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Sermons Preached in Harrisonburg, VA

Moving Ahead
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Receiving Forgiveness (4) by Larry Rouse
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What is God's Forgiveness Like? (2) by Larry Rouse
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Instrumental Music and the Cross of Christ
 by Larry Rouse
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Where Are the Dead
by Larry Rouse
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The Foundation of Forgiveness (1)
by Larry Rouse
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The Bible claims to be of divine origin. Biblical writers claimed that they were merely instruments through whom God spoke. David exclaimed, ``The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue'' (2 Sam. 23:2). In the New Testament, Peter and Paul state their feelings very emphatically that the Scriptures were from God and not some myth or the mere product of men. Peter  said that ``holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost'' (2 Pet. 1:21). Paul, who wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else, insisted that the things he wrote had not been given to him by men; but that he had received them by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He went on to say that ``all scripture is given by the inspiration of God'' (2 Tim. 3:16). Now either these men were misguided individuals, deliberate liars, or they were speaking the truth.

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What are we to believe? Was David wrong? Was Peter mistaken? Was Paul talking out of his head? Were the Old Testament prophets mistaken when they asserted that the scriptures came to us from God?

There's no way around it, the faith of a Christian stands or falls on two things--on the inspiration of scripture and on the deity of Christ. If either of these are false--if the Bible is not God's eternal Word, or if Christ is not God's son--Christianity is false. It is bound to crumble and fall. If these two things are true, however, Christianity will stand forever, regardless of how many skeptics, or atheists, or infidels attack it.

Just because I say the Bible is the Word of God doesn't make it so.  Just because someone else says it isn't doesn't make it so, either.  A thing doesn't become true just because I choose to believe it; but neither does it become false just because someone else chooses to deny it.

Either the Bible is God's message to man, or it isn't. Either it comes by inspiration of God or is a myth passed on by man. At this point something has to be true and something has to be false. Someone has to be right and someone has to be wrong.

Cynical professors are doing their best to convince young and vulnerable minds that Christianity is false. But I think they are dead wrong.  Perhaps a few of them are sincere; most of them, however are only peddling their own prejudices. They haven't taken the time to investigate the facts.

I'm giving my whole life to the propagation of the Christian faith because I'm so sure it's true. And in this article I want to explain why.

The Bible is the most remarkable book in the world. This marvelous volume contains the only factual story of man's origin, purpose in life, and destiny. Scholars suggest that the sixty-six books of the Bible were penned by some forty writers over a period of about 1,600 years, and although there is development within the book, there is a consistent unity throughout its wonderful pages. The Bible is not only consistent with itself, it is completely in harmony with all external facts upon which it touches. There is not one known fact in the fields of science, history, geography, archaeology, anthropology, psychology or any other area of study that contradicts or is at variance with the Holy Bible.

If we approach the Bible as we would approach any other piece of literature, we should immediately be impressed with certain unique features about it. For one thing, the Bible has been translated into more languages than any other in the world. The entire Bible is now available in nearly 250 languages. It is unusual for a book to be translated into even two or three foreign languages. But nowhere in the world is there a book that begins to compare with the Bible's record of translation in so many different languages.

But why has the Bible been the most sold book in history? Is it the Word of God, or is it the accumulation of legends and myths? On this very thing everything depends; on it Christianity stands or falls.  If the Bible is the Word of God our faith is valid; if it isn't, our faith is vain.

There are many evidences which prove that the Bible is not the product of human genius. Writers often spoke of things which they could not possibly have known unless inspired by God. For instance, Paul once said that God had created all nations of ``one blood'' (Acts 17:26).  It has only been discovered scientifically in modern times that there is no basic difference in the blood of various races.

Job 26:7 says there is a place void of stars in the north and that the earth is held in place by invisible forces. Scientists did not discover this until as late as 1650. Psalms 8:8 said the oceans have natural paths in them. The date of discovery for this in science is 1854. Job 38:7 lets us know that stars give off signals (radio astronomy).  This was discovered by science in 1945. In the time of Christ, Ptolemy said there were 1,022 stars. In the earlier part of the past century the figure of 400 million was advanced. Since then other galaxies have been found. The Bible had said in Genesis 15:5 that there was an infinite number of stars. Only the fact that God supplied these writers with the information can explain these amazing statements.

The Bible is infallibly accurate in even the smallest of details.  Locations in geography, points of the compass and even relative elevations are without error. Books of human origin do not demonstrate this infallible correctness. When the Encyclopedia Britannica was first published, although written by experts, it contained so many mistakes regarding places in America, that a special pamphlet was issued exposing the blunders. Yes, evidences give testimony to the Bible as God's Word! 

http://larryrouse.blogspot.com/2007/04/bible-myth-or-gods-word.html 

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