Darkness To Light
Ep 22 - Prophecy
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi there. Welcome to this week's message from Darkness Delight. We hope that you enjoy the message and will join us each week for an inspiring devotional. And now here's Troy Holden with this week's message. What makes Bible prophecy different from and superior to other predictive methods? Meteorologists predict the weather. Others predict which sports team will win. Some analysts do well at predicting financial markets. Some will invest millions of dollars based on their confidence of market forecast. More than 200 years ago, the Farmers Almanac began to make predictions about planning and harvest potential. 300 years before the first Farmers Almanac, Nostradamus is said to have foretold the future by mixing herbs and water, going into a trance, and writing what came to be known as quatrains. Some of these predictive methods are pretty good, but none. I repeat none of the predictive methods I've mentioned are perfect. No one expects them to be. Predictive methods present odds and probabilities, but not guarantees or promises. And that's what makes Bible prophecy different. Bible prophecy has an accuracy rate of 100%. That statistic sets the Bible apart from every other quote, holy book, and every other predictive method. J. Barton Payne's Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy notes that there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament. Now that's a total of 1,817 prophecies. Almost 30% of the Bible is prophetic in nature. Let's look at the precision and wonder of Bible prophecy and consider how it can be used to make a compelling case for the inspired nature of Scripture when talking to a skeptic. Interestingly, few doubt that Bible prophecies are true and were fulfilled as foretold. Bible prophecy foretold that Israel would become a nation and that happened. Bible prophecy foretold that Queen Jezebel would be eaten by dogs. That happened. Bible prophecy foretold that the sons of Eli would die on the same day and that happened. Bible prophecy foretold that Israel would go into exile for 70 years. That happened. Bible prophecy foretold that a second temple would be rebuilt and that happened. Bible prophecy noted that a child would be born in Bethlehem and would be known as the Messiah, that he would minister and do miracles in Galilee, that he would be betrayed by 30 pieces of silver, be despised and be rejected by his people, denied, arrested, scourged, crucified and more. All those prophecies unfolded exactly as foretold. And some of the most significant prophets we come across in the Bible are Samuel, who anointed David and was a man who the people of Israel consulted on difficult subjects. And we have Elijah and Elijah, who worked great and mighty miracles on God's behalf. And there's also Daniel, the dream interpreter. He's most widely known for the 70-week prophecy and the little horn prophecy, which is all about the four beasts representing the four world ruling kingdoms. And then there's Isaiah, who's widely considered the prince of the prophets, who spoke about pivotal end time events. And finally Jeremiah, widely considered to be the weeping prophet as he lamented constantly for his people. He's known for the verse in Jeremiah 13, verse 17, as he says, "But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears because the Lord's flock has been taken captive." There are 3,000 religions in the world today, and many have prophecies. But out of all these religious writings and predictions in the history of the world, only the Christian Bible can claim a perfect accuracy rate regarding for telling the future. In theological terms, for telling or predicting the future comes under the umbrella of Bible prophecy. Through Bible prophecy, God declares his power and sovereignty for prophecy reveals that God is in control. How else could precise and perfect predictions be made? Through Bible prophecy, God declares his compassion and concern for humanity for only a good and gracious God would go to great lengths to present insight and warnings in advance of key events in history. Bible prophecy reveals God's care. God warns us because he loves us. The more than 1,000 prophecies in the Bible reveals that God is absolutely vested in the affairs of man. His guiding hand is evident throughout the pages of history. Bible prophecy indicates that what happens is not coincidence. God knows, God cares. God allows free will, but prophecy notes that he intervenes for the betterment of humanity, despite the fact that most of humanity rejects him. In the Old Testament book of Daniel we read that in the last days, knowledge shall increase. What's Daniel saying? Is he saying that in the end times there'll be an increase in the understanding of science and medicine and technology? No. The knowledge Daniel said would increase does not reference technology. It references spiritual knowledge. According to Daniel's prophecy in the last days, in these days, there will be an increase in the understanding of biblical prophecy. In recent decades, there's been a new level of understanding of biblical prophecy. This has led to many new ministries being established and resources like this video being made available. Good teachings on Bible prophecy are more available now than ever before, but so are false teachings. Believers must beware and as scripture teaches study to show yourself approved unto God to rightly divide or interpret the word of truth. Now for a moment, I wanna talk about some of the prophetic warnings we can find in the book of 2 Timothy. These are warnings concerning how you should be living your life. There are warnings about the type of company you should be keeping. And in the Bible, there are warnings about the consequences of sin and disobedience. There are warnings telling you to take heed, to be watchful of the signs and the times. But I wanna focus on the warnings in 2 Timothy chapter three. The warnings in this chapter are incredibly powerful because they focus on the culture of today and on society. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Timothy chapter three verse one to five. But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasible, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God. In this warning, you'll find that Paul is warning Timothy that people will be corrupt and fall away from God. People that have a form of godliness, but they won't have the power of God working in their lives. When you read 2 Timothy three and go through the list of how people and society will be, the Bible tells you that. People will be lovers of self, meaning they'll be narcissistic, self-focused. This is obviously against the command to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind. People will be lovers of money and impelled by greed. How much of this can we see in this day and age? How much greed is there in this world? Yet the word of God tells us to be free from the love of money. As you go further and further down this list, you find that people are described as unloving, devoid of natural human affection. They're boastful and arrogant. So as Christians, I want you to answer the following question. As an individual, are you standing firm in a pagan world? Will you let society control how you will act or how you will live your life? Will you follow the crowd and the majority as they love themselves more than they love God? Be very careful that you're not found at the characteristics named in 2 Timothy 3. Be very careful that unbelieving and unfaithful and uncaring people don't change you. Beware of the false prophets, the false doctrines and the false teachers, because they will try, because they will try to poison your thinking and dismantle your faith. In these last days, make sure that you are ready for his return and do not be like the world. But let the world see Christ through you. The behavior of this world does not surprise God. The standards and immortality of this world does not catch God by surprise. And let me tell you this, it shouldn't surprise us that the church of Christ, either. We simply need to make sure that we're focused on Jesus Christ above all else. Focus on God above everything else and do not be like the rest of the world. Be an example of God's wonderful work. And so to reiterate why we need Bible prophecy, it is given so that we can have confidence in the integrity of the Bible. The prophecies and scriptures substantiate the claim that the Bible is true. I believe prophecies are given that we might grow in two key areas. Number one, we are to grow in our confidence in God. We can trust God because prophecy reveals that God is always in control. He knows the beginning from the end, nothing takes Him by surprise, and nothing takes place without His knowledge. He declares beforehand what is to take place. So we'll know that He is Lord, Lord of the past, Lord of the present, and Lord of the future. Prophecies then are at least in part, given that we might grow in our confidence in God and grow in our love for God. And I believe prophecies are given so we can have confidence in the accuracy and inspired nature of the Word of God, which will help us be a powerful and compelling witness for God. In the sophisticated science-based world we live in today, it is prophecy, the unblemished, outstanding record of fulfilled Bible prophecy that provides Christians with a powerful, irrefutable witnessing tool. Utilizing Bible prophecy in your witness can make your case for Christ extremely compelling. It's one of the most effective witnessing methods in our spiritual toolbox. In our world today, it's not enough. It's just not enough to say. I simply believe people want to know why. And for many, it's not a compelling argument when a believer says, "I believe because pastor so-and-so said so-and-so, or I believe because my prayer was answered." Those answers are likely a little too subjective. The study of Bible prophecy is not subjective. It's objective, it's scientific. It provides empirical proof that the Bible is true and that God has a plan and to a large extent has revealed that plan through Bible prophecy. Knowing Bible prophecy will help you be able to touch the skeptics mind and heart. You can look at when the prophecy was given, where the prophecy was given, to whom it was given, and you can look and see how prophecy was perfectly fulfilled. It's scientific. The accuracy of Bible prophecy is observable and irrefutable. This has been your weekly message from Darkness to Light. Thanks again for joining us today. [BLANK_AUDIO]