Why should anyone believe the Bible?
During the last weekend of June each year, Lamb & Lion Ministries conducts a Bible conference in the Dallas, Texas area, with 2010’s themed Defending the Faith.
The second speaker was Mike Gendron, founder of Proclaiming The Gospel Ministries, a ministry established in 1991 to serve and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping and encouraging Christians to proclaim the Gospel clearly, faithfully and effectively. The ministry also exposes the fatal errors of Roman Catholicism and apostate Christianity, along with other faith movements such as the Emerging Church, Purpose Driven Church and the Church Growth Movement. They also proclaim the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ and exhort believers to contend earnestly for the faith until that glorious day.
Mike’s topic at our conference was “The Truth of the Bible” (watch). Considered an expert on Christian doctrine, he did a masterful job of defending the Bible as the revealed Word of God.
Mike Gendron on the Truth of the Bible
Uniqueness #3 — Popularity and Influence
The third way that the Bible is unique is it popularity and influence. The Bible is the most circulated book in history. It has been read and studied and quoted by more people than any other book.
No other book has impacted society and culture so impressively or has changed lives so dramatically.
Consider two radically changed lives. Spurgeon could never find peace until a country preacher quoted Isaiah 45:22, “Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.” Consider also Martin Luther who could never find peace until he read the words, “The just shall live by faith” in Habakkuk 2:4. Countless people have had their lives radically changed as well, and I am sure many of you could point to the Scriptures for the reason that your life has been radically changed.
Uniqueness #4 — Unique in Reliability of Transmission
The fourth reason we need to persuade people to read the Bible and uphold it as authoritative and truthful. It is unique in its reliability of its transmission.
A shepherd made the greatest discovery of manuscripts in history in 1948 near the Dead Sea. Complete manuscripts of Isaiah, the Psalms and Deuteronomy copied over 2,000 years ago were found in these caves near the Dead Sea. These ancient manuscripts are essentially the same as our modern copies. This proves that they were transmitted over the years with extraordinary precision. We have a sovereign God that has superintended the transmission and the copies of His Word down through the centuries. It is always the skeptics that are asking, “Well, how can we be sure the Bible has been copied accurately?” Well, we have an answer for that.
Uniqueness #5 — Indestructibility
The Bible is unique in its indestructibility as well. The Bible has withstood intense scrutiny by thousands of skeptics and survived continuous attacks by emperors, kings and dictators. They all failed in their attempts to silence the message.
God’s Word will stand forever. We know that heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s Word will stand forever.
It is now the most translated book ever written with 2,454 languages covering 98% of the world’s population.
The more attacks and scrutinizers that there are on the Bible, the more resilient it becomes. Many of you are familiar with Josh McDowell who spent 6 years trying to disprove the Bible. He has come away as one of the world’s great apologists.
In the next segment on the “Truth of the Bible,” Mike Gendron looks at three more ways the Bible is unique.
Resource
Defending the Faith June 2010 Conference DVD Album
Get back to the Word and the absolute essentials of the Christian faith by learning how to defend what you believe in this 6-part conference album!
- “The Truth of the Christian Worldview” – Brannon Howse
- “The Truth of the Bible” – Mike Gendron
- “The Truth of Creation” – Dr. Jobe Martin
- “The Truth of the Divinity of Jesus” – Eric Barger
- “The Truth of the Resurrection” – Dr. Ron Rhodes
- “The Truth of the Virgin Birth” – Dr. David Reagan