How Do We Know the Bible Is True? | Finding Contentment in God’s Word

Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. Let me ask you a question. Are you eager to make a difference in the spiritual lives of others? When you give to Harvest, you become a part of our mission to make God known through unique avenues like television, radio, and large-scale evangelistic events.

Support us today at harvest.org slash donate and help us to continue to spread the gospel around the world. The word of God is something that will make you happy. Psalm 19 verse 8, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

It will bring you happiness in life. So many think happiness comes from living on the edge, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Pastor Greg Laurie points out happiness is found elsewhere.

Listen, you can be happy without sin. What you're looking for is in a relationship with God and a life lived for Him. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Again you hear the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. What makes a person happy? A lot of people would say more money. Fame and fortune aren't those common pursuits. But look at the richest and most famous. They should be ecstatic.

They're not, but their psychotherapist is working on that. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to God's Word for good insight on where we can find joy, happiness, and contentment. If the Creator who made us has advice on how to make our lives richer, we should pay attention. The title of the message is, how do we know the Bible is true? Alright, so let's turn in our Bibles to Psalm 19. Psalm 19.

How do we know the Bible is true? So we will read the phrase, the law of the Lord, a few times. You could just as easily substitute the Bible or the Word of God in the place of the law of the Lord. Psalm 19 verse 7. The law or the word of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise is simple. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. More to be desired are they than gold, yes than much fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward. Back to my initial question. How can we know the Bible is the Word of God? A few thoughts about that. First I would say the Bible is confirmed by archeology. The Bible is confirmed by archeology. In fact archeology has been called the Bibles best friend. From the discovery of the Cyrus cylinder in 1870 to the pool of Siloam in 2004 archeology has confirmed again and again the Bible was right all along.

Here is another thought. I know the Bible is true because it gave to me the experience it promised. Now maybe that is not important to you but it is important to me. The Bible made certain promises to me and by nature I have always been a skeptical person.

I don't know about you. I am not the first to believe something because someone else says it is true. I want to know for myself. And so when I heard all of these promises available to me if I became a Christian I thought eh I don't really know.

And even if it were true for other people I am not sure it would be true for me personally. But I was proven wrong. Christ did everything he promised he would do for me. For instance God says that he would forgive my sins and I asked him to forgive me and he did.

If we will confess our sin 1 John 1 says he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So that sense of guilt was removed from me. The Bible said if I came to Jesus Christ I would become a different person. And that has happened to me. Now I am still a work in progress. But I have found it to be true.

Haven't you? The Bible promised that if I would not worry about anything but I would pray about everything that God would give me a peace that passes all human understanding. I have found that to be true. The Bible told me if I would pray about things God could change circumstances.

And I have seen that as well. I have seen so many things that God promised come true in my life. I believe in the Bible because it gave me the experience. That is not the only reason I believe in it.

It is just one of many. I believe in the Bible because it is the one book that dares to predict the future. With 100 percent accuracy.

And that is an amazing thing. There are many specific prophecies the Bible has made. Many of them have already been fulfilled so we can look back with 20 20 hindsight and see how accurate Scripture is. I am not talking about the Mayan calendar or the so-called prophecies of Nostradamus. I am talking about bold prophecies.

I am not going to talk all day about this. But the Bible said the Jewish people will be scattered to the four corners of the earth. They will be regathered in their land and they will become a nation again. And after this happens they will be surrounded by enemies intent on their destruction. All of this is spoken of in Scripture.

And it is happening before our very eyes as we sit here right now. This is the amazing thing about the Bible. But the Bible is a book that must not just be read. It must be obeyed. James 1 22 says, remember it is a message to obey not just listen to. And if you don't obey you are only fooling yourself. You are like someone that goes and looks in the mirror and then forgets what they saw and walks away. But if you keep looking steadily into that mirror, God's Word, it will set you free. And if you do what it says and if you don't obey God's Word, it will set you free. And if you