I believe the battle to be the word of God. I'm going to ask you please if you will just follow me very attentively. I may ask you one or two questions. This is the young people's meeting really, although it's slightly adulterated but it's the young people's meeting and therefore I may be asking you one or two questions as time goes on. Now first of all I wonder how many of us have brought our Bible. Hands up there to have their Bible. Some of you haven't. You know, I'd never think of going to a meeting without my Bible. Shouldn't think of it. So would you perhaps remember that when you come to a meeting like this, always bring your Bible because If you don't bring it, you can't follow what is being read. But now, those of you who have your Bibles, will you please turn to the second epistle to Timothy and chapter three. First chapter, second Timothy, You will read from verse ten. Now I'm going to read one verse, I'm going to ask you please to read the next verse, and I'll read the following one and so on, until the end of the chapter. Chapter three, verse ten. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecution of religion that is common when you get down to God, either at home and at birth, or at birth, or at birth, or at birth, or at birth, or at the mouth of the temple of all who the Lord deserves from me. Yea, and all that we live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. For some evil men and sinners who live in Christ Jesus shall arise, murderous and murderous, be seen and have been eaten with his feet. Thou continue thou in the things which thou hast done, and have been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for adoption, for the fruit, fruit, fruit, for collection, for instruction in righteousness. Thank you. Well, you know the Bible is a wonderful book. Some years ago, way in Africa, there were two men. One was an ex-cannibal. You know what a cannibal is, don't you? I shouldn't like to meet one at midnight in Africa. But this cannibal, thank God, had been converted to Christ. And the other man was a man from England, a white trader. Not far away was an ordinary native woman. And the cannibal who had been converted to Christ was reading the Bible. And the white man said to him, Why are you reading that silly book? That book is out of date. We white people never read that book nowadays. And the ex-cannibal, man who had been converted to Christ, you know, he pointed to that oven. You said, Master, if I had not read this book, you would have been in that oven, not before now. As you know, the man was very pleased he had read it. Really saved his life. Now, I tell you what I want to do. I want to give you some reasons, definite reasons, why I believe the Bible to be the word of God. Now, if I said to you, I believe the Bible to be God's word, that would be quite satisfactory to me. But it might not be satisfactory to you. And you might ask me, and quite likely, why do you believe the Bible to be God's word? What reason or what reasons have you? And you know, I want to give you some reasons this evening. I hope you'll be able to remember some of them because they're very important. Now the first is that I believe the Bible to be the Word of God because of its unique character. Now that's the first. You can say? I believe the Bible to be the word of God because of its unique character. Well, you know what the word unique means, don't you? It's outstanding. It's altogether different from anything else that is tied. And that's one reason why I believe the Bible to be the word of God. Now, the Bible is different from every other book. And therefore it should be read differently. It should be studied differently. And I'm going to advise you, dear young people here, I don't know how old you are perhaps, but why do our memory is strong and vigorous? I'm going to advise you to commit scripture to memory. You know, I did that when I was a boy. And I thank God for it. Before I was converted, I... not through the scriptures by memory. And after I was converted, I learned from memory, chapter after chapter, an enormous book after book. And you know, it has been a tremendous blessing ever since. Now the Bible is different from every other book because of this circulation. Now, do you know how many Bibles have been circulated and printed right down the here? I can't tell you the exact number, of course. But over a thousand million copies of the Word of God have been printed and distributed, circulated. Over a hundred thousand millions Now you young people, when you get time, you work out how long it will take you to count the millions. You take one every second, at least sixty, what, sixty seconds and a minute, and then multiply that and multiply that until you get a million. And I think you will find this. It will take you twenty-seven hours and more than twenty-seven hours to count a million. That's over a day. Now I don't advise you to try that. Just work it out for yourself. Don't try it because I would take up all your school time and all your bedtime and everything else. But over a hundred thousand million copies of the Bible. Think of it. No book in the world can approach anywhere near to it. And then you know it's quite different from every other book because of its translation. The Bible has been translated into over twelve hundred languages and dialects. Twelve hundred. Or perhaps you say, I never thought there were so many languages in the world. Well, there are many more than that, of course. But the Bible has been translated to over twelve hundred languages and dialects in all parts of the world. And then, you know, there's one thing about the Bible which I like to remember, and it is this. It is such a wonderful book. Although it has been expounded, you know what that means, doesn't it? Although it has been spoken from tens of thousands of times, by tens of thousands of God's living, in tens of thousands of ways, it is as stretched and it is as living today as ever it has been. And you know, I'm going to ask you a question now. All books in the world are human except one. What is that? All books are... Yes, yes? The Bible, of course. All books in the world have been written by man. But this book, the Bible, has been written by God. And therefore we say that all books in the world are human except the Bible, the Word of God. Now I'm going to move from there, and I'm going to ask you if you will try to remember that first reason because of its unique character, outstanding character. Now I want to come to the next, because of its remarkable ability. Now that's quite easy to understand, isn't it? In other words, because of what the Bible is able to do. Now we have led the passage from the second epistle to Timothy and chapter three. And Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, you continue what you have learned, continue what you have been assured of. And then he says, from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures. that are able to make thee wiser to salvation. You know Timothy, I like to think of Timothy, he was a young man. But Timothy, you know, was a greatly privileged young man. He had godly parents. And from those godly parents, his mind, his young mind had been literally what we call saturated by the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures. He had learned them from his mother. and his learnings on, he learned them on his godly grandmother. And I don't suppose Timothy was able to thank God sufficiently that he had a godly home and had been brought up in it. Now you, dear young people, I want to tell you this. If you are in a godly home, if you have a godly mother, godly father, thank God for it. You know, I was brought up in a home where the Bible wasn't read. I was the only Christian in that home. I had no real spiritual encouragement. But by the grace of God, I stood my ground. And I lived Christ, or thought to live Christ before me. But if you have a godly parent, my dear young friend, thank God for it. parents who have prayed for you and parents who read the word of God to you. Now that was Timothy. He had godly parents and he had learned the Holy Scriptures. Now try to take this thing, will you? The Holy Scriptures or the Bible, they were not printed at this time in Timothy's day. Therefore, when we read that he knew the Holy Scriptures from his younger days, from his childhood, what does it mean? What were the Holy Scriptures? Or the Bible, of course, was not written there, was intended and for afterwards. What was the Holy Scriptures inside? Not the New Testament, of course, but the Old Testament, of course. And so, Timothy, if mine has been had been filled with the Old Testament scriptures. You know, I suppose that Timothy, he could repeat chapter after chapters from the Old Testament, those wonderful chapters we love so much from Isaiah chapter fifty-three and Isaiah twenty-six and other wonderful chapters. He could just repeat them off easily from memory. Now, Paul says, Timothy, these scriptures you have learned from your childhood They are able to make you wise and through salvation. That's what the Bible is able to do. Now no other book can do that. As we read the word and if I listen to him then I bless. There was one the other lady and she was converted. She went home and her husband wasn't converted. He had no use for that sort of thing. And this lady, she began to read the Bible. And oh, he made her husband so angry that one day he said to her, now look here, you're reading that book. I don't want you to read it. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll read that book to you again and again. I'll read it so often until you're absolutely tired of it. And so he began to read the Bible. And before long he found that he was a sinner. And he needed a salvation. And he needed a savior. And he trusted Christ. So he too was saved. And he began to love the Bible as well. Now the Bible is able to make us wise unto salvation. Oh I wonder how many young people here. Boys and girls tonight. I wonder if you know anything about God's salvation. about the Lord Jesus Christ. Time for you. You know, I often wonder why Jesus came to this earth at all for me. I wonder why he suffered on the cross for me. I wonder he loved me so much. I never deserved it. I've gone my own way. But he did love me. And he died for me. And he brought me to a knowledge of himself. That's God's salvation. And so I'm now right for heaven. Have you receive God's salvation. Do you know Jesus as your savior? Is he in your life wise unto salvation? Now, there's something else which the Bible is able to do. I wonder if you'll turn those of you who have your Bible to the Acts of the Apostles and chapter twenty and verse thirty-two. The twentieth of Acts and the thirty-second verse. Let me, if we can all read this all together, shall we, this beautiful verse. Acts twenty, verse thirty-two. And now, I commend you to God and to the word and his great that he is able to build your power and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. You notice the word, which is able. When we saw in Timothy, the scriptures were able to make Timothy wise unto salvation. Now you have the same words here, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance. Now you know, in our daily life, we always want to get to the south. A boy starts an infant's class at school. He doesn't want to stop there all his life. He wants to get higher. And when he gets into a higher grade, he wants to get higher still. And when he gets into that grade, he wants to get higher still, yes. And here perhaps he gets right to the top of the school. You know, it's exactly the same in business life. Young men, they start at the bottom. And if they are what we call industrious, if they are willing to work, They ride higher and higher until perhaps they get right at the head of that company. It's the same in parliaments, you know. Away there in parliament in London, there are about five hundred members, I suppose. And, you know, they want the tribes of the top. They want to get prime minister. Or what we call the Chancellor of the Exchequer. There's always this desire to get on and on and up and up and up. It isn't wrong, you know, so long as we put God first. Now, the Word of God is able to build you up, make you a strong, healthy Christian. No other book can do that, you know, that the Word of God can. Do you know that Joshua, do you remember reading about Joshua? Whom did Joshua follow? Can you tell me? Who did he follow? Well, he took the face of a man named Begani Ren, and then O Hakan? Why, of course. He followed Moses. And Joshua, when he took over the responsibility from Moses, God said to him, Joshua, This book of the Lord, that is the Bible he had then, shall not depart out of your mouth. You must meditate therein. You must read it and think about it day and night. Because then Shabbat makes our way prosperous and then Shabbat has good success. Now Joshua, how many books did he use? He had in the Bible, you know, that we have. Joshua had only five books. And that is to say of what we call the what? Ten feet? Two feet. That was the Muslim. That's all he had. Now, you know the longest psalm in the Bible? Yes? One hundred and ninety, exactly. And in verse one hundred and sixty-four of ninety of that psalm, David says, I will praise thee seven times a day for thy righteous judgment. Now David hadn't had in the Bible that we had. He had Moses Joshua. That he had only a part of the Bible. But he says, O Lord, I'll change you. And I'll change these seven times today for thy words. O young people, how thankful you and I ought to be. We have the whole word of God here. God's last word. And when you read the Bible, you remember, won't you, that God is speaking to you and he He asked you to remember and to believe what he has said. Now, there's another thing, and that is this. Wherever the Bible has been read and believed, it has made cruel mankind, it has made proud men humble, and it has changed some of them. much sinners into the depths of things. That's what the Bible is able to do, you know. And it's done that over and over and over again. I wonder how many here have heard or have seen a book called Banyan Spirgin Spirgin? Have you? Or a few of you have. Well, you know John Banyan was a terrible boy. When he within his village. His own companions were afraid of him. He swore his language was so terrible that even those around him were scared of him. And you know, by the power of the word of God, John Bunyan was converted. And he trusted Christ. And he wrote that wonderful book, the Philippians told us. And he wrote other books too. I'd say that he was trapped in prison. And there in prison he wrote those marvelous books. I wonder how many young people have heard of George Muller. You heard the name of George? There's one. Well, George Muller, he lived in England. And he lived in a place called this. And God used him so much. Why, he cared for him. Two thousand orphan boys and girls. Do you know George Mueller in his early days? He was a terrible young fellow. He came from Germany. And at thirteen years of age, he was in prison for being intoxicated. Thirteen years of age. And by the power of this wonderful book, George Mueller was converted and God used it. It is able to make you wiser to salvation able to build you up and make you a strong Christian. And then there is this to remember. When Jesus was here, you know it was God who came down from heaven. God came down to his creatures, to men. Why? That men might get back to him. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and He became the Son of Man. You know why? That the Son of Man might become the Son of God. Everything else wonderful. Oh, the grace and love of God to each boy and girl here, in sending the Lord Jesus all the way from heaven to be your Savior and friend, Redeemer and companion. And so, Second reason is because of its remarkable ability. Now, when did you remember what the first was? What was my first reason? Because of its... Is there? Unique what? Yes, because of its unique characteristics. First and second. As like, because of this remarkable... Now I want to give you a third, which is rather perhaps rather advanced, I'll try to make it clear and easy, because of its fulfilled prophecies. You know in the Bible we have hundreds and hundreds of prophecies, things which were going to take place in the future. And thousands of those prophecies have been already fulfilled. Do you know how many Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament? Three hundred. Now, when our Lord Jesus Christ was on trial, when he was before Pilate, just before his execution, it was a period of about twenty-four hours. Now, in those twenty-four hours, no less than twenty-nine Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled. Now here's a sermon for you young people. According to what is called the law of compound probabilities, that's a big mouthful, but according to that law the chance of those prophecies being fulfilled in that short time would be once in thirty-seven minutes. But of course we know they weren't fulfilled by chance. It was all in God's program. Now a little while ago, about a few nights ago, we spoke about John the Baptist here in this home. And we said this. John the Baptist was prophesied, is coming to this earth, five hundred years before he came. Do you know that in the book of Micah, you look it up, will you get a chance? The Book of Martha, one of the Old Testament prophets, and chapter five, verse two, the birth of our Lord Jesus was prophesied, the very place, the province, where he should be born, and also the very town. And there, four hundred years before the Lord Jesus was born, it was said that he would be born in Judea, that's the province, and he would be born in a town called Bhat. Where was Bhat? Yes, there. Now, I don't think I will tell you very, very much more about that. Sister has rather complicated. But I want to come to something which to me is very interesting. And it is this. I believe the holy... the word of God to be inspired. Now listen, because of its complete reliability. Now what is the first? Because of its unique characteristic. What is the second? Because of its remarkable ability. What is the third? Because of its fulfilled prophecies. Now the fourth. because of its complete reliability. You know, dear young people, the word of God is reliable. You can believe every word of it. Of course, there are people in the United States who say, oh, we don't believe it. There are people in England who say, that's, you know. And there are some who say, oh, we believe part of it, but we can't believe all of it. Earning an old friend, I believe all the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. I hope you do, because if you do, you're on safe ground. I remember being in London in an office, and there were two or three men, the young pharaohs there, and we were talking about things, and we were talking about miracles. Well, you know what a miracle is, don't you? Our Lord performed many miracles when He was here. And I said, I believe in all the miracles mentioned in the Bible. I accept them just as they are. Well, there was one man who was very religious, but he didn't believe all the miracles. Oh, he said, you can't believe them all, you know. And of course, he spoke about Jonah. For Jonah, I suppose he's been criticized more than anybody else. Years ago, Jonah was cast into the cool waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and ever since he'd been in boiling water. All the people had been against Jonah again and again and again. And so this religious flame said, you can't accept Jonah, can you? Being eaten by the whale. Where is our God? I accept the owner as well as the owner? Now, do you know what that other man said? He wasn't religious. He had very little interest in these things. He said to this religious man, I can't understand you. I can understand that. He accepts all the miracles. Now, that's logic. That's reasonable. Now, you only accept some. That's unreasonable. You ought to reject them all, or you ought to accept them all. And you know, that's common sense, isn't it really? If people say they only accept some and reject others, what are they going to reject? I mean, till they go to accept. And then you can answer this, why do you accept someone, why do you reject others? How are far better to accept everything here that is in the scriptures without hesitation? Now, you know, there are There have been some great men in the United States and in Great Britain. I want to tell you something which do with men say. Great men they were. They had brains. Some of them were scientists. Others were men of reading and literature. But let me tell you what some of them said. There was a man named Reed, Charles Reed. I believe he lived somewhere in the United States. He wasn't a Christian. But he said this. The story of Jonah was the most wonderful story ever written in the world's history. That's what he thought. I wonder how many here have heard of Charles Dickens. You know, Charles Dickens, he wrote, I don't know how many books. Well, Charles Dickens had a wonderful brain. And someone said to him on one occasion, It's a difference. Which story do you think is the most wonderful story ever written? Do you know what he said? Story of the prodigal son in the fifties of Lisbon. There was another man who said he thought that the epistles of the Romans was the most marvelous book ever written. There was a man away in France. He was what we call a higher critic. He was just hearing the Bible to pieces all he could, but he acknowledged this. He said the gospel by Luke was the most beautiful book that has ever been written in the world's history. And so one may go on. Now I've got some notes here. And I'm going to tell you what I have. You've heard of the Yale University, haven't you? That's one of your great universities over here in America. Well, there was a professor, and his name was Professor Donna, D-A-M-A, of Yale. He was an old man, and he was just about to resign. He got all his students together, and what he said to them was this, young man, as you go out into the world and face scientific problems, Remember that I, an old man who has known only science all my life long, say to you, there is nothing truer in the whole universe than the scientific statement in the Word of God. Now that's one of your own universities, one of your professors. Now there was another man, not in America, but in England. And he was president of what was called the Royal Society. Now the Royal Society is one of the most learned societies in Great Britain. And the president, he said this, I do not think there is any opposition between the account of Genesis and what we learn from science. No contradiction one has to. And then there was another, he was an American, this man, he was a great chemist. And he declared this, that there is not one chemical error in the Bible, and that was his scientific opinion after a profound study of the book. And here was another, his name was Dr. Christie, C-H-R-I-S-T-I-E. He was an expert in geography. Now you love geography, I expect, for school. It's a lovely subject. Well, this man was an expert. He declared that in the whole of the Bible, after years of study, he had not found a single geographical area. Now you know, dear young people, these are the sayings of great men, learned of men. Men knew what they were talking about. And therefore it's always safe for you and for me to accept the Bible as it is. Now there is one thing that you're able to see sometimes. It goes right over the world in a semicircle. What's that? The rainbow. The rainbow. You know, the rainbow is one of the most beautiful sights in nature. And when I was in Los Angeles, I saw the rainbow there. All is simply marvellous. And not only was there a rainbow, but there was a double rainbow. And, you know, whenever I see a rainbow, I, well, I marvel because of its colors. I marvel because of the blending of the colors. But when I see a rainbow, I say to myself, there is the ninth chapter of Genesis. Do you know what we have in the ninth chapter of Genesis? I to set my bow in the cloud. That bow was the rainbow. And God said, When I see the bow, I remember my covenant. I'll never, never destroy the earth again by its water. Now you know, dear friends, by and by in heaven, those of us who are saved, we're going to see a rainbow. It'll be right around the floor, not us. as we see it here. Now, it'll be right around the floor in a complete free will. That will remind us of God's eternal faithfulness to you and to me. Now there's something else I want to see, and that is this, its wonderful unity. How many Testaments are there? How many? Yes? Two. The Old Testament and the New. And you know, there are one. There are just one book. You can't do without the Old Testament, neither can I. We can't do without the New Testament. Now, nobody can understand the New Testament apart from the Old Testament. Nobody can understand the Old Testament apart from the New Testament. And so here they are together. absolutely united. I want to remind you of this. When the Lord Jesus was here, he said, the scriptures cannot be broken. That's from the point of John, verse thirty-five. The scripture cannot be broken. You know there are some, you say, oh, I can't accept all the Old Testament. I can, in fact, accept the New Testament or I can do it. great part of it. I can't accept the Old Testament. Now, if you were to ask those people this question, do you believe that what Christ said was true? Perhaps they say, oh yes, of course, but he said that the Old Testament was true. Well, he said that the Old Testament was true. Do you know when he was here, the Lord Jesus, he quoted some twenty different books, Old Testament books, nineteen Old Testament characters. And the Lord Jesus, he put his seal upon the Old Testament. Therefore, if anyone says he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to say that what Christ said was true and reliable, he cannot reject the Old Testament. It doesn't make sense, does it? The Lord Jesus said it was true. The scripture cannot be broken. If I believe him, I must accept the whole of the Bible. And then there's another thing. Do you know how long it took the Bible to be compiled? How many years it took to write the Bible? Over a thousand years. From the time of Moses to the time of the Apostle John, who was the last writer, over a thousand years. And yet the Bible has been preserved to us all this time. And also it is this that he said, those Old Testament writers, you know Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and others, they didn't know exactly what they were writing. All they knew was that they were writing for you and me. They wrote things about Christ, they didn't quite understand. They wrote things about the future, they didn't understand. But they wrote because of you, for your benefit and for mine. Do you think that's wonderful? Now I want to come to another. I've only two more really, but I want to come to this. Because of its power in my own life. Can you remember the first one, because of its Unique, characteristic. And the next one, please. Markable, delicious, yes. And the next one, yes. Fulfill prophecies, yes. And the next. And the next. It's complete reliability, yes, blended. And the next, it's wonderful, unity. Now I want to come to them. It's powered in my own life. You know, young people, there's one thing you can never contradict, and that is experience. If I told you that certain things have happened in my life, I said, you believe me. And if that happened, you can't possibly contradict them. You cannot contradict experience. Now certain things have happened in my life concerning the Bible. I remember the time and as I've already said, I learned much of the Bible from memory before I knew Jesus as my Savior. I read the Bible night after night. I went down on my knee by my bedside. I said my prayers. I thought I'd never get to heaven unless I did that. And yet I found it was all wrong. That is to say, it is a wrong way to heaven. I couldn't get to heaven that way. Of course, it did me good, I know. But when I became a Christian, when I trusted Jesus, everything was changed. You know, this book became a new book to me. And then I began to memorize the scriptures chapter after chapter after chapter, chapter after chapter. You know, I've never reprinted. been a wonderful blessing to me. I wonder how many in this alternate could give chapter and verse for just ten verses and repeat those verses without making a single mistake. I wonder how many. I don't know. Well perhaps you say, what about yourself? Could you quote without making a single mistake, ten verses, and say where they are? Well, I don't want to boast. But if I could quote one, I could quote a thousand. You know, that's the result of what we call the cultivation of memory. So young people, you cannot possibly deny experience. At one time I read the Bible, but it wasn't interesting. It was very dull. I had no interest in it, whatever, really. But when I trusted Christ as my Savior, the Bible became a new book. It was an open book. And oh, I remember the times I had as a boy. When I went along with my Bible, I read it carefully. And then I brought, or the Holy Spirit brought other verses together from the subject I was studying. and I was filled with joy again and yet again. Now, of course, I don't understand everything just in this book. If I understood everything in the Bible, well, friend, I don't know what would happen to me. You don't understand everything in the Bible. There's not a person in the United States tonight who understands the Bible completely. You know, I've often said there are shadows in the scriptures in the Bible in which children, little ones, can revel, and there are depths in the Bible with the greatest men, greatest minds in the United States or anywhere else where they can speak. And then also, may I say this, Now, you dear young people, when you get up in the morning, you start with the scriptures in some way or other. There are so many of you say these days, I haven't time to study. I haven't time to read the Bible. And all of a sudden you've got time to other things, haven't you? Oh, yes, you say, but I've got to go to school. And I have to be there most of the day. Well, that may be true, but you have other times, haven't you? Now you take my own mind. While you're young, you start with the word of God in the morning. Maybe just a few verses, that's all. But you remember the first verse in the Bible? In the beginning, God. That means God first. Put him first. Put the Bible first. And then you'll be helping your schoolmates in your studies. and in your own life as well. So that's a reason, a great reason why I believe the word of God because I'm expound in my own daily life. Now the last is this, because of its divine revelation. Have you got that? Recall for this divine revelation. What is the Bible revealed? Well, the Bible reveals God's way of redemption. His way of salvation. You are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now the Father, He provided redemption for us. The Son, the Lord Jesus, He purchased redemption for us. The Holy Spirit, He revealed that wonderful truth to our hearts if we are willing to accept it. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you know what the central theme of the Bible is? That's the central theme. That's the most important theme of the Bible. The C-R-O-S a trust. Now that's the most important part of the Bible, the trust. You know, that's where you and I start the heaven. That's where we get our sins forgiven. That's where we become new boys and girls. That's where the Lord Jesus enters our hearts and makes us all his own. And so, dear young people, I've given you these various reasons why I believe the word of God. I do trust your remembrance. I hope they will help you. And if anybody comes to you and says to you, don't you believe that book? Don't you believe what the Bible says? You should be absolutely honest. And you say, I do believe it and I'm going to believe it, whatever you or anybody else may say. And you'll be on perfectly safe ground. There's no good like the Bible in the whole world.