III. THE PROOF BY ITS SPREAD
DURING PERSECUTION

The spreading of the Bible under persecution proves that the Bible is the Word of God. Most people will give up something if they are persecuted for possessing it, but not the Bible. When people in Europe were persecuted for having Bibles, they refused to give them up. Many copies were confiscated and burned. It was dangerous to have a Bible around; nevertheless, people would not part with their Bibles even at the risk of severe persecution.

A. A Bible Hidden Inside a Chair

At that time, a Bible-loving family in France had a Bible. They would have given up anything but their Bible. If the Catholic Church found out that they kept a Bible in their house, they would have been prosecuted. They did not want to bury their Bible in the ground; they wanted to read it every day. They figured out a way to hide the Bible inside a hollow part of a chair. They would use the chair for sitting until it was time to read the Bible. Then they would flip the chair over and open up the secret compartment to take out the Bible. This is how they protected themselves and continued to read the Bible every day.

One day, a “Father” of the Catholic Church came to search their house. Try as he may, he could not find the hiding place of the Bible. As the whole family watched nervously, he sat down on that very chair to think about where it could possibly be hidden. Everyone was relieved when he finally gave up and left, disappointed.

Due to persecution, this family later immigrated to America, where they could read the Bible freely.

B. A Bible Baked Inside a Loaf of Bread

A sister in Europe kept a Bible against the will of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He had “decreed” that anyone found hiding a Bible would be executed. One day the “Fathers,” carrying out the decree of the Pope, came to search her house. It happened that she was baking bread. When she heard that the “Fathers” were at the door, she wrapped her Bible with the dough that she was kneading. Her Bible was baked inside a loaf of bread. The “Fathers” left empty-handed; the sister and her Bible remained safe and secure. She, too, due to persecution, moved to America, where she was free to read the Bible.

There are many testimonies of this sort. It is impossible to record them all here. These testimonies prove to us that the Bible is the Word of God. People do not risk their lives for other books like they do for the Bible.

IV. THE PROOF BY THE WORD OF THE LORD
AND OTHER WRITERS OF THE BIBLE

The Lord Jesus said to the Jews, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote concerning Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My words?” (John 5:46-47). The Lord often quoted and referred to the Bible. This shows that He believed that the Old Testament was the Word of God. He referenced the Old Testament forty-nine times in the Gospel of Matthew. Here are a few crucial references He used in the four Gospels:

1. The Lord said in Mark 10:6, “But from the beginning of creation, He made them male and female.” He referred to Genesis 1:27.
2. The Lord said in Luke 17:26-27, “And even as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day in which Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” He referred to Genesis 7:21-23.
3. The Lord said in Luke 11:51, “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house; yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.” He referred to Genesis 4:8-11.
4. The Lord said in Luke 17:29, “But on the day in which Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.” He referred to Genesis 19:24-25.
5. The Lord said in John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” He referred to Numbers 21:8-9.

The Lord said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, Until the heaven and the earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass.” He not only believed that the Old Testament was the Word of God, He was on the earth to fulfill what was written.

Can we use what was written in the New Testament to prove that the Old Testament is the Word of God? Yes, we can. The Bible was not written by one man; the Bible was written by approximately forty people. People might not believe the author of a book if he were to say in the last chapter of his book that the foregoing chapters were true. However, when a series of writers profess belief that the foregoing books are the word of God, which is the case with those who wrote the Bible, it is very believable. Time after time, the writers of the Bible would quote the previous books and then record additional revelation from God. When King David wrote some of the Psalms, he quoted the previous books of the Old Testament, such as the Pentateuch, and then added further revelation (Psa. 119:135—Num. 6:25; Psa. 119:166—Gen. 49:18). Other writers, such as Peter, Paul, and John, also quoted verses from the Old Testament in their writings (1 Pet. 2:6—Isa. 28:16; John 1:23—Isa. 40:3; John 2:22—Psa. 16:10; Rom. 9:17—Exo. 9:16). The Lord and the New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament hundreds of times. Forty writers taking almost 1,600 years to write the Bible while at different times quoting earlier writers is strong proof that the Bible is inspired by God.