Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Revelation chapter 10 as we take a look at this little book we call the Bible and see how it will affect peoples lives, both those who believe and those who don’t believe.  Now, before we get to our text this morning, let me share with you this little story because I think it will help awaken those who are asleep in their walk with the Lord and encourage those who are on fire for the Lord.  We are told:

            The godless professor smiled at the photo of Lenin hanging next to the door and then stepped up to the pitcher of water sitting on the table. He pulled out a packet of powder, and as he slowly poured it in, the water turned red.

            “This is the whole miracle,” he began his lesson. “Jesus had hidden in his sleeves a powder like this and then pretended to have changed the water into wine in a wonderful manner.  But I can do even better than Jesus; I can change the wine into water again.”

            He pulled out another packet of powder and put it in the red liquid. It became clear.  With another packet, it became red again.

            One of the students sat at his desk, shaking his head, unimpressed. Finally, he challenged the professor: “You have amazed us, Comrade Professor. We ask of you just one more thing – drink your wine!”

            The professor chuckled and said, “This I cannot do. The powder is poison.”  The Christian replied, “This is the whole difference between you and Jesus. He, with his wine, has given us joy, whereas you poison us with your wine.”  The professor angrily stomped out of his room and had the student arrested and thrown in prison. But news of the incident spread very far and strengthened many in their faith.

            The enemy’s promise of an easy exchange is a lie. Most department stores have a user-friendly return policy that allows customers to exchange their purchases in order to be satisfied. People stand in line to swap a smaller size for a larger one or one color for another in hopes that it will make them look thinner or prettier or just plain happier.  Likewise, many people in life are standing in line, God’s truth in hand. They are told to swap God’s truth for anything, and it will make them satisfied customers. We always end up disappointed in the end.  God wants you to see through the enemy’s lies. Hold on to God’s truth – at any cost.

- Stacy L. Harp, Extreme Devotion

            Tragically today many are believing the lies of the Devil that the Bible is not God’s Word, or it just contains God’s Word, or that you can’t trust what the Scriptures tell us, or the latest line of garbage that is being promoted by the Emergent Church and that is that words don’t have any meaning and thus, don’t trust the Bible but go by your experience, by your feelings!

            Folks, in our study this morning I hope to show you that the Bible IS the Word of God and we can trust what God has said from Genesis through Revelation.  Now here in Revelation there is a breather between the sixth trumpet judgment and the seventh trumpet judgment where John is going to fill in some information regarding other things that are taking place during the Tribulation Period.  With that as our background, let’s begin reading in Revelation chapter 10, starting in verse 8 and see what the Lord has for us this morning.

            John is told to take this little book out of the angel’s hand and eat it, devour it. I believe that this little book is the Word of God that as John begins to eat it he finds it sweet to his taste, sweet as honey.  I believe God’s Word is sweet to our lives as we see the many blessings that God has given to us as we read and apply it to our lives. But it is also bitter as we read of God’s judgments being poured out upon those who reject Him. That is the reality folks.  You see, the Christian bears witness of life and death as Paul tells us in II Corinthians 2:14-17, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.”  You see, the aroma of life to those who believe, it is sweet, and death for those who don’t, it is bitter.

            Also, John was not told just to look at this little book or to just know what is inside this little book, but he was to take this into his life.  Think of it like food for the soul and spirit, it helps to build up the inner man!  When you take food into your stomach it is broken down and absorbed and assimilated throughout your body. So too with the Word of God as you read it, mediate upon it, and it will then become part of your life!  We must receive God’s Word into our inner being!

            Thus, John is told to go and bring God’s Word to all people, the sweetness of God’s promises and the bitterness of God’s judgments. Paul put it this way in II Timothy 4:1-5, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

            I do realize that many have come against the Word of God and have deceived many with their lies.  Back in the 1700’s, Johann Selmer (1725-1791) argued that Biblical events must be judged in the light of human reason and experience.  What this did was call into question the authenticity of Jesus’ miracles, His deity and-so-on.  It was rationalism that grew rapidly throughout German universities and it culminated with the publication of Friedrich Strauss’ Life of Jesus (1835) in which he tried to show the Gospel accounts were nothing more than myths!

            Then in France, a man by the name of Francois Marie Arouer, probably better known by his pen name, Voltaire, did more to destroy the Word of God in Europe than anyone else.  He tied a copy of the Bible to the tail of a donkey, dragging it through the city streets to a garbage dump, and there he burned it! He predicted that within 100 years of his death, which occurred in 1778, Christianity would be swept from existence and pass into history.  And yet, how many people own the writings of Voltaire and how many people own a Bible? You see, Voltaire and his work is long gone and the Bible is still a best seller!

            On Thursday I shared with you the story of Thomas Paine, an immigrant to America in 1787, and he had leaped from obscurity to fame after writing some brilliant pamphlets on freedom. But then he made a fatal mistake. He began to write his “masterpiece” called The Age of Reason, which scoffed at Christianity.

            “This will destroy the Bible,” he predicted. “Within 100 years, Bibles will be found only in museums or in must corners of second-hand bookstores.” His book was published in London in 1794. But it brought him so much misery and loneliness that he once said: “I would give worlds, if I had them, had The Age of Reason never been written.”

            Paine became a bedridden invalid until his death, friendless and alone, in 1809. The Bible remains a best seller!

            Many people have come and they have gone who have echoed the same words as these men. They speak so boldly of the demise of God’s Word, and yet God’s Word continues on and they have returned to the dust of the earth. And God’s Word will continue to stand, even in the darkest days, as a light to point people to the true and living God, even during the Tribulation Period.  It is as Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”  Matthew 24:35.

            It is as John Clifford wrote:

            With the remainder of our time this morning, I would like to look at this amazing little book that we call the Bible that has stayed the test of time, while its critics have gone back to the dust of the earth!  What makes this Bible so special?  We shall see!

1.  WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?

            That is a great question and you can get many answers. But truthfully, there is only one right answer. God wrote the Scriptures and in the Old Testament alone there are over 3,800 claims that the Scriptures are from God.  Paul told 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.”  Not just some, not just a little, not just most, but ALL Scripture is breathed from the mouth of God to us!  Jesus tells us that the Scriptures are the very “word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4.  Not only does it come from the very breath of God but God inspired people to write these things down as Peter tells us, “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.”  II Peter 1:20-21. I think that is very clear.

2.  IS THE BIBLE TIMELESS?

            If you look at books that have been written by men, they become outdated very quickly and fall by the wayside!  But not the Bible, it has stood the test of time. You see, the Bible speaks to every generation; it does not need to be updated or revised because what God said 2,000 years ago, 4,000 years ago and-so-on, still applies to us today!  And think of all the controversial subjects and yet, what God has said to us does not change! “Most men cannot even agree with their own writings after 10 years!  Try getting just 10 science textbooks spread over 20 or 30 years together and compare them.”  The Bible is timeless!

3.  CAN THE BIBLE BE UNDERSTOOD BY EVERYONE?

            You bet everyone can understand the Bible and the reason some don’t understand the Gospel message is that they have hardened their hearts to it, they choose not to understand it, not that they can’t!  Think about it, there are Christians all over the world, in countries where it is against the law to be a Christian and they understand what it means!  And look at the various people from all walks of life, from various age groups, young children who can understand God’s love and sacrifice for them and yet, the most profound scholars are amazed at the complexity of the Bible!

4.  IS GOD’S WORD HARMONIOUS THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES?

            Think about this for a minute.  The Bible is composed of 66 books, written by some 40 different authors with a variety of different backgrounds, over a 1500-year time span, in three different languages, on three different continents, working independently from each other, at different periods of time, on a variety of controversial subjects, and yet the Bible is one unfolding love story of God’s love for sinful man and his redemption by God from sin! You can’t get five people together, placing them in separate rooms and writing on one controversial subject and have them agree on everything!  And yet, God’s Word from Genesis through Revelation is in harmony!  As one person wrote, “This incredible unity amidst such great diversity can best be accounted for by a God who stands outside of time and history and has weaved each of the pieces into one overall mosaic of truth and hope.”  I can’t agree more!

5.  DOES GOD’S WORD CHANGE LIVES?

            First of all look at our own lives and what God has done and then look at how God changed the lives of millions of people, lives that have been changed by the power of God’s Word working in us through the Holy Spirit.  Paul said in Hebrews 4:12-13 about the Word of God, “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. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  It is not just a book, but the Words of God energized into our lives by the power of God’s Spirit and it can mold us, shape us, transform us into the men and women that God wants us to be!

            A while back there was this highly publicized debate between a Christian preacher and an atheistic philosopher. The atheist was trying to convince the audience that the Bible is just another book with no inherent “power” to change lives.  The Christian speaker presented the following scenario to the philosopher. He asked, “What if you were driving and found yourself lost in a part of the city that was well known for being extremely dangerous and violent? As you make a wrong turn down a dark alley, all of a sudden, your car sputters and then comes to a stop.  You try desperately to get the car started again, but it just won’t start. You quickly notice a gang of men slowly approaching the car. Would it matter or not to you if you knew that these men were coming from a Bible study?”

            After the laughter subsided, the philosopher conceded, “Yes, I have to admit that it would ease my fears if I knew that the gang of men was coming from a Bible study!”

            Also, The American Bible Society once conducted an interesting experiment in Chicago. They chose a 5-block area in a district with one of the highest crime rates in the city and flooded it with copies of the Gospel of John. They included an invitation for anyone who wanted more reading material to send for a copy of the complete New Testament. They received many requests. The district police captain later reported that the crime rate in the area dropped dramatically in one month’s time. The same experiment produced similar results in another area with a high crime rate.

            John Bunyan, who is the author of the book Pilgrims Progress once wrote this about the Bible and it is very true.  He wrote: “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

            And the story that sums it up for me is the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty and it is a story of this incident that is not mentioned very often and yet it is a bright light in a dark story.  We are told:

            In September 1808 an American sailing ship, The Topaz was halfway between New Zealand and South America when it came across an uncharted island. Although it was not safe to land the Captain of the Topaz saw a canoe making its way out from the shore toward his ship.  To Captain Folger’s astonishment the two youths dressed in native clothing spoke perfect English and claimed to be Englishmen. Before long Folger had unraveled a mystery that had intrigued the world for two decades.

            Thirty years before Folger came across Pitcairn Island a sailor by the name of Fletcher Christian had led perhaps the most famous mutiny in history – the mutiny on The Bounty.  Casting Captain Bligh and his officers adrift in a longboat the mutineers set sail for the tropical paradise Tahiti. Against astonishing odds William Bligh found his way back to England and the British Government dispatched a warship to hunt down the mutineers. When the warship arrived in Tahiti some of the mutineers were captured, but seven of them seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

            Those seven knew the British would come after them and set sail from Tahiti with six Polynesian men and twelve Tahitian women they kidnapped. Along the way they picked up another two Polynesian men. Eventually they came to the uncharted Pitcairn Island, burned The Bounty to avoid detection, and these fifteen men and twelve women set about making this tiny island their home.  Their story is not a pretty one. By the time Captain Folger discovered them in 1808 twelve of the fifteen men had been murdered, one had committed suicide, and one had died of natural causes. Three of the women were also dead.

            Soon after the mutineers and their companions arrived at Pitcairn the white men assumed privileged positions and sexual jealousies raged. Coupled with alcohol made from the root of the Ti plant violence and murder exploded on the island.

            Yet when Captain Folger arrived in 1808 he found a thriving, peaceful and virtuous community made up of the surviving mutineer, the surviving women and the children who had been born during the community’s short and previously violent life. Indeed, over the coming years visitors to the island were struck by how idyllic [peaceful] the community was. What had brought about such a change?

            Historians debate the causes, but it seems that a large part at least was the conversion of the Pitcairners to Christianity. The last surviving European, John Adams, had assumed the role of chief, and had been converted himself after learning to read the Bible and Prayer Book that had been taken from The Bounty before it was destroyed.  Adams set about converting the others and soon after the islanders were living by the principles they found laid down in the Bible.  The result was by no means a perfect community, but it was a community marked by peace and the desire to live virtuous lives.

            I think we can say that the evidence is overwhelming; the Bible through the power of the Holy Spirit has and will continue to change lives, transform lives!

6.  IS THE BIBLE TRUE?

            Jesus said in John 17:17, “ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”  But that does not prove that the Bible is true. Historically speaking, is the Bible accurate?  The great Jewish archaeologist, Nelson Glueck, who is one of the top three archaeologists in history said, “No archaeological discover has ever contradicted a single, properly understood Biblical statement.”  In fact, as archaeological discoveries are made, they don’t dispute what the Scriptures say, but they support what the Scriptures tell us.

            Back in the nineteenth century, it was widely believed that the New Testament was an invention of the second century church, but as we have discovered, they were in error with this kind of thinking.  Sir William Ramsay, who began his historical research toward the end of the nineteenth century, was taught that the New Testament was not historically reliable.

            As a young historian, Ramsay was determined to develop an independent historical/geographical study of first century Asia Minor. To his dismay, there was little usable information regarding this area and that period of time.  So, reluctantly, he consulted the book of Acts for help. What he discovered was remarkably accurate and true to first century history and topography.

            Don Stewart, in speaking of Ramsay, stated “Since many historical details, national boundaries, and government structures in Asia Minor were different in the second century from what they had been in the first, it is reasonable to conclude that the actual author of Luke and Acts was a first century author, not a second century one.”

            “Acts 14:1-6, for example, was in historical dispute for many years.  The passage implies that Lystra and Derbe were cities in the district of Lycaonia but Iconium was a different district. Later Roman writers such as Cicero contradicted the passage, asserting that Iconium was also in Lycaonia. For years this was used to show the historical unreliability of Acts.”

            “In 1910, however, Sir William Ramsay discovered an inscription declaring that the first century Iconium was under the authority of Phrygia from AD 37 to AD 72.  It was only during these years that Iconium was not under the authority of Lycaonia. Not only did this discovery confirm the accuracy of the statement in Acts 14, it showed that whoever wrote this passage knew what district Iconium was in at that time. That places the author as an eyewitness to the events.”

            Thus, as we look at the New Testament we find we have manuscript copies that support the text.  There are minor variations in the various New Testament texts, but they do not change any foundational doctrines of the Christian faith and practice.  That the time span from the actual events to the original writings was some 10 to 50 years, and the copies of the originals were done shortly after that. And lastly, the historical record of the New Testament is so accurate that it shows the writer had to be around during the time frame he was speaking of.

            Historically speaking, listen to what Time magazine had to say back on December 30, 1974. We are told, “After more than two centuries of facing the heaviest scientific guns that could be brought to bear, the Bible has survived - and is perhaps the better for the siege. Even on the critics’ own terms – historical fact – the Scriptures seem more acceptable now than they did when the rationalists began the attack.  Noting one example among many, New Testament Scholar Bruce Metzger observes that the Book of Acts was once accused of historical errors for details that have since been proved by archaeologists and historians to be correct.”  Historically speaking the Bible is accurate and it is as the Psalmist said, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! . . . Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes than fine gold!”  Psalm 119:103, 127.

            Scientifically speaking, is the Bible true?  First of all the Bible is not a scientific book but when it does speak on matters of science, it is absolutely correct!  Let me show you what I mean with a few examples of what the Bible says and when the scientific community came to the same conclusions and I think you will be surprised.

7.  IS THE BOOK PROPHETIC IN NATURE?

            The Bible has thousands of prophecies, some have come to pass and some are still future.  Now, the important thing here is that the Bible is 100% accurate in what it predicts, anything less would prove this is not of God!  In fact, in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 we are told, “And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ — when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”  If something doesn’t come to pass, then the person is a false prophet and if we find it in the Bible, one error, then we might as well discard all of the Scriptures!  But that is not what we find because the Bible is 100% accurate!

            In regards to the Lord’s first coming, there are over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus down to the tiniest detail! Let me show you what I mean by looking at a couple of prophecies and then their fulfillment.

            The prophet Isaiah writing in around 740 to 681 BC predicted that a leader named Cyrus would lead an army against the Babylonians and allow God’s faithful people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.  At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, the Assyrians, not the Babylonians were in power and the temple was still standing, untouched.  This prediction is found in Isaiah 44:24-45.

Now we see the fulfillment of this prophecy. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC.  In 537 BC Persians defeated Babylon. 150 years after the prophecy, the Persian King Cyrus, a man who was not even born when Isaiah predicted this, victoriously led the Medo-Persian armies against the Babylonians and declared that the captives were free to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. In fact, the Lord showed how Cyrus would enter the city, through the gates of the river as the Euphrates river was dried up.

Back in 586 BC the city of Tyre was considered one of the most powerful seaports in the world. At this time, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that Tyre would be destroyed by Babylon and other nations. He also predicted that the city would be flattened, reduced to a simple place to fish and to dry their nets. And this city would never be rebuilt. These predictions can be found in Ezekiel chapter 26.

That very year, Babylon destroyed part of the city of Tyre. Then, in 332 BC Alexander the Great destroyed the rest of the city, which had moved out onto an island on the sea, and dirt and remains from the city was used to build a causeway out to this island. The city was never rebuilt and you can still see fishermen drying their nets on this causeway!

            We can spend years digging through this, but I hope you have seen with our time this morning, that God wrote this little book, that this little book is timeless, that this little book can be understood by all, that this little book is harmonious from Genesis through Revelation, that this little book changes lives, that this little book is true, and the prophecies in this little book have come to pass or will be coming to pass 100% of the time!

            But like John showed us, if you don’t take this little book into your life, you will not be able to share it with others because you can’t share with what you yourself don’t possess!  The prophet Jeremiah said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.”  Jeremiah 15:16.  In other words, the Word must become flesh in our lives, it must become part of our lives, assimilated into our lives and then we can share it with others!

            As I close this morning may I leave you with these words to think about. We are told:

            “Until publication of the King James Bible in the early 1600’s, it was unusual for anyone to posses the Scriptures in the common language.

            Even then, initial publication was one Bible per official (state-approved) church, kept either under lock and key, or permanently attached to an immovable pulpit.

            It would be another 200 years or so before individually printed Bibles would begin making their way into the hands and homes of ‘everyday’ Christians – and then largely for the rich alone.

            Of course, with the colonization of America, Bibles began making their way to the New World, but only sparsely until printing houses were established and Bibles became an affordable commodity.

            That means that the availability of personal Bibles is, in the grand scheme of church history, a fairly recent phenomenon. Even more recent is the phenomenon of multiple personal Bibles - which sit on shelves, collect dust, and remaining largely unread and unstudied.

            It is hard to believe that only 500 years or so in the past, Christians died for proposing the right to personal study of the Scriptures; and today Christians are effectively dead for a lack of it.”