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Our Current State

Our Current State.

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Our Current State

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  1. Our Current State • Americans love their Bibles. So much so that they keep them in pristine, unopened condition. Or, as George Gallup Jr. and Jim Castelli said in a widely quoted survey finding, "Americans revere the Bible but, by and large, they don't read it.“ – Why Johnny Can’t Read the Bible

  2. Regarding Biblical illiteracy and discipleship, Christian researcher and author George Barna reports:* Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.* Many professing Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples.* 60 percent of Americans cannot name even five of the Ten Commandments.* 82 percent of Americans believe “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.* 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.* A survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.* A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that Billy Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount.* Six out of ten Americans reject the existence of Satan.* Four out of ten Americans believe that when Jesus Christ was on earth He committed sins.* Five out of ten believe that anyone who is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life will earn a place in Heaven.* Four out of ten believe that the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.* Seven out of ten born again Christians said they do not believe in moral absolutes.* Only one out of ten Christians base their moral decision-making on the principles taught in the Bible.* 54 percent believe truth can be discovered only through logic, human reasoning and personal experience

  3. What is the problem? • Hosea 4:1-4 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

  4. So what is the problem? • The Bible is not considered the actual WORD OF GOD • Even for people who revere the Bible, it is not considered inerrant or infallible • As a result people increasingly allow their ignorance of it to destroy them • Even Christians attack Bible-believers as “fundamentalists”

  5. How do we know the Bible is True?? • Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. • Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. • Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. • Luke 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

  6. But what does God say about scripture?

  7. 2 Timothy 3:12-15 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

  8. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

  9. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

  10. 2 Timothy 4:3-5 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

  11. The Word has POWER! • Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

  12. The WORD of GOD Two-edged Sword • Quick (active and living) • Powerful • Sharp • Piercing • Dividing • Discenring

  13. Operations of the Word • Brings positive results • Helps you know yourself better • Touches and judges all things • Protects us from error • Heals us • Gives wisdom about how to live • Brings spiritual enlightenment

  14. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

  15. 2 Peter 1:19-21 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spakeas they weremoved by the Holy Ghost.

  16. The word “moved” in this verse is also used in Acts 27:15 to describe the way a great storm blew the apostlePaul'sship off course across the Mediterranean. The people on board could spend the time as they chose (either bailing or wailing!), but the storm determined their destination of Malta. Similarly, God guided the writers of Scripture to produce exactly the message He wanted.

  17. Bible Timeline • 1400 B.C.: Ten Commandment tablets given to Moses by God. • 500 B.C.: Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts completed. • 200 B.C.: Old Testament and Apocrypha Greek manuscripts completed. • 100 A.D.: New Testament completed. • 382 A.D.: Latin Vulgate manuscripts produced. • 1384 A.D.: First complete Bible ever reproduced. By John Wycliffe. A handwritten copy of all 80 books: the 66 old and new testaments, plus apocrypha. • 1456 A.D.: First printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible. It used independently placed characters called movable type, which revolutionized book publishing. • 1560 A.D.: The first Bible in English, the Geneva Bible. • 1611 A.D.: The first King James Bible, commissioned by King James I of England. • 1769 A.D.: The English is edited and updated to reflect the evolving language. • 1885 A.D.: Apocrypha was removed, leaving 66 books. • 1947 A.D.: Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered which helped validate the accuracy of the Bible. • 1982 A.D.: New King James Version published to modernize the English.

  18. Ten Reasons you can trust the Bible! • Fulfilled prophecy • Archeological evidence • Bibles Internal Consistency • Extra-biblical writings • Scientific accuracy and foresight • The Many Manuscripts • Honest appraisals of characters • The Persecution of the disciples • Transforming power of the words • Testimony of Jesus Himself

  19. Persecutions in History •  Matthew was slain with an axe in a city of Ethiopia•  Mark died in Alexandria, in Northern Egypt after having been cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. •  Luke was hung upon an olive tree in Greece•  John was tortured and then banished to the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9)•  James, the brother of John, was beheaded in Jerusalem (see Acts 12:2)•  James the Less (as he’s called in Mark 15:40) was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and then stoned•  Philip was hung up against a pillar in Heiropolis and then stoned•  Bartholomew was flayed alive•  Andrew was bound to a cross and left to die•  Jude was shot to death with arrows•  Matthias (the apostle chosen to replace Judas) was first stoned, and then beheaded•  Barnabas was stoned to death•  Paul, after a variety of tortures and imprisonments, was beheaded in Rome •  Thomas was run through the body with a spear in southeast India•  Peter was crucified upside down in Rome

  20. Honest Appraisals • •  Noah getting drunk shortly after getting off of the ark (Genesis 9:21)•  Abraham lying (on more than one occasion) about Sarah being his wife (Genesis 12:13; 20:2)•  Moses’ outburst of anger, how he misrepresented God, and wasn’t even allowed    to enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:10-11)•  Israel rejecting God on numerous occasions to worship other gods (e.g., see the book of Judges)•  David’s adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11)•  Jesus called Peter "Satan" (Mark 8:33)•  Peter denying that he knew Jesus, after promising he would never do such a thing (Matthew 26:72)•  Peter's fear of being seen eating with Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-12)•  The disciple's prideful argument over which one of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24)•  The disciples falling asleep when Jesus asked them to pray (Mark 14:32-41)•  The disciples running away to save their own necks when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:50)•  Paul's confession that he was “a wretched man” (Romans 7:24) and the “chief” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15)•  Paul and Barnabas's argument over Mark being allowed to travel with them (Acts 15:38-39)

  21. The Bible addresses life’s most controversial questions.•  How did the universe come into existence? •  Does God exist? And if so, what is He like? •  Why does man exist? •  What is our purpose for being here? •  Why is there evil and suffering in the world? •  What happens to us after we die?The Bible is a collection of 66 different documents. The Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors.Many of the Bible’s authors came from different educational and cultural backgrounds. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1500+ years, covering some 60+ generations. Many of the authors were separated by hundreds of miles geographically.The Bible was written in three different languages:Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

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