KEY SCRIPTURES: Psalms 12:6 KJV “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven TIMES”.

As 2nd Timothy 3:16& 17 says, all scripture is given by the inspiration of the Lord. And it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. The Spirit of the Lord inspired the writing of the word. The word has transformed and made saints out of the worse characters that one could think about. The minds of complete lunatics have been healed as the scriptures were read to them. Men who were social outcast with no social significance have become people of influence, wealth and a role model to others, through their exposure to the word of God.  The Bible is simply profitable.

IT is amazing that no matter how kings and nations have fought, burnt, and even burnt the followers, the Bible remains the number one best seller. Many have tried to discredit it and prophesied its extinct. It is still the most distributed material. What makes the Bible so unique? The answer is the fact that God is in His word. It is filled with the breath of God. The Holy Spirit would literally fill you up as you read it with a humble mind. Those who read to find faults or to use it for other purposes other than bringing, teaching, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness to their lives, are rather deceived by the devil. Satan controls any person who uses the holy scriptures for any wrong motive. 2 Timothy 3:7 KJV “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”.

The scriptures are designed to furnish your life with every good thing. Just humble yourself and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. It is very amazing how some people read the Bible and remain the same, or even worse individuals. As our key scripture put it, they are pure words. It has been tried in the furnace of fire seven times. This means it has stood the test of time. Stop arguing with the Bible,

and allow God to achieve the purpose for giving His word in your life. The Bible is a gold mine in your hands.

CONFESSION

God’s word is a lamb unto my feet and a light unto my path. I humble myself to the word of God. My way is continually made brighter and brighter as I follow the word with all diligence.

FURTHER STUDIES

Psalms 119:98 KJV” Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me”.

Psalms 119:130 KJV” The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:22 KJV” Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know”:

We continue with the HISTORICITY of Jesus the Christ. by looking at some of the non-Biblical accounts about Him

1.FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (born AD 37)

HE was a Jewish historian who became a Pharisee. at 19years

The following is what he wrote “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it will be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men, as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him, both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate at the suggestion of the principal men, among us, has condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first, did not forsake him :for he appeared again to them alive  the third day, as the divine prophets, had foretold these, and ten thousand  other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him, are not extinct at

 this day” Antiquities xviii 33(early second century)

2 SUETONIUS (AD 120)

Another Roman historian, court official under Hadrian, analyst of the imperial house says, “As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (another spelling of Christus), he expelled them from Rome” Life of Claudius 25.4

He also wrote “Punishment by Nero was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition” Lives of the Caesars, 26.2,

I am short for space to talk about the writings of PLINIUS SECUNDUS. TERTULLIAN, THALLIUS, THE SAMARITAN BORN HISTORIAN, Phlegon, a first century historian, Justin the martyr and many more. Jesus lived, and has an undeniable history. If you have not made Him the Lord of your, then do so right now, before it is too late.

PRAYER

Lord I pray for as many who have been deceived about the reality of Jesus, that they would yield totally to the truth. I pray for the church of God to awake to the challenges of these times.

FURTHER STUDIES

Colossians 2:8 KJV” Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ

Acts 4:12 KJV “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:27 KJV “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”.

Prophecies in the old testament, which are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus further establishes the reliability of the scriptures. These prophecies were written between a time range of about 4000 to 1000 years before the birth of Christ. Most of these were vividly fulfilled during the life time of our Savior Jesus Christ. In our key scripture, the Lord Jesus had to open the understanding of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, so that they would know all that had been written about him. It takes the divine hand of God to bring into reality a prediction made about an individual or a group of people over such a long time. Please note, these studies are not targeted at Christians, but to place in the hands of Christians ready answers for the enquirer

Some of the prophecies include

1.His nativity and early years:

Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, Jeremiah 31:22

Gen 3:15 KJV “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”. The Lord was born from the seed of a woman, not a man and woman.

2. The location: Numbers 24:17, 19, Micah 5:2

Micah 5:2 KJV “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting”.

3. Visited by WISE men from the East: Psalm 72:10, Isaiah 60:3&6

Psalms 72:10 – 16 KJV” The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts”.

4. His suffering: and Rejection by Jews and Gentiles: Psalms 2:1, 22:12,41: 5, 56:5, 69:8, Psalms 118:22-23, Isaiah 6:9-10,8:14, 29:13,53:1–12  

Isaiah 53:7 KJV” He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”.

Please go through all these references.

PRAYER

I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus for all Christians to be very bold in defending the gospel or sharing the gospel with every enquirer. I pray for many who have been held captive by the deception of the enemy to be set free in Jesus name.

FURTHER STUDIES

Psalms 16:10 KJV” For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”.

Isaiah 53:3 KJV “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 1:3 KJV” To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”:

We continue with our study on the reliability of the Bible. Our key scripture states clearly that Jesus showed Himself alive to the disciples by many infallible proofs. Infallible means undeniable or overwhelming proves. The apostles’ position on the resurrection of Jesus gives a very strong grounds to accept the Bible as reliable.

 These men who claimed saw the resurrected Jesus proved their conviction by dying for what they knew was true. Someone may say people always die for a lie. This is very true, yet such people die for what they believed was true. The apostles did not just believe but said they had infallible encounters with the resurrected Christ for a period of forty days. If the resurrection was a lie then the disciples knew it . Will any man die for what he knows is a lie? I don’t think so. They said Jesus showed Himself to them, and they proved it by dying for what they claimed.

 Christianity stands or crumbles with the validity of the resurrection. 1Corinth 15:14 KJV “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” . The conversion of apostle Paul and the complete turnaround of his life gives credence to the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. The proof of his encounter with Jesus is his absolute transformation to defend the gospel of Jesus. He was a strong propagator of the law, but started teaching about the grace of God. Jesus is resurrected indeed. This proves there is life after death. There would be judgment or rewards for everyone, depending on what you did with Jesus the Savior.

CONFESSION

Our Lord Jesus is resurrected from the dead. This has brought light and hope to me. I am more energized to tell all men to give their lives to Christ and His course.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Corinth 15:6 KJV” After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

Acts 1:3. To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion (His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to them during forty days and  talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of God.

KEY SCRIPTURE:2Timothy 3:16 KJV ” All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

 We Christians believe in the Bible because the revelations of scripture are true and has brought great transformations to our lives. Through our childlike acceptance of the scriptures Christians have encountered undeniable supernatural provisions, peace of mind and the love of Jesus have been shared in our lives. How does the Christian show an enquirer how authentic the Bible is.?

To consider the authenticity of any document of history the following questions must be rightly answered.

1.Is what we now have written down, the same as what was written down two thousand years ago?

2.Is what was written down true?

I will consider the second question for now. That is, is what was written down true? Please note that, in our law courts, the best evidence for accuracy is eye witnesses account. An eye witness account cannot be easily thrown away. The accounts of the new testaments are mainly from eye witnesses. John the disciple of Jesus wrote the following “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, of the Word of life;” 1 John 1:1.He said I have heard, seen and handled.

For the gospel of John, he wrote the following, John 21:24 KJV” This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true”. John was a witness to Jesus’ life suffering and crucifixion.

Apostle Peter also wrote:2 Peter 1:16 KJV” For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Apostle Peter said he had not written down myths and abstract stories but was an eye witness to what happened in the life of Christ. In Acts 2:22 Peter preached before an antagonistic audience, (because most of them were among those who crucified the Lord), and said to them, you were eye witnesses of these things. These people could not refute his assertion about them. In fact, three thousand of them were born again that day and were baptized. What more can one say to the fact that, we have a true report of what transpired in the life of Jesus?

I would round up for now because of space, and continue in our next discussion.

CONFESSION

The Bible has brought great transformation to my life. My heart and mind are at peace with what I believe about the Bible because it is very reliable and authentic.

FURTHER STUDIES

Acts 2:22 KJV Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Luke 1:1 KJV “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Peter 3:15 KJV “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and FEAR”:

Our key scripture instructs us vividly about being ready to give an answer for the faith or hope we have. He firstly tells us to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. We must set the Lord above every other thing, situation or person. God must be the one we live for and not ourselves. We must also defend the reason for which we believe in Him. In a world where accessibility to knowledge is so easy, people are exposed to all kinds of strange ideas making them to question the authenticity of the Bible and even the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must have the requisite knowledge to explain the authenticity of the Bible, and the reason for our believe to him intelligently.

 Many of us Christians are found wanting when it comes to defending our faith intelligently. We all might have experienced the new birth, and might have had some supernatural encounters with the Spirit.  How do we answer the man who comes along with intellectual questions? You may do so by proving God’s power to that individual, and that would settle every argument.

 Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministries gave an instant he had when he visited Sierra Leone. He was to see the president of that country but had to see the secretary first. This man was a Muslim who started questioning him after knowing that he was a Christian, whose name appeared like a Muslim’s name. Apostle Suleman said he kept quiet and allowed this man to say all his arguments. He just held the man’s hands and called ‘ back pains’. Instantly the man was hit with pains in the back, he sat on the floor and began to fear and give a better audience to the man of God.

In this instant he proved the power of God to silence every argument. There are other instances that you may have to speak to the heart through the mind. You should be ready to rightly defend your faith. In the days of Paul, he proved from the scriptures to the Jews that, Jesus is the Christ. Act 18:28 KJV” For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ”. We must also be able to defend our faith intelligibly.

CONFESSION

I have been saved by the blood of Jesus, and have experienced His power in my life. I am ever ready to scripturally give a defense for the reason for my faith in Him.

FURTHER STUDIES

Acts 9:22 KJV “But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ”.

Acts 9:29 KJV” And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Titus 1:15 KJV” Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

 A life of assuming things can result in so many negative tendencies. Marriage partners could be wrongly accused and the pain of lack of trust can be so bad.

On many occasions it becomes irreparable. This can lead to depression or divorce. Some parents, are always at the throat of their teenage sons or daughters, suspecting them, of one fault or the other. These accusations may proceed from baseless assumptions. Assumptions can cause you to lose your answer from God, because you have a wrong anticipation of how God should answer you. Many have lived in certain error for a rather long time, because they just assumed things was as they perceived them to be. How can one stop these negative tendencies of assuming matters.?

One can avoid the errors of negative impacts of assumption by deciding to live and act always in line with the scriptures. Walking by God’s word would grant you wisdom such that you would continually act rightly. Our key scripture shows that the man who has a pure conscience would judge everything as pure.  An impure mind, would interpret everything from an impure outlook.  This is just like a man in a blue spectacle, he would see everything blue. Always maintain a pure mind. A pure mind is one who trusts God in all situations.

FEAR can create so much assumptions about lots of issues. The answer to this is faith in God.  Now faith is not by human reasoning but a positive   state of your heart towards God. Decide to believe God’s word. Act on the word every time. This is wisdom.  Psalms 119:45 KJV “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts”. The word is the perfect law of liberty that keeps us from wrong.  Pro 9:10 KJV” The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”. Wisdom is always a function of understanding. Understanding proceeds from the knowledge of God. Seek to know the Lord in an intimate way, through constant fellowship and obedience to the voice of His Spirit.

PRAYER

Thank you, father, for your word, which is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. By your word my feet are kept from stumbling. The impact of my life is constantly positive. I am grateful for your Spirit who directs my actions rightly always.

FURTHER STUDIES

James 3:13 KJV “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom”.

James 3:17 KJV” But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Col 2:8 KJV “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”

There is so much vain deceit going on, which many have assumed as a fact. There are a number of African intellectuals who claim Christianity is a white man’s religion, (that is European) Is Christianity a white man religion? Let’s consider Greece one of the European countries before the gospel came there. Act 17:16 KJV” Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry”. The Bible said this city was given to idols. The truth is that before the gospel got to most parts of the world the religious practice of most of the people was predominantly idolatry. (Rome was not different) Christianity basically migrated from the middle East and had related with Africa even before getting into Europe. (Acts 2:9&10)

Man, as he is, craves for spiritual activities. Man, by nature would worship something. He would worship an object, worship himself, or something of some kind. Since the fall of Adam and Eve men have been worshipping whatever seem to be meaningful to them. Idolatry is the worship of anything other than the creator, known as Yahweh. The Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and all the islands across the world were all given to idolatry. The gospel of our Lord Jesus had to be sent  across all these lands to enlighten men about the truth.

Another lie is that, the Bible helped the white man to enslave blacks. Dear reader, no man controlled by the Spirit of Christ will even lift his hand against his fellow man. Since the beginning of history men have used all kinds of means to manipulate  their fellow men. There is sin in men, whether blacks or whites. It manifests itself in various wicked ways. In the days of our Lord Jesus it was the religious leaders who used religious doctrine to arrest and crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. This has not changed.  The problem is not about the Bible, but wickedness and   regeneration in the hearts of men. At the beginning of creation, a brother (Cain) murdered his blood brother (Abel) over an act of worship. All men are lost and spiritually dead, and so need to receive life which can only be found in Jesus. (John 14:6, Acts 4:12)

CONFESSION

The Bible is the perfect law of liberty, and does not in any way encourage the maltreatment of a fellow human beings. I have been made free from every kind of bondage and therefore filled with true love for all mankind.

FURTHER STUDIES

Colossians 2:4 KJV “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words”.

Colossians 2:8. See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).

KEY SCRIPTURE:2Ki 5:11 KJV” But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper”.

Naaman the Syrian military general was a very successful warrior, yet was a leper. He came to prophet Elisha, on his own terms or methods to be healed. He had assumed the way that the prophet should heal him. He was therefore outraged when the man of God asked him to go and bath seven times in the river Jordan.

 Many people miss their answers and blessings because they have pictures of how and when God should answer them. As the prophet instructed Naaman on what to do, God has stated in His Word how he works. He always works by faith. Faith takes hold of God’s word and that is it. To faith, it is done, the moment the word is received. The physical manifestation is a matter of course, because so long as one has believed, he has the answer to focus on any physical sign is a wrong assumption.

The psalmist says in psalm 119:113, that ‘I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. He says I don’ t assume about issues. Assumptions are vain and have no foundations. The word of God is the only sure and certain foundation that cannot fail anyone who put his trust in it, or is guided by it.

There are some parents who assume their children are responding to all the Biblical teachings and the prayers they organize in church. These parents do not take a closer observation of them. They do not look into the contents of their mobile phones or into their personal items, but assume that since they come to church and pray, everything is all right. They only wake up one day to realize that this child is  something different. This could have been avoided if the parent had not assumed everything was alright. Stop assuming and find the truth for yourself. Pray diligently for them as well, for it takes the divine hand of God to keep these children doing what is right.

CONFESSION

I always believe what God said rather than focusing on what my reason tells me. I have the word of God on which I depend, but not on my vain imagination or reasoning. God always honors His word, not an assumption.

FURTHER STUDIES

Genesis 20:11 KJV “And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.”

2 Samuel 13:6 KJV. “So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.”