THE TESTIMONY OF
TRUTH
By Matt Leasher
In this world full
of lies and deceit
it is often hard to
find and determine
truth from
deception.
One place we
can be rest assured
to find flawless
truth is in God’s
Word, the Holy
Bible.
Sadly, not
all people recognize
and believe this to
be so.
In fact, I
find that when I am
sharing the Word
with people I seem
to spend an equal
amount of time
defending the Word
as I do sharing it.
This is
called “apologetics”
and we don’t see
enough of it from
believers these days
and we live in a
time when it is
needed most.
Ever since the Bible
was removed from
American public
schools several
decades ago, young
minds have been open
game for every kind
of false deception
thinkable by man and
one of the biggest
being the lie of
evolution.
Scientists
are always changing
their views and
theories about
evolution and the
origin of man yet
the Bible never
changes.
Like the old
saying goes, “lies
always change but
the truth stays the
same”.
In a world
that is fueled with
prideful deception
the truth is always
under attack as is
the case with the
Bible.
One of the
most common
convictions from
skeptics and
unbelievers is that
the Bible was
written by men
therefore open for
error and denied its
Godly inspiration.
Yes, the
Bible was
“physically” written
by men, but authored
by God.
The Bible is
not a book that man
COULD write nor is
it a book that man
WOULD write.
Allow me to
explain.
The Bible convicts
humanity of our sins
and reveals our
weaknesses of our
“fallen nature”
which is our failure
to be able to live
up to the standards
of a perfect and
holy God.
“For all have sinned
and fallen short of
the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23).
The Bible says that
men are desperately
wicked and then
speaks of a coming
Judgment upon ALL
men and of an
eternal consequence
due to our sinful
deeds.
The heart is deceitful
above all things,
And desperately
wicked;
Who can know it? I, the
LORD, search the
heart,
I test the mind, Even to
give every man
according to his
ways,
According to the
fruit of his doings.
(Jeremiah 17:9-10)
Why would any man
write these words
and condemn himself
and all of mankind
with him in this way
if it were not
inspired by God? Why
would man place
himself in that
position?
It just isn’t
in his prideful
nature and if he
wasn’t prideful then
he would be too
shameful to write
these things anyway.
No, it would
have to come from
the Holy Spirit.
For the word of God
is living and
powerful, and
sharper than any
two-edged sword,
piercing even to the
division of soul and
spirit, and of
joints and marrow,
and is a discerner
of the thoughts and
intents of the
heart. (Hebrews
4:12)
The good news is
that the Bible also
reveals our way for
redemption to
salvation through
Jesus Christ so that
we do not have to
die in our sins but
obtain eternal life.
There is therefore
now no condemnation
to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do
not walk according
to the flesh, but
according to the
Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
This in itself is
also proof that no
man could have wrote
these words without
inspiration from God
because man by his
own nature loves the
pleasures of sin and
if he had it his way
he would have
written a way to
salvation on his own
merit so that he
could get away with
a sinful life, but
Scripture does not
convey that at all.
Scripture
clearly says that
the only way to
salvation is through
faith in Jesus
Christ and His
redemptive work on
the cross by taking
our punishment that
we deserve.
Personally I
wouldn’t want it any
other way, for it is
far better that the
way to salvation is
achieved through our
Lord Jesus Christ
who was sinless and
perfect rather than
by the merits of
sinful man.
The fact that
the Bible teaches
this is a firm
testimony of its
inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.
The Bible is a
collection of books
written by over 40
different authors of
whom none were
seeking profit or
fame for their
writings.
In fact, most
of them were
persecuted and
killed because of
what they wrote.
No other holy
book has this kind
of dedicated
testimony.
(The Quran is
the testimony of one
single man,
Mohammed).
The 66 books
contained in the
Bible were also
written hundreds of
years apart from
each other yet when
they are put
together they convey
the same message of
salvation and
compliment each
other in a
supernatural way
that could not be
achieved if it were
not for the
protective and
enduring work of the
Holy Spirit.
In fact,
fourteen of the Old
Testament books
actually begin with
the word “and” (or
“now” which
translates as “and”
in the Hebrew), as
if to remind us of
God’s continued
story of grace and
mercy.
If you were
to buy a book at a
bookstore today and
it started out with
the word “and” you
would be looking for
some missing pages
or feel as though
something had been
lost.
Another testimony of
the truth of the
Bible is the amazing
track record of
fulfilled prophecy.
There are
over 500 prophecies
in the Bible that
have already been
fulfilled with exact
precision as to how
they were
prophesied, unlike
secular seers like
Nostradamus where
words are coded or
have to be read
backwards so that
they fit to their
assumed predictions.
Bible
prophecy is straight
forward.
Living proof
of this is the
current existence of
the nation of Israel and the
Jews.
The Bible
states that the
Jewish people would
always be preserved
and that they would
be back in their
land and even that
their language would
return in the last
days.
We certainly
have living proof of
this as Israel is
alive and well and
stronger than
they’ve ever been
and as of last year
there are more Jews
in the state of
Israel than there
are in America for
the first time since
they’ve returned to
their homeland.
The Bible
also predicts and
identifies the
countries around
Israel
that are at odds
with them in the
last days.
These are all
of the Muslim
countries that are Israel’s enemies today.
Some of them
are named by their
ancient names like
Persia
for Iran or Philistia for the Gaza Strip but some are
named by the same
name they had in
ancient times such
as Syria and Lebanon.
Either way
the Bible is right
on track.
How could men
write of these
things over two
thousand years ago
with such precision
if it were not for
the inspiration of
God!
There is
currently a new book
out by Mark
Hitchcock called
“The Amazing Claims
Of Bible Prophecy”
that goes into more
detail about the
miraculous accuracy
of Bible prophecy
with many good hard
facts of fulfilled
prophecy including
the amazing accuracy
of the prophet Nahum
and his prediction
of the destruction
of the massive
ancient city of
Nineveh and how
modern archeological
excavations have
revealed remnants of
the city buried
under the sand in
Iraq for centuries.
Archeology and
science do more to
prove the Bible true
then not.
The modern
day archeological
findings of the Dead
Sea Scrolls are a
stark testimony to
the truth and
accuracy of the
Bible.
Ancient
fragments of every
book of the Hebrew
canon (Old
Testament) were
found, excluding the
Book of Esther, and
when translated the
text is identical to
the text we read in
our Bibles today.
The famous
Isaiah scroll that
was discovered was
found nearly fully
intact and is 1000
years older than any
previously known
copy of Isaiah we
have today and again
the text is
identical to our
Bibles as if to
confirm what we’ve
been reading all of
these years.
Once more,
“the truth never
changes”.
In the apostle
Peter’s second
epistle he testifies
to the divine
inspiration of the
words of the
prophets:
… knowing this
first, that no
prophecy of
Scripture is of any
private
interpretation, for
prophecy never came
by the will of man,
but holy men of God
spoke as they were
moved by the Holy
Spirit. (2 Peter
1:20-21)
Not only does Peter
confirm that
prophecy does not
come from the will
of man and that it
comes from God, he
also confirms that
Scripture is of no
private
interpretation!
This is
another excuse that
Bible skeptics like
to use when denying
the Bible’s
inspiration.
They often
claim that the Bible
can be interpreted
in many ways or that
it is open for
interpretation.
The simple
answer to that is,
no it is not!
There is a
divine message in
every verse in the
Bible and it is not
whether it is
“interpreted”
correctly, it is a
matter of whether it
is understood
correctly.
A true Bible
student doesn’t try
to interpret the
Bible, he seeks its
understanding!
There are
times when we come
across sections of
Scripture that may
seem controversial.
When this
happens there is
only two
conclusions.
Either there
is an error or we
don’t understand it.
Since the
Word of God must be
infallible in order
for it to be God’s
Word then we should
always choose the
latter.
For the
understanding
doesn’t always come
immediately and
usually there is
somewhere else in
the Bible that
provides the answer
or understanding for
the verse in
question.
The Bible
always confirms
itself.
Of all of these
things the biggest
and most important
testimony to Bible
truth is from Jesus
Christ himself.
There are
those out there that
pick and choose what
they consider to be
inspired from the
Bible and what they
think isn’t.
The reason
they do this is
because they want
the blessings of
salvation without
having to be
accountable for
themselves but it
doesn’t work that
way.
For we must all
appear before the
judgment seat of
Christ, that each
one may receive the
things done in the
body, according to
what he has done,
whether good or bad.
(2 Corinthians 5:10)
There is a famous
quote from Augustine
in regards to the
“pick and choose”
group of people.
“If you believe what
you like in the
gospels, and reject
what you don’t like,
it is not the gospel
you believe, but
yourself”.
The apostle Paul
testified that
ALL Scripture is god-breathed in his second letter to Timothy:
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 complete,
thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
What the “pick and
choosers” often fail
to realize is that
our Lord Jesus
Christ consistently
quoted from the Old
Testament and
acknowledged it as
being inspired.
One example
is in Mark 12:36
when Jesus was
speaking with the
scribes:
Then Jesus answered and
said, while He
taught in the
temple, “How is it
that the scribes say
that the Christ is
the Son of David?
For David himself
said by the Holy
Spirit:
‘ The LORD said to
my Lord, Sit at My
right hand, Till I
make Your enemies
Your footstool.”’
Notice what I have
bolded and
underlined?
Jesus said
that David
spoke by the
Spirit!
Then He
quoted David’s Psalm
110:1.
In other
words David could
not have said those
words on his own
human understanding.
David had
acknowledged the Son
sitting to the right
of the Father
through the
inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.
David himself
had also declared
that he spoke by the
Spirit in 2 Samuel
23:2 in his last
words:
The Spirit of the
LORD spoke by
me, and His word was
on my tongue.
The prophets are also testimonial of
God’s Word being on
their tongues as we
read in Jeremiah 1:9
Then the LORD put forth His
hand and touched my
mouth, and the LORD
said to me:
“ Behold, I have put My
words in your mouth.
A careful and
observant study of
the prophets reveals
that these men were
not out to write
fictional stories of
amusement.
These men
were called by God
to declare and write
words of forthcoming
judgment that would
put them in harms
way and cause them
to be outcasts in
their own cities and
countries.
In fact, most
of the prophets
tried to run from
God when they were
first called, (see
Jonah).
So then, why
would these men
endure what they had
to endure if they
were not under the
inspiration of God?
Furthermore, when
Jesus was being
tempted by Satan in
the desert He used
Scripture to combat
Satan’s temptations
all three times.
Jesus replied
“It is written”
and quoted
Deuteronomy 8:3,
Psalm 91:11-12 and
Deuteronomy 6:16.
But it is His
quote of Deuteronomy
8:3 that is most
significant to this
study:
But He answered and
said, “It is
written, ‘Man shall
not live by bread
alone, but by every
word that proceeds
from the mouth of
God.’ (Matthew 4:4)
There is only one place where we can
find the words that
proceed from God’s
mouth.
The Bible!
God doesn’t
appear to everyone
individually and
speak with them.
No, instead
God has preserved
His Word in the
Scriptures and He
has used His
children to do it
for Him.
If He can
stretch out the
universe and all of
it’s splendor He can
surely preserve His
own Word.
The beautiful
thing is that it is
all for us.
The Bible is
our manual for
living this life and
obtaining eternal
life afterward.
Without it we
are lost.
We wouldn’t
recognize our sinful
nature nor would we
know the way to
salvation.
We would be
hopeless beings
without a known
destiny but the
Bible informs us of
all of these things
and with an
abundance of
reliable
testimonies!
To trust in God is to trust in the
truth of His Word.
In John 17:17
Jesus is praying to
the Father on our
behalf and He says
this:
Sanctify them by
Your truth. Your
word is truth.
That there is about the greatest
testimony we can
have.
When we put
our trust in God’s
Word and accept the
Bible for the truth
that it is, He will
“sanctify” us with
His truth.
To be
sanctified is to be
set apart or made
holy. To be
consecrated.
Next time you
are holding a Bible
in your hands know
that the Truth is in
your hands, but more
importantly be sure
that the Truth is in
your heart!