The More Sure Word | Sunday, August 17, 2025

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and the team. Good morning, Prospection. You guys can have a seat. Anony is giving us the VH1 Unplugged version today. Very good. It's a good reminder that God is able and faithful.

In thinking of God being able and faithful, we want to do something special this morning. We invite all of our youth and all of our children's ministry to join us today because a number of our students started school last week, and a whole bunch more are starting school next week or in the next few weeks. Every single one of these students is super excited about it, I'm sure, or not, but the parents are excited about that.

One of the things we like to do, which we started last year, is to pray for all our students. You guys can all filter in. Come on down even further. You can fill up on this step, too. Come on up; no problem. Look at all these students! This is awesome. Our youth ministry and our children's ministry are all coming in, and we want to lift these students up to the Lord at the beginning of this school year. We ask you to pray for them with us today and also throughout this school year.

Right here before us, we have another generation coming up. Praise the Lord! I believe God has created and made them for such a time as this. The Scriptures say that David, in Psalm 139, mentions that God knit him together in his mother's womb. Jeremiah, speaking through the Lord, says, "Before I formed you, I knew you, and I called you and set you to be a prophet to the nations for a specific task." The Apostle Paul, in Galatians, said he was brought forth from the womb unto a purpose.

God created every single one of you in this room, and these students as well, for such a time as this and for a purpose. He is molding them through school and through their education in our Sunday school and youth ministry. So, I’m going to ask all of you to stand with us as we lift them up to the Lord for this school year.

God, thank you so much for these students here. It’s so cool to see them come in, sometimes because they are in the rooms off to the children's ministry and the youth ministry. Lord, we can lose sight of the fact that you are doing a work, just as you said through the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, I do a new thing."

This is a new generation that God is doing a new work through. We ask, God, that you would pour out a blessing upon them. We thank you so much for those who are part of our kids and youth ministry. As they go back to school, whether they have already returned this past week or will be going back in the next several weeks, we ask that you would protect them and bless them on these school campuses.

We pray for the staff and faculty at these schools, God, that you would do a work in the lives of those in the administration. If they do not already know you, may they come to know you. We ask that you would continue to raise up this generation to be lights. Lord, help these students to be a light to their friends, teachers, and faculty on the campuses. Would you bless them this school year? Go before them. We thank you so much for them and for those within our church who are serving them in the youth ministry and children's ministry. Pour a blessing upon them as well. We pray for this school year, asking you to do a work through each of these students in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you all for coming in here. It is so good to see you. As I said, you can be seated. Please be praying for these students. Starting a school year can be anxiety-producing. Some of you may have been triggered this morning just thinking about it. New teachers, new classes, new subjects, and new schedules can sometimes be a real challenge. So, please keep our students in your prayers.

I also wanted to announce a ministry I have been a part of for years called Enduring Word. One of the things that Enduring Word does is take tours. We have gone on, I think, three of them so far. A lot of times, we make our way to Israel, but last time we were 100 miles off the coast of Israel when the terrorist attack happened in October of 2023, so we weren't able to go. This year, the tour is not going to Israel, but we are going to places like Rome, Malta, Athens, and Ephesus, among others.

Pastor David will be speaking during this tour, along with myself, Pastor Lance from Calvary Oxnard, and Chuck Muselwhite, who pastors in Lompoc. This tour is scheduled for September of next year, 2026. If you're interested, we have some flyers available either in the office or out on the table at the connection point. If this is something that piques your interest, it is going to be a great trip, so please check that out.

As we zero in on the close of summer and the summer series we have been going through, it is important to consider that this is the 1700th anniversary of the Nyine Council and the Nyine Creed. We have been looking at the text of the Nyine Creed and the scripture that essentially built that creed. Throughout this series, we have been considering the doctrine surrounding God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Last week, we focused on a section of the Nyine Creed that has become controversial and has caused division within the Christian church, especially over the last thousand years. My plan this week was to focus on the portion of the creed that discusses the church. There has been division in the church due to some of the issues in the section we examined last week. However, God has a church that He has called forward. The term "church" simply means the gathering, and we are the gathering of God's people.

As I was planning to discuss the church this week, something in the creed caught my attention, and I thought it would be best not to pass over it. Therefore, I am going to ask you to stand one more time, and we will read through the creed together, as we have done every week this summer. You all are getting better and better at this, while I seem to keep messing it up. So, let’s read together, beginning where we left off:

"We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake, He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who..."

Proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

God, we do as we just said there. We look forward to Your return. We look forward to the time when we will see You and know even as we are known. We look forward to the life of the world to come, where it is said that there will be no more suffering, no more sorrow, no sin, and no tears. Lord, we say as You called us to say, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We pray, God, that Your will would be done in our lives, that You would continue to do the work that You are desiring to do in each of us, where You are forming and fashioning us more and more into the likeness of Your children.

May our lives show forth what is Your good and perfect will, that it would demonstrate an abundance of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. God, would You cause those things to grow increasingly more in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters here? If there are any areas of our lives that are like dead branches, would You prune those, as You are the vine dresser? Lord, help us to be more fruitful for Your glory and for Your kingdom. For we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated.

About six months ago, I got a phone call from a friend of mine who is a senior pastor in the area. He said, "Is there any chance I could come over to your office and we could meet and talk? I have a few questions to ask you." I said, "Sure. Yeah, if I can help you, I'd love to help you." Then he told me this: "You know, I was thinking about it, and of all the pastors in Escondido, you are the longest-tenured senior pastor in Escondido." I went, "Wait, what are you saying? Because you just made me feel really old."

I've been the senior pastor of this church for 17 years, but I've been pastoring here within the leadership of this church for 26 years, which does make me feel moderately old when I hear that. You know, it's cliché to say it, but time does go by very quickly. But during...

That period of time, or the last 26 years, as a pastor, has led me to receive a lot of questions about the Bible, theology, and God. Among the questions I’ve received, I would say that at least in the top five, there is often one related to the last days. The discussion of the end times, the last days, that great word that causes shivers to go through people: apocalypse.

The word "apocalypse" comes from the Greek "apocalypsis," which means the revealing. An apocalypsis is to reveal or to make known something that was previously a mystery. It is about opening and exposing. The apocalypse is the exposing of the revelation of God, revealing to us something that God is doing.

These questions about the last days and the end times seem to be among the top five inquiries I normally receive. As a pastor, I often get asked about God's will, purpose, and plan for individual lives. We receive many questions about marriage or parenting, but frequently, it is the question of whether this is the last time or if these are the last days.

Did you know that this question is actually moderately easy to answer according to the Scriptures? If you have a Bible, you can open it with me to the book of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews chapter 1. I believe Hebrews 1:1 says, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, note this, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds."

According to Hebrews 1:2, the answer to the question, "Are we living in the last days?" is a clear yes. Now, that’s a challenging one for some because many of you know that this letter was written nearly 2,000 years ago. So, hold on a second. This is a 2,000-year-old letter. That was the last days. These are the last days. Yes, maybe we are in the last of the last days. We are certainly further along in the last days than they were when whoever authored the book of Hebrews wrote it.

According to the Scriptures, from the time that Jesus ascended into heaven, we are living during a period that the Bible refers to as the last days. The Apostle Peter also calls this the last times. In 1 Peter 1:20, he says, "Jesus indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world."

The world was manifest in these last times for you. Since Jesus ascended into heaven, we are living during the last period of God's planned work according to what is revealed in the Scriptures here upon the earth. We are living in the last times; we are living in the last days. That is what the Scriptures call this. This is also referred to in the Bible as the church age.

When Jesus, before He ascended into heaven, commissioned His followers to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all nations, He called people to become a part of the church, the gathering of the people of Christ, the people of God. So, we are living in the church age. Some people also point out that the Bible refers to this time as the time of the Gentiles.

What is that? In the first two-thirds of the Bible, under the old covenant, God's primary work was through a specific single people group: the descendants of Abraham, the children of Israel. However, His goal during that period was to reach all peoples. Now we are living during the time where we are seeing the execution of that plan; God is reaching all peoples. That is why He said to His disciples, "Go to all nations."

In the fulfillment of this last times or last days, church age, and time of the Gentiles, when the second coming of Christ happens, the Bible says that there will be people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group gathered together around the throne of God, worshiping Him. Ultimately, God's plan to reach all peoples will be accomplished during this last period of time in the last days through the church age, the time of the Gentiles.

So, are we living in the last times? That is the question I have received many times as a pastor. The answer to the question is an obvious biblical yes. Yes, we are living in the last times, the last days. But there is a follow-on question that comes with that. When someone is asking about the apocalypse or the last times, the last days, what they are really asking is, will Christ's second coming happen soon?

Do you realize that Christians in every generation since the first generation of Christians have anticipated that Jesus would come soon? That was the Apostle Paul's expectation; he anticipated the coming of Christ during his time. Why? Because Jesus had told His followers, "Behold, I will come soon."

So, we have been waiting for 2,000 years, which has not seemed soon to us. But the fact is that for every single one of you here today, you will have a personal appointment with Christ.

Will come in your lifetime at the end of your lifetime. But you will meet Him at some point. Now, prophetically speaking, there is a time when Christ will come to establish His rule and reign forever and ever upon the earth. That is the second coming, and we are looking forward to that.

Between the time that Jesus ascended into heaven and the time that He will return, just as the Scriptures foretold, He will come in like manner as He ascended. He will come in the clouds, coming from the sky once again. In between the time of His ascension and His coming, what are we to be doing now?

Well, in the longest portion of Scripture where Jesus talks about His second coming, it is recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chapters 24 and 25, and in Luke's Gospel, I believe chapter 21. This teaching is called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus taught it when He was on the Mount of Olives on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. In that passage, as He talks about His second coming, He wraps it up with three stories, three parables, giving three applications at the end.

I talked about this a few weeks ago, but it's important. He says the application for you and me, who are seeking God, serving God, and walking with God until He comes, is to be waiting, watching, and working. That is our task: to be waiting on the Lord, but kind of like waiting upon the Lord like a waiter, serving Him and watching, looking for Him to return. We are to be working, doing the work that He set us to do so that when He comes, we might hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord." That is what we are looking forward to.

So, our task until He comes is to be waiting, watching, and working. These things that have to do with the apocalypse or the last days are fun and interesting to think about, talk about, and get into. I certainly would like to talk about them, and I will talk about them in the future. I will share more about that a little bit later.

But this morning, I wanted to focus on something connected to this idea about the last times and the last days from the Nicene Creed. This section states that the Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets, exactly what Hebrews chapter 1 says. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son.

So, the Holy Spirit, as the Nicene Creed that we read together a moment ago says, has spoken through the prophets. Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning, is that God has revealed Himself so that we might...

Know His will and His ways. This is crucial. It is such an important point that we understand this reality about the Christian faith. The Christian faith is, in large part, built upon the reality of the revelation of God. What we know as the Scriptures reveals the person and work of Jesus Christ. That is the revelation of God. God has revealed Himself so that we might know His will and His ways.

I think it is crucial and important for us to recognize this in light of the context we live in, in our culture here in 2025. You see, 250 years ago, when our nation was just getting started, there was not only a new political project happening in the Western world, but there was also a shift in the worldview, philosophy, and mindset of the people living in this culture. There was a shift away from what had historically been, for many hundreds of years, the worldview of people in the Western world, which was very much a theistic worldview. This worldview held that there is a God in heaven who made everything we see and even the things we don't see, and that God is intimately involved with us and with our lives.

However, there was a shift 250 years ago in the way that people understood this, moving from theism to something called deism. I'm sure you've probably heard that many of the founders of our nation were not theists; they were deists. There is some truth to that. Benjamin Franklin was a deist, and Thomas Jefferson was a deist. The work that they pulled from John Locke, whose political theories are core to what became the United States of America, reflects this. John Locke believed in God, but he was a deist.

So, what exactly is a deist? If a theist is someone who believes in a transcendent but imminent God who is personally involved in our lives, who made us for His purposes and is actively working in our lives, what does a deist believe? A deist believes that there is indeed a transcendent God, who is the first cause of everything that was made. However, like a clock, He wound up this universe, set it forth, and is not really interested or involved in it any longer.

In a deistic worldview, it is believed that the God who made everything is as far away as possible from this world, perhaps somewhere on the edge of the universe, if He is even a part of it at all. He is not in this universe; maybe He is out creating new universes, but He is not here. For those who were present at the start of our country, individuals like Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who read from the works of John Locke, would have said that God is not imminent. He is not the triune God that we just spoke about in the creed. We believe in God the Father, the maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus the Son. We believe in the Holy Spirit. In this deistic view, there is not that triune God. He is not fully personal. Not only is He not personal, but He is also not personally invested in our lives. He is not sovereign over human affairs. He is not providential. Therefore, if that is true, then He has not, at various times and in various ways, spoken to us by the prophets, as the book of Hebrews says, or spoken to us by His Son.

There are some important keys to consider in response to that. First, the God that is pictured in the deistic worldview is not the God that is revealed in the pages of Scripture. God, as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, is interested. He is not distant; He is near. Yes, He transcends; He is outside of, above, or beyond this creation that He spoke into existence, but He is also imminent. That is the worldview that theologians have put forward from the Scriptures for centuries. God is transcendent, but He is also imminent. He is not distant, disinterested, impersonal, or uninvolved with His creation. He is actually intimately involved in it. The God of the Bible is not the God of Benjamin Franklin. He is not the God of John Locke or Descartes.

The second thing to consider within our culture is that, as many people in our culture—specifically in San Diego, California, in 2025—see Him, God is actually more like this deistic, disinterested, impersonal, uninvolved, distant God. In 2005, two sociologists, academic individuals who study society, conducted research on 3,000 teenagers from the late 1990s until the early 2000s. That was my time as a teenager.

I was a teenager in the 1990s. Two sociologists studied teenagers during that period, which was so much fun. They examined 3,000 teenagers, and the results of their findings were published in a book in 2005 called "Soul Searching." The subtitle was "The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers." I'm sure this will be at the top of your fall reading list.

The authors, Christian Smith and Melinda Denton, wrote this book, and what did they find? In their findings, they focused on teenagers from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, who are now in their 40s. Their kids just came up here and got prayed for. What was their worldview? These two sociologists summed it up in three words: moralistic therapeutic deism.

What is that? The "deism" part suggests that there is a God who exists primarily to make you happy. He wants you to have a good life. The therapeutic aspect indicates that the only time He really gets involved is when you have a crisis or a problem, and you cry out to Him. His role is to come in and fix it.

Moralistic therapeutic deism posits that all God cares about is that you are good, kind, and fair to people. Many teenagers in the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as many people in our culture today, would say that all religions teach you to be good, kind, and fair to others, and that all good people will ultimately go to heaven. This is the predominant worldview of many people living in Southern California in 2025.

However, I remind you that God, as He is depicted in the Bible, is not distant, disinterested, impersonal, or uninvolved in His creation. That is not what the Scriptures reveal. The Scriptures show that this transcendent God is near to us, as the Nicene Creed makes very clear. He has revealed Himself to us through the prophets. The Holy Spirit spoke to us by the prophets, as we just read in the creed from Hebrews.

God, in various ways and at various times, spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Why did He do this? He did this so that He might reveal Himself to us. He wants to reveal His will, and He wants to reveal His way.

In saying this, I have had all kinds of conversations with people over the years about these very things. I share that reality with them, that this is what the Bible teaches: God wants to be involved in our lives. He created us for a purpose and is intimately aware of the things we are going through. I have had people say to me, and maybe you've heard this as well, "That sounds really good. How do I know that that's true?" That is the question. How do I know that this is actually true?

One of the answers to that question lies in this statement: He has spoken through the prophets. Let me say it another way. Prophetic scripture is the fingerprint of God on the pages of history. One of the proofs, not the only proof, or one of the validations, I would say, that there is a God who is intimately aware of our lives and this world, and involved in those things, is fulfilled prophetic scripture.

If you've been a part of Cross Connection Church for any length of time, you know that I am not typically the eschatology Bible guy. I don't talk about these things frequently. But even though that's the case, I am still convinced that God's voice through the prophets reveals His hand in history. It shows us that He actually is aware of what is going on.

This is what apologists, those who speak reasons for the defense of the Christian faith, would call the argument from fulfilled prophecy. There are prophetic passages in the Bible, many of them, that were predictions which ultimately had fulfillments in history. Those fulfillments of those predictions point to the fact that whoever inspired this text, the Bible that we read from, knew what was going to happen before it happened.

Now, let me ask you a question. If you had a friend who knew the future before it happened, well, for one, you'd be a lot richer than you are. But how cool would it be to know someone who knows things before they happen? The one who inspired these words reveals that He knows what is going to come.

Before it happens, God tells us what is going to come. Then it happens to validate that these things are true. How do I know that there is a God in heaven who is transcendent but also intimately involved in our lives right now? He has revealed Himself; His fingerprints are like those on a crime scene. In this creation, there are the fingerprints of God, where He tells us what is going to come to pass before it happens.

The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 46, speaks for God, saying that He is greater than the idols that the children of Israel were bowing down to during that period of time. Those idols are deaf, dumb, and blind. They cannot see, touch, or speak; they have nothing. You should not bow down to them because they cannot do anything. I prove that I am who I say I am because I can tell you what happens before it happens, and none of your idols can do that. Therefore, fulfilled Bible prophecy is proof of God's existence and of divine inspiration.

The apostles, the followers of Jesus, believed and taught this. The Apostle Peter, in Second Peter chapter 1, states in verse 16, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the excellent glory: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain."

So we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy never came by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Point number three: God is unknowable apart from special revelation. He is unknowable apart from any form of revelation except that creation sounds forth to us that there is a Creator. This is called general revelation. There are three different kinds of revelation. General revelation comes in the form of three different ways. First, in creation. The psalmist writes in Psalm 19, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth shows..."

Forth His handiwork. Everything that exists had a cause. The universe exists; therefore, the idea is that the universe has a cause. God is the cause, the unmoved mover, the uncaused causer of all of these things. He is the one who made these things. The heavens and everything in them declare that there is a God. Creation tells us that there is a God. This is general revelation.

Another aspect of general revelation is consciousness. You are consciously aware that you are here right now in this place. This place is tangible to your senses. Your conscious awareness is an indication that you exist and that this exists, and that this did not come to exist apart from nothing. So, consciousness is a form of general revelation.

The third aspect, as Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, is conscience. You know what is true, good, beautiful, and what is right and wrong. You have a moral law written upon your heart, and that conscience is an indication of a moral lawgiver. Through creation, consciousness, and conscience, you have general revelation that there is a God who made you.

The problem with this is that there are certain things that we cannot know and do not know according to general revelation. We don't know what this God is like, His nature, and we don't know what this God likes, His will. To know God's nature and His will, we need special revelation. God is unknowable apart from special revelation.

What is special revelation? It is where God is able to speak to us in a way that we can comprehend and understand linguistically, allowing us to grasp what His nature and His will are. Who are the people, or what do we call the people, who receive this special revelation? The Bible calls them prophets. Sometimes it calls them seers. They saw visions and received God's word from Him. These individuals tell God's word to us so that we might know His nature and His will. God wants us to know Him.

So, those are the first two kinds of revelation: general revelation through creation, consciousness, and conscience, and then special revelation through prophets, where God reveals His nature and His will. The third kind of revelation is what the author of Hebrews spoke about in Hebrews chapter 1, where he says, "God, at various times and in various ways, spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son." This is called personal revelation. This is where God comes to reveal His actual nature.

Jesus is the incarnate God come to us to reveal to us who He is and what He is all about. Jesus is the perfect expression of the nature and will of God. This is significant because, as many of you know, some of you speak multiple languages, and your native language is different from the languages you have learned. You understand that there can be a translation problem. There certainly is a translation problem when God, who is infinite, tries to speak to us, who are finite.

God says through the prophets, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." However, we don't fully understand or grasp what that means. Jesus came to personally show us what God means when He says, "I've loved you with an everlasting love." How does He do that? He says, "Greater love has no one than this, but that a man would lay down his life for his friends." God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He comes to demonstrate personally and show us clearly what it is that God means when He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love."

Under the old covenant, which comprises the first two-thirds of your Bible, known as the Old Testament, we primarily have the word of prophets revealing the nature and will of God. They tell us about God, who He is, what He is like, what He wants, and what He is doing. They foretell certain things that He is going to do in the future. In the new covenant, God in Christ Jesus has come to us, and now He has spoken to us primarily by His Son, the incarnate Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Under the new covenant, we have this word from the Lord in Christ Jesus, where we get to know what God is like.

These prophecies given in Scripture validate that all these things I am saying are true. The question then becomes, what examples do we have that God has spoken in this way and revealed Himself? If you have this book, you hold 66 books written by 40 different authors in three different languages on three different continents over a period of 1,500 years. This has a cohesive story from Genesis to Revelation. In it, God prophetically announces what He is going to do in the future in a way that is dramatic and phenomenal. I want to give you some examples this morning. I don't have a lot of time, but I will try to wrap it up quickly. There are four different...

There are areas where we see Bible prophecy being fulfilled, and at least four that I think are important. First are what we would call messianic prophecies. These are prophecies given by the Old Testament prophets from Genesis to Malachi, the first 39 books of Scripture, that point forward to the coming of the Messiah and tell us a whole bunch of different things about Him.

For example, 2,000 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God spoke to a man named Abraham and told him that he would have a child who would become a blessing to all nations. At the time, Abraham was 75 years old, and his wife, Sarah, was 65. She was barren, and they had no children. God came to him when his name was Abram, which means "father of many," and then changed his name to "father of many nations." It was like salt in the wound—father of many nations, yet he had no kids. God said, "I'm going to make you and a descendant that shall come from you a blessing to all nations." This is a messianic prophecy.

Now, that prophecy was not fulfilled for 25 years. Sarah was 90 when she realized she was pregnant. Ladies, let me ask you for a moment: how would you like to get a positive pregnancy test at 90? Probably not. But they had a child, Isaac, and God said that through Isaac, your seed will be called the one who is going to be a blessing. Ultimately, the prophecy came that the one who would come through Abraham and Isaac would also come through Isaac's son, Jacob. In Genesis 49, nearly 2,000 years before Jesus was born, it was said that He would come through the tribe of Judah, one of Jacob's sons.

Years later, in 2 Samuel 7, God prophetically announced that this child, who would come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Judah, would then come through one of Judah's descendants, a king named David. He would be of the royal line of King David.

Then, some 600 years before Jesus came, the Lord spoke through the prophet Micah in Micah chapter 5 and said that this child from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, and David would be born in the city of Bethlehem. The prophet Zechariah also prophesied that when He came into Jerusalem, He would come riding upon a donkey.

Predicted that this same one, the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David, riding on a donkey from Bethlehem, would be betrayed by one of his followers for thirty pieces of silver. I could go on and on. The Bible, theologians have told us, has three hundred distinct prophecies that are fulfilled by Jesus in His first coming—three hundred.

Now, I'm not a mathematician, and I'm not a statistician, but there are people who are much smarter than I am with numbers who have done the statistical work to see what the odds are that one person could fulfill eight of these prophecies. There are three hundred of them. You can read the books; Josh McDowell has a great book called "Evidence Which Demands a Verdict," which talks about this. Some of you probably still have it on your bookshelf somewhere. It came out in like 1980 or something.

These are messianic prophecies. From messianic prophecies, I need to talk faster and move to historic and national prophecies. The Bible not only has messianic prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus, but let me just tell you, not all the messianic prophecies are fulfilled because there are still some that are yet to be fulfilled in the future—His second coming.

There are also what we would call historic or national prophecies that have a geopolitical fulfillment in history. Let me give you an example. In Ezekiel chapter 26, the prophet Ezekiel predicted the destruction of the ancient city of Tyre, which is in modern-day Lebanon. He described how it would be destroyed two hundred years before it was fulfilled.

Now, how do skeptical historians deal with this? What they do is try to give a new timeline for Ezekiel and say, "Well, no, Ezekiel was not written in the sixth century BC; it was actually written in the second century BC." They try to change the timeline because it doesn't fit with their worldview. They hold a naturalistic worldview, so they don't believe that there is anyone outside of time who could tell you what is going to happen in time. Therefore, they have to change it.

It's not just Ezekiel. The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 13, predicted the rise of the nation-state of Babylon before Babylon was a world empire. He then described the destruction of Babylon in Isaiah 13:14 about one hundred fifty years before it happened. The prophet Nahum described, about a century before the destruction of the city of Nineveh, that Nineveh would be destroyed.

The prophet Daniel, whom we studied a couple of summers ago, described the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires.

The Roman empires existed hundreds of years before these events. Isaiah and Ezekiel both described the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah by the Babylonians, even before the Babylonians had risen to power. Isaiah is particularly remarkable; in Isaiah chapter 40, he identifies by name the Medo-Persian king Cyrus, 150 years before he came to power. He describes Cyrus by name, 50 years before it happened.

So how do skeptical historians deal with this? They claim that Isaiah didn't write the book attributed to him and that it wasn't written in the 8th century; rather, they argue it was written in the 4th century. They try to rearrange these events because they do not fit their timeline. Isaiah also predicted a later destruction of Jerusalem and described the regathering of the Jewish people, with Jerusalem becoming the focal point of the last days. He foretold that the nation of Israel would be born in one day, as described in Isaiah chapter 66. When did that happen? On May 14th, 1948, Israel was reestablished as a nation after being expelled from their land by the Romans in 70 AD under General Titus, and then finally expelled from the region of Israel in 120 AD. After 1,900 years, they were brought back to be a nation. They even revived the Hebrew language, and there are Jewish people in the Holy Land today. Why? It is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. These are historic and national prophecies.

Third, Jesus gives prophecies in the Gospels. He predicted his death by crucifixion and that he would rise again on the third day. He foretold his betrayal by one of his followers, Peter's denial, and that all of his followers would be caused to flee when he was arrested. He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem 40 years before it took place. This prediction was made in 30 AD, and Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman general Titus. He also predicted the global spread of the Gospel and the church, stating that there would be followers who would adhere to the teachings of his followers for centuries to come. Here we are today. He predicted the persecution and martyrdom of his followers, as well as the rise of false Christs. We have seen all of these things happen.

I could go on; there are hundreds of predictions and fulfillments in the Bible. I'll mention one more aspect: we have messianic prophecies.

National prophecies exist alongside Jesus's prophecies and those of New Testament writers. The Apostle Peter predicted that false teachers and scoffers would come in the last days. The Apostle Paul also predicted perilous times, which he described in the last days.

Let me read them to you from 2 Timothy 3. It states, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." I think he is describing America, having the form of godliness but denying its power. From such people, turn away.

Regardless of your interpretation, the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, seems to picture a future in the last days with global governance, a global world order characterized by unified trade, commerce, and currency. This is something we seem to be watching take place in our time. These are just some of the hundreds of Bible prophecies you will find if you study Scripture. Did you know that the Bible is filled with these?

Now, as I mentioned, I am not typically the prophecy guy. I don't talk a lot about this, but I still believe that these things are marks of divine inspiration. They indicate that this is not a typical text; there is something unique and special about the text we read and study.

Point number four, if you are taking notes: fulfilled prophecy encourages our faith in God's word and faithfulness to its author. That is certainly what it has done for me over the last 26 years. Like any other person, even though I am a pastor and a theologian who studies these things, I have times when I am tempted by doubt, wondering if these things are really true. I will tell you that these prophecies encourage my faith and faithfulness to the Scripture and its author.

We believe that God, by the Holy Spirit, has spoken through the prophets. The King James Version of the Bible states that we have the more sure word of prophecy, the prophetic word confirmed. The prophet Isaiah, as I alluded to earlier, says this in Isaiah 46:9: "Remember the former things of old, for..."

I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. How do we know this? He declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. How do we know that God is actually who He says He is? He says, "This is my validating proof. I tell you what's going to happen before it happens so that you might know that I am greater than the other gods that people bow down to, the idols of this world."

Only a transcendent God, one who is outside of time and space, but who is also an imminent God, is intimately involved with the things that are going on here in this place. Only a transcendent and imminent God can reveal the things that are coming to pass before they come to pass. He is not ambivalent. He is not distant. He is not disinterested, disengaged, impersonal, or unloving.

What are the omni attributes of God? God is omnipresent. He is here everywhere with us at all times. He is omniscient, all-knowing. He is omnipotent, all-powerful. But not only that, He is omnipersonal, desiring to have a relationship with us, and omnibenevolent, all-loving. This is God, as He is described in the Scriptures. He is the one who, as Daniel says, reveals secrets and makes known to you what will be. And let me tell you, He desires to have a relationship with you.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the worlds. He reveals these things so that we might know Him.

Point number five, and I'll wrap it up: the prophets look forward to Christ, who is the fullness of revelation embodied. Here's one of the important keys: the prophets, old and new, from the Old Testament and in the New, point to Jesus. Their focus is Christ. Therefore, if I get distracted and sidelined on all of the prophetic things of Scripture and become absorbed in all of that, and I miss Jesus, then I miss the point.

The last book of the Bible is called Revelation. Some people say "Revelations," but that's not right. It is actually called this: the Revelation of Jesus.

Christ. The whole point and purpose of it is to point us to Christ so that we might know Him more fully. Eschatology, the study of the last things, ultimately looks to Christ's rule and reign when He is King of kings and Lord of lords over His eternal kingdom.

One of my favorite Christian authors is an apologist from the latter part of the 20th century named Francis Schaeffer. In 1972, he wrote a book called "He Is There and He Is Not Silent." I love that title. The main premise of Schaeffer's book is that the deepest questions of existence—the questions that every single one of us wrestles with, such as questions of identity, purpose, origin, destiny, and morality—can only be answered by a God who both exists and who has spoken. That is the God of the Bible.

I think that Schaeffer was right. The transcendent God has spoken so that we might know that He is near, interested, personal, and involved. He desires to have a relationship with us. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds.

Jesus, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. Jesus is the express image of God; He reveals God to us. Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father."

So, get to know Jesus, and you will get to know God. You will discover that God loves you and that He conquered death and sin so that He might die in your place and in my place for our sins, making it possible for us to have life in connection with Him and with one another through Him. In Him, we are chosen, predestined, redeemed, adopted, accepted, forgiven, and blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. For all eternity, God will be demonstrating the riches of His grace toward us in Christ. That's all found in Ephesians chapter 1.

Chapter 2. Jesus is the more sure word of prophecy, and in Him dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form. You and I are only complete in Him. He has spoken to us that we might know Him.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, I thank You for the more sure word of prophecy, the word that we find in the pages of Scripture that is validated or authenticated in that You reveal to us things that are going to happen before they happen. This is done in a way that is almost so unbelievable and incredible to us that we try to make excuses for it, or we try to change the timeline, or we say that we are not interpreting it correctly. So many of these things are just so distinctly clear that they cannot be cast aside.

Lord, You did all of this so that we might know who You are, that we might have the relationship with You that You desire to have with us, and that we might experience wholeness and oneness with You. I pray that You would help us to come to the place where we are deeply desiring to get to know You, because the Scriptures say that You are the rewarder of those who diligently seek You.

God, help us to be those who are diligent seekers of You. We ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."