of God, the covenant
of God, the Christ of God, the effectual atonement of God. They
deny these things. Most preachers deny, and yet
it goes on. Upon being asked, how many anvils have you had?
The blacksmith replied, just one. It's the one my father had. You
see, we don't wear out anvils. We wear out hammers that beat
on them. You don't wear the envelope.
The fellow that attacked it, he's the one that, he's broken
upon it. He's crushed upon that stone.
That stone will grind into powder. That's right. Isaiah 40 said, all flesh is
grass and the glory of man is the grass of the field. The grass
withered and the flower faded, but the Word of God is forever. This is God's Word. Let all who will. Old Brother
A.D. Mews said to me one time, he
said, Brother Mahan, he said, I'm not amazed that The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ has prevailed and stood through all these years under
persecution. That's not what amazes me. The
more you persecute the church, the more it grows. He said, I'll tell you what amazes
me. It's how in the world the church
has endured under such bad preaching. Such bad preaching all through
the years. How has it stood? Well, there's
just one way, and that is God Almighty has his witnesses, his
true witnesses, here, there, and yonder, and this is his Word.
And it'll stand, and the gates of hell, the gates of hell will
never prevail against it. Prevail? They'll attack. He didn't
say they wouldn't attack. He said it won't prevail. Alright,
now I'm going to give you some reasons that are not so obvious
to most people, but they are to believers. Some reasons why
I believe the Bible is the Word of God. This has to be revealed.
This has to be revealed. These reasons. Number one, forty men. Forty men. of God were used to
write this Old Testament and New Testament over a period of
over 1,500 years. Many of them did not know one
another, never met one another, never had any opportunity to
collaborate. From Genesis to Revelation, they
wrote this book. Each man himself Some wrote more
than one epistle, more than one book, some wrote just one. Each
man wrote 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, as God
directed him. And when those books were all
brought together, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Jude, all down to Revelation. When they were all brought together,
they formed a revelation and a clear portrait of one person. The Lord Jesus Christ. Moses wrote of me. Abraham saw
my day. David, the Lord said unto my
Lord, set thou on my right hand. Isaac, they all wrote of me.
Suppose, illustration, suppose you took 40 men over a period
of 1500 years. Most of whom never, of course
never knew one another because they wouldn't live over 70 or
80 years each, but over a period of 1500 years, 40 million. And
you gave to each man a stone. Just hand him an old rough rock,
stone. He's a sculptor. Hand him a rock,
a stone. Each man, some of them you give two, some of them you
give three, some of them you give one. And told them, make something. Take your chisel and your hammer
and make what you feel led, what you feel inspired, what you feel
like carving. Just carve it. And that went
on all these hundreds of years. And each one preserved it and
put it away and one was over here and one was over yonder
and one was over there and one was over... And at the end of
1,500 years, somebody went out and gathered up all these stones
that these men felt inspired or felt impressed to make a square
or paint a picture on it or whatever, they got them all together. By the wildest stretch of your
imagination, you think they would fit together and make a wall?
You think to say any way in this world they would fit without
divine purpose? And when they were all put together,
suppose they did fit together. Suppose they did fit together.
Do you think you could look at it and see the picture of a person?
One of them made his ears. One of them made his eye. One of them made his mouth. One of them formed his hand.
One of them formed his hair. You think, well, preacher, that's
the wildest thing that you ever come up with. This book did that. Old Moses
wrote Genesis, the woman's seed. In Exodus, the Passover lamb,
each a picture of my Lord. Leviticus, the tabernacle, the
mercy seat, the priesthood, the atonement. In Numbers, the brazen
serpent. In Deuteronomy, the city of refuge.
In Joshua, Rahab's scarlet lion. In Ruth, the kinsman, redeemer.
In the six books of Kings, the king of kings. In the Psalms,
my shepherd. In Matthew, the king of Israel.
In Mark, the servant. In Luke, the son of man. In John,
the son of God. In Revelation, the Lamb in the
midst of the throne, as it had been slain. Just turn anywhere you want to. Just anywhere you want to, and
we'll preach Christ. Anywhere. The same Christ. The
sovereign Christ. The redeeming Christ. The incarnate
Christ. The eternal Christ. Anywhere
you want to turn. It's God's Word. This book is
about a person. Now let me show you, secondly,
this has to be revealed, but this is why this is God's Word.
Secondly, this book and the person about whom it's written are so
in union that both of them are called the Word of God. This person about whom this book is written,
this person of whom this book is. This is, you say, the Bible
is history. Yup. His story. H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. This Bible is a hymn book. H-I-M. He's called the Word of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and by Him all things were made. Without
Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word of God
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
The Word of God. This is the Word of God. He's
the Word of God. And they are so in union that
they're one. Both called by the same name.
You see, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. The truth is not a fact. The truth is a person. I am the
truth. See that? I'm the truth. You can know a series of facts
and not be set free. You've got to know the person.
See that? Let me show you an illustration.
Here's the key. Here's the key. Search the Scriptures. In them
you think you have life. There they would testify of me.
Alright, two men search the scriptures. Two men read the Bible. Maybe
they're theologians, maybe they're preachers, maybe they're deacons,
maybe they're elders, maybe they're just religious folks, but they
study the Bible. And when they finish studying
it, they learn the doctrines and learn the Bible, and they're
so different. They're so opposite. One is kind
and gracious, and tender, and loving, and the other one was
hard, and tough, and religious, and legalistic, and moral, and
harsh. What happened? They read the
same books. They read the same doctrines.
Thou shalt not. Thou shalt. God is on the throne. Let all
the earth be still and silent. That's what he got. This man
met the person, the loving, gracious, merciful, kind, redeemer, and
was transformed into his likeness. That's the difference. You read
the book of a man, we'll all come up believing. These teachers
give tests. Your pupils, if they study, they'll
give the same answers. You give a test on this, they
won't give the same answers. You know why? Because God the
Holy Ghost has to give them the answer. Who's Christ? They won't
give the same answer. This is a marvelous, this is
God's book. It takes God to reveal it. It's
about a person. One man knows the person. The
other fellow's got a profession. One man met the Redeemer. The
other fellow met some rules to live by to gain eternal life.
One fellow met the Lord, the other fellow met the law. One fellow was given a new heart,
the other fellow was given a new philosophy. You can learn the book without
Christ. You can't learn Christ without the book. Isn't it a marvelous book? I'll
hide his words in my heart that I might not sin against thee. You can learn the book without
Christ. There's a lot of people out here quoting scripture. Do unto others as you have them
do unto you. That's good. That's what the good book says.
Yeah. That's fine. Have you ever met him? Different. Harsh religious people. I'll
tell you something else that you have to learn and experience. This book changes lives. This book changes lives. It changes
relationships. It changes homes. That's right. This Word, if loved and learned,
if believed and received, will change a man's life. It changes
home. It changes heart. Paul said to
Timothy, from a child, you've known the Holy Scriptures. The
Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise. They're able. Yeah, they're able to make you
wise. They're able to make you all that you are not by nature.
And I am not by nature. They're able. In the hands of
the Holy Spirit, in the hands of that person. They'll change
your lives. Change your home. Bring us to know God, to know
ourselves, to know Christ, to hate sin, to love holiness, to
give, to forgive, to love, to be gracious and generous, to
look upon the things of others. Old John Newton, and I tell you
it would do well if folks would read his life story out of the
depths. Out of the depths. He was so
extremely anti-God. And then by the grace of God
so extremely pro-Christ, loving Christ. And he's the one who
said, I'm not what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I will be. But thank God I'm not what I
was. The Word. The Word. And then fourthly, in closing,
this Word, it's God's Word. Because this Word can comfort. That's right, the Word of God.
I can't explain this to a person that doesn't know it, and I don't
have to explain it to a person who does. That's the reason I
say this is not one of those logical, elementary reasons.
But when I need, when my conscience weeps over sin, His Word gives
me peace. Just His Word. Isn't that right? Read His Word. What shall I read when I'm sick
and pain possesses my body? What shall I read? His Word is
my rest. What shall I read when my heart
is broken in sorrow? Well, His Word is my comfort.
What shall I read when I'm old and lonely? He said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. What shall I read when I'm dying,
when the shadows are getting longer and the noise is dimmer? I shall read, and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death.
Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
for the former things have passed away. And he that sat on the
throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Right, for these
words are true and faithful. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. And I will give to him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Oh, that
will comfort me. That will give me some help,
some hope. and make that old pillow on which my head lies
a lot softer and my hope a lot surer because of being what he
said. This is the Word of God.