Vineyard Labourer Bible College

Study 1

THE BIBLE IS TRUE

Did you know that the Bible is the most fascinating Book to be found on earth? Unerringly it has foretold the destiny of people, the future of cities, and of the world's greatest nations. This Book has foreseen the future with such amazing accuracy that it astounds even the most sceptical reader.

Few people realize that the Bible is really a library containing sixty-six books - thirty-nine in the Old Testament, written before Christ came to this earth. Some of these books are small, and some are large. Your Bible took sixteen hundred years to compile - from 1500 BC to AD 100 - and was written by some thirty-five authors. How could these different men, living in different times of earth's history, write in absolute harmony one with the other? Such harmony exists that their message agree in the most minute detail. There can be but one logical explanation. Each man was told what he should write. This is exactly what your Bible says did happen, and you can prove this for yourself in just a moment.

God who inspired the writing of the Bible puts Himself on trial when He throws out this challenge: "And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe." John 14:29. Could God be fairer than this? The word "Bible" means "the Book," and what a wonderful Book it is. As you study this lesson, you will marvel at God's foreknowledge, and you will understand why this amazing Book is still the world’s best-seller. You will gain a new confidence as you see for yourself that there is an almighty God who is guiding this universe, this world, and you.

WHAT SAITH THE LORD

1.   Through whom does God communicate His will? Numbers 12:6.

"And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream."
Numbers 12:6.

2.   How did God communicate the Scriptures to the prophets? 2 Peter 1:20, 21.

"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 spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:20, 21.

3.   How much of the Bible is inspired? 2 Timothy 3:16.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16.

4.   Concerning whom did Christ say all the Scriptures testify? John 5:39.

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39.

5.   What part of the Scriptures did Christ consider inspired? Luke 24:44.

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." Luke 24:44.

Note: In Christ’s day these were the three divisions into which the Old Testament was divided.

6.   What did Jesus say was the source of truth? John 17:17.

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17.

7.   How does God prove He inspired the writing of the Bible? John 14:29.

"And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe." John 14:29.

8.   In what way does Peter claim the prophetic word helps us along life’s journey? 2 Peter 1:19.

"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:" 2 Peter 1:19.

9.   When Babylon was still a world-power, how did God foretell her end? Isaiah 13:19.

"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Isaiah 13:19.

Note: When Isaiah wrote these words of doom about this city and nation, it seemed an impossible prediction. But now, people travel from all over the world to see the ruins of Babylon, which once was the terror of the earth.

10.   To prove God’s foreknowledge, what prediction did God make about the future inhabitation of Babylon? Isaiah 13:20.

"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." Isaiah 13:20.

Note: Approximately 2,000 years have passed, and still no one lives in old Babylon. God’s Word cannot be broken. John 10:35.

11.   What did God foretell would be the end of the proud city of Tyre? Ezekiel 26:3-5 and 12-14.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations." Ezekiel 26:3-5.

"And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 26:12-14.

Note: Alexander the Great demolished Tyre stone by stone, and threw these into the sea to built a causeway out to an island to which Tyre’s inhabitants had fled. God’s Word cannot be broken.

12.   When Egypt was at the height of her tremendous power and glory, how did God say that she would end? Ezekiel 29:14,15.

"And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations." Ezekiel 29:14, 15.

Note: History has proved God’s Word true. Egypt still exists, but only as a minor power.

13.   What strange prediction did God make concerning our day? Revelation 11:18.

"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Revelation 11:18.

14.   In these troubled times what will be created in our hearts through a study of the Scriptures? Romans 15:4.

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4.

God has foretold the future to give us hope and confidence. He wants you to trust Him and His wonderful Book. Time, and all man’s efforts have not been able to disprove the accuracy of God’s Word. It has stood against the mightiest of nations, and will continue to stand till the end. While Babylon lies in heaps without an inhabitant; while Tyre lies in the midst of the sea; while Egypt has gone from glory to comparative oblivion as God foretold, and man now is destroying this earth, how can we honestly disbelieve this amazing Book, the Bible?

Commitment - I believe God’s Word, the King James Version of the Bible, to be true.