0:01 hello there my name is
0:04 pastor and my name is Pastor Dapo aay in
0:06 the last session we spoke about the
0:08 subject of the Trinity and why there is
0:11 a need to pray when God knows all things
0:12 and on today's session we're going to be
0:15 discussing about the Bible we're going
0:17 to be asking questions like how do I
0:19 know that the Bible is true how can I
0:22 prove that the things written therein
0:26 are real and true um and as Believers as
0:28 Christians as children of God the first
0:30 thing to note or the first thing you
0:33 need to note is that the Bible sets the
0:35 standard for everything else that we
0:38 believe we don't believe anything
0:40 outside what the word of God says we
0:42 don't believe anything outside what the
0:44 Bible says and so if its origin and
0:47 validity is put to question then it
0:49 means that there's a question on our
0:52 faith and so that's why we need to
0:54 answer this question is the Bible true
0:56 how can we prove that the Bible is true
0:58 first I want us to Define what the Bible
1:00 is the Bible is from the Latin word
1:04 tabia and it means a collection of books
1:07 the Bible is a collection a compendium
1:09 of different books written by over 40
1:12 authors and within the space of 2,000
1:15 years many of these authors come from
1:17 different countries classes and
1:20 profession however their writings still
1:23 form a unified salvation story but we're
1:25 going to continue looking at the reason
1:28 why the Bible is true over to you Pastor
1:31 yeah thank you Pastor D so to establish
1:32 the truth and the validity of the Bible
1:34 there are some questions we just must
1:37 answer and the first question is is the
1:40 Bible properly copied is the Bible
1:42 properly copied and in answering this
1:44 question it means must put the Bible to
1:47 the same test we put other literatures
1:50 of history and one of such tests is what
1:53 we call the biographical test and it
1:55 tends to answer the question it tries to
1:58 answer the question how many manuscripts
2:02 are available uh are it content the same
2:04 or at least similar and the second
2:06 question I'll answer both questions is
2:09 out short is the interval between the
2:12 date of the original documents and the
2:15 date of the earliest available
2:17 manuscript let me explain a manuscript
2:19 is simply a book or a document that is
2:23 hand written or copied by hand and so
2:25 the question is how many manuscript do
2:26 we have let me use an example to just
2:28 pin the picture before I give us the
2:32 fact imagine a lecturer starting a class
2:35 gives a handout and it says you know
2:36 we're using this material for the next
2:39 2,000 years of course the man cannot
2:41 leave 2,000 years now how do we know
2:43 after 2,000 years that the handout that
2:45 we still have is the same one that the
2:47 lecture gave knowing that the original
2:49 copy probably will be missing by that
2:53 time so the first question is how many
2:56 copies of the original and out do we
2:58 have now remember manuscript is
3:00 underwritten document so if we have only
3:04 four copies of this handout We can
3:06 question how how are we so sure that
3:08 this is still the same material that the
3:12 man gave 2,000 years ago imagine we have
3:16 5,000 copies now to a large extent if we
3:17 have 5,000 copies then we can check
3:19 those copies and we can come to a good
3:22 conclusion 5,000 copies then to a large
3:25 extent this could be the this could be
3:26 the same material even though we don't
3:28 have the original anymore but this can
3:30 still give us a valid can see help us
3:32 test the validity of the original
3:34 document and that's exactly what we're
3:37 talking about and to give the fact is in
3:41 the New Testament alone we have over
3:45 5,686 known Greek manuscripts over
3:49 10,000 Latin vgat and at least 9,300
3:53 other versions in the world no other
3:56 document matches up to this number so
3:58 what what that means is we have this
4:02 amount of copies of the of the New
4:05 Testament Elon the Des scroll was
4:06 discovered in
4:10 1947 in kran cave near the Des which is
4:12 where the scroll got is named from and
4:16 in the Des scroll they consisted over
4:21 800 Scrolls and each contain a portion a
4:25 portions from the every book of the Old
4:27 Testament now the entire manuscript of
4:29 the book of Isaiah was found in the Des scroll
4:30 scroll
4:33 and year the age of this scroll dates
4:37 back to 75 BC now comparing the
4:39 manuscript of the book of Isaiah that
4:41 was found in Des scroll with the
4:44 earliest one we have which was
4:48 1,100 years apart we discover that it it maintains
4:50 maintains
4:53 95% accuracy so go back to the handout
4:56 example I gave so imagine you compare
4:59 one that was you know maybe 1,900 years
5:02 ago and one that is 20 years apart now
5:06 up to 1,100 years apart comparing the
5:09 two copies we realize that it contains
5:14 95% accuracy and the 5% differences are
5:17 just in spelling and you know omitted
5:19 letters and misspelled words of course
5:21 if you and copy something you're bound
5:23 to make few mistakes but nothing that
5:26 changes the core meaning of the word so
5:28 it means that the Bible passes the biographical
5:30 biographical
5:32 test and the second question is the
5:34 years apart the Book of John for
5:36 instance um the earliest Christian
5:38 manuscript available today a fragment of
5:41 the papus papus is a material in which
5:42 they use in writing back then and with
5:46 the oldest one being papus p52 a
5:49 fragment of the Gospel of John dated
5:53 around 125 to 150 ad what this means is
5:54 the Book of John was written right in a
5:57 lifetime of the people that lived or
5:59 that the book the materials contained so
6:02 so what is and um this is important
6:04 because to give the validity of a
6:06 material are there people that leave at
6:08 that time to give credit to it for
6:11 instance if I write about World War One
6:13 World War One you can't trust it because
6:15 I didn't leave that time but if somebody
6:17 write about the Civil War which was just
6:20 about 80 plus years ago then people can
6:22 people just lived and witnessed it are
6:23 still alive so you can give validity to
6:27 it or not so the Bible passes this Bal
6:29 test in the number of the manuscript and
6:32 also in the years apart another test
6:34 that we can take the Bible through um to
6:39 see and validate its authenticity is
6:41 called the internal evidence test the
6:44 internal evidence test is simply data
6:48 that comes from the Bible itself and it
6:50 simply answers the question is the
6:54 document free of known contradictions
6:56 that's what it answers this means we're
6:58 try that we're trying to understand if
7:00 the Bible is inter
7:02 coherent so the information that the
7:05 Bible has from different parts can we
7:08 check and corroborate the story and many
7:11 people you know Skeptics talk about um
7:14 contradictions within the Bible but what
7:16 is really a contradiction a
7:18 contradiction is something like this let
7:20 me give you an example examine statement
7:24 one statement one says eyes are foreseen
7:26 statement two says the only part of the
7:29 body that can be used for seeing is the
7:32 leg leg this is a contradiction that's
7:34 how to identify a contradiction so many
7:37 of the things you would see in the Bible
7:39 are not contradictions most times they
7:42 just need to be corroborated so let's
7:46 check and see um some examples that are
7:48 obvious within the Bible especially in
7:51 the New Testament the first example is
7:53 the gospel there the four gospel
7:57 accounts Matthew Mark Luke and John they
8:00 all offered independent test testimonies
8:02 of the life of Jesus his death burial
8:05 and resurrection and they all turned out
8:08 to be complimentary and similar they did
8:10 not write their accounts together
8:12 remember that they lived at different
8:15 times or even were at at different wrote
8:17 their manuscripts at different points
8:20 but they all corroborate they all all
8:22 their stories come together to form a
8:25 unified salvation story like we said
8:28 before Skeptics however you know have
8:31 argued in some parts that the stories
8:34 don't match the stories do not cor
8:36 corroborate or there are contradictions
8:39 within the Bible but on proper
8:41 examination of these stories you will
8:44 find out that they do not contradict one
8:46 another or each other um let's look at
8:49 the example of the story of judas's
8:51 death according to the Book of Matthew
8:54 or according to Matthew's account um it
8:56 was said that Judas died by hanging
8:59 himself but in the book of Acts the the
9:03 record was that Judas um fell headlong
9:06 and his body bust open this looks like a
9:09 contradiction or some form of
9:12 incoherence but it is not it is just the
9:16 story from different points or different
9:18 angles of its happening it's just like
9:22 um listening to the news and maybe on a
9:26 particular TV station as the same news
9:29 is said as on another TV station but
9:33 this TV station tells it from the lens
9:34 of someone who is seeing it from a
9:37 different side of happening that's how
9:40 you see that's how this story is this
9:43 story of Judas um so it was not a
9:46 contradiction but a story from different
9:51 angles for example like Matthew said yes
9:53 Judas Iscariot hung himself and in the
9:56 book of Acts the story ends up telling
9:59 us that he fell head headlong so it is
10:02 said or research shows that the place
10:06 where Judas hung himself was beside a
10:09 cliff so when he hung himself over time
10:13 and over a period of time the whatever
10:17 he used to hung himself but um cut and
10:19 then he fell on the cliff that's where
10:23 his body bust open so it wasn't really a
10:26 contradiction and the story is coherent
10:28 when you look at it he fell he hung
10:32 himself fell headlong and his body was
10:34 open so that's corroboration there and
10:38 not uh uh incoherence so the story of
10:41 Judas es scariot is coherent another
10:43 thing to check or another example
10:46 another way we can verify the internal
10:49 evidence um especially looking at the
10:52 gospels and generally the entire Bible
10:56 is by looking at prophetic predictions
10:59 the Bible contains predictions that had
11:02 actually happened things that were said
11:05 and indeed came through for example in
11:07 the book of Isaiah the prophet wrote
11:09 about Jesus's life and death in the book
11:12 of Isaiah 53 and that was written over
11:16 700 years before Jesus was born these
11:19 prophecies were fulfilled and it shows
11:22 that the Bible is accurate another
11:26 internal test is to check the things
11:29 that Jesus spoke about about himself
11:32 were they true were they confirmed and
11:35 the answer is yes Jesus believed that
11:38 the Bible is true he often quoted in his
11:41 teachings he often quoted the scriptures
11:44 in his teachings and this is significant
11:46 because he was the person that was
11:49 prophesied about and he could preach
11:52 about himself he could teach about
11:54 himself right from the Bible so this
11:56 shows us that the Bible is true even
11:59 from internal evidence and of course
12:01 this leads us to the last point and
12:03 that's external evidence which is the
12:05 opposite of internal evidence and what
12:08 this tries to do is to tell us do we
12:11 have data do we have writings do we have
12:14 facts that comes from outside materials
12:17 outside the Bible which proves that the
12:19 Bible is true and what the question this
12:22 try to answer is do other materials
12:26 confirm or deny the internal testimony
12:28 provided by the document themselves and
12:30 we have examp examples in historical
12:32 writings and in archaological evidences
12:34 I'll give us a few of them for
12:35 historical writings we have the writings
12:40 of tacitus of Josephus of Babylonian
12:43 talud and Pini the younger for instance
12:46 not tacitus in his writing help us
12:48 understand that a person by the name of
12:51 Christos that's Christ was crucified by
12:53 Pontius Pilate during the reign of
12:56 emperial Tiberius and this corroborates
12:59 the gospel's account of crucifixion and
13:01 know writings of Josephus gives us the
13:03 lifetime of Jesus tells us that Jesus
13:05 was a wise man you know he was a doer of
13:09 Wonders and that Christ also recounting
13:12 the crucifixion under Pontius Pilate um
13:15 the Babylonian ton which is um Jewish
13:18 rabic writing help us know about the
13:21 execution of execution of a man called
13:26 yesu um which often Associated to Jesus
13:30 and suggest that he was a on on the eve
13:32 of the Passover which aligns with the
13:35 New Testament accounts of of Jesus's
13:38 crucifixion and of course P the younger
13:41 also um a Roman Governor um pling the
13:43 younger is a Roman governor who wrote
13:46 the series of letters in the early 2nd
13:48 Century ad and one of which addresses
13:51 the the existence and practice of the
13:53 early Christians in his letter he
13:56 mentioned how Christian worshiped Christ
14:00 as God you know meeting regularly a and
14:02 of course this corroborated the
14:04 brightens in Act of the Apostles of the
14:05 life of the early Believers and of
14:08 course the other proof is archaeological
14:11 evidences and we have examples e
14:15 ezekiel's tunel in 2 Kings 20 verse 20
14:19 and 2 chonicles 2:3 still exist to date
14:21 this T exist today we have the pool of
14:24 betesda which archaeology discovered in
14:27 Jerusalem and matches closely to the
14:30 description in the Bible we we have the
14:33 tail Dan steel uh which is a stone in
14:36 the 19 9th century BC that mentions the
14:38 House of David letting us know that the
14:40 House of David truly is an historical
14:43 fact and we have the Mosaic um the
14:47 Mosaic in megiddo M Meo mentioned in
14:52 judges 5: 19 and 1 Kings 9:15 and um
14:55 this also proves you know Northern the
14:57 prison in Northern Israel also we have
15:01 the Des scroll which contains books
15:03 Scrolls um that shows reliability and
15:05 preservation of scriptures over 2,000
15:08 dating back to 2,000 years and lastly we
15:12 have the Kias oor kyasi and this was
15:14 discovered in November 199 and it's
15:17 believed to be to belong to kaas the
15:20 high priest mentioned in the gospels all
15:23 these are evidences outside the Bible
15:25 that proves the events within the Bible
15:27 to show that this are not just know
15:31 mythical stories or somebody's invention
15:33 but this truly happened as the Bible
15:35 says they they did and also we have
15:38 archaeological findings eological
15:40 evidence and I'll give us a few on the
15:43 first one is ezekiah tunnel so remember
15:46 the event in 2 Kings 20 ver2 and also in
15:49 2 Chronicles 32:30 when there was an
15:52 Assyrian Siege against Jerusalem and
15:55 King ezekiah built a tunnel to protect
15:58 the water supply in Jerusalem that exact
16:01 tunnel was found and this shows and
16:04 proves that that event truly and really
16:06 happened also we have the pool of
16:08 betesda do you remember the poll in John
16:11 5 ver1 where Jesus heed a man that has
16:14 been bed reading for 38 years yes
16:16 remains of that pool still exists today
16:19 in Jerusalem it was discovered and this
16:21 shows that the life of Jesus and the
16:23 Miracles he performed especially the one
16:26 recorded about P of bet betesda truly
16:29 really happened also we have the tell
16:31 than steel many people have argued that
16:33 there's no King in in Jerusalem by the
16:36 name of David but a still was discovered
16:39 where someone you know said he fought
16:41 somebody by the name of David and this
16:45 proves that truly there was a dynasty by
16:48 David so David truly was a king in
16:52 Israel also we have a mosaic in megido
16:55 mego was listed in the Bible a few a few
16:57 times in judges chter 5 and first king
16:59 chapter 9 so we know that there's a
17:02 place called megido in Bible History and
17:05 now a mosaic was found and on that mosic
17:09 was written God Christ Jesus and why why
17:12 is this relevant many people have argued
17:15 that Jesus was just you good teacher
17:17 Rabbi that lived in in in history and
17:19 not worshiped as God many people have
17:22 pointed to the C Council in isah as
17:25 being the perpetrator of making Jesus
17:29 God but this mic dated long before the
17:32 Council of neria and if it was written
17:35 God Jesus Christ it shows that Jesus was
17:37 truly believed to be God by the early
17:39 Christians and he was worshiped as God
17:41 and of course we have the Des scroll and
17:44 this was a discovery of several parts in
17:47 Kuman cave near the de dead seene and
17:50 where we are have over 800 Scrolls
17:53 containing various books literally all
17:55 the books of the Bible and this truly
17:58 shows the preservation of B of of
18:01 scriptures for over 2,000 years showing
18:03 that the scriptures that we have today
18:06 are still the same as and as they've
18:10 always been and also we have kyasi and
18:12 this is a box that is used to keep the
18:14 bones of the deceased and is believed to
18:17 belong to someone called Kias which you
18:18 believe was the high priest that was
18:21 involved in the tri of Jesus so to prove
18:24 that the tri of Jesus the crucifixion
18:27 actually existed and tying it to Kaa the
18:29 high priest which also is historical
18:32 figure so all these are historical
18:35 archaeological evidences that proves and
18:37 validates events in the Bible all right
18:39 thank you very much Pastor T um I hope
18:42 that you see or that you now see that
18:45 the Bible can indeed be trusted and the
18:47 Bible is really true we have looked at
18:51 both internal and external evidences
18:54 that prove the validity and the
18:56 authenticity of the Bible now we're
18:59 moving over to something very important
19:03 and Believers usually ask this question
19:06 why does God need my money does God even
19:08 need my money and why does he need my
19:11 money indeed the first thing to note
19:15 about the subject of money is that it is
19:18 a heart matter money is always a heart
19:21 matter in fact someone said and rightly
19:25 so that money is a spiritual stethoscope
19:28 it shows the state of your heart just
19:30 like that young lad in the Bible who
19:32 brings to Jesus the Five Loaves and two
19:36 fish not caring um at all what it will
19:39 be used for or how it to be used it was
19:42 really about the heart that this boy
19:45 this young boy had to give that away at
19:47 that point in time and that's the heart
19:49 we have to have when it comes to giving
19:52 and so that's why we are looking at at
19:54 this subject the major question that
19:56 people always ask why does God need my
19:59 money especially since he created
20:01 everything since he's the owner of all
20:04 the cattles on the hills on 10,000 Hills
20:06 and the rest of it like it says in Psalm
20:10 50 and verse 10 to 12 well let me answer
20:14 that question for you your money is an
20:16 opportunity to partner with God in his
20:19 work like we just said if you go to the
20:22 book of Psalm 50 and verse 10-12 it says
20:25 God says every beast of the forest is
20:29 mine and the cattle on a thousand hills
20:31 meaning that God does not indeed need
20:35 anything from you he only extends us an
20:39 opportunity and a privilege to be a part
20:41 of what he's doing in our day so he owns
20:43 everything you're right he owns the
20:46 whole world he created the world and so
20:49 he does not need our money per se but he
20:52 extends that opportunity to us to be
20:55 part of what he's doing in our day yeah
20:58 and of course that's so beautifully um
21:00 explained and brings to the second point
21:03 that money is a tool for worship there's
21:05 a verse that captures this perfectly and
21:08 that's Proverbs 3 verse 9 to verse 10
21:11 and I read say honor the Lord with your
21:14 wealth and the first fruit of your crops
21:16 then your bound to be filled to
21:19 overflowing showing that our money is an
21:22 opportunity for worship and of course
21:26 when we understand why the why Israel
21:27 gave all they did it was a sign the
21:29 reason why they brought their tithe the
21:31 first fruit to God is to acknowledge God
21:33 gave this to us in the first place so
21:35 this does not belong to me and we must
21:37 see ourselves as also stewards of God's
21:40 resources in Matthew chapter 25 vers
21:43 14:3 it tells the story of the parable
21:46 of the of the steward of the P of the
21:48 talent and to show that everything that
21:51 God gave for us is a means to worship is
21:54 a means to acknowledge Him as the source
21:56 and the owner of everything so your
21:59 money can be a good to to worship Romans
22:03 12 verse1 it says it say therefore I
22:05 besee you by the merage of the Lord to
22:08 present your bodies a Living Sacrifice a
22:11 translation says put everything you're
22:13 eating you're moving you're sleeping put
22:16 it on the altar as worship so our money
22:19 also will also show that truly our
22:22 Allegiance and our our Allegiance is to
22:24 God and is superior and preeminent
22:27 before all things so when you give don't
22:30 see it as God needing your money see it
22:32 as a means to show worship your
22:35 reverence and submission to God another
22:39 reason um why this is important to note
22:42 is because your giving has an impact on
22:44 the kingdom of God yes giving has a
22:47 profound impact on God's kingdom and on
22:49 God's work and back to what I shared as
22:51 the first point you know that your
22:54 giving is an opportunity your money is
22:57 an opportunity extended by God to you
22:59 for you to be a part of what he's doing
23:01 if you look at the Bible you will see
23:04 texts repl with how the early Believers
23:07 related with money Acts chapter 2 and
23:11 verse 44 to 45 for example it says now
23:13 all who believed were together and had
23:15 all things in common that is all their
23:18 resources were in common it says and
23:21 sold their possessions and goods and
23:25 divided them among all as anyone had any
23:28 need so the money they had even as it
23:31 people were to meet needs within the
23:35 kingdom acts 4 and:
23:37 32-35 it's a long read but it just
23:39 explains that the multitude were of one
23:44 heart of one soul and none of them owned
23:47 anything personally in quote everything
23:50 they had they had together in common so
23:53 your money is for Kingdom impact your
23:57 money is to be used and has an effect on
24:00 the kingdom of God there's so many other
24:03 texts replete um with explanations on
24:09 how even poor Believers handled money 2
24:12 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 1-4
24:16 explains how the church at Macedonia and
24:18 the people within that church related
24:21 with money they were poor the Bible
24:24 notes that they were in deep poverty but
24:26 they were liberal and they were even
24:30 willing up to go above and beyond by
24:33 giving themselves first and also giving
24:35 from what they had imagine poor people
24:38 giving from what they have the little
24:41 that they have to meet the needs of
24:43 others within the kingdom trust that
24:47 your money is not for anything else but
24:50 for Kingdom impact furthermore um the
24:54 impact of your giving cannot be
24:57 overemphasized the giving of Believers
24:59 all around the world and including your
25:02 local assembly ensures that the gospel
25:05 spreads across the world ensures that
25:09 missionaries do not go hungry ensure
25:11 that ensures that schools are built
25:13 ensures that hospitals reach where they
25:16 need to be reached so that's what your
25:19 giving is really for it's for Kingdom
25:21 impact and of course summarize all this
25:24 is to let you know that is Art over
25:26 amount and of course the story of the
25:30 WID in mark 12: 41 to ver 44 summarizes
25:35 this this Widow gave just two coins and
25:37 Jesus made a statement said this poor
25:40 Widow has put in more than all the
25:43 others so this shows us clearly that God
25:46 doesn't measure given by the amount but
25:50 by sacrifice and by your heart so as you
25:52 give to the Lord as you partner with
25:54 what is doing in Celebration Church
25:57 first let it come from a place of loving
26:00 God love his work and trusting
26:02 everything that he's doing fully we
26:04 trust that this session has been a
26:06 blessing to you and that you're looking
26:08 forward to the next session please know
26:10 that the next session is on evangelism
