Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.
Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. It is through the Bible that we have the revelation of everything we need to know about God. Of course, there are a lot of religious books that claim to be the depository of truth about their respective gods. So, the real question is, how do we know the Bible is true? Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.
You know, many people see the Bible as nothing more than a collection of fairy tales. But as Christians, we need to be prepared to defend the credibility of God's word and bolster our personal confidence in the authority of Scripture as well. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress presents convincing evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress? Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I'd like to invite you to join us for the exclusive Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. The dates for this unforgettable trip are May 5th through 16th. I want you to experience an 11-day spiritual journey like none other while enjoying world-class accommodations aboard a luxurious cruise ship in beautiful island destinations like Santorini, Mykonos, and Crete.
Please take a look at the impressive places we'll visit, and reserve your spot today by going to ptv.org. Well, you often hear me say that the Bible is the centerpiece of our conversation. We have absolutely no authority without the inspired word of God. I've written a best-selling book for you.
It's called How Can I Know? Answers to Life's Seven Most Important Questions. Look, there's a lot going on in our nation and our world these days. People are asking, where is God right now? Why doesn't He stop the international wars?
Why does He allow innocent people to suffer? Well, it's natural to ask those questions. I'm pleased to offer you the answers you're looking for in my book How Can I Know?
Request your copy today when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. We'll say more about these resources later, but right now, let's get started with today's study called How Can I Know the Bible is True? Let me share with you several of the strongest evidences for the inspiration of the Bible that we can trust the Bible.
We're going to talk about three of those evidences today and a final one next time. First of all, consider the Bible's claims about itself. The Bible claims to be inerrant.
Now, you say that's circular reason. We say, I know the Bible is true because the Bible says it's true. I will admit it's the weakest argument, but it's important because we have to know, are we claiming something about the Bible that the Bible doesn't claim about itself? Are we hyping the Bible to say it's inerrant? I had seminary professors, college professors who said, this idea of inerrant, the Bible nowhere claims to be inspired and without error.
That's just some man-made claim. Now, let's look at the Old Testament. First of all, the Old Testament itself claimed that the Old Testament was inspired hundreds of times. Jesus himself believed in the inspiration of the Old Testament. The Old Testament was complete by the days of Jesus. He knew it.
He studied it. He believed it was inspired by God. You know what's really interesting is that Jesus seems to have gone out of his way to put his stamp of approval on stories that are ridiculed by liberals the most in the Old Testament. For example, Jesus attached his resurrection to the story of Jonah and the great fish.
Again, skeptics say, in the belly of a fish for three days. No way, but listen to what Jesus said. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be there three days in the heart of the earth. Other people scoffed at the idea that there was ever a man named Noah who built a giant art in the middle of the desert. Yet, in Matthew 24 verses 37 to 39, Jesus attaches his second coming to the story of Noah. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus attached his second coming to Noah. A few years ago, I was on a popular talk show.
It was the most popular talk show of its time. The host said, you know, pastor, I believe the New Testament, but I just can't accept that story in the Old Testament about Noah. I just think it's a myth that couldn't be real. And I said, well, notice that Jesus attached his second coming to that story that you think is a myth. Just suppose Jesus had said instead, just as it was in the days of the Easter Bunny, so shall it be when the Son of Man comes again. If Jesus attached his second coming to the Easter Bunny, would you have any confidence he's coming back again? It makes no sense to try to link reality with a fictitious or a myth of an occurrence. It just doesn't make any sense.
The only way to prove reality is with other reality. My point is Jesus believed the stories of the Old Testament, but it didn't stop there. He believed every word of the Old Testament was inspired by God. For example, in Matthew 22, Jesus was arguing with the Sadducees, a sect of the Jews, about the resurrection. They didn't believe in eternity. They didn't believe in a resurrection. And so Jesus proved to them that the Old Testament taught the resurrection. Matthew 22, verses 31 and 32, Jesus said, but regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God?
I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Jesus said he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. What Jesus was doing was going back to Exodus 3, verse 6, the story of the burning bush. Remember God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him to go to Pharaoh?
And Moses said, if I'm to go to Pharaoh, who am I to say sent me? He said, tell them I am sent you, for I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been dead for hundreds of years. They were dead. They were in the grave when Yahweh said that to Moses. If they were dead in the resurrection, then Yahweh should have said to Moses, tell Pharaoh I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Jesus said that's not what God said. He said I am the God, meaning that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive.
They were resurrected. My point is, Jesus based the entire doctrine of the resurrection on the tense of one word. The fact that God said I am, versus I was, is proof of the resurrection. Jesus believed every word of the Old Testament was inspired by God, but it doesn't stop there. He believed every letter of every word. Every stroke of every letter of every word was God breathed. Matthew 5, 17 to 18, Jesus said, don't think that I came to abolish the law of the prophets.
I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For I say to you, until heaven and earth shall pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until it's all accomplished. The smallest letter in Hebrew is the yod. It's about as big as an apostrophe. When he talks about the smallest stroke, the stroke is what could change one letter of the Hebrew alphabet into another letter. For example, in our English language, think of the word rat, R-A-T. Do you know it only takes one stroke on that R to change the R into an F and turn rat into fat? Is there a difference between rat and fat?
You probably don't want to be called either one, but the words are different in their meaning. It changes the meaning of the word, changes the meaning of a sentence. What I'm saying to you is Jesus so believed in the inspiration of the Scriptures, he believed every stroke of every letter of every word of the Old Testament is God breathed. That was Jesus' view on inerrancy. Well, you've covered the Old Testament. What about the New Testament?
You know, the Bible treats the New Testament as Scripture. Paul believed that. For example, in 1 Timothy 5, verse 18, Paul is talking to Timothy about paying those who are ministers in the church, paying them well.
Now, I'm not sneaking in a secret message here. Our church pays our staff wonderfully well, wonderfully generously, but this is a great illustration of inspiration. He was saying those who work hard preaching and teaching compensate them well, and then he cites evidence from the Scriptures. He says, 1 Timothy 5, 18, for the Scripture says, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing, and he quotes another verse, the laborer is worthy of his wages. Now, the first verse, Paul quotes, we know where that comes from, Deuteronomy 25, verse 4. That's Scripture. That's the Old Testament. But what about this Scripture, the laborer is worthy of his wages? Where is that found in the Old Testament?
Answer nowhere. You can search the Old Testament. That's Scripture in there. Instead, it's a quotation of Luke chapter 10, verse 7. It's a Gospel. The New Testament was still being written when Paul wrote these words, but Luke's Gospel had already been penned. And he said, Luke's writing is Scripture.
It's on the same level as the Old Testament. Peter believed that even the writings of Paul were Scripture. In 2 Peter 3, verses 15 to 16, Peter says, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul.
They didn't get along all the time, but Peter still loved him. Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things and what some things are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort just as they do the rest of Scriptures, underline that, to their own destruction. You know what he's saying? He's saying Paul's hard to understand sometimes. His writings are hard to understand.
Do I hear an amen on that? Peter was frustrated. He had these run-on sentences.
It just didn't seem to make sense sometimes. But Peter said, nevertheless, evil people will try to distort Paul's words as they do the rest of Scriptures. Paul's writing was considered to be Scripture. Now again, I realize that this evidence of what the Bible says about itself is probably the least persuasive, but it's important to know what the Bible claims.
When we say the Bible is inerrant, we are not claiming anything the Bible does not claim. Secondly, fulfilled prophecy is a strong evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible. Did you know no other religious book, the Book of Mormon, the Koran, any other religious book, no religious book has any example of fulfilled prophecy? There's not one prophecy that was made that can show to be fulfilled, but the Bible has dozens of fulfilled prophecies.
Let me just give you two examples. One from the Old Testament, a prophecy considering a king named Cyrus. In 700 B.C., Isaiah the prophet made a prophecy. He said at some point in the future, Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, is going to be taken captive by the nation of Babylon. He made that prophecy in Isaiah 39, verses 5 to 6. One day Babylon will overtake the southern kingdom. Now, that's interesting because Babylon was a minor player on the world stage.
It wasn't a superpower. But Isaiah said they're going to overtake Judah and take them captive. He made that 100 years before that happened.
And guess what? In 586 B.C., that's exactly what happened. But Isaiah didn't stop there. He said furthermore, in the future after Judah is taken captive, another king is going to take Babylon captive, overthrow Babylon. And that was fulfilled in 539 B.C.
when Persia overtook Babylon. But Isaiah didn't stop there. He said not only that, but that king of Persia who overtakes Babylon will issue a decree that allows Israel to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
And that's what happened in 538 B.C. But Isaiah didn't stop there. 150 years before the fact, he identified the name of that king who would issue the edict for Israel to go back to Judah, Cyrus the Great. Isaiah 44 verse 28, it is I who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd. And he will perform all my desire. And he declares of Jerusalem, she will be built. And of the temple, your foundation will be laid. Now this was made, this prophecy by Isaiah 150 years before it all came to fruition.
Let me illustrate how unbelievable that is. Just imagine that in 1850, someone made this prediction. One day in the future, America will suffer an invasion on its own soil by terrorists from other countries. Furthermore, in response to that invasion, the United States will launch an attack against Afghanistan and Iraq. And furthermore, the name of the president at that time who will issue the command for those attacks is George W. Bush.
Could you believe that would happen? That is just exactly what happened when 150 years before the fact, Isaiah predicted not only the future of Judah but of Persia and identified the name of a man who hadn't even been born yet who would be the one who would fulfill this prophecy. That's just one example of many fulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament.
What about the New Testament? Let's consider the prophecies concerning Jesus. Now, there are 61 major prophecies about the life and ministry and death of Jesus. Hundreds of prophecies, probably not, but 61 major ones that are found in the Old Testament. And they were fulfilled, all of them by Jesus.
Now some skeptics might actually ask a question you've wondered about. Couldn't Jesus have just arranged his life so that he met those qualifications, he fulfilled those prophecies? In other words, he self-fulfilled them to deceive people into thinking he was the Messiah. For example, Psalm 22 says that the Messiah, when he's crucified, will say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Jesus knew the Old Testament. Could he have just repeated those words on the cross? The honest answer is, yes, there are some of those prophecies that could have been fulfilled in an attempt to deceive people. But most of those prophecies, Jesus had no way, if he were just a human being, of fulfilling those prophecies.
For example, 700 years before the fact, Micah the prophet prophesied the place that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Now I don't know about you, did you get to choose the place you would be born? I was born down the street at St. Paul Hospital, but I had no say in the matter.
I didn't confer with my parents about it. They picked it, it was decided for me. The time of his birth, Daniel 9.25, the manner of his birth, that he was born of a virgin, that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, that was prophesied almost 800 years before it happened. The manner of his death, crucifixion, that was prophesied hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented by the Romans. His burial in a rich man's tomb, Isaiah 53.9, all prophesied, and all of these prophecies came true. What are the chances that one man in history could have accidentally fulfilled just eight of those 61 prophecies?
You've heard me say this before. Mathematician Peter Stoner says the odds of one man fulfilling eight of these prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th power. That's a one with 17 zeros behind it. Now, to give you an idea of how improbable that is, Peter Stoner says one in 10 to the 17th would be like filling the state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep. Just imagine wading around Texas in silver dollars two feet deep. And imagine taking one of those silver dollars, he says, and putting a black X on it, throwing it in the pool of silver dollars, mixing it up real well, and then to start walking from El Paso to Tyler, from Amarillo to Brownsville.
And at a random moment, you stop, you lean over, and you pick up one of those silver dollars. The chance that it's the one with the X on it is one in 10 to the 17th power. The same odds that Jesus could have accidentally fulfilled eight of these 61 prophecies. You have prophecies like that throughout the scripture that argue for the trustworthiness of the Bible. And finally, the unity of the Bible. The unity of the Bible. Contrast the Bible with another well-known religious book, the Quran of Islam. Mohammed wrote the Quran over a period of 23 years. He claims that the angel Gabriel came and delivered to him the message that became the Quran. And though it was written just by one man in a short period of time, there's an amazing amount of disunity in the Quran.
By the way, that's not just coming from me. Ken Woodward, writing in Newsweek magazine, contrasted the Quran from the Bible. And he said, quote, as sacred text, however, the Bible and Quran could not be more different. To read the Quran is like entering a stream. At almost any point, one may come upon a command of God or a burst of prayer, a theological pronouncement, the story of an earlier prophet, or a description of a final judgment. None of its 114 chapters focuses on a single theme. Isn't that interesting?
No unity, no theme. Contrast that to the Bible. The Bible wasn't written by one man. It was written by over 40 authors over a span of 1,500 years. It was written in geographical locations 2,000 miles away from Babylon to Jerusalem to Rome. Those who wrote the Bible were from various backgrounds, kings, sheep herders, doctors, men who, for the most part, didn't know one another or converse with one another. And yet, there is a single clear theme throughout the Bible.
As Dr. Crystal called it, the scarlet thread of redemption. It's woven through every one of the Bible's books. And not only that, there's a consistency in imagery.
The images you have in Genesis are the same as the images you have in the Revelation. How amazing is that, that 40 authors over 1,500 years in countries 2,000 miles apart, never talking to one another, could come up with a Bible that is unified. My friend Erwin Lutzer describes it this way, to describe the miracle of the unity of the Bible. He said, imagine various pieces of a great cathedral arriving from different countries and cities converging at a single location. In fact, imagine that investigation proves that 40 different sculptors made a contribution over a period of many centuries. Yet, the pieces fit together to form a single magnificent structure. Would this not be proof that behind that project was a single mind?
One designer who used his workmen to sculpt a well-conceived plan? The Bible is that cathedral, overseen by one super intelligent architect. What is the evidence that the Bible is true? We've talked about what the Bible claims about itself. We've talked about the fulfilled prophecies, hundreds of them in the Bible.
We've talked about the unity of theme. Next time, we'll look at the final piece of evidence that makes the Bible trustworthy, and I'm going to answer three of the most commonly asked questions. What about all of the contradictions, so-called contradictions in the Bible?
How do we handle mistakes copyists may have made in copying the manuscripts? And how do we know that we've got the right books in the Bible? I'll answer those questions next time as we continue to answer the question, How can I know the Bible is true? Our current series called How Can I Know is one of the most highly requested studies we've ever presented on Pathway to Victory, and I'm hoping you'll take advantage of the collateral resources we've prepared on your behalf. First, I've written a book called How Can I Know? Answers to Life's Seven Most Important Questions.
Christians who have been sitting in church for decades have their personal and private doubts, but they're too afraid to voice them. These seven chapters will equip you with solid answers to restore your confidence. When you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure you receive a copy of How Can I Know?
Answers to Life's Seven Most Important Questions. In closing, let me share an encouraging word from one of your fellow listeners. Amy recently wrote, Pastor Jeffress, I'm grateful that your program is aired every morning on my way to teaching high school in a very poor county in northern Mississippi. I feel that God has led me to this particular location, even though it's an hour away from my home and has a reputation for violence.
But as a Christian teacher, I am constantly looking for ways to teach my students biblical truths while in a public school setting. I've learned so much from you to share. Thank you for all that you do for Christians across the globe. Well, thank you, Amy. And let me say thank you to anyone who supports Pathway to Victory and especially our Pathway partners who give a gift every month. You made Amy's story possible. And God is using your generous gifts to pierce the darkness with the light of His word.
David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you give a generous gift to support Pathway to Victory or when you sign up to become a Pathway partner, we'll say thanks by sending you the bestselling book by Dr. Jeffress, How Can I Know? Go online to ptv.org or call 866-999-2965.
And when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive the complete collection of audio and video discs for the newly updated teaching series that's also titled How Can I Know? To request your copy, simply call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could also write to us if you'd like, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress continues to answer the question, How Can I Know the Bible is True? That's Thursday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
