The Truthfulness of the
Eyewitness Accounts as
Presented in the Bible
By W. R. Miller
A
religion that claims to be true must be based upon truth.
Christianity
not only claims to be true, it claims to be based upon actual
historical
events. For Christianity to be true, it must be based
upon actual
historical events.
These
events are chronicled in the Bible, a collection of over 60 documents
spanning
over 1,500 years, written by over 40 authors including shepherds and
kings,
fishermen and doctors, soldiers and lawyers. They all testified
of their
experiences with the supreme Creator of the universe, and how, even
today, one
can have a relationship with the Creator.
For
those willing to investigate their testimonies, the following questions
arise: Did the Prophets and the Apostles report their experiences
accurately, or were they mistaken, or did they want to mislead their
readers? How can we accept their testimony as true? Why
should we
trust them?
Skeptics
contend, "You can't quote the Bible to prove the Bible. That's
circular
reasoning!"
Which is like saying, "You can't quote an encyclopedia to prove an encyclopedia. That's circular reasoning!"
Webster's
College Dictionary defines "encyclopedia" as "n. a book or set of
books
containing articles on various topics, usually in alphabetical
arrangement,
covering all branches of knowledge or all aspects of one
subject."
Encyclopedias contain articles written by multiple authors, purporting
information that can be verified.
Webster's
College Dictionary defines "Bible" as "n. 1. The collection of
sacred
writings of the Christian religion, comprising the Old and New
Testaments."
That's
right. Just like an encyclopedia, the Bible is a set of books, of
accounts written by multiple authors, purporting information that could
be
verified. How so? That is what this essay will demonstrate.
The
books of the Bible were written by over 40 independent sources, which
could be
verified, or disqualified, by contemporaries with the means, motive,
and
opportunity to do so. When we study the books of the Bible,
we
should apply the same standards as we would any historical document.
"All Christianity asks of men on this subject, is that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals," writes Simon Greenleaf, one of the founders of Harvard Law School. "Let the witnesses be compared with themselves, with each other, and with surrounding facts and circumstances; and let their testimony be sifted, as if were given in a court of justice, on the side of the adverse party, the witness being subjected to a rigorous cross-examination." [1]
The
writers of the Biblical accounts invited critical analysis, as revealed
in 1
Thessalonians
This
essay isn't a philosophical discussion. This is an examination of
the
historical record and whether or not it's valid. Keep in mind
that, while
the evangelists professed the truth, they also reported historical
facts.
So while the Bible addresses philosophical issues, it also reports
facts which,
by definition, are synonymous with truth.
Webster's
College Dictionary:
True: "adj. 1. Being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; conforming to reality or fact: a true story. 2. Real; genuine; authentic: true gold. 3. Sincere: not deceitful: a true interest in others. 4. Loyal; faithful; steadfast: a true friend. 5. Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character: the true meaning of his statement. 6. Conforming to or consistent with a standard, pattern, etc.: a true copy. 7. Exact; precise; accurate, correct: a true balance. 8. Such as it should be; proper: to arrange things in their true order. 9. Properly so called; rightly answering to a description: true statesmanship. 10. Legitimate or rightful: the true heir. 11. Reliable, unfailing, or sure: a true sign. 12. Exactly or accurately shaped, formed, fitted, or placed, as a surface or instrument. 13. Honest; honorable; upright. 14. Conforming to the type, structural standards, or norm of a particular group: The lion is a true cat."
Truth: "n. 1. The true or actual state of a matter: to tell the truth. 2. Conformity with fact or reality; verity: to check the truth of a statement. 3. A verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths. 4. The state or character of being true. 5. Actuality or actual existence. 6. An obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude. 7. Honesty; integrity; truthfulness. 8. (often cap.) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience. 9. Agreement with a standard or original. 10. Accuracy, as of position or adjustment."
Fact: "n. 1. Something that actually exists; reality; truth: Your fears have no basis in fact. 2. Something known to exist or to have happened. 3. A truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true: scientific facts about plant growth. 4. Something said to be true or supposed to have happened. 5. An actual or alleged event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence." (Bold emphasis mine.)
This
essay assumes the Scriptures we have are reliable copies of the
originals. For those who wish to explore why the copies
we have
are reliable, check out the articles at the following links:
Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? by Jimmy Williams
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/bib-docu.html
The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Text--Part One
The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Text--Part Two
The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Text--Part Three
The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Text--Part Four
Textual Trysts: The Textual Reliability of the New Testament
https://www.tektonics.org/lp/nttextcrit.php
Professor Greenleaf
states, "In examining the evidence of the Christian religion, it is essential to the discovery of truth that we bring to the investigation a mind freed, as far as possible, from existing prejudice, and open to conviction. There should be a readiness, on our part, to investigate with candor to follow the truth wherever it may lead us, and to submit, without reserve or objection, to all the teachings of this religion, if it be found to be of divine origin." [2]
So, what proof is there that the writers of the Bible were trustworthy, and what they reported is accurate and true? Following the outline, each
heading
will be demonstrated by a list of Scriptures. In this manner we
let the
eyewitnesses of the events speak for themselves.
Outline
Introduction: The
Prophets and the Apostles.
A. The
prophets and the apostles knew the law
regarding false witness.
B. The
prophets and the apostles knew the
consequences for disobeying the law.
C. The
prophets and the apostles knew the
rewards for obeying the law.
D. The
prophets and the apostles knew God
Himself was a witness to their actions.
E. The
prophets and the apostles appealed to
reason.
F. The
prophets and the apostles appealed to the
truth.
G. The
prophets and the apostles appealed to the
truthfulness of their testimony as eyewitness accounts.
H. The
prophets and the apostles risked their
lives proclaiming the truth.
II. Divine
Confirmation.
A. God
ordained the authority of the prophets and the apostles.
B. Jesus
confirmed authority to the prophets and the apostles.
C. The
Holy Spirit confirmed authority to the prophets and the apostles.
III. Confirmation
by Miracles.
A. The
truthfulness of the prophets and the
apostles were confirmed by supernatural miracles.
B. The
prophets and apostles warned of
counterfeits, and encouraged testing.
IV. Legal
Confirmation.
A. The
testimony of the prophets and the
apostles was confirmed by other prophets and apostles.
B. Prophets
confirmed Mosaic authorship of the
Law.
C. Apostles
confirmed Law and the Prophets.
D. The
Rulers of the People and the Synagogue
confirmed the Law and the Prophets.
E. The
People confirmed the Law and the Prophets.
F. Jesus
confirmed the Law and the Prophets.
1. Jesus believed all the Hebrew
Scriptures to be authoritative.
2. Jesus denounced those who
were unfamiliar with the Hebrew Scriptures.
3. Jesus believed the Scriptures
were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
4. Jesus believed the Hebrew
Scriptures were prophetic.
5. Jesus referred to the Hebrew
Scriptures as the Word of God.
6. Jesus quoted from each of the
divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures.
a. The Law.
b. The Prophets.
c. The Writings.
7. Jesus acknowledged the
Passover seder, and the covenant God made with
G. Jude
confirmed 2 Peter as authoritative.
H. Peter
denounced false prophets and equated
Paul's epistles with Scripture.
I.
Paul confirmed Luke's testimony as Scripture.
J. Paul
acknowledged Luke as an Eyewitness.
K. Paul
acknowledged other apostles and
prophets.
L. Paul
acknowledged as an apostle.
1. Acknowledgement by the other apostles.
2. Acknowledgement by God in the use of miracles.
M. As an Apostle, Paul had authority.
N. Paul
claimed all Scripture is God-breathed.
O. The
prophets and the apostles regarded Scripture as the Word of God.
P. What
God says, the Bible says. What the
Bible says, God says.
A. Prophets
confirmed specific historical events
and persons in the Hebrew Scriptures.
1. The
Creation of
2.
3.
Adam's sin acknowledged.
4.
Noah.
5. God
grants the
6.
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
7. The sin and destruction of
8. Jacob wrestles with God.
9. Hosea refers to Jacob and
Rachel and Moses.
10. Jacob buys land for 100
pieces of silver.
11. The bones of Joseph.
12. Dividing the
13. Daniel refers to Moses.
14. Micah refers to Moses,
Aaron, Miriam.
15. Micah refers to Balaam,
Balak.
16. Observance of the Passover.
17. Mosaic legislation on
carrying the Ark of the Covenant with poles.
18. Independent references to manna.
19. Samuel recalls the Amakite
treachery.
20. Amos refers to the
Israelites wandering in the wilderness and the Amorites.
21. The Bronze Serpent.
22. Jephthah, a Hebrew judge,
recalls the Exodus and the conflict of Ammon.
23. Rahab the harlot.
24. Joshua refers to the Torah /
Pentateuch.
25. Nehemiah quotes from
Deuteronomy.
26.
27. Fulfillment of 1 Kings
13:31.
28. Jeroboam's Golden Calves.
29. Elijah is acknowledged.
30. Prophecy of the Exile from
the books of Moses.
31. Jonah the Prophet.
32. Historical records from Adam
to David acknowledged.
33. The genealogy of Ruth
acknowledged.
34. God's judgment upon
35. Independent references to
the Canaanite god Baal.
36. Daniel refers to Jeremiah
the Prophet.
37. Daniel endorses Scripture.
38. Ezekiel refers to Noah,
Daniel and Job.
39. The prophecy of Micah.
B. Jesus
confirmed specific historical events
and persons in the Hebrew Scriptures.
1. The
creation of Adam and Eve.
2.
Jesus acknowledged the concept of marriage.
3.
Noah and the Genesis Flood.
4. The
Patriarchs.
5.
6.
Moses and the burning bush.
7.
David eating the showbread.
8. The
Queen of
9. The
Exodus.
10.
11.
Elijah, Elisha, the widow of
12.
Jonah the Prophet, The great fish,
13.
The murders of Abel and Zechariah.
14.
Daniel the Prophet.
15.
Jesus accepted prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures.
C. Matthew
confirmed historical events and
people from the Hebrew Scriptures.
D. Luke
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
E. John
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
F. Stephen
confirmed historical events and
people from the Hebrew Scriptures.
G. Peter
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
H. Paul
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
I. The
writer of Hebrews confirmed historical
events and people from the Hebrew Scriptures.
J. James
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
K. Jude
confirmed historical events and people
from the Hebrew Scriptures.
L. Jesus,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter,
James, John confirmed afterlife appearances of Moses and Elijah.
M. Paul
confirmed the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ.
1.
Paul confirmed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2.
Paul confirmed the Lord's Supper.
3.
Paul referred to Jesus' prohibition of divorce and remarriage.
4.
Paul proclaimed the resurrected Jesus Christ.
5.
Paul acknowledged the power of Jesus Christ.
6.
Paul confirmed Jesus' prophecy regarding His return.
7.
Paul acknowledged the gospel of Jesus Christ.
8.
Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
9.
Paul preached the same doctrine of salvation as Jesus and the
other Apostles.
a.
Jesus.
b.
Other Apostles.
c.
Paul.
d. Results.
10.
Paul urged his readers to follow the example of Christ.
a.
Paul affirmed the beatitudes.
b.
Service to others.
c.
Other examples.
B. Jesus
confirmed prophecies concerning Himself.
C. Matthew
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
D. Mark
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
E. Luke
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
F. John
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
G. Philip
confirmed prophecies about Jesus.
H. Apollos
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
I. Paul
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
J. Paul
confirmed prophecies of the Holy Spirit.
K. Writer
of Hebrews confirmed prophecies of
Jesus.
L. Peter
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
M. James
confirmed prophecies concerning Jesus.
N. Other
eyewitness accounts concerning Jesus
and prophecy.
VII. Confirmation
by Nonbelievers and Hostile Eyewitnesses.
A. Satan
cited Scripture as authoritative.
1. The
population of the children of
2.
Miraculous feeding of over 100 people.
3.
Miraculous feeding of over 5,000 people, plus healings.
4.
Followed by the miraculous feeding of over 4000 people, plus
healings.
5.
Regional healings involving great multitudes.
6.
Jesus exorcises a man with an unclean demon, spreading fame.
7. A
great multitude witnesses the healing of the epileptic.
8.
Acknowledgement of Lazarus' resurrection; a great multitude
praises Jesus when He enters
9.
Approximately 120 disciples, post-Resurrection.
10.
Approximately 3000 people become Christians,
post-Resurrection.
11.
Over 5000 people become Christians, post-Resurrection.
12.
The ministry of Paul and Barnabas adds multitudes of
believers.
13.
Over 500 witnesses to the resurrected Christ.
1. Pharoah
Siamon (Unnamed in 1 Kings) and Queen
Tahpenes. Contemporary of King Solomon.
2. Pharoah
Shesonk I/Shishak. Contemporary of
King Rehoboam.
3.
Pharoah Shabaka (Unnamed in 2 Kings). Contemporary
of King Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of
4.
Tirhakah, King of
5.
Pharoah So. Contemporary of Ahaz king of Judah and
Hoshea, son of Elah and king of
6.
Pharoah Necho II. Contemporary of Josiah, king of
Judah, Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of
Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and the prophet Jeremiah.
7.
Pharoah Apries/Hophra. Contemporary of Zedekiah,
king of
8.
Naaman, Syrian commander.
9.
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Neo-Babylonian Empire (605 – 562
B.C.) Contemporary of King Zedekiah, Pharaoh Necho,
Jehoiachin, and
the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel.
10. Herod
Antipas the tetrarch, ruler of
11.
The Jewish Authorities.
12.
Nicodemus.
13.
Annas, the High Priest.
14.
Gamaliel I.
15.
Caiaphas, the High Priest.
16.
Pontius Pilate, Governor of
17.
Saul/Paul of
18.
Proconsul Sergius Paulus.
19.
Porcius Festus.
20.
King Herod Agrippa II.
VIII. Confirmation
of Objective Testimony.
A. The
prophets and the apostles included
testimony that indicated their own sinfulness and skepticism.
1. Adam.
2. Abram.
3. Moses.
4. Samson.
5. David,
King of
6. Solomon,
King of
7. Disobedient
prophets.
8. Elisha,
the prophet.
9. Jeremiah,
the prophet.
10. John the
baptizer.
11. The
disciples of Jesus Christ.
a. The
disciples testify of their own lack of
knowledge and understanding.
b. Fear,
lack of faith.
c. Lack
of faith.
d. Pettiness.
e. Judgmental.
f. Fallible.
g. Weak.
h. Disloyal.
(I.
Judas betrayed Jesus Christ.
(II.
The disciples abandoned Jesus Christ.
(III.
Peter denied Jesus Christ.
i. The
disciples were skeptical of Christ's
resurrection.
B. The
prophets and the apostles testified of
those who disbelieved in spite of the miracles.
C. The
prophets and the apostles testified of
those who disbelieved in spite of the message.
Conclusion:
Therefore, the testimony of the prophets and
the apostles is true.
Acceptable in a Court
of Law: The Eyewitness Testimony of the Evangelists
A. Are the testimonies biased evidence?
B. Were the Scriptures deliberately altered to fit prophecies?
Objections to Truth
A.
Was there intent to deceive?
B.
Was the Gospel incomplete or not fully revealed?
Affirmation of the
Apostles
A. Jesus gave them understanding in matters of doctrine and
fulfillment
of prophecy.
B.
The Holy Spirit gave them understanding in matters of doctrine
and
prophecy.
The Eyewitness
Accounts as Presented in the Bible
Introduction:
The Prophets and the Apostles
Who wrote the
Bible? The authors were known by various
names, most commonly as "Prophets." Other titles: "Man of God" (1
Kings
The following is a
list of the Biblical authors [4] who
composed
their works under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Details are
provided for five of the gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and
Peter,
as presented by Simon Greenleaf in Testimony of the Evangelists.
1.
The Writer of Job.
Book of Job, regarded as the earliest written book of the Bible.
2. Moses. Shepherd. Leader.
Writer of The Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), plus Psalm 90.
3. Joshua. Military general.
Joshua 1-24:27.
4. Eleazar, son of Aaron. High priest.
Joshua 24:28-33.
5. Samuel. Prophet.
Judges. Possibly Ruth.
6. Nathan. Prophet.
Judges.
7. Gad. Prophet.
Judges.
8.
Ezra.
Ezra, Chronicles, Nehemiah.
9. Nehemiah. Cupbearer.
Book of Nehemiah.
10. Writer of Esther. Prophet.
Book of Esther.
11. David. Shepherd. Soldier. Musician. King.
Psalms 2-9, 11-32, 34-41, 51-65, 68-70, 86, 95, 101, 103, 108-110, 122, 124, 131, 133, 138-145.
12. Solomon. King.
Proverbs, Song of Solomon (Canticles), Psalms 72 and 127, Ecclesiastes.
13. Zabud, son of Nathan the prophet.
1 Samuel, 2 Samuel.
14. Sons of Korah.
Psalms 42-49, 84-85, 87; Numbers 26:9-11.
15. Asaph. Priest.
Psalms 50, 73-83; Ezra 2:41.
16. Heman. Wise Man.
Psalm 88; 1 Kings
17. Ethan the Ezrahite.
Psalm 89.
18. Agur ben Jakeh. Oracle.
Proverbs 30.
19. Lemuel. King. Oracle.
Proverbs 31.
20. Isaiah. Prophet. Poet.
Book of Isaiah.
21. Jeremiah. Prophet. Son of Hilkiah the priest.
Book of Jeremiah. Possibly Lamentations. Possibly I and II Kings.
22. Ezekiel. Priest. Prophet. Son of Buzi.
Book of Ezekiel.
23. Daniel. Prime minister.
Book of Daniel.
24. Hosea. Prophet. Son of Beeri.
Book of Hosea.
25. Joel. Prophet. Son of Pethuel.
Book of Joel.
26. Amos. Herdsman.
Book of Amos.
27. Obadiah. Prophet.
Book of Obadiah.
28. Jonah. Prophet. Son of Amittai.
Book of Jonah.
29. Micah. Prophet.
Book of Micah.
30. Nahum. Prophet.
Book of Nahum.
31. Habakkuk. Prophet.
Book of Habakkuk.
32. Zephaniah. Prophet of royal descent.
Book of Zephaniah.
33. Haggai. Prophet.
Book of Haggai.
34. Zechariah. Priest. Son of Berechiah. Grandson of Iddo.
Book of Zechariah.
35. Malachi. Prophet.
Book of Malachi.
36.
Matthew. Tax collector. Son
of Alphaeus.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
Matthew,
called Levi, was a Jew of Galilee, but of what city is uncertain. He
held the
place of publican, or tax-gatherer, under the Roman government, and his
office
seems to have consisted in collecting the taxes within his district, as
well as
the duties and customs levied on goods and persons, passing in and out
of his
district and province, across the
He
is generally allowed to have written first, of all the evangelists; but
whether
in the Hebrew or the Greek language, or in both, the learned are not
agreed,
nor is it material to our purpose to inquire; the genuineness of our
present
Greek gospel being sustained by satisfactory evidence. The precise time
when he
wrote is also uncertain, the several dates given to it among learned
men,
varying from A.D. 37 to A.D. 64. The earlier date, however, is argued
with
greater force, from the improbability that the Christians would be left
for
several years without a general and authentic history of our Savior's
ministry;
from the evident allusions which it contains to a state of persecution
in the
church at the time it was written; from the titles of sanctity ascribed
to
Jerusalem, and a higher veneration testified for the temple than the
comparative gentleness with which Herod's character and conduct are
dealt with,
that bad prince probably being still in power; and from the frequent
mention of
Pilate, as still governor of Judea.
That
Matthew was himself a native Jew, familiar with the opinions,
ceremonies, and
customs of his countrymen; that he was conversant with the Sacred
Writings, and
habituated to their idiom; a man of plain sense, but of little
learning, except
what he derived from the Scriptures of the Old Testament; that he wrote
seriously and from conviction, and had, on most occasions, been
present, and
attended closely, to the transactions which he relates, and relates,
too,
without any view of applause to himself; are facts which we may
consider
established by internal evidence, as strong as the nature of the case
will admit.
It is deemed equally well proved, both by internal evidence and the aid
of
history, that he wrote for the use of
his countrymen the Jews. Every circumstance is noticed which might
conciliate
their belief, and every unnecessary expression is avoided which might
obstruct
it. They looked for the Messiah, of the lineage of David, and born in
Bethlehem, in the circumstances of whose life the prophecies should
find
fulfillment, a matter, in their estimation, of peculiar value: and to
all these
this evangelist has directed their especial attention.
Allusion
has been already made to his employment as a collector of taxes and
customs:
but the subject is too important to be passed over without further
notice. The
tribute imposed by the Romans upon countries conquered by their arms
was
enormous. In the time of Pompey, the sums annually exacted by their
Asiatic
provinces, of which Judea was one, amounted to about four millions and
a a half
of sterling, or about twenty-two millions of dollars. These exactions
were made
in the usual forms of direct and indirect taxation; the rate of the
customs on
merchandise varying from an eight to a fortieth part of the value of
the
commodity; and the tariff including all the principal articles of the
commerce
of the East, much of which, as is well known, still found its way to
Italy
through Palestine, as well as by the way of Damascus and of Egypt. The
direct
taxes consisted of a capitation-tax, and a land-tax, assessed upon a
valuation
or census, periodically taken under the oath of the individual, with
heavy
penal sanctions. It is natural to suppose that these taxes were not
voluntarily
paid, especially since they were imposed by the conqueror upon a
conquered
people, and by a heathen too, upon the people of the house of
37.
Mark. (John-Mark.)
Book of Mark.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
Mark
was the son of a pious sister of Barnabas, named Mary, who dwelt at
It
is agreed that Mark wrote his Gospel for the use of Gentile converts;
and
opinion deriving great force from the explanations introduced into it,
which
would have been useless to a Jew, and that it was composed for those at
Rome,
is believed, not only from the numerous Latinisms it contains, but from
the
unanimous testimony of ancient writer, and from the internal evidence
afforded
by the Gospel itself.
Some
have entertained the opinion that Mark compiled his account from that
of
Matthew, of this notion has been refuted by Knoppe, and others, and is
now
generally regarded as untenable. For Mark frequently deviates from
Matthew in
the order of time, in his arrangement of facts; and he adds many things
not
related by the other evangelists; neither of which a mere epitomizer
would
probably have done. He also omits several things related by Matthew,
and
imperfectly describes others, especially the transactions of Christ
with the
apostles after the resurrection; giving no account whatever of his
appearance
in
38.
Luke. Doctor.
Luke, Acts.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
Luke,
according to Eusebius, was a native of
That
he wrote his Gospel for the benefit of the Gentile converts is affirmed
by the
unanimous voice of Christian antiquity; and it may also be inferred
from its
dedication to a Gentile. He is particularly careful to specify various
circumstances conducive to the information of strangers, but not so to
the
Jews; he gives the lineage of Jesus upwards, after the manner of the
Gentiles,
instead of downwards, as Matthew had done; tracing it up to Adam, and
thus
showing that Jesus was the promised seed of the woman; and he marks the
eras of
his birth, and of the ministry of John, by the reigns of the Roman
emperors. He
also has introduced several things, not mentioned by the other
evangelists, but
highly encouraging to the gentiles to turn to God in the hope of pardon
and
acceptance; of which description are the parables of the publican and
Pharisee,
in the temple; the lost piece of silver; and the prodigal son; and the
fact of
Christ's visit to Zaccheus the publican, and the pardon of the penitent
thief.
That
Luke was a physician, appears not only from the testimony of Paul, but
from the
internal marks in his Gospel, showing that he was both an acute
observer, and
had given particular and even professional attention to all our
Savior's
miracles of healing. Thus, the man whom Matthew and Mark describe
simply as a
leper, Luke describes as full of leprosy; he, whom they mention as had
having a
withered hand, Luke says had his right hand withered; and of the maid,
of whom
the others say that Jesus took her spirit came to her again. He alone,
with
professional accuracy of observation, says that virtue went out of
Jesus, and
healed the sick; he alone states the fact that the sleep of the
disciples in
Gethsemane was induced by extreme sorrow; and mentions the blood- like
sweat of
Jesus, as occasioned by the intensity of his agony; and he alone
relates the
miraculous healing of Malchus's ear. That he was also a man of a
liberal
education, the comparative elegance of his writings sufficiently shows.
The design of Luke's Gospel was to supersede the defective and inaccurate narratives then in circulation, and to deliver to Theophilus, to whom it is addressed, a full and authentic account of the life, doctrines, miracles, death and resurrection of our Saviour. Who Theophilus was, the learned are not perfectly agreed; but the most probable opinion is that of Dr. Lardner, now generally adopted, that, as Luke wrote his Gospel in Greece, Theophilus was a man of rank in that country [See Lardner, Works 6.138-139; 3.203-204; and other authors, cited in Horne, Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures 1.267]. Either the relations subsisting between him and Luke, or the dignity and power of his rank, or both, induced the evangelist, who himself also "had perfect understanding of all things from the first," to devote the utmost care to the drawing up of a complete and authentic narrative of these great events. He does not affirm himself to have been an eye-witness; though his personal knowledge of some of the transactions may well be inferred from the "perfect understanding" which he says he possessed. Some of the learned seem to have drawn this inference as to them all, and to have placed him in the class of original witnesses; but this opinion, though maintained on strong and plausible grounds, is not generally adopted. If, then, he did not write from his own personal knowledge, the question is, what is the legal character of his testimony?
If
it were "the result of inquiries, made under competent public
authority,
concerning matters in which the public are concerned," it would possess
every
legal attribute of an inquisition, and, as such, would be legally
admissible in
evidence, in a court of justice. To entitle such results, however, to
our full
confidence, it is not necessary that they should be obtained under a
legal
commission; it is sufficient if the inquiry is gravely undertaken and
pursued,
by a person of competent intelligence, sagacity and integrity. The
request of a
person in authority, or a desire to serve the public, are, to all moral
intents, as sufficient a motive as a legal commission. Thus, we know
that when
complaint is made to the head of a department, of official misconduct
or abuse,
existing in some remote quarter, nothing is more common than to send
some
confidential person to the spot, to ascertain the facts and report them
to the
department; and this report is confidently adopted as the basis of its
discretionary
action, in the correction of that abuse, or the removal of the
offender.
Indeed, the result of any grave inquiry is equally certain to receive
our
confidence, though it may have been voluntarily undertaken, if the
party making
it had access to the means of complete and satisfactory information
upon the
subject. If, therefore, Luke's Gospel were to be regarded only as the
work of a
contemporary historian, it would be entitled to our confidence. But it
is more
than this. It is the result of careful science, intelligence and
education,
concerning subjects which he was perfectly competent to peculiarly
skilled,
they being cases of the cure of maladies; subjects, too, of which he
already
had the perfect knowledge of a contemporary, and perhaps an
eye-witness, but
beyond doubt, familiar with the parties concerned in the transactions,
and
belonging to the community in which the events transpired, which were
in the
mouths of all; and the narrative, moreover, drawn up for the especial
use, and
probably at the request, of a man of distinction, whom it would not be
for the
interest nor safety of the writer to deceive or mislead. Such a
document
certainly possesses all the moral attributes of an inquest of office,
or of any
other official investigation of facts; and as such is entitled, in
foro
conscientiae, to be adduced of the matters it contains.
39.
John. Fisherman. Son of Zebedee.
John, 1 John,
2 John, 3 John, Revelation.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
John,
the last of the evangelists, was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman of the
town of
The learned are not agreed as to the time when the Gospel of John was written; some dating it as early as the year 68, others as late as the year 98; but it is generally conceded to have been written after all the others. That is could not have been the work of Some Platonic Christian of a subsequent age, as some have without evidence asserted, is manifest from references to it by some of the early fathers, and from the concurring testimony of many other writers of the ancient Christian church.
That
is was written either with especial reference to the Gentiles, or at a
period
when very many of them had become converts to Christianity, is inferred
from
the various explanations it contains, beyond the other Gospels, which
could
have been necessary only to persons unacquainted with Jewish names and
customs.
And that it was written after all the others, and to supply their
omissions, is
concluded, not only from the uniform tradition and belief in the
church, but
from his studied omission of most of the transactions noticed by the
others,
and from his care to mention several incidents which were known to him,
is too
evident to admit of doubt; while his omission to repeat what they had
already
stated, or, where he does mention the same things, his relating them in
a brief
and cursory manner, affords incidental but strong testimony that he
regarded
their accounts as faithful and true."
Further discussion on Gospel authorship, dating
and
authenticity can be found here:
https://www.tektonics.org/lp/nttextcrit.php
40. Paul.
Rabbi. Tent-maker.
Romans, 1
Corinthians,
2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1
Thessalonians,
2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon.
Paul,
in his own words, before the witness of King Herod Agrippa II, his wife
Bernice, Governor Festus, and Luke:
Acts
26:4-26
4"My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the
beginning among my own nation at
9"Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to
the
name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10This I also did in
12 "While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with
authority
and commission from the chief priests, 13at midday, O king,
along
the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining
around me
and those who journeyed with me. 14And when we all had
fallen to the
ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew
language, "Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against
the goads.'
15So I said, "Who are You, Lord?' And He said, "I am Jesus, whom
you are
persecuting. 16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have
appeared
to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of
the
things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to
you.
17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the
Gentiles, to whom I now [NU-Text and
M-Text omit
now] send you,
18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to
light, and
from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of
sins and
an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'
19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly
vision, 20but declared first to those in Damascus and in
Jerusalem,
and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that
they
should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21For
these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22Therefore,
having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to
small
and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and
Moses said
would come-- 23that the Christ would suffer, that He would
be the
first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish
people and
to the Gentiles."
24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud
voice, "Paul,
you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!"
25But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak
the words
of truth and reason. 26For the king, before whom I also
speak
freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these
things
escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.
See
also Acts 9:1-19; 22:6-16.
41.
Peter. Fisherman.
1 Peter, 2 Peter.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists::
There
is also a striking naturalness in the characters exhibited in the
sacred
historians, rarely if ever found in works of fiction, and probably
nowhere else
to be collected in a similar manner from fragmentary and incidental
allusions
and expressions, in the writings of different persons. Take for
example,
that of Peter, as it may be gathered from the evangelists, and it will
be
hardly possible to conceive that four persons, writing at different
times, could
have concurred in the delineation of such a character, if it were not
real; a
character too, we must observe, which is nowhere expressly drawn, but
is shown
only here and there, casually, in the subordinate parts of the main
narrative. Thus and zealous man; sudden and impulsive, yet humble
and
ready to retract; honest and direct in his purposes; ardently loving
his
master, yet deficient in fortitude and firmness in his cause. When
Jesus put
any question to the apostles, it was Peter who was foremost to reply,
and if
they would inquire of Jesus, it was Peter who was readiest to
speak. He
had the impetuous courage to cut off the ear of the High Priest's
servant, who
came to arrest his master; and the weakness to dissemble before the
Jews, in
the matter of eating with Gentile converts. It was he who ran
with John
to the sepulchre, on the first intelligence of the resurrection of
Jesus, and
with characteristic zeal rushed in, while John paused without the
door.
He had the ardor to desire and the faith to attempt to walk on the
water, at
the command of his Lord; but as soon as he saw the wind boisterous, he
was
afraid. He was the first to propose the election of another
apostle
in the place of Judas, and he it was who courageously defended them
all, on the
day of Pentecost, when the multitude charged them with being filled
with new
wine. He was forward to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah; yet
having
afterwards endangered his own life by wounding the servant of the Most
High
Priest, he suddenly consulted his own safety by denying the same
Master, for
whom, but a few hours before, he had declared himself ready to
die. We
may safely affirm that the annals of fiction afford no example of a
similar but
no uncommon character, thus incidentally delineated.
42.
James. Brother of Jesus.
Book of James.
43. Jude.
Brother of James and Judas.
Book of Jude.
44. Writer of
Hebrews (Paul or Apollos).
Book of Hebrews.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
"Such are the brief histories
of men, whose narratives we are to examine and compare; conducting the
examination and weighing the testimony by the same rules and principles
which
govern our tribunals of justice in similar cases. These tribunals are
in such
cases governed by the following fundamental rule;--
In
trials of fact, by oral testimony, the proper inquiry is not whether is
it
possible that the testimony may be false, but whether there is
sufficient
probability that it is true.
It
should be observed that the subject of inquiry is a matter of fact, and
not of
abstract mathematical truth. the latter alone is susceptible of that
high
degree of proof, usually termed demonstration, which excludes the
possibility
of error, and which therefore may reasonably be required in support of
every
mathematical deduction. But the proof of matters of fact rests upon
moral
evidence alone; by which is meant not merely that species of evidence
which we
do not obtain either from our own senses, from intuition, or from
demonstration. In the ordinary affairs of life we do not require nor
expect
demonstrative evidence, because it is inconsistent with the nature of
matters
of fact, and to insist on its production would be unreasonable and
absurd. And
it makes no difference, whether the facts to be proved related to this
life or
to the next, the nature of the evidence required being in both cases
the same.
The error of the skeptic consists in pretending or supposing that there
is a
difference in the nature of the things to be proved; and in demanding
demonstrative evidence concerning things which are not susceptible of
any other
than moral evidence alone, and of which the utmost that can be said is,
that
there is no reasonable doubt about their truth."
Simon Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
"The credit due to the testimony of witnesses
depends upon, firstly, their honesty;
secondly, their ability; thirdly, their
number and the consistency of their testimony;
fourthly, the conformity of their testimony with
experience; and fifthly, the
coincidence of their testimony with collateral circumstances.
Let
the evangelists be tried by these tests.
And first, as to their honesty. Here they are entitled
to the benefit of the general
course of human experience, that men ordinarily speak the truth, when
they have
no prevailing motive or inducement to the contrary. This presumption,
to which
we have before alluded, is applied in courts of justice, even to
witnesses
whose integrity is not wholly free from suspicion; much more is it
applicable
to the evangelists, whose testimony went against all their worldly
interests.
The great truths which the apostles declared, were that Christ had
risen from
the dead, and that only through repentance from sin, and faith in him,
could
men hope for salvation. This doctrine they asserted with one voice,
everywhere,
not only under the greatest discouragements, but in the face of the
most
appalling terrors that can be presented to the mind of man. Their
master had
recently perished as a malefactor, by the sentence of a public
tribunal. His
religion sought to overthrow the religions of the whole world. The laws
of
every country were against the teaching of his disciples. The interests
and
passions of all the rulers and great men in the world were against
them. The
fashion of the world was against them. Propagating this new faith, even
in the
most inoffensive and peaceful manner, they could expect nothing but
contempt,
opposition, revilings, bitter persecutions, stripes imprisonments,
torments and
cruel deaths. Yet this faith they zealously did propagate; and all
these
miseries they endured undismayed, nay, rejoicing. As one after another
was put
to a miserable death, the survivors only prosecuted their work with
increased
vigor and resolution. The annals of military warfare afford scarcely an
example
of the like heroic constancy, patience and unblenching courage. They
had every
possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the
evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these
motives
were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific
frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted
in
affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose
from the
dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any
other
fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in
this
matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow
their
error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to
them,
was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could
inflict,
from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious
guilt; with
no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no
expectation of
honor or esteem among men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the
world
to come. Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly
irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary
constitution of
our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like
all
others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same
hopes,
affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the
same
fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities,
as
ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous
understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no
possible
motive for this fabrication."
A. The prophets and
the apostles knew the law regarding false
witness.
"You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
"You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the
wicked
to be an unrighteous witness.
Deuteronomy
5:20
"You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
"Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep
His
charge, His statutes, His
judgments, and His commandments
always.
1 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of
dreams, and
he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder
comes
to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let us go after other
gods'--which
you have not known--"and let us serve them,' 3you
shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of
dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you
love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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.
"One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any
iniquity or any
sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the
matter
shall be established.
Proverbs
6:19
A false witness who speaks
lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false
witness, deceit.
Proverbs
14:5
A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness
will utter lies.
Proverbs
14:25
A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful
witness speaks lies.
A disreputable witness scorns
justice, And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.
Do not be a witness against your
neighbor without cause, For would you deceive [Septuagint and
Vulgate read Do
not deceive] with your lips?
A man who bears false witness
against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.
These are the things you
shall do: Speak each man
the truth to his neighbor; Give judgment in your gates for
truth,
justice, and peace;
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
clothing,
but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications,
thefts, false witness,
blasphemies.
17So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? [NU-Text reads Why do you ask Me
about what is
good?] No one is good
but One, that is, God. [NU-Text reads There is One who is good] But if you want to enter into life,
keep the commandments."
18He said to Him, "Which ones?"
Jesus said, ""You shall not murder,' "You shall not commit adultery,'
"You
shall not steal,' "You shall not bear
false witness,' [Exodus
You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery,' "Do not murder,'
"Do not
steal,' "Do not bear false witness,'
"Do not defraud,' "Honor your father and your mother."‘[Exodus
20:12-16;
Deuteronomy 5:16-20]
You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery,' "Do not murder,'
"Do not
steal,' "Do not bear false witness,' "Honor your father and
your mother."‘[Exodus
20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20]
They also set up false witnesses
who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous [NU-Text omits blasphemous]
words against this holy place and the law;
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not
murder," "You
shall not steal," "You shall not bear false
witness," [NU-Text omits "You shall
not bear false witness."]
"You shall not covet," [Exodus
2
Corinthians 13:1
This will be the third time I am coming to you. "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
shall be established." [Deuteronomy
19:15]
B.
The prophets and the apostles knew the consequences for disobeying the
law.
Leviticus
5:1
"If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness,
whether he has seen or known of the matter--if he does not tell it, he
bears
guilt.
Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak
were to
give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond
the word
of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of
two or
three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony
of one witness.
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to
put him to
death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away
the evil
from among you.
20But the prophet who presumes to speak
a word in
My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the
name of
other gods, that prophet shall die.' 21And if you say in
your heart,
"How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'-- 22when 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.
Deuteronomy
19
16If a false witness rises against any man to testify
against him of
wrongdoing, 17then both men in the controversy shall stand
before
the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
18And
the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified
falsely against his brother, 19then you shall do to him as
he
thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil
from among
you.
"But it shall come to
pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His
commandments and His statutes
which I command you today, that all these curses
will
come upon you and overtake
you:
A false witness will not go
unpunished, And he who speaks lies will
not escape.
A false witness will not go
unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish.
A false witness shall perish,
But the man who hears him will speak endlessly.
The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they
declare
their sin as
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter
the sheep of
My pasture!" says the LORD.
But there were also false prophets among the people,
even as
there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring
in
destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring
on
themselves swift destruction.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of
God; because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet
who
worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received
the mark
of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast
alive into
the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone
where [NU-Text and M-Text add also]
the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be
tormented
day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 22
12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with
Me, to
give to every one according to his work. 13I am the Alpha
and the
Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." [NU-Text and M-Text read the First
and the
Last, the Beginning and the End]
14Blessed are those who do His commandments, [NU-Text reads wash their robes]
that
they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the
gates into
the city. 15But [NU-Text and
M-Text
omit But] outside
are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and
idolaters, and
whoever loves and practices a lie.
16"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these
things in
the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and
Morning
Star."
C. The prophets and
the apostles knew the rewards for obeying the law.
You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward
for your work in the tabernacle of meeting.
The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the
LORD God
of
Therefore the LORD God of
For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely?
Therefore may
the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this
day.
"The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According
to the
cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work
shall be rewarded!"
here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your
possession
which You have given us to inherit.
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy
hill?
2He who walks
uprightly,
And works
righteousness,
And speaks
the
truth in his heart;
3He who does not
backbite
with his tongue,
Nor does
evil to
his neighbor,
Nor does
he take
up a reproach against his friend;
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According
to the
cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is
great reward.
So that men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the
righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth."
Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the
commandment
will be rewarded.
Then I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for
nothing and
in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my
work with my
God."‘
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
heaven, for
so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do
not even
the tax collectors do the same?
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your
door,
pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who
sees in
secret will reward you openly. [NU-Text omits openly]
40 "He who receives you receives Me,
and he who
receives Me receives Him who sent
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and
then He will reward each according to his works.
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you
belong to
Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is
great in
heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return;
and
your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High. For He
is kind to the unthankful and evil.
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive
his own reward
according to his own labor.
If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my
will, I
have been entrusted with a stewardship.
23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for [NU-Text omits for] you serve the Lord Christ. 25But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently
seek Him.
Hebrews
11
24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be
called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25choosing rather to suffer
affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in [NU-Text
and M-Text
read of ] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and
someone
turns him back, 20let him
know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a
soul [NU-Text
reads his soul]
from death and cover a multitude of sins.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will
cover a multitude
of sins."[Proverbs 10:12]
Look to yourselves, that we [NU-Text reads you]
do not lose those things we worked for, but that we[NU-Text reads you] may receive a full reward.
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the
dead, that
they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants
the
prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And
should destroy those who destroy the earth."
Revelation
22
12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with
Me, to give to every one according to his work.
13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the
First and
the Last." [NU-Text and M-Text read the First and the Last, the
Beginning
and the End]
14Blessed are those who do His commandments, [NU-Text reads wash
their robes] that they may
have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates
into the
city. 15But [NU-Text and M-Text omit But] outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually
immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a
lie.
16"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these
things in
the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David,
the Bright and Morning Star."
D. The prophets and the apostles knew God Himself was a witness to their actions.
Simon
Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:
"They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem amom men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come.
"Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication.
"It
would also have been irreconcilable with the fact that they were good
men. But
it is impossible to read their writings, and not feel that we are
conversing
with men eminently holy, and of tender consciences, with men acting
under an
abiding sense of the presence and omniscience of God, and of their
accountability to him, living in his fear, and walking in his ways.
Now,
though, in a single instance, a good man may fall, when under strong
temptations, yet he is not found persisting, for years, in deliberated
falsehood, asserted with the most solemn appeals to God, without the
slightest
temptation or motive, and against all the opposing interests which
reign in the
human breast. If, on the contrary, they are supposed to have been bad
men, it
is incredible that such men should have chosen this form of imposture;
enjoining, as it does, unfeigned repentance, the utter forsaking and
abhorrence
of all falsehood and of every other sin, the practice of daily
self-denial,
self-abasement and self-sacrifice, the crucifixion of the flesh with
all its
earthly appetites and desires, indifference to the honors, and hearty
contempt
of the vanities of the world; and inculcating perfect purity of heart
and life,
and intercourse of the soul with heaven. It is incredible, that bad men
should
invent falsehoods, to promote the religion of the God of truth. The
supposition
is suicidal. If they did believe in a future state of retribution, a
heaven and
a hell hereafter, they took the most certain course, if false
witnesses, to
secure the latter for their portion. And if, still being bad men, they
did not
believe in future punishment, how came they to invent which was to
destroy all their
prospects of worldly honor and happiness, and to insure their misery in
this
life? From these absurdities there is no escape, but in the perfect
conviction
and admission that they were good men, testifying to that which they
had
carefully observed and considered, and well knew to be true."
If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my
daughters,
although no man is with us--see, God is witness between you and
me!"
6So Moses spoke to the children of
8Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into
the
tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of
Levi, had
sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe
almonds.
Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of
your
father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and
your sons
are with you before the tabernacle of witness.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that
you will
soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to
possess;
you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go
well with
you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and
right in the sight of the
LORD your God.
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I
have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both
you and your descendants may live;
Deuteronomy
31:28
Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I
may speak
these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness
against them.
Judges
3:7
So the children of
Judges
10:6
Then the children of Israel again
did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and served the
Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods
of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the
gods of Moab, the gods of
the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and
did not serve Him.
And the elders of
Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His
anointed:
Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I
cheated?
Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe
with which
to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you."
Then he said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His
anointed
is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my
hand." And they
answered, "He is witness."
Then Jonathan said to David: "The LORD God of
and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness
against him,
saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and
stone him,
that he may die.
2
Chronicles 36:5
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king,
and he reigned eleven years in
2
Chronicles 36:12
He did evil in the sight of
the LORD his God, and did not humble himself
before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.
Job
10:17
You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your
indignation
toward me; Changes and war are ever with me.
Job
16:8
You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My
leanness
rises up against me And bears witness to my face.
Job
16:19
Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on
high.
Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything
hastily before
God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore
let your words
be few.
"You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I
have
chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.
Before
Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.
I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign
god
among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says the LORD,
"that I am
God.
Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and
declared
it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed
there is no
other Rock; I know not one."‘
And the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have
not
sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false
vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their
heart.
because they have done disgraceful things in
And You have said to me, O Lord GOD, "Buy the field for money, and take
witnesses"!--yet
the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans."‘
Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses,
in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities
of
Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland,
and in the
cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says
the LORD."
So they said to Jeremiah, "Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness
between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your
God
sends us by you.
Micah
1:2
Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the
Lord GOD
be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
"Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD, "Until the day I rise up for
plunder; [Septuagint
and Syriac read for witness;
Targum reads for the day of My revelation
for judgment; Vulgate reads for the
day of My resurrection that is to come] My determination is to
gather the
nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All
My
fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My
jealousy.
Malachi
2:14
Yet you say, "For what reason?" Because the LORD has been witness
Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt
treacherously;
Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.
And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness
Against
sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who
exploit
wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an
alien--
Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts.
And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men,
but God
knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of God.
But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which
the Father
has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness
of Me,
that the Father has sent Me.
I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent
Me bears witness
of Me."
to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible
proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the
things
pertaining to the
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the
Holy Spirit
whom God has given to those who obey Him."
and said, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are
remembered in the sight of God.
not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God,
even to us
who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord,
who was
bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and
wonders to
be done by their hands.
But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good
cheer,
Paul; for as you have testified for Me in
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
gospel of His
Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers
of the law will
be justified;
Romans
8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of
God,
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing
me witness
in the Holy Spirit,
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have
testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact
the dead
do not rise.
2
Corinthians 1:23
Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare
you I came
no more to
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text reads the
rest] peddling the word of God;
but as of sincerity, but as from
God, we speak in the sight
of God in Christ.
But we have renounced the hidden things
of shame, not walking in
craftiness nor handling
the word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God.
But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident,
for "the just
shall live by faith."[Habakkuk 2:4]
(Now
concerning the things which I write to you,
indeed, before God, I do not
lie.)
For God is my witness, how
greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
1
Thessalonians 1:3
remembering without ceasing
your work of faith, labor of love,
and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ in the sight of
our God and Father,
For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a
cloak
for covetousness--God is witness.
You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and
blamelessly
we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
1
Timothy 2:3
For this is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our
Savior,
1
Timothy 6:13
I urge you in the sight of God who
gives life to all things, and before
Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before
Pontius
Pilate,
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:
God also bearing witness both
with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy
Spirit,
according to His own will?
But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said
before,
rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and
quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
6 This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not
only by
water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who
bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7For
there are three that bear witness in
heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three
are one.
8And there are three that bear witness on earth [NU-Text and M-Text omit the words from in
heaven (verse 7) through on earth (verse 8). Only four or
five very
late manuscripts contain these words in Greek] the Spirit, the
water, and
the blood; and these three agree as one.
9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which [NU-Text reads God, that] He has testified of His Son. 10He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
E. The prophets
and the apostles appealed to reason.
Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before
the LORD
concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did to you and
your
fathers:
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though
your sins
are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red
like
crimson, They shall be as wool.
Isaiah
41:21
"Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons,"
says the King of Jacob.
|
Matthew
19:5 |
|
Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to
him, "You
are not far from the
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned
with them from the Scriptures,
Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with
the
Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who
happened to be
there.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded
both Jews
and Greeks.
And he came to
8And he went into the synagogue and
spoke boldly
for three months, reasoning and
persuading concerning the things of the
1
Thessalonians 5:21
Test all things; hold fast what is good.
8For God
is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of
Jesus
Christ.
9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and
more in
knowledge and all discernment,
10that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you
may be
sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
But sanctify the Lord God [NU-Text reads Christ
as Lord] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to
everyone
who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with
meekness and
fear;
F. The
prophets and the apostles appealed to the truth.
And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God,
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A
God of truth
and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
"And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and
You have
promised this goodness to Your servant.
And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which
You have
spoken to Your servant David my father.
And now, O LORD God of
He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth
in
his heart;
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep
His
covenant and His testimonies.
Psalm
31:5
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
Psalm
33:4
For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth.
Psalm
40:11
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your
lovingkindness
and Your truth continually preserve me.
Psalm
43:3
Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let
them bring
me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.
Psalm
86:15
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and
abundant in mercy and truth.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth
go before Your face.
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall
take
refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth
endures to
all generations.
For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth
reaches to the
clouds.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because
of Your
mercy, Because of Your truth.
For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of
the LORD
endures forever. Praise the LORD!
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.
You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your
righteous
judgments endures forever.
I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your
lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word
above
all Your name.
Psalm
145:18
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
Psalm
146:6
Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth
forever,
Proverbs
12:22
Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully
are His delight.
And you shall swear, "The LORD lives,' In truth, in judgment,
and in
righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him
they shall
glory."
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the
everlasting
King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be
able to
endure His indignation.
So they said to Jeremiah, "Let the LORD be a true and faithful
witness
between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your
God
sends us by you.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth,
and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put
down.
"As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon
us; yet
we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn
from
our iniquities and understand Your truth.
Daniel
10:21
But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth.
(No one
upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of
The law of truth [Or true
instruction ] was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his
lips. He
walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.
And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we
know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor
do You
care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do
not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.
Is it
lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth,
for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
Luke
20:21
Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach
rightly,
and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming
into the
world. [Or That was the true Light which, coming into the
world,
gives light to every man. ]
John
1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came
through
Jesus Christ.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds
may be
clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is
true.
23But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24God is
Spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth."
25The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming"
(who is
called Christ). "When He comes, He will
tell us all things."
32There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not
give you
the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread
from
heaven.
John
7:18
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the
glory of
the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both
know Me,
and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who
sent Me
is true, whom you do not know.
13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him,
"You bear
witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."
14Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness
of
Myself, My witness is true, for I
know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where
I come
from and where I am going. 15You judge according to the
flesh; I
judge no one.
16And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."
I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent
Me is true;
and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in
My
word, you are My disciples
indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free."
But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth
which I
heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
44You are of your father the devil, and
the
desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning,
and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he
speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and
the father
of it. 45But because I tell
the truth, you do not believe
John
10:41
Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the
things
that John spoke about this Man were true."
John
14:1
"Let not your heart be troubled; you
believe in God, believe also in Me.
John
14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes
to the Father except through Me.
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither
sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in
you.
John
15:1
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the
Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify
of Me.
John
16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide
you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He
hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true
God, and
Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified
by the truth.
36Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My
kingdom
were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be
delivered
to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."
37Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"
Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was
born,
and for this cause I have come into the world, that I
should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of
the truth hears My voice."
38Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said
this, he
went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him
at all.
And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he
knows that
he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these
things; and
we know that his testimony is true.
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that
God
shows no partiality.
24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud
voice, "Paul,
you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!"
25But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak
the words
of truth and reason. 26For
the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am
convinced that none of these things
escapes his attention, since this
thing was not done in a corner.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness,
who show the work of the law written in their hearts,
their
conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts
accusing
or else excusing them)
|
|
Psalm 51 |
Romans
4:5
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness,
I tell the truth in Christ, I am
not lying, my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision
for the truth
of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the
leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text reads the
rest] peddling the word of God; but as of
sincerity,
but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
But we have renounced the hidden things
of shame, not walking in craftiness
nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of
the truth
commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight of God.
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of
righteousness
on the right hand and on the left,
For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed.
But as we
spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus
was
found true.
As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this
boasting
in the regions of Achaia.
For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will
speak the truth.
But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to
be or
hears from me.
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth
of
the gospel might continue with you.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the
truth,
[NU-Text omits that you should not obey
the truth] before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed
among you [ NU-Text omits among you]
as crucified?
Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the
gospel
of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with
the Holy
Spirit of promise,
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into
Him who
is the head--Christ—
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth
is in Jesus:
|
Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/beangry.html |
Zechariah 8:16 16These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace; Psalm 4 |
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit [NU-Text reads light] is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having
put on the
breastplate of righteousness,
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,
Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely,
whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there
is
anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, [NU-Text and M-Text add and growing] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had
to you,
and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true
God,
For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a
cloak
for covetousness--God is
witness.
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you
received
the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the
word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also
effectively
works in you who believe.
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they
did not
receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved
by the
Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through
sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior,
4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the
truth. 5For there is one God and one Mediator between God
and men,
the Man Christ Jesus,
for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle--I am speaking the truth
in Christ [NU-Text omits in Christ]
and not lying--a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to
conduct
yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar
and ground of the truth.
in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will
grant
them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
2
Timothy 3:8
Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the
truth:
men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside
to fables.
Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the
faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which
accords
with godliness,
13This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. 15To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that
we might
be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
|
14as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." |
Leviticus 11 Leviticus 19 Leviticus 20 |
By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to
you
briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace
of God in
which you stand.
|
16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 18And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
|
Matthew 17 Mark 9 Luke 9 |
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
7But if we walk in the light as He is
in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His
Son cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If
we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a
liar, and
the truth is not in him.
Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in
Him and
in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true
light is
already shining.
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth,
but because
you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If
what you
heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son
and in
the Father.
17But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother
in need,
and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue,
but in
deed and in truth. 19And by this we know [NU-Text reads we shall know] that we are of the truth, and
shall assure our hearts before Him.
Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by
this we
know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
1
John 4:6
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not
hear
us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.
This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by
water, but by
water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the
Spirit is truth.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an
understanding, that
we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true,
in
His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
1 The Elder,
To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only
I, but
also all those who have known the truth, 2because of the
truth which
abides in us and will be with us forever:
3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you [NU-Text and M-Text read us] from God the Father and from the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. [NU-Text and M-Text read our]
3
John 1:8
We therefore ought to receive [NU-Text reads you]
such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.
Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth
itself. And
we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.
"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans [NU-Text and M-Text
read in
Revelation
6:10
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true,
until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Revelation
15:3
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb,
saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just
and true
are Your ways, O King of the saints! [NU-Text and M-Text read nations]
And I heard another from [NU-Text and M-Text omit another
from ] the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true
and righteous are Your judgments."
For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged
the
great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has
avenged
on her the blood of His servants shed by her."
Then he said to me, "Write: "Blessed are those who are called to the
marriage
supper of the Lamb!"‘ And he said to me, "These are the true
sayings of
God."
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on
him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war.
Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And
the Lord
God of the holy [NU-Text and M-Text read spirits
of the prophets] prophets sent His angel to show His servants the
things
which must shortly take place.
The topic of "truth"
is further discussed at the
following:
Dr. Norman L. Geisler. "The Nature of Truth – Part One," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/theological-dictionary/TD1W1099.pdf
Dr. Norman L. Geisler. "The Nature of Truth – Part Two,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/theological-dictionary/TD2W1099.pdf
Dr. Norman L. Geisler. "The Absolute Nature of Truth – Relative Truth,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/theological-dictionary/TD3W1099.pdf
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "The Christian Faith--Why It's True," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP1201W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "The Christian Faith--Why It's True, Part Two,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0102W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God?-- Part One," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0402W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and Is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Two," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0502W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Three," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0602W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Four," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0702W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Five," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0802W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully True and Is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Six," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0902W4.htm
Dr. John Ankerberg and
Dr. John
Weldon. "Is Christianity Alone Fully
True and Is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way to God? -- Part Seven," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP1002W4.htm
G. The prophets and the apostles appealed to the truthfulness of their testimony as eyewitness accounts.
Webster's
defines the following:
Eyewitness: "n. 1. A person who
actually sees some act. Occurrence, or the like, and can give a
first-hand
account of it."
Witness: "n. 6. A person who is present
at an occurrence, esp. one who is able to attest as to what took
place.
7. A person who gives testimony, as in a court of law. 8. A
person or
thing serving as evidence. 9. A person who signs a document
attesting the
genuineness of its execution. 10. Testimony or evidence: to
bear
witness to her suffering."
Testimony: "n. 1. The statement or
declaration of a witness under oath, usu. in court. 2.
Evidence in
support of a fact or statement; proof. 3. Open declaration
or
profession, as of faith."
F.
F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?: [6]
"The evidence indicates
that the written
sources of our Synoptic Gospels are not later than c. A.D. 60; some of
them may
even be traced back to notes taken of our Lord's teaching while His
words were
actually being uttered. The oral sources go back to the very beginning
of
Christian history. We are, in fact, practically all the way through in
touch
with the evidence of eyewitnesses. The earliest preachers of the gospel
knew
the value of this firsthand testimony, and appealed to it time and
again. ‘We are witnesses of these things,' was
their constant and confident assertion. And it can have been by no
means so
easy as some writers seem to think to invent words and deeds of Jesus
in those
early years, when so many of His disciples were about, who could
remember what
had and had not happened. Indeed, the evidence is that the early
Christians
were careful to distinguish between sayings of Jesus and their own
inferences
or judgments. Paul, for example, when discussing the vexed questions of
marriage and divorce in I Corinthians 7, is careful to make this
distinction
between his own advice on the subject and the Lord's decisive ruling: ‘I, not the Lord,' and again, ‘Not I, but the
Lord.' And it was not
only friendly eyewitnesses that the early preachers had to reckon with;
there
were others less well disposed who were also conversant with the main
facts of
the ministry and death of Jesus. The disciples could not afford to risk
inaccuracies (not to speak of willful manipulation of the facts), which
would
at once be exposed by those who would be only too glad to do so. On the
contrary, one of the strong points in the original apostolic preaching
is the
confident appeal to the knowledge of the hearers; they not only said, ‘We are witnesses of these things,' but also,
‘As you yourselves also know' (Acts
2:22). Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any
material
respect, the possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience
would have served
as a further corrective."
And he said, "You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that
they may
be my witness that I have dug this well."
Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a
witness
between you and me."
Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, [Literally, in Aramaic, Heap
of Witness] but Jacob called it Galeed. [Literally, in
Hebrew, Heap of Witness]
And Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me this
day."
Therefore its name was called Galeed,
This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,
that I will
not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this
heap and
this pillar to me, for harm.
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning
flashes, the
sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw
it,
they trembled and stood afar off.
and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her
husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there
was no witness
against her, nor was she caught—
Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the
testimony of witnesses;
but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person
for the
death penalty.
5then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman
who has
committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman
with
stones. 6Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death
on the testimony of two or three witnesses;
he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7The
hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to
death, and
afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil
from
among you.
15 "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
17then both men in the controversy shall stand before the
LORD,
before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18And
the
judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness
is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his
brother, 19then you shall do to him as he thought to have
done to
his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them,
that this
song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be
forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the
inclination of
their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of
which I
swore to give them."
"Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant
of the
LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;
26Therefore we said, "Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, "You have no part in the LORD."‘ 28Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, "Here is the replica of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.'
The children of Reuben and the children of Gad [Septuagint adds and half the tribe of Manasseh] called
the altar, Witness, "For it is a witness between us
that the LORD
is God."
So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against
yourselves that
you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said,
"We are witnesses!"
And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness
to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us.
It
shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God."
9And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are
witnesses
this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was
Chilion's
and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10Moreover, Ruth the
Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to
perpetuate the
name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may
not be
cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. [Probably his civic office] You are witnesses
this day."
11And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders,
said, "We are witnesses. The LORD make the
woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who
built the
house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in
Bethlehem.
So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, "Why
have you
not required the Levites to bring in from
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony
of
the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in
This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went
throughout
the
Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony
of Your mouth.
Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony
of
If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I
shall teach
them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore."
And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah
the
priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."
Isaiah
8:16
Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples.
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according
to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.
Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be
assembled. Who
among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring
out
their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear
and say, "It
is truth."
Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious
things
shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither
see nor
know, that they may be ashamed.
Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader
and
commander for the people.
And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and
weighed the
money on the scales.
and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of
Mahseiah, in
the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses
who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court
of the
prison.
And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show
yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony
to them."
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony
to them and to the Gentiles.
|
Hebrews
10:28 |
Deuteronomy 19:15 15 "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.. |
Matthew
23:31
"Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are
sons of
those who murdered the prophets.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness
to all the nations, and then the end will come.
and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way,
show
yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which
Moses
commanded, as a testimony to them."
"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to
councils, and
you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought [NU-Text and
M-Text
read will stand] before rulers and
kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony
against Jesus
to put Him to death, but found none.
1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled [Or are most surely believed] among us, 2just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,
So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words
which
proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the
priest, and
make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them,
just as
Moses commanded."
In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your
fathers;
for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.
And they said, "What further testimony do we need? For we have
heard it
ourselves from His own mouth."
And you are witnesses of these things.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of
whom I
said, "He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before
me."‘
John
1:19
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests
and Levites
from
And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven
like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We
have
seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, "I am not the
Christ,' but,
"I have been sent before Him.'
There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness
which He witnesses of Me is true.
John 5:31-36
31 "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.
John 8:13-18
13
The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You
bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."
14Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness
of
Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am
going;
but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15You
judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16And yet if I do
judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the
Father who
sent Me. 17It is also written in your law that the
testimony of two
men is true. 18I am
One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father
who sent Me bears witness of Me."
Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works
that I do
in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
John
12:17
Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of
his tomb
and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me
from the
beginning.
John
18:23
Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the
evil;
but if well, why do you strike Me?"
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered,
"You say
rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause
I have
come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.
Everyone
who is of the truth hears My voice."
And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true;
and he
knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
29Jesus said to him, "Thomas [NU-Text and M-Text omit Thomas] because you have seen Me, you
have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed."
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of
His
disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these
are
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that
believing you may have life in His name.
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these
things; and
we know that his testimony is true.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you
shall be witnesses to Me [NU-Text reads My witnesses]
in
21"Therefore, of these men who have
accompanied
us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning
from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one
of these
must become a witness with us of His resurrection."
23And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was
surnamed
Justus, and Matthias.
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which
we are witnesses.
Acts
4:33
And with great power the apostles gave witness to the
resurrection of
the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the
Holy Spirit
whom God has given to those who obey Him."
"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness,
as He
appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that
he had
seen,
and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses
laid
down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and with
power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by
the
devil, for God was with Him. 39And we are witnesses
of all
things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in
not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God,
even to us
who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever
believes
in Him will receive remission of sins."
He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from
Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord,
who was
bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and
wonders to
be done by their hands.
Acts
14:17
Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that
He did
good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts
with
food and gladness."
Acts
22:5
as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council
of the
elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to
Acts
22:12-18
12"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the
law, having
a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13came
to me;
and he stood and said to me, "Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at
that
same hour I looked up at him. 14Then he said, "The God of
our
fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just
One, and
hear the voice of His mouth. 15For you will be His witness
to all
men of what you have seen and heard. 16And now why are you
waiting?
Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of
the
Lord.'
17"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was
praying in
the temple, that I was in a trance 18and saw Him saying to
me, "Make
haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your
testimony concerning Me.'
But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good
cheer,
Paul; for as you have testified for Me in
Acts
26:16
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this
purpose,
to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which
you have
seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing
both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the
prophets
and Moses said would come—
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
gospel of His
Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
Romans
2:13-15
13(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of
God, but
the doers of the law will be justified; 14for when Gentiles,
who do
not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although
not
having the law, are a law to themselves, 15who show the work
of the
law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and
between
themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed
by the Law and the Prophets,
Romans
8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of
God,
Romans
9:1
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing
me witness
in the Holy Spirit,
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not
according
to knowledge.
even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of
speech or
of wisdom declaring to you the testimony [NU-Text reads mystery] of God.
For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that
we
conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not
with
fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have
testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact
the dead
do not rise.
2
Corinthians 8:3
For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and
beyond
their ability, they were freely willing,
What [NU-Text reads Where] then was
the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if
possible, you
would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.
For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal [NU-Text reads concern] for you, and those who are in
1
Thessalonians 2:10
You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and
blamelessly
we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be
admired
among all those who believe, [NU-Text and M-Text read have
believed] because our testimony among you was believed.
Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are
outside, lest
he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me His
prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according
to the
power of God,
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses,
commit
these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through
which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his
gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that
they may be
sound in the faith,
Hebrews
3:5
And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony
of those things which would be spoken afterward,
1 Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders
obtained a good testimony.
3By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of
God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which
are
visible.
And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith,
did not
receive the promise,
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness
against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up
treasure in
the last days.
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will
be
revealed:
For we did not follow cunningly devised
fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of
His majesty.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:1-6
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits, whether they are of
God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By
this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ
has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit that does
not
confess that [NU-Text omits that and
Christ
has come in the flesh] Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is not of
God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was
coming,
and is now already in the world.
4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They
are of
the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears
them.
6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God
does not
hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 5:5-11
5Who is he who overcomes the world, but
he who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not
only by
water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness,
because
the Spirit is truth. 7For there are three that bear witness
in
heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are
one.
8And there are three that bear witness on earth: [NU-Text
and M-Text omit the words from in
heaven (verse 7) through on earth (verse 8). Only four or
five very
late manuscripts contain these words in Greek] the Spirit, the
water, and
the blood; and these three agree as one.
9If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness
of God which [NU-Text reads God,
that] He has testified
of His Son. 10He who believes in the Son of God has the
witness in
himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he
has not
believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11And
this is
the testimony: that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you
send them
forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well,
Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And
we also
bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show
His
servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and
signified it by
His angel to His servant John, 2who
bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony
of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3Blessed
is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep
those
things which are written in it; for the time is near.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from
the
dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us
and washed
[NU-Text reads loves us and freed;
M-Text reads loves us and washed] us
from our sins in His own blood,
I, John, both [NU-Text and M-Text omit both]
your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience
of Jesus
Christ, was on the island that is called
"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans [NU-Text and M-Text
read in
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those
who had
been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they
held.
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will
prophesy one
thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to
them.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness
to
Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his
image,
and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And
they
lived and reigned with Christ for a [M-Text reads the]
thousand years.
"Had
the evangelists been false historians," writes Dr. Thomas Chalmers,
"they would
not have committed themselves upon so many particulars.
They would
not have furnished the vigilant inquirers of that period with such an
effectual
instrument for bringing them into discredit with the people; nor
foolishly
supplied, in every page of their narrative, so many materials for a
cross-examination, which would infallibly have disgraced them.
Now, we of
this age can institute the same cross-examination. We can compare
the
evangelical writers with contemporary authors, and verify a number of
circumstances in the history, and government, and peculiar economy of
the
Jewish people. We therefore have it in our power to institute a
cross-examination upon the writers of the New Testament; and the
freedom and
frequency of their allusions to these circumstances supply us with
ample
materials for it. The fact, that they are borne out in their
minute and
incidental allusions by the testimony of other historians, gives a
strong
weight of what has been called circumstantial evidence in their
favor. (Evidences
of the Christian Revelation, Chapter 3, pp. 76-78.)
See also
Dr. John Ankerberg. "Do We Have Accurate Information About Jesus?"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0401W3.htm
H.
The prophets and the apostles risked their lives proclaiming the truth.
"Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, So that no
one went
through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, A joy of many
generations.
For then the king of
Now Jeremiah was coming and going
among the people, for they had not
yet put him in prison.
Therefore the princes were angry
with Jeremiah, and they struck him
and put him in prison in the
house of
Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.
Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the
LORD
had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the
prophets
and all the people seized him, saying, "You will surely
die!
22Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to
24Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was
with
Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people
to put
him to death.
So the decree went out, and they began killing
the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill
them.
Daniel
3:8-23
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and
accused
the Jews. 9They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O
king, live
forever! 10You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who
hears
the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony
with all
kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; 11and
whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of
a
burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you
have set
over the affairs of the
13Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to
bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the
king.
14Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, "Is it true, Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image
which I
have set up? 15Now if you are ready at the time you hear the
sound
of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all
kinds of
music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good!
But if
you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a
burning
fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the
king, "O
Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If
that
is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery
furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18But
if
not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods,
nor will
we worship the gold image which you have set up."
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression
on his
face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and
commanded
that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
20And
he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind
Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21Then
these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and
their
other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery
furnace.
22Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the
furnace
exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up
Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and
Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Daniel
6:3-17
3Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors
and
satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave
thought to
setting him over the whole realm. 4So the governors and
satraps
sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but
they
could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there
any error
or fault found in him. 5Then these men said, "We shall not
find any
charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the
law of
his God."
6So these governors and satraps thronged before the king,
and said
thus to him: "King Darius, live forever! 7All the governors
of the
kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors,
have
consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm
decree, that
whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king,
shall be
cast into the den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the
decree and
sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of
the
Medes and Persians, which does not alter." 9Therefore King
Darius
signed the written decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
home. And
in his upper room, with his windows open toward
11Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and
making supplication
before his God. 12And they went before the king, and spoke
concerning the king's decree: "Have you not signed a decree that every
man who
petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall
be cast
into the den of lions?"
The king answered and said, "The thing is true, according to the law of
the
Medes and Persians, which does not alter."
13So they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel,
who is
one of the captives [Literally of
the sons of
the captivity] from
Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that
you
have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."
14And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly
displeased
with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he
labored till
the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15Then these men
approached the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is
the law of
the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king
establishes may
be changed."
16So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and
cast him
into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God,
whom
you serve continually, He will deliver you." 17Then a stone
was
brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with
his own
signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose
concerning
Daniel might not be changed.
|
|
|
Mark
13:13 |
|
Luke
21:17 |
34Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and
scribes:
some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will
scourge in
your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35that on
you may
come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of
righteous
Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered
between the
temple and the altar. 36Assuredly, I say to you, all these
things
will come upon this generation.
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you
will be hated
by all nations for My name's
sake.
"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to
councils, and
you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought
[NU-Text and
M-Text read will stand ] before
rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
Blessed are you when men hate you, And
when they
exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your
name as
evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
In fact, you bear witness that you
approve the
deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you
build
their tombs.
However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the
Jews.
John
9:22
His parents said these things because they
feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone
confessed
that He was Christ, he would be put out of
the synagogue.
John
12:42
Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of
the
Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out
of the synagogue;
John
16:2
They will put you out of the
synagogues; yes,
the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God
service.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly, for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus;
and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors
were shut where the disciples were assembled, [NU-Text omits assembled] for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said
to them, "Peace
be with you."
13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and
beaten
them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of
Jesus,
and let them go.
17 Then the high priest rose up, and
all those
who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were
filled
with indignation, 18and laid their hands on the apostles and
put them in the common prison.
When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to
kill them.
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and
beaten
them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of
Jesus,
and let them go.
and they cast him out of the
city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at
the feet of a young man named Saul.
1 Now Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at
3As for Saul, he made havoc
of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women,
committing
them to prison.
And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the
Jews
and in
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Then Jews from
Then the multitude rose up together against them;
and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them
to be beaten with rods.
But Paul said to them, "They
have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us
into
prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us
out."
11 But the following night the Lord
stood by him
and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in
Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."
12And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and
bound
themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink
till
they had killed Paul. 13Now
there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.
They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have bound
ourselves
under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed
Paul.
Acts 28:17-20
17 And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the
leaders
of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them:
"Men and
brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs
of our
fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the
hands of the
Romans, 18who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me
go,
because there was no cause for putting me to death. 19But
when the
Jews [That
is, the ruling authorities] spoke against it, I was compelled
to appeal
to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. 20For
this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with
you,
because for the hope of
Hebrews
11
32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to
tell of
Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and
the
prophets: 33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34quenched
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness
were made
strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the
aliens.
35Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain
a
better resurrection. 36Still others had trial of mockings
and
scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37They were
stoned,
they were sawn in two, were tempted,
[NU-Text
omits were tempted]
were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- 38of whom the world
was not
worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of
the earth.
Do not fear any of those things which you
are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison, that you may
be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until
death, and
I will give you the crown of life.
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those
who had
been slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which
they held.
When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the
bottomless
pit will make war against them, overcome
them, and kill
them.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to
them.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their
witness
to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or
his image,
and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their
hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a [M-Text reads the] thousand years.
Martyrs:
Stephen: stoned to death
James, the brother of Jesus: stoned to death
Peter: crucified
Andrew: crucified
Philip: crucified
Simon: crucified
Matthew: death by the sword
Thaddaeus: killed by arrows
Thomas: death by a spear thrust
Bartholomew: crucified
James, the son of Zebedee: death by the sword
James,
the son of Alphaeus: crucified
Refer to the definitive reference of Christian martyrdom in FOX's BOOK of MARTYRS, Edited by William Byron Forbush, posted online at http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html, http://bible.christiansunite.com/foxindex.shtml,
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/martyrs/,
http://bible.crosswalk.com/History/AD/FoxsBookofMartyrs/,
http://www.biblebelievers.com/foxes/findex.htm,
http://www.biblenet.net/library/foxesMartyrs/?s=,
http://www.born-again-christian.info/foxes.book.of.martyrs/foxes.contents.htm
And on many other
websites on the
Internet.
A. God
ordained the authority of the prophets and the apostles.
And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then
he did
the signs in the sight
of the people.
So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him.
You shall
anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may
minister
to Me as priests.
And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint
him.
And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of
the anointing
oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on
the
garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be
hallowed, and
his sons and his sons' garments with him.
"And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed
in them and to be consecrated in them.
And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them,
that they
may minister to Me as priests.
Exodus
40:13
You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and
consecrate
him, that he may minister to Me as priest.
You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father,
that they
may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely
be an
everlasting priesthood throughout their generations."
You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take
from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD
your
God which I command you.
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their
brethren,
and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that
I command
Him.
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed
him and
said: "Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander
over His
inheritance? [Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; Septuagint
reads [His
people
Samuel also said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king
over His
people, over
So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not
head of
the tribes of
1 Samuel 16:1-13
1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How
long will you
mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over
2And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will
kill me."
But the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, "I have come to
sacrifice
to the LORD.' 3Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I
will show
you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you."
4So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to
5And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the
LORD.
Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he
consecrated
Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and
said, "Surely
the LORD's anointed is before Him!"
7But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance
or at
his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not
see as
man sees; [Septuagint reads For God
does not
see as man sees; Targum reads It is not by the appearance of a
man;
Vulgate reads Nor do I judge according to the looks of a man]
for
man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
8So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel.
And he
said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." 9Then Jesse
made
Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."
10Thus
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to
Jesse, "The
LORD has not chosen these." 11And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are
all the
young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and
there he
is, keeping the sheep."
And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down [Following Septuagint and Vulgate;
Masoretic Text
reads turn around; Targum and Syriac read turn away]
till he
comes here." 12So he sent and brought him in. Now he was
ruddy, with
bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, "Arise,
anoint him; for this is the one!" 13Then Samuel
took the horn of oil and anointed
him in the midst of his brothers; and the
Spirit of the LORD came upon David from
that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group
of prophets
prophesying, and Samuel standing
as leader over them, the Spirit of
God came upon the messengers
of Saul, and they also
prophesied.
Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today
into my
hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared
you, and
I said, "I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the
LORD's anointed.'
But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out
his
hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?"
The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD's anointed.
But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his
head, and
let us go."
Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of
14And he said, "I have been very
zealous for the
LORD God of hosts; because the children of
15Then the LORD said to him: "Go, return on your way to the
Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over
Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his
head, and
said to him, "Thus says the LORD God of
Yet the LORD testified against
Now the acts of King David,
first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Samuel the seer,
in the
book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the
poor; He
has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to
the
captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
"Before I formed you in the womb
I knew you; Before you
were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet
to the nations."
Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until
this day, I
have even sent to you all My servants the prophets,
daily
rising up early and sending them.
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, 2"Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.
to heed the words of My servants the prophets
whom I sent
to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded),
I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets,
rising up early and sending them, saying, "Turn now everyone from his
evil way,
amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then
you will
dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.' But you
have not
inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.
Jeremiah
44:4
However I have sent to you all My servants the prophets,
rising early and sending them, saying, "Oh, do not do this abominable
thing
that I hate!"
Thus says the Lord GOD: "Are you he of whom I have spoken in former
days by My
servants the prophets of
I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied
visions; I have
given symbols through the witness of the prophets."
Yet surely My words and My statutes, Which I commanded My
servants
the prophets, Did they not overtake your fathers? "So they
returned and
said: "Just as the LORD of hosts determined to do to us, According to
our ways
and according to our deeds, So He has dealt with us."
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
|
Acts 2:29-39 |
Psalm 110:1 1 The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." Matthew 22 Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/antianti.html#ten |
how God anointed Jesus of
Acts 13:1-4
1 Now in the church that was at
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to
But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good
cheer,
Paul; for as you have testified for Me in
Acts
26:16
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this
purpose,
to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which
you have
seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing
both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the
prophets
and Moses said would come—
Now He who establishes us with
you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted
with the
gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who
tests our
hearts.
Hebrews
2:4
God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with
various
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
If anyone speaks, let him speak
as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do
it as with the ability which God
supplies, that in all things God may be
glorified through Jesus
Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about
to
sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to
His servants
the prophets.
See also:
Glenn Miller. "The
Transmission of OT Information and Revelation," http://www.christian-thinktank.com/aecx.html
B.
Jesus confirmed authority to the prophets and the apostles.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all
things that I said to you.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He
will guide
you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,
but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses
to Me [NU-Text reads My witnesses]
in
To them it was revealed that,
not to themselves, but to us
[NU-Text and M-Text read you] they
were ministering the things which now have been
reported
to you through those who have
preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things
which angels desire to look into.
See
also Appendix
4: Affirmation of the Apostles.
C.
The Holy Spirit confirmed authority to the prophets and the apostles.
Then the LORD came down
in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit
that was
upon him, and placed the same
upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit
rested upon
them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. [Targum
and
Vulgate read did not cease]
1 Now these are the last words of
David.
Thus says David the son of
Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up
on high,
The anointed of the God of
Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of
2"The
Spirit of the LORD spoke by me,
And His word was on my
tongue.
3The God of
The
Rock of
"He who rules over men must
be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
"Come near to Me, hear
this: I have not spoken
in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was
there.
And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit Have [The Hebrew verb is
singular]
sent Me."
I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will
place you in
your own land. Then you shall know that I,
the LORD, have spoken it
and performed it," says the LORD."‘
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with
you and
will be in you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all
things that I said to you.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He
will guide
you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,
but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall
be witnesses to Me [NU-Text reads My witnesses]
in
These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches
but
which the Holy [NU-Text omits Holy] Spirit
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
God also bearing witness both with
signs and
wonders, with various
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His
own will?
for prophecy never came by the will of
man, but holy men of God
[NU-Text reads but
men spoke from God] spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit.
See also Appendix
4: Affirmation of the Apostles.
III.
Confirmation by miracles.
A. The truthfulness of the prophets and the apostles were confirmed by supernatural miracles.
Greenleaf,
Testimony of the Evangelists:
"In the fourth place, as to
the conformity of
their testimony with experience. The title of the evangelists to full
credit
for veracity would be readily conceded by the objector, if the facts
they
relate were such as ordinarily occur in human experience, and on this
circumstance an argument is founded against their credibility.
Miracles, say
the objectors, are impossible; and therefore the evangelists were
either
deceivers or deceived; and in either case their narratives against the
possibility of miracles, was founded on the broad and bold assumption
that all
things are governed by immutable laws, or fixed modes of motion and
relation,
termed the laws of nature, by which God himself is of necessity bound.
This
erroneous assumption is the tortoise, on which stands the elephant
which
upholds his system of atheism. He does not inform us who made these
immutable
laws, nor whence they derive their binding force and irresistible
operation.
The argument supposes that the creator of all things first made a code
of laws,
and then put it out of his own power to change them. The scheme of Mr.
Hume is
but another form of the same error. He deduces the existence of such
immutable
laws from the uniform course of human experience.
This, he affirms, is our only guide in
reasoning concerning matters of fact; and whatever is contrary to human
experience, he pronounces incredible. Without stopping to examine the
correctness of this doctrine, as a fundamental principle in the law of
evidence, it is sufficient in this place to remark, that it contains
this
fallacy: it excludes all knowledge derived by inference or deduction
from facts,
confining us to what we derive from experience alone, and thus
depriving us of
any knowledge, or even rational belief, or the existence or character
of God.
Nay more, it goes to prove that successive generations of men can make
no
advancement in knowledge, but each must begin de novo, and be limited
to the
results of his own experience. But if we may infer, from what we see
and know,
that there is a Supreme Being, by whom this world was created, we may
certainly, and with equal reason, believe him capable of works which we
have
never yet known him to perform. We may fairly conclude that the power
which was
originally put forth to create the world is still constantly and
without
ceasing exerted to sustain it; and that the experienced connection
between
cause and effect is but the uniform and constantly active operation of
the
finger of God. Whether this uniformity of operation extends to things
beyond
the limits of our observation, is a point we cannot certainly know. Its
existence in all things that ordinarily concern us may be supposed to
be
ordained as conducive to our happiness; and if the belief in a
revelation of
peace and mercy from god is conducive to the happiness of man, it is
not
irrational to suppose that he would depart from his ordinary course of
action,
in order to give it such attestations as should tend to secure that
belief. "A
miracle is improbable, when we can perceive no sufficient cause, in
reference
to his creatures, why the Deity should not vary his modes of operation;
it
ceases to be so, when such cause is assigned."
But the full discussion of the subject of
miracles forms no part of the present design. Their credibility has
been fully
established, and the objections of skeptics most satisfactorily met and
overthrown, by the ablest writers of our own day, whose works are
easily
accessible. Thus much, however, may here be remarked; that in almost
every
miracle related by the evangelists, the facts, separately taken, were
plain,
intelligible, transpiring in public, and about which no person of
ordinary
observation would be like to mistake. Persons blind or cripple, who
applied to
Jesus for relief, were known to have been crippled or blind for many
years;
they came to be cured; he spoke to them; they went away whole. Lazarus
had been
dead and buried four days; Jesus called him to come forth from the
grave; he
immediately came forth, and was seen alive for a long time afterwards.
In every
case of healing, the previous condition of the sufferer was known to
all
witnessed the act of Jesus in touching him, and heard his words. All
these,
separately considered, were facts, plain and simple in their nature,
easily
seen and fully comprehended by persons of common capacity and
observation. If
they were separately testified to, by different witnesses of ordinary
intelligence and integrity, in any court of justice, the jury would be
bound to
believe them; and a verdict, rendered contrary to the uncontradicted
testimony
of credible witnesses to any of these plain facts, separately taken,
would be liable
to be set aside, as a verdict against evidence. If one credible witness
testified to the fact, that Bartimeus was blind, according to the
uniform
course of administering justice, this fact would be taken as
satisfactorily
proved. So also, if his subsequent restoration to sight were the sole
fact in
question, this also would be deemed established, by the like evidence.
Nor
would the rule of evidence be at all different, if the fact to be
proved were
the declaration of Jesus, immediately preceding his restoration to
sight, that
his faith had made him whole. In each of these cases, each isolated
fact was
capable of being accurately observed, and certainly known; and the
evidence
demands our assent, precisely as the like evidence upon any other
indifferent subject.
The connection of the word or the act of Jesus with the restoration of
the
blind, lame and dead, to sight, and health, and life, as cause and
effect, is a
conclusion which our reason is compelled to admit, from the uniformity
of their
concurrence, in such a multitude of instances, as well as from the
universal
conviction of all, whether friends or foes, who beheld the miracles
which he
wrought. Indeed, if the truth of one of the miracles is satisfactorily
established, our belief cannot reasonably be withheld from them all.
This is
the issue proposed by Dr. Paley, in regard to the evidence of the death
of
Jesus upon the cross, and his subsequent resurrection, the truth of
which he
has established in an argument incapable of refutation."
Exodus 4:1-9
1 Then Moses answered and said, "But
suppose they
will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, "The LORD
has not
appeared to you."‘
2So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
He said, "A rod."
3And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the
ground,
and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4Then the
LORD said
to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached
out his
hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5"that
they
may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
6Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in
your bosom."
And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his
hand was
leprous, like snow. 7And He said, "Put your hand in your
bosom
again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his
bosom,
and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 8"Then it
will be,
if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign,
that they
may believe the message of the latter sign. 9And it shall
be, if
they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that
you
shall take water from the river [That is, the
|
1 Now the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD." |
Joel 1:2-4 2 Hear this, you elders, |
"Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in
holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning
flashes, the
sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw
it,
they trembled and stood afar off.
Then the LORD said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And
how
long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have
performed
among them?
because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs
which I did
in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these
ten
times, and have not heeded My voice,
Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst
of
another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a
mighty
hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all
that the
LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
and the LORD showed signs and
wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against
Deuteronomy
26:8
So the LORD brought us out of
the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders.
in all the signs and wonders
which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh,
before all
his servants, and in all his land,
And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the
LORD will
do wonders among you."
for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the
land of
Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in
our
sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the
people
through whom we passed.
And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the
occasion
demands; for God is with you.
1
Samuel 10:9
So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave
him
another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
1 Kings 18:1-46
1 And it came to pass after many days
that the
word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go,
present
yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."
2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a
severe
famine in
7Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and
he
recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is that you, my lord
Elijah?"
8And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your master,
"Elijah is here."‘
9So he said, "How have I sinned, that you are delivering
your
servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10As the LORD
your God
lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent
someone to
hunt for you; and when they said, "He is not here,' he took an oath
from the
kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11And now
you say, "Go,
tell your master, "Elijah is here"‘! 12And it shall come to
pass, as
soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you
to a
place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find
you, he
will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.
13Was
it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets
of the
LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD's prophets, fifty to a
cave, and
fed them with bread and water? 14And now you say, "Go, tell
your
master, "Elijah is here."‘ He will kill me!"
15Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom
I
stand, I will surely present myself to him today."
16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went
to meet
Elijah.
17Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to
him, "Is
that you, O troubler of Israel?"
18And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and
your
father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the
LORD and
have followed the Baals. 19Now therefore, send and gather
all Israel
to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and
the
four hundred prophets of Asherah, [A Canaanite goddess] who eat at
Jezebel's
table."
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered
the
prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21And Elijah came to all
the
people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If
the LORD
is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered
him not a
word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a
prophet
of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23Therefore
let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for
themselves, cut it
in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will
prepare
the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.
24Then
you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the
LORD; and
the God who answers by fire, He is God."
So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
25Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull
for
yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name
of your
god, but put no fire under it."
26So they took the bull which was given them, and they
prepared it,
and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O
Baal,
hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped
about the
altar which they had made.
27And so it was, at
30Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So
all the
people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was
broken
down. 31And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the
number of
the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come,
saying,
"
36And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the
evening
sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of
Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel
and I am
Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
37Hear
me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD
God, and
that You have turned their hearts back to You again."
38Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt
sacrifice,
and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water
that was
in the trench. 39Now when all the people saw it, they fell
on their
faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
40And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do
not let
one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down
to the
Brook Kishon and executed them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for
there is the
sound of abundance of rain." 42So Ahab went up to eat and
drink. And
Elijah went up to the top of
So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times
he
said, "Go again."
44Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said,
"There is a
cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said,
"Go up,
say to Ahab, "Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops
you."‘
45Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black
with
clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went
to
Jezreel. 46Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and
he girded
up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Remember His marvelous works which
He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all
peoples.
You showed signs and wonders
against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people
of his
land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a
name for
Yourself, as it is this day.
They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You
did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion
[Following
Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint reads in
He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without
number.
They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You
make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders
of old.
You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your
strength among
the peoples.
And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.
When He worked His signs in
Psalm
89:5
And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your
faithfulness also
in the assembly of the saints.
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all
peoples.
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders,
and the
judgments of His mouth,
They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the
Our fathers in
They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.
He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, Upon
Pharaoh
and all his servants.
To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures
forever;
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the
virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
[Literally God-With-Us]
And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of
hosts in the
land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors,
and He
will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them.
And this is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will
do this
thing which He has spoken:
Jeremiah
32:20
You have set signs and wonders
in the
You have brought Your people
And this shall be a sign to you,' says the LORD, "that I will
punish you
in this place, that you may know that My words will surely stand
against you
for adversity.'
I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders
that the Most High God has worked for me.
How great are His signs, And how mighty His wonders! His
kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.
He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and
wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from
the power of the lions.
4Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
|
38 Then some of the scribes and
Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." |
Luke 11:29-32 29 And while the crowds were
thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil
generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to
it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. [NU-Text omits the prophet] 30For as Jonah became a sign to
the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
31The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the
men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of
the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than
Solomon is here. 32The men of |
The miraculous
feeding of over 5000.
|
Matthew 14:13-21 13 When Jesus heard it, He
departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when
the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was
moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15When
it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted
place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that
they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." |
|
Mark 6:30-44 30 Then the apostles gathered to
Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they
had taught. 31And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves
to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and
going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32So they
departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. |
|
Luke 9:10-17 10 And the apostles, when they
had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and
went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called
|
|
1 After these things Jesus went
over the John 6:4-15 |
But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle
in My
name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.
And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them
and
confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
[Verses 9-20
are bracketed in NU-Text as not original. They are lacking in Codex
Sinaiticus
and Codex Vaticanus, although nearly all other manuscripts of Mark
contain them]
Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired
for a
long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and
he hoped to
see some miracle done by Him.
And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven
like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
John 2:1-11
1 On the third day there was a wedding
in Cana of
Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Now both Jesus
and His
disciples were invited to the wedding. 3And when they ran
out of
wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
4Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to
do with
Me? My hour has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you,
do it."
6Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according
to the
manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons
apiece.
7Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they
filled
them up to the brim. 8And He said to them, "Draw some out
now, and
take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. 9When
the
master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did
not know
where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the
master
of the feast called the bridegroom. 10And he said to him,
"Every man
at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well
drunk,
then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"
11This beginning of signs
Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His
disciples
believed in Him.
John
2:23
Now when He was in
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that
You are a
teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You
do unless
God is with him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and
wonders, you
will by no means believe."
John 5:1-15
1 After this there was a feast of the
Jews, and
Jesus went up to
7The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me
into the
pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps
down before
me."
8Jesus said to him, "Rise,
take up your bed and walk." 9And immediately the man was
made well,
took up his bed, and walked.
And that day was the Sabbath. 10The Jews therefore said to
him who
was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your
bed."
11He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, "Take
up your
bed and walk."‘
12Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you,
"Take up
your bed and walk'?" 13But the one who was healed did not
know who
it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.
14Afterward
Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been
made well.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."
15The man departed and told
the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek
Me, not
because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves
and were
filled.
Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then,
that we
may see it and believe You? What work will You do?
And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ
comes, will
He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"
Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God,
because He
does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner
do such
signs?" And there was a division among them.
Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works
that I do
in My Father's name, they bear witness of
John 11:38-44
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in
Himself, came to
the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus
said, "Take
away the stone."
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this
time there
is a stench, for he has been dead four days."
40Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would
believe
you would see the glory of God?" 41Then they took away the
stone
from the place where the dead man was lying. [NU-Text omits from
the place
where the dead man was lying]
And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You
have heard
Me. 42And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the
people
who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent
Me."
43Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice,
"Lazarus,
come forth!" 44And he who had
died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was
wrapped
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said,
"What
shall we do? For this Man works many signs.
Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of
his tomb
and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
|
36While you have the light,
believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things
Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. |
Isaiah 53:1 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? |
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples,
which are not written in this book;
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by
God to
you by miracles, wonders, and signs
which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders
and signs were done through the apostles.
15But when they had commanded them to
go aside
out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16saying,
"What
shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle
has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in
29Now, Lord, look on their threats, and
grant to
Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30by
stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs
and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant
Jesus."
31And when they had prayed, the place where they were
assembled
together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and
they
spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 5:12-16
12 And through the hands of the
apostles many signs and wonders were done among
the people. And they were all with one
accord in Solomon's Porch. 13Yet none of the rest dared
join
them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14And believers
were
increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
15so
that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds
and
couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on
some of
them. 16Also a multitude
gathered from the surrounding cities to
And Stephen, full of faith [NU-Text reads grace]
and power, did great wonders and signs
among the people.
He brought them out, after he had shown wonders
and signs in the
And the multitudes with one accord
heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles
which he did.
Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued
with
Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles
and signs which were done.
Acts 13:1-12
1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain
prophets
and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen
who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2As
they
ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate
to Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3Then,
having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went
down to
6Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they
found a
certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7who
was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man
called for
Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8But
Elymas
the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to
turn
the proconsul away from the faith. 9Then Saul, who also is
called
Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and
said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you
enemy of
all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of
the Lord?
11And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you
shall be
blind, not seeing the sun for a time."
And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking
someone to
lead him by the hand. 12Then the proconsul believed, when he
saw
what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord,
who was
bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul
declaring
how many miracles and wonders
God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient-- 19in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation,
Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but
to
unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who
believe.
10Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's
sake. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.
11 I have become a fool in boasting; [NU-Text omits in
boasting] you have compelled me. For I ought
to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most
eminent
apostles, though I am nothing. 12Truly the signs of an
apostle were
accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and
wonders and mighty deeds.
Hebrews 2:1-4
1 Therefore we must give the more
earnest heed to
the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2For if the
word
spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just reward, 3how shall we escape if
we
neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by
the
Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4God also bearing witness both with signs
and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according
to His own will?
The
significance of miracles is discussed at the following links:
Dr. Norman Geisler. "Miracles,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD1002W3.htm
Dr. Norman Geisler. "Miracles: Providing Validation for the Christian Faith—Part One,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD0103W1.htm
Dr. Norman Geisler. "Miracles: Providing Validation for the Christian Faith—Part Two,"
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD0103W3.htm
Glenn Miller. "Good question--Did the NT authors invent the miracle stories in the gospels?"
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/mqx.html
"Were the Miracles of Jesus invented by the Disciples/Evangelists?"
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/mq9.html
B. The prophets and apostles
warned of
counterfeits, and encouraged testing.
1 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let us go after other gods'--which you have not known--"and let us serve them,' 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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.
A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among
brethren.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses
have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not
know.
He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness,
deceit.
A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness
will utter
lies.
A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness
speaks
lies.
A disreputable witness scorns justice, And the mouth of the
wicked
devours iniquity.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
clothing,
but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
|
Matthew 7:16-19 |
|
Matthew 12 |
|
Luke 6 |
Matthew
24:11
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
For false christs and false prophets will rise
and show
great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
For false christs and false prophets will rise
and show
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Mark
14:56
For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies
did not
agree.
Mark
14:57
Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying,
Woe to you [NU-Text and M-Text omit to
you] when all [M-Text omits all]
men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.
10 Then the brethren immediately sent
Paul and
Silas away by night to
Galatians 1:6-9
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Test all things; hold fast what is good.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
1
John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false
prophets
have gone out into the world.
"I know your works, your
labor, your patience, and that you
cannot bear those who are evil.
And you have tested those who say they
are apostles
and are not, and have found them
liars;
More
links for further edification:
Glenn Miller. "Critically Examine Everything?" http://www.christian-thinktank.com/everythg.html
Dr. Norman Geisler. "False miracles—Part One," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD1102W3.htm
Dr. Norman Geisler. "False miracles—Part Two," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD1202W1.htm
Dr. Norman Geisler. "False miracles—Part Three," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD1202W3.htm
Dr. Norman Geisler. "Magic and miracles," http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD1102W1.htm
IV. Legal
Confirmation.
A.
The truthfulness of the testimony of the prophets and the
apostles were
confirmed by other prophets and apostles.
We have not obeyed the voice of
the LORD our God, to walk in His
laws, which He
set before us
by His servants the prophets.
Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law
and the
words which the LORD of hosts had sent
by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came
from the
LORD of hosts.
10 Then the brethren immediately sent
Paul and
Silas away by night to
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward
to these
things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and
blameless;
15and consider that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother
Paul,
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16as
also
in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some
things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to
their
own destruction, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures.
B.
Prophets confirmed Mosaic authorship of the Law.
Throughout
the Bible the prophets attest to Moses' authorship of the Law.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write
this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua,
that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under
heaven."
1 These are the journeys of the children of
These are the words which Moses spoke to all
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses
My servant commanded you; do
not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper
wherever you go.
Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written in the Book of the Law of Moses,
lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the
left,
And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep
His
statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it
is
written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that
you do and
wherever you turn;
Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with
all his
heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did
any arise like him.
And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals,
with
stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David,
of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His
prophets.
Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of
the
LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book
of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.
They assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their
divisions, over the service of God in
Nehemiah
9:14
You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts,
statutes
and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.
On that day they read from the Book of
Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written
that no
Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God,
10We have not obeyed the voice of the
LORD our
God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the
prophets.
11Yes, all
"As it is written in the Law of Moses,
all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer
before the
LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand
Your truth.
"Remember the Law of Moses,
My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came
through
Jesus Christ.
C. Apostles confirmed
the Law and
the Prophets
See also Section V. Historical Confirmation.
|
Matthew
18:16 John
8:17 2
Corinthians 13:1 |
Deuteronomy 19 |
|
55In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you
come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat
daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.
Mark 14:43-50 43 And immediately, while He was
still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with
swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the
elders. 44Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying,
"Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely." |
Psalm 22 Psalm 69 |
|
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), [Exodus 13:2, 12-15] 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." [Leviticus 12:8] |
Exodus 13 Exodus 13 Leviticus 12 |
Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I
was
still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in
the Law
of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms concerning Me."
"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed,
instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them,
and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them
from the Scriptures,
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a
sect, so
I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written
in the Law
and in the Prophets.
So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging,
to whom
he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading
them
concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets,
from morning till evening.
1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
|
Romans
3:4 |
|
|
Romans 3:10-12 10as it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." [Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20] Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/allsinners.html Romans 3:13-18 13"Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; [Psalm 5:9] "The poison of asps is under their lips"; [Psalm 5:9] 14"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." [Psalm 10:7]
16Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17And the way of peace they have not known." [ Isaiah 59:7, 8]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [Psalm 36:1] |
Isaiah 59
|
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is
revealed, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
| For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." [Genesis 15:6] |
Genesis 15 |
|
|
|
|
Romans
9:17 |
Exodus 9 |
|
1 I say then, has God cast away
His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not cast away
His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the
Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against |
1 Kings 19 1 Kings 19 |
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we
through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope.
25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith-- 27to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. [M-Text puts Romans 16:25-27 after Romans 14:23].
|
1
Corinthians 3:19 |
Job 5 |
3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text
reads the rest] peddling the word
of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God,
we speak in the sight
of God in Christ.
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame,
not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but
by
manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in
the sight of God.
|
2
Corinthians 4:13 |
Psalm 116 |
But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise
by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
|
Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/abekids.html |
Genesis 16 |
|
Galatians
4:30 |
Genesis 21 |
14But you must continue in the things which you have learned
and
been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15and
that
from childhood you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through
faith
which is in Christ Jesus.
16All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for
correction, for instruction in righteousness,
Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/JPH_SMSWSG.html#heb718
|
Hebrews
10:7 |
Psalm 40 |
Hebrews
11:4
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through
which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
|
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," [Leviticus |
Leviticus 19 |
|
|
Genesis 6 |
|
15but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." |
Leviticus 11 Leviticus 19 Leviticus 20 |
2
Peter 1:20
knowing this first, that no prophecy of
Scripture is of any private
interpretation, [Or origin]
Commentary by J.P. Holding:
http://www.tektonics.org/demoniactale.html
15and consider that
the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our
beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has
written to you, 16as also in all his epistles, speaking
in them
of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which
untaught
and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand,
beware
lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the
error
of the wicked;
D. The Rulers of the People and the Synagogue confirmed the Law and the Prophets
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
9 So Moses wrote
this law and
delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the
covenant
of the LORD, and to all the elders of
33Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and
judges, stood
on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the
ark of
the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among
them.
Half of them were in front of
Nehemiah 8:1-7
1 Now all the people gathered together
as one man
in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the
Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel. 2So
Ezra the
priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who
could
hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. 3Then
he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate
from
morning until
4So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they
had made
for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah,
Shema,
Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah,
Mishael,
Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5And
Ezra
opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing
above all
the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6And
Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God.
Then all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their
hands. And
they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the
ground.
7Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai,
Hodijah,
Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites,
helped the
people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.
8So they read distinctly from the book, in
the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to
understand the
reading.
17So the whole assembly of those who
had returned
from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the
days of
Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of
And after the reading of the Law and
the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them,
saying, "Men
and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say
on."
E.
The People confirmed the Law and the Prophets
Nehemiah
8:1
Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that
was in
front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses,
which the LORD had commanded Israel.
"As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we
have not
made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our
iniquities
and understand Your truth.
Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is
calling
for Elijah!"
Matthew
27:49
The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come
to save
Him."
Others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is the
Prophet, or [NU-Text
and M-Text omit or] like one of the
prophets."
So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and
others,
one of the prophets."
Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses
were completed, they brought Him to
And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the
priest, and
make an offering for your cleansing, as
a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."
and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of
the old
prophets had risen again.
Luke
9:19
So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah;
and
others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."
And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do
You want
us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah
did?" [NU-Text omits just as Elijah
did]
And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am
not." "Are
you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the
Christ,
nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps
the law?
Why do you seek to kill Me?"
|
Commentary by J.P. Holding: On the
"Bethlehem" prophecy [Off Site] -- also an on-site reply to Fiddler Zvi |
Commentary by Glenn Miller: http://www.christian-thinktank.com/micah5.html |
For Moses has had throughout many
generations those who preach him in every
city, being read in the synagogues
every Sabbath."
Hebrews
9:19
For when Moses had spoken every precept
to all
the people according to the law,
he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and
hyssop, and sprinkled both
the book itself and all the people,
The
following verses indicate that Jesus referred to the Law and the
Prophets as
authoritative, as well as indestructible, unbreakable and inerrant.
1. Jesus
believed all the Hebrew Scriptures to
be authoritative.
17 "Do not think that I came
to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to
fulfill.
18For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass
from the law till all is fulfilled. 19Whoever therefore
breaks
one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be
called
least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he
shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven."
25Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart
to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26Ought not
the Christ
to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27And beginning at Moses and all the
Prophets, He expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.
Luke
24:32
And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while
He talked
with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I
was
still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in
the Law
of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms concerning Me."
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life;
and these are they which testify of Me.
45Do not think that I shall accuse you
to the
Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom you trust. 46For
if you believed Moses, you would believe
Me; for he wrote about
|
Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/tyellow03.html |
Isaiah 12 Sirach 24:30-32 (See
J.P. Holding's commentary) |
|
John
10:35 |
Psalm 82 |
|
John
8:17
|
Deuteronomy 19:15 15 "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.. |
|
|
Deuteronomy 6 |
16Let your light so shine before men,
that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law
or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass
from the law till all is fulfilled.
11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew
11:13
For all the prophets and the law
prophesied until John.
|
Matthew 15:3-6 3He answered and said to them,
"Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your
tradition? 4For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father
and your mother'; [Exodus Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/jesusignorelaw.html |
Exodus 20 Deuteronomy 5 Exodus 21 |
|
Mark
10:19 Luke
18:20 |
Exodus 20:12-16 Deuteronomy 5:16-20 |
|
Mark
12:30 Luke
10:27 |
Deuteronomy
6:5 Deuteronomy
10:12 Deuteronomy
11:13 Deuteronomy
13:3 Deuteronomy
30:6 Joshua
22:5 |
And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the
priest, and
make an offering for your cleansing, as
a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."
Luke
16:16
"The law and the prophets
were until John. Since that time the
2.
Jesus denounced those who were unfamiliar with the Hebrew
Scriptures.
Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures
nor the power of God.
3. Jesus believed the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
|
Matthew 22 Mark 12 |
Psalm 110 |
The Apostle Paul was also in
agreement:
|
Acts 2 |
Psalm 110 |
|
16 So He came to |
1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is
upon Me, |
4. Jesus
believed the Hebrew Scriptures were
prophetic.
53Or do you think that I cannot now
pray to My
Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
54How
then could the Scriptures be
fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"
55In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes,
"Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords
and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and
you did
not seize Me.
But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might
be
fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.
|
Luke 4:16-21 16 So He came to |
Isaiah 61:1-2 |
44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke
to you
while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the Law of Moses and the
Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45And He opened
their
understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46Then He said to them, "Thus it
is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and
to rise [NU-Text reads written, that
the Christ should
suffer and rise] from
the dead the third day,
John 5:39-45
39You search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which
testify
of
41"I do not receive honor from men. 42But I know
you,
that you do not have the love of God in you. 43I have come
in My
Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own
name, him
you will receive. 44How can you believe, who receive honor
from one
another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? 45Do
not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who
accuses
you--Moses, in whom you trust.
5.
Jesus referred to the Hebrew Scriptures as the Word of God.
Mark 7:11-13
11But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother,
"Whatever
profit you might have received from me is Corban"--' (that is, a gift
to God),
12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his
mother,
13making the word of God of no
effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such
things
you do."
|
Mark 12:24-26 24 Jesus answered
and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you
do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? [Exodus 3:6, 15] 27He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken." |
Exodus 3:6 Exodus 3:15 |
|
John
17:17 |
|
6. Jesus
quoted from each of the divisions of
the Hebrew Scriptures.
a. The
Law.
b. The Prophets.
|
16Yet He warned them not to make
Him known, 17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Isaiah the prophet, saying: 19He will not
quarrel nor cry out, |
Isaiah 42:1-4 |
c.
The Writings.
|
35 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? 36For David himself
said by the Holy Spirit: 42Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: |
Psalm
110:1
|
7. Jesus acknowledged the
Passover seder, and the covenant God made with
|
Matthew
26:26-29 26 And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread, blessed [M-Text reads gave thanks for]
and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this
is My body." Mark 14:22-25 Luke 22:14-20 1 Corinthians 11 |
Exodus 24 Jeremiah 31 |
See also V. Historic
Confirmation. B. Jesus
confirmed specific historical events and persons in the Hebrew
Scriptures.
G.
Jude confirmed 2 Peter as authoritative.
Jude records fulfillment of Peter's words, citing from 2 Peter:
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 2 |
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 2 |
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 2 |
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 2 |
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 2 |
Jude quotes 2 Peter 3:2-3 and acknowledges it as quote from
apostles.
|
Jude 1 |
2 Peter 3 |
H. Peter
denounced
false prophets and equated Paul's epistles with Scripture.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does [M-Text reads will not] not slumber.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward
to these
things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and
blameless;
15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according
to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16as also in all his epistles, speaking in
them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand,
which
untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
I. Paul
confirmed
Luke's testimony as Scripture.
See
also V. Historical
Confirmation
-- M. Paul
confirmed the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
J.
Paul acknowledged Luke as an eyewitness.
Luke the beloved physician
and Demas greet you.
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with
you, for he is useful to me for
ministry.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in
Christ Jesus,
greets you, 24as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke,
my fellow laborers.
25The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.
K.
Paul acknowledged other apostles and prophets.
24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos,
born at
2he said to them, "Did you receive the
Holy
Spirit when you believed?"
So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a
Holy
Spirit."
3And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?"
So they said, "Into John's baptism."
4Then Paul said, "John indeed
baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that
they
should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus."
Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos,"
or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of
Christ."
4For when one says, "I am of Paul," and
another, "I
am of Apollos," are you not
carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,
but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
6I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come--all
are
yours.
Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself
and Apollos
for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is
written,
that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.
Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the
Lord, and Cephas?
and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
1
Corinthians 15:7
After that He was seen by James,
then by all the apostles.
Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to
come to you
with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time;
however, he
will come when he has a convenient time.
Then after three years I went up to
Galatians
1:19
But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's
brother.
(for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to
the
circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),
and when James, Cephas, and John, who
seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that
had been given to me, they gave me
and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the
circumcised.
for before certain men came from James, he
would eat with
the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing those who were of the circumcision.
L. Paul acknowledged as an Apostle.
1. Acknowledgement
by the other Apostles.
Now when Paul and his party set sail
from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John,
departing from
them, returned to
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore
their
clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out
Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute
with
them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them
should
go up to
Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church,
to send
chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas,
namely,
Judas who was also named Barsabas, [NU-Text and M-Text read Barsabbas]
and Silas, leading men among
the brethren.
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
Paul, called to be an apostle of
Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God
which is
at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.
Paul, an apostle (not from men
nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised
Him
from the dead),
Ephesians
1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, To the saints who are in
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
hope,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ [NU-Text and M-Text read Christ Jesus] by the will of God,
according to the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus,
Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the
acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,
and when James, Cephas, and John, who
seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been
given to me, they gave
me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to
the
Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
2. Acknowledgement
by God in the use of
miracles.
8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet
was
sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. 9This
man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing
him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10said
with
a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain
slave girl
possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters
much
profit by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and us,
and
cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God,
who
proclaim to us the way of salvation." 18And this she did for
many
days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said
to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out
of her."
And he came out that very hour.
11 Now God worked unusual
miracles by the hands of Paul, 12so that even
handkerchiefs or
aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left
them and
the evil spirits went out of them.
Acts
20:9-12
9And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who
was
sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul
continued
speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.
10But Paul went down, fell on him,
and embracing him said, "Do not
trouble yourselves, for his life is in him." 11Now when he
had come
up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till
daybreak, he departed. 12And they brought the young man in
alive,
and they were not a little comforted.
4So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand,
they
said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he
has
escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." 5But he shook off the creature into the fire
and suffered no harm. 6However, they were expecting that
he
would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked
for a long
time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said
that he was
a god.
7In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen
of the
island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us
courteously
for three days. 8And it happened that the father of Publius
lay sick
of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in
to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9So
when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases
also came
and were healed.
M.
As an Apostle, Paul had authority.
And if anyone does not
obey our
word in this epistle, note that
person and do not keep company with
him,
that he may be ashamed.
|
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 10But God has revealed them to us
through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep
things of God. 11For what man knows the things of a man
except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the
things of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
|
Isaiah 40 |
But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each
one, so let him walk. And so
I ordain in all the churches.
36Or did the word of God come
originally from
you? Or was it you only that it reached? 37If anyone thinks
himself
to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
38But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. [NU-Text reads if anyone does not
recognize
this, he is not recognized]
N. Paul claimed all Scripture is God-breathed.
15and that from childhood you have
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man
of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
having been built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief cornerstone,
3how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have
briefly
written already, 4by which, when you read, you may
understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5which in other ages
was not
made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed
by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
O. The prophets and the apostles regarded Scripture as the Word of God.
Because
they regarded the Scriptures as the Word of God, the Scriptures were authoritative as the Word of God.
So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh
returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land
of Canaan, to go to the country of
Gilead, to the land of their
possession, which they had obtained
according to the word of
the LORD by the hand of Moses.
"Behold, this day I am going the way of all
the earth. And you know in all
your hearts and in all your
souls that not one thing has failed
of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke
concerning you. All have
come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book
of the Law of God.
And he took a large stone,
and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the
LORD.
Every word of God is
pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, [NU-Text and M-Text read in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas]
the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in
the
wilderness.
So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the
"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of
God.
But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these
who hear
the word of God and do
it."
But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word
of God
and keep it!"
"This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the
Angel who
spoke to him on
who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This
man called
for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of
God.
"Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and
those among you who
fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word
of God.
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word
of God should be spoken to
you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
And when there had been much dispute, Peter
rose up and said
to them: "Men and brethren, you know that
a good while ago God chose among us,
that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and
believe.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at
And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word
of God among them.
"So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word
of His
grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among
all
those who are sanctified.
Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles
of God.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text reads the
rest] peddling the word of God;
but as of sincerity, but as
from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in
craftiness nor
handling the word of God
deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to
every
man's conscience in the sight of God.
Hebrews
4:12
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.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to
teach you
again the first principles of the oracles of God;
and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which
are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Hebrews
13:7
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith
follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of
God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the
ability which God supplies, that in all things God may
be glorified
through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever
and
ever. Amen.
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible,
through the word
of God which lives and abides
forever, [NU-Text omits forever]
For this they willfully forget: that by the word of
God the heavens
were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you
are strong, and the word of God
abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
Revelation
1:2
who bore witness to the word of God,
and to the testimony of Jesus
Christ, to all things that he saw.
I, John, both [NU-Text and M-Text omit both]
your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience
of Jesus
Christ, was on the island that is called
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those
who had
been slain for the word of God
and for the testimony which they held.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to
them.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness
to Jesus
and for the word of God,
who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his
mark on
their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with
Christ for a
[M-Text reads the] thousand years.
Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
And He
said to me, [NU-Text and M-Text omit to
me] "Write, for these words are true
and faithful."
Then he said to me, "These words are faithful
and true." And the Lord God of
the holy [NU-Text and M-Text read [spirits
of the prophets] prophets sent His angel to show His servants the
things
which must shortly take place.
P. What God says,
the Bible says. What the Bible says,
God says.
This
section is adapted from Norman L. Geisler's article, "Bible, Evidence
for,"
from The Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker
Books, 1999,
page 92, with corrections to the verses given and new verses
added. Note
that what God says is equated with Scripture, and vice versa.
|
What God says ... |
...The Bible says |
|
Genesis
18:18 Genesis
22:18 Genesis
22:18
|
|
|
What the Bible says... |
...God says |
|
Acts 4:24-25 24So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25who by the mouth of Your servant David [NU-Text reads who through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father, Your servant David] have said: "Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? |
|
What the Bible says... |
...God says |
|
Psalm 95:7-8 7For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,[ Or Meribah] As in the day of trial[Or Massah] in the wilderness, |
Hebrews 3:7-15 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice, 8Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, "They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.' 11So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."‘ 12Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." Hebrews 4:7 7again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." |
|
What the Bible says ... |
...God says |
|
4Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. |
7And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." |
|
What the Bible says ... |
... God says |
|
3Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you-- The sure mercies of David. |
34And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: "I will give you the sure mercies of David.' |
V. Historical
confirmation.
A. Prophets
confirmed specific historical events and
persons in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Each book in the Old and
New Testaments
refers to previous historical events and persons as reported in earlier
books
by independent sources. There are
hundreds of examples. Here are just a
few:
1. The Creation of
That man was created, not evolved, is the testimony of the following:
|
Moses |
|
22Then the rib which the LORD God
had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Genesis
5:1 |
|
Job |
|
Job 10 |
|
Jesus Christ |
|
|
Matthew
19:4 |
Genesis
1:27 Genesis
5:2 |
|
Paul |
|
|
Romans
5:13
13For Adam was formed first, then
Eve. 14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived, fell into transgression. 15Nevertheless she will
be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness,
with self-control. |
Genesis
2:7
|
|
God |
|
Genesis
3:19 |
2.
|
Ezekiel
31:9
Ezekiel
36:35
|
9And out of the ground the LORD
God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for
food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. |
3. Adam's
sin acknowledged.
|
Romans
5:12 Romans
5:14
|
5For God knows that in the day
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil."
|
4. Noah.
|
1 Chronicles 1 8With a little wrath I hid My
face from you for a moment; Ezekiel
14:14 37But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Hebrews
11:7 4 For if God did not spare the
angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into
chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5and did
not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the
ungodly; 6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into
ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those
who afterward would live ungodly; |
8But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the LORD. Genesis
7:11
16The rainbow shall be in the
cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the
earth." 17And God said to Noah, "This is
the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all
flesh that is on the earth." Genesis
9:19
1 Now this is the genealogy of
the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them
after the flood. |
5. God grants the
|
2And Joshua said to all the
people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Your fathers, including
Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the
other side of the River [Hebrew Nahar,
the Euphrates, and so in verses 3, 14, and 15] in old
times; and they served other gods. 3Then I took your father
Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the 5Then Jehoshaphat stood in the
assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the
new court, 6and said: "O LORD God of our fathers, are You
not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the
nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one
is able to withstand You? 7Are You not our God, who drove
out the inhabitants of this land before Your people
|
8Also I give to you and your
descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the
12Then he dreamed, and behold, a
ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and
there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 11Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." 13Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
Exodus
33:1
|
6. Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7. The
sin and destruction of
8. Jacob wrestles with God.
|
2"The
LORD also brings a charge against |
|
9. Hosea
refers to Jacob and Rachel and Moses.
Jacob fled to the country of
10. Joshua
refers to Jacob buying land for 100 pieces of silver.
11. The bones of Joseph.
12. Dividing the
|
6"Then I brought your fathers out
of
10But they rebelled and grieved
His Holy Spirit;
|
Exodus 14:13-31 13And Moses said to the people,
"Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,
which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see
today, you shall see again no more forever. 14The LORD will
fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."
|
13. Daniel
refers to Moses.
Daniel
9:11
Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so
as not to
obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law
of Moses
the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned
against
Him.
Daniel
9:13
"As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this
disaster has come
upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that
we might
turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.
14. Micah
refers to Moses, Aaron, Miriam.
|
|
1
Chronicles 6:3 |
15. Micah refers to Balaam, Balak.
|
|
Joshua
24:9 |
16.
Observance of the Passover.
|
1 And Hezekiah sent to all
18They assigned the priests to
their divisions and the Levites to their divisions, over the service of
God in
17 Now on the first day of the
Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to
Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
13And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, "The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"‘ 15Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."
|
Exodus 12:1-20 1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and
Aaron in the 1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in
the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after
they had come out of the 4So Moses told the children of
Leviticus 23 |
17. Mosaic legislation on carrying the Ark
of the Covenant with poles.
|
1
Chronicles 15:15 |
|
18. Independent references to manna.
|
Joshua
5:12
Nehemiah
9:20 Psalm
78:24 John
6:31 John
6:49 John
6:58 Hebrews
9:4 Revelation
2:17 |
Exodus 16:4-16 4Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go
out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether
they will walk in My law or not. 5And it shall be on the
sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be
twice as much as they gather daily."
Exodus
16:35 Numbers
11:6 Numbers
11:7 Numbers
11:9 Deuteronomy
8:3
|
19.
Samuel recalls the Amakite treachery.
20. Amos
refers to the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and the Amorites.
|
8They lie down by every altar on
clothes taken in pledge, |
Deuteronomy 3:8-11 8"And at that time we took the
land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were on this
side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon 9(the
Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir), 10all
the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salcah
and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. |
21. The
Bronze Serpent.
|
|
Numbers
21:9 |
22.
Jephthah, a Hebrew judge, recalls the Exodus and the conflict of
Ammon.
Judges 11:13-27
13And the king of the people of Ammon
answered
the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land when they
came up
out of
14So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the
people of
Ammon, 15and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: "Israel did
not take
away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; 16for
when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as
far as
the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17Then
23"And now the LORD God of
23. Rahab
the harlot.
|
James
2:25 |
1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent
out two men from Acacia Grove [Hebrew Shittim] to spy secretly,
saying, "Go, view the land, especially Joshua
2:3
|
24.
Joshua refers to the Torah / Pentateuch.
And afterward he read all the words of
the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all
that is written in
the Book of the Law.
So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh
returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is
in the
land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their
possession,
which they had obtained according to
the word of the LORD by
the hand of Moses.
Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written
in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
25.
Nehemiah quotes from Deuteronomy.
26.
27.
Fulfillment of 1 Kings 13:31.
28. Jeroboam's
Golden Calves.
|
|
1 Kings 25 Then Jeroboam
built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he
went out from there and built Penuel. 26And Jeroboam said in
his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27If
these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at
Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord,
Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam
king of Judah." |
29. Elijah
is acknowledged.
|
25But I tell you truly, many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut
up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout
all the land; 26but to none of them was Elijah sent except
to Zarephath, [Greek Sarepta] in the region of Sidon,
to a woman who was a widow. 27And many lepers were in
1 I say then, has God cast away
His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not cast away
His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says
of Elijah, how he pleads with God against James
5:17-18 |
12and after the earthquake a
fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still
small voice.
2 Kings 1:1-17 1 |
30. Prophecy of the Exile
from the books of
Moses.
|
|
Leviticus
26:33
Ezekiel
22:15 |
31. Jonah
the Prophet.
32.
Historical records from Adam to
David acknowledged.
1 Chronicles 1-29
1 Chronicles 2
Nehemiah
summarizes most of Biblical history.
|
Nehemiah 9:5-31 |