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John 10:24:
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus responded to His inquisitors in verses 25-28:
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We need to know plainly who this Jesus Christ is. Jesus speaks plainly of Himself in John 14:6:
…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
• Jesus Christ is the way—the only way of salvation.
• Jesus Christ is the truth—God’s truth to all men.
• Jesus Christ is the life—abundant life here and eternal life hereafter.
Have you found the way, the truth, and the life? Have you been born again—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God? Would you like to start over? Would you like a new life and not just a new leaf? Would you like to have all your sins forgiven and forgotten? Would you like the power to live a Godly life? GodSaidManSaid has good news. Today is your day of salvation—your day for answers. Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. Do it now. We’ll wait for you here. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, Acts 3:13-18:
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
MAN SAID: Bible prophecies are simply rants of old men. The prophecies are vague, convoluted, twisted and massaged to fit the speaker’s whim.
Now THE RECORD. God employs prophecy as one platform to prove that He is. He tells the end from the beginning and challenges man to attempt to do the same. When the laws of probability are engaged, the absurd impossibility of man making the Biblical predictions and having them come to pass is evident.
Isaiah 41:21-24:
21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
The Bible prophecies cited here will not only have the support of unfathomable odds that they were made by God, but we will supply the foundation of all proof: witnesses – collaborated, reliable, historic witness.
Many years ago, a friend of mine who was deeply bound by drugs surrendered his heart to Jesus Christ and was delivered instantly from heroin addiction, alcohol, and nicotine. First, he attended a church service where he made a token commitment to Jesus Christ, but the life-changing miracle had not taken place. Several days later my wife and I invited him to the house for dinner. After dinner I showed him various Old Testament prophecies that foretold the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ hundreds, even thousands of years before He came to the earth. It was at this moment when he was exposed to the marvelous prophecies of God that he was truly born again.
In the Old Testament, there are over 300 prophetic references to Jesus Christ. His life, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection are foretold, as well as His second coming, His return to earth at the battle of Armageddon, and more. In this feature, we will list a few.
Nearly 1800 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Genesis 49:10 records:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
The word Shiloh means “tranquil or secure,” and it was where the house of God rested prior to Jerusalem.
The ruling scepter would abide in the Hebrew tribe of Judah until it would be passed onto the Messiah who Himself would be of the lineage of King David who was of the tribe of Judah. This prophecy was fulfilled in the lineage of Jesus Christ as the Apostle Matthew records in chapter 1:1:
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The Jewish leadership in the time of Christ was fully aware of His generational connection to King David. This caused concern, for it meant He had at least one of the requirements to indeed be the Messiah. The following excerpt is from the ancient (70-200 AD) Jewish, Babylonian Talmud:
(Rabbi) Ulla said, “Would you believe that any defence would have been so zealously sought for him? He was a deceiver, and the All-merciful says: ‘You shall not spare him, neither shall you conceal him.’ It was different with Jesus, for he was near to the kingship.” [End of quote]
Several other New Testament authors record the fulfillment of the prophecy made in Genesis 49:10. Keep in mind that man said God’s prophecies are vague and convoluted.
Approximately 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ the prophet Isaiah, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, prophesied in chapter 7:14:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
God said He would give us a sign. The sign was a woman who had not known man sexually would conceive and have a son—a miraculous sign and a biological impossibility. The Apostle Matthew certifies the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy in chapter 1:18-25:
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, also declares the fulfillment of this great miracle.
The Christian claim to Isaiah’s prophecy was well known among the Jewish hierarchy. They did not deny His existence. Their official stand was and is that Jesus Christ was a bastard—a fatherless child—for if, in fact, He was born of a virgin, then they would have crucified the Messiah.
Over 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Micah 5:2-4 prophesies:
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
It is of interest to note that Jesse and his sons, which included King David, were from Bethlehem.
God, as one should expect, is the very master of detail. The meaning of the name Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, is the “House of Bread.” Jesus Christ is known to the saints as “the bread of life.” John 6:35:
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Matthew 2:1 announces the fulfillment of God’s prophecy concerning His only begotten son Christ Jesus:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Luke 2:4-7:
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
John 7:42:
Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Are these, as man claims, vague and convoluted prophecies? You be the judge.
Over 500 years BC, the prophet Zechariah speaks of the old covenant being broken at the advent of Jesus Christ and supernaturally foretells of 30 pieces of silver and the potter’s field. Zechariah 11:10-13:
10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
The Apostle Matthew reports the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy in chapter 26:14-16:
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
And then in Matthew 27:3-10:
3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.
Around 1,000 B.C., King David prophesied of Jesus Christ in Psalms 22, speaking graphically of the crucifixion. Just one example is verse 16:
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
Doubting Thomas speaks in the gospel of John 20:25:
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Zechariah 13:6 speaks of the results of the crucifixion. When Christ returns to the earth in the day of judgment some people will respond as the verse declares:
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Over 1,000 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God foretells the future in Psalms 22:18:
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
The Apostle Mark in chapter 15:24:
And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
Statistician Dr. Peter Stoner calculated the odds of a man making just 48 of the Biblical prophecies of the coming of Jesus Christ and having them come to pass. The odds of a man making these predictions and having them come to pass are one in one followed by 144 zeroes—a number so huge that language can’t label it. The chance of any man just making eight of the prophecies and having them come to pass is one in a hundred million billion. If a mortal has one chance in a hundred million billion of successfully making these predictions, then the other side of this equation would simply say that all the numbers in a hundred million billion with the exception of one, are the chances these prophecies were made by a supernatural God.
Reviewing just a handful of these marvelous prophecies reminds me of Hebrews 10:4-7:
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Men deny this Christ because their deeds are evil.
They cry out, “Prove it!” But truth they cannot see, and proof they really do not want.
GOD SAID, Acts 3:13-18:
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
MAN SAID: Bible prophecies are simply rants of old men. The prophecies are vague, convoluted, twisted and massaged to fit the speaker’s whim.
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
Authorized King James Version
House, W.H., Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament, Zondervan, 1981
Pavelek, M., “The Prophecies, The Odds & The Savior,” Sermon
www.powertochange.com, True Prophecies
