The Bible Is About
True Human Experiences
One element that makes the Bible so
believable is its determination to show the good and bad side of key biblical
figures. No other book of its kind presents people who are heroes as fearful
when they are facing battle, as having doubts about God, or as making huge
moral mistakes.
David, a man after God’s own heart –
Slept with Bathsheba and had her soldier husband,Uriah killed to cover it up.
Peter watched Jesus
perform miracles, and walked on water was intimidated by a young girl's
questioning about his association with Jesus while his trial was happening.
The Old Testament
Supports the New Testament (Prophecies fulfilled)
The Old Testament contains more than
125 predictions about the Messiah. By fulfilling these prophecies, Jesus proved
that He was indeed the Messiah. He also proved that the Bible was the result of
a supernatural revelation.
Mathematicians have calculated the odds of Jesus fulfilling
only 8 of the Messianic prophecies as 1 out of 1017 (a 1 followed by
17 zeros). This is equivalent to covering the entire state of Texas with silver
dollars 2 feet deep, marking one of them, mixing them all up and having a
blind-folded person select the marked one at random the first time.
Fulfilled prophecy is powerful evidence that the Bible is
divine rather than human in origin.
Objection: Jesus manipulated events
to fulfill prophecy. Answer: (a) Many prophecies were out of his control
(ancestry, place of birth, time of death). (b) His miracles confirmed Jesus to
be the Messiah. (c) In order to manipulate all the people (including his
enemies) and even his disciples to make it appear that he was the Messiah,
Jesus would have needed supernatural powers. If he had such powers, he must
have been the Messiah he claimed to be.
Here are a few examples that show
the prophetic bond between the OT and NT.
1. The
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 "But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of
you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from
of old, from ancient times."
Matthew 2:4-5 When
he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law,
he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what
the prophet has written:…
2. The
Messiah would be born of a virgin
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore
the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will
give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Luke 1:34-36 "How
will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The
angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the
Son of God.
3. The
Messiah would be a descendant of David
Jeremiah 23:5 “The
days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David righteous
Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
Luke 1:31-33 You
will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will
be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants
forever; his kingdom will never end.”
4. The
Messiah would be betrayed by a friend
Psalm 41:9 Even
my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel
against me.
John 13:18 I
am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to
fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against
me. John 13:26-27 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom
I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then,
dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon
as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
5. Lots
would be cast for His clothes
Psalm 22:18 They
divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
Matthew 27:35 When
they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
6. The Messiah would be pierced.
Zechariah 12:10-11 "And I will pour out on the house of
David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They
will look on me, the one they have pierced.
John 19:33-34 But
when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break
his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers
pierced Jesus' side with a spear,
John 19:36-37 These
things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his
bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will
look on the one they have pierced."
KEY TEXT
Famous Unwritten Letter to Paul
This is a letter that could have been
written to the Apostle Paul had he applied for missionary service under some of
today’s modern missionary boards:
Rev. Saul (Apostle) Paul / Independent
Missionary / Corinth. Greece
Dear Mr. Paul:
We
recently received an application from you for service under our Board. It is
our policy to be as frank and open-minded as possible with all of our
applicants. We have made an exhaustive survey of your case. To be plain, we are
surprised that you have been able to “pass” as a bonafide missionary. We are
told that you are afflicted with a severe vision problem. This is certain to be
an insufferable handicap to an effective ministry. We require 20-20 vision.
Do you think it seemly for a
missionary to do part-time secular work? We heard that you are making tents on
the side. In a letter to the Church at Philippi you admitted that they were the
only church supporting you. We wonder why?
Is it true that you have a jail
record? Certain brethren report that you did two years’ time at Caesarea, and
were imprisoned at Rome.
You made so much trouble for the
businessmen at Ephesus that they refer to you as “the man who turned the world
upside down. Sensationalism has no place in missions! We also deplore the lurid
over-the-wall episode at Damascus. We are appalled at your obvious lack of
conciliatory behavior. Diplomatic men are not stoned and dragged out of the
city gate, or assaulted by furious mobs. Have you ever suspected that gentler
words might gain you more friends? I enclose a copy of Dalius Carnagus’ book,
“How to Win Jews and Influence Greeks.”
In one of your letters you refer to
yourself as Paul the Aged. Our new mission policies do not anticipate a surplus
of elderly recipients. We understand, too that you are given to fantasies and
dreams. At Troas, you saw, “A man of Macedonia” and at another time you were
“caught up into the third heaven” and even claimed that “the Lord stood by”
you. We reckon that more realistic and practical minds are needed in the task
of world evangelism.
You have written many letters to
churches where you have formerly been pastor. In one of these letters, you
accused a church member of living with his father’s wife, and you caused the
whole church to feel badly and the poor fellow was expelled.
Your ministry has been far too
flightly to be successful. First Asia Minor, then Macedonia, then Greece, then
Italy, and now you are talking about a wild-goose chase to Spain. Concentration
is more important than dissipation of one’s powers. You cannot win the whole
world by yourself! You are just one little Paul. In a recent sermon you said,
“God forbid that I should glory in anything save the Cross of Christ.” It seems
to us that you also ought to glory in our heritage, the denominational programs
and the unified budget.
Your sermons are much too long for the
time. At one place you talked until after midnight and a young man was so
sleepy that he fell out of the window and broke his neck. Nobody is saved after
the first 20 minutes. “Stand up, speak up, and shut up,” is our advice.
Dr. Luke reports that you are a thin
little man, bald, frequently sick, and always so agitated over your churches
that you sleep very poorly. He reports that you parade around the house,
praying half the night. A healthy mind in a robust body is our ideal for all
applicants. A good night’s sleep will give you zest and zip so that you wake up
full of zing!
You wrote recently to Timothy that you
had “fought a good fight.” Fighting is hardly a recommendation for a
missionary. No fighting is a good fight. Jesus came not to bring a sword, but
peace. You boast that “I fought with wild beasts of Ephesus.” What on earth do
you mean?
It hurts me to tell you this, brother
Paul, but in all of the 25 years of my experience, I have never met a man so
opposite to the requirements of our Foreign Missions board. If we accepted you,
we would break every rule of modern missionary practice.
Most Sincerely yours,
J. Flavius Fluffyhead, Sec. Foreign
Missions Board
PAUL – SET APART
There is one thing that sets Paul
apart from the majority of us – that is his attitude. His attitude about his
own conversion – it was real. His attitude about God – he feels indebted to God
for all he has done for him. His
attitude about other people. Even though
he was highly educated and sophisticated, he didn’t care if people were Jews or
Greeks, slave or free, smart or stupid – he saw each person as a person who
deserved hearing the gospel, His attitude about faith – the essential quality
to experience God through Jesus Christ.
Listen to his attitude come through this text:
Romans
1:14-17
I
am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the
gospel also to you who are at Rome. 16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God
is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Unlike
temperament, personality, even character, the one thing we all have that we can
change in an instant for good or evil is our attitude. Our attitude determines our vision which
determines our actions. Attitude is not
measured by saying the glass is half full or half empty, it is determined by
whether you are pouring or drinking, whether you are giving or taking. Are you a person who cares about what God is
doing – then know that he is not doing it just for you – His purposes are much
higher than one person. God wants to
grow his Kingdom and your attitude is the first thing that will determine your
participation in that kingdom, including its rewards. Just beyond attitude is faith – attitude is
not enough but is a start. Your attitude
must be accompanied by faith to believe Phil 1:6 that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus.
ADDITIONAL OLD TESTAMENT MESSIANIC PROPHECIES FULFILLED
Messianic
Prophecies
Topic
|
Old Testament
|
New Testament
|
Messiah
to be the seed of the Woman
|
||
Messiah
to be the seed of Abraham
|
||
Messiah
to be of the tribe of Judah
|
||
Messiah
to be of the seed of David
|
||
Messiah
to be born of a virgin
|
||
Messiah
to be born in Bethlehem
|
||
Tribute
paid to Messiah by great kings
|
||
Messiah
to be heralded by a messenger
|
||
Messiah
to be the Son of God
|
||
Messiah
to be anointed by the Holy Spirit
|
||
Galilee
to be the first area of Messiah's ministry
|
||
Messiah
to be meek and mild
|
||
Messiah
to minister to the Gentiles
|
||
Messiah
will perform miracles
|
||
Messiah
to be a prophet like Moses
|
||
Messiah
to enter the temple with authority
|
||
Messiah
will enter Jerusalem on a donkey
|
||
Messiah
to be betrayed by a friend
|
||
Messiah
to be forsaken by his disciples
|
||
Messiah
will be smitten
|
||
Messiah
to experience crucifixion
(long
before crucifixion was invented)
|
||
Messiah
will be pierced
|
||
Details
of Messiah's suffering and death
and
resulting salvation (hundreds of
years
before Christ!)
|
||
Casting
of lots for His garments
|
||
Messiah
to be raised from the dead
|
||
Messiah's
resurrection
|
||
Messiah
to ascend to heaven
|
||
Messiah
to be at the right hand of God
|
||
Messiah,
the stone which the builders
rejected,
to become the head cornerstone
|
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