Have you ever stopped to consider the answers to these questions? And I don’t mean “I just know” or “Because the Bible says so.”

If the Bible is a message from God, how can God authenticate this message as being from Him? How can He demonstrate to the reader that this message is truly from Him and not some contrivance?

You can sum it up in one word: prophecy!

God authenticates His message to us by laying out events before they happen, sometimes centuries before they happen!

God says through the prophet Isaiah:

“Remember the former things long past, for I am God,and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ’My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” –Isaiah 46:9-11.

The Bible is filled with prophecy. A classic example is Psalm 22. This Psalm vividly depicts someone dying of crucifixion. But the key point is that the Psalm was written 400 years before it was even invented by the Persians, later adopted (“perfected”) by the Romans!

So then the real question becomes: if the Bible is authenticated over-and-over again by way of prophecy, thereby clearly making it a message outside of our domain of time and space, what is the implication?

The answer has to be: it is a message from the Creator of the Universe! And if that is true, then this is not just some old book that was written by some really old Jewish guys, but a love letter to mankind, written in the precious blood of the Savior of all.

May He Increase!

But I wanted to look at just a small portion of this chapter that recently stuck out at me.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. –1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

In this passage, the phrase “according to the Scriptures” appears twice. I think a lot of us gloss over this without realizing what Paul is saying. At the time Paul was writing this, what were considered “the Scriptures?”

The answer is: the Old Testament.

So that brings up a question: where in the Old Testament does it prophesy that Jesus would die for our sins, would be buried, and would be raised on the third day?

The most common answer that people would probably come up with would be Jonah. After all, Jesus said:

“An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” –Matthew 12:39-40.

But did you know there are at least three other places in the Old Testament where Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were prophesied? And not just His death (Psalm 22), not just His burial (Isaiah 53:9), but death, burial, and resurrection!

• Noah’s Ark
• Abraham and Issac
• Rahab and the Spies

We’ve looked at each of these at some point, with Noah’s Ark and Rahab being the most recent. The story of Abraham and Isaac we looked at in January 2009.

One thing I didn’t really expand on in the post about Abraham and Isaac last year was that Isaac was dead to Abraham from the moment that God told him to “offer him there as a burnt offering” in Genesis 22:2. In Genesis 22:4, the specific, three-day interval is described.

You have to understand that God promised Abraham that He would make him a great nation. So when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac–the son of God’s promise–Abraham knew that God’s promise depended upon Him resurrecting Isaac!

A Little Extra

Continuing on the theme, I accidentally ran across the Holy Spirit lead me to this passage in my study.

From the book of Hosea:

“Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.” –Hosea 6:1-2 (Emphasis mine).

I love God’s Word. The more you dive into it, the more He reveals to you!

Has God revealed something new to you recently?

May He Increase!

There has been a traffic spike in the last couple of weeks which is somewhat of a mystery to me. I’m pleased–again–that God has seen fit to send more people to me but at the time time, it would seem that some of these new folks haven’t been looking for the light of Christ.

Some have been insulting and rude to me personally and that’s okay. The message of the Gospel is not a popular message. A passage in Isaiah came to me and put this into perspective for me.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. –Isaiah 9:2.

The passage is a prophecy of the coming Messiah: Jesus. But I saw another application of this verse. The world is in darkness. People without Christ live in a dark land. It is my sincerest hope and prayer that those who are searching on the Internet for light will find this blog and will see the light of Jesus!

If that’s you . . . if you have arrived here because you are searching and seeking, then praise be to God! He has lead you here for His purpose and I’m humbled to have your time and attention. Jesus, our Lord and Creator of the universe, wants to have a personal and close relationship with you.

This isn’t about me. This isn’t about this blog or even how you got here. It’s about Jesus. Don’t take my word for it. In fact, if you don’t agree with me or what I’ve written here, then go to the Bible and see for yourself! Be like the Bereans!

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. –Acts 17:11.

May He Increase!

Today is Good Friday 2010. Today is the day we remember the cross of Christ. On this day, 2,000 years ago, Jesus died for the sins of the entire world once and for all.

Good Friday, the 14th of Nisan 32 A.D.

Jesus technically under-went a total of six trials beginning in the early morning of that Friday: He had three Jewish trials and three Roman trials. He was declared guilty in each of the Jewish trials and innocent at each of the Roman ones.

He did not attempt at any point to declare Himself innocent. In fact, during much of the trials He remained silent:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. –Isaiah 53:7.

Do you know why Jesus could not make any defense again the accusations? Because He was in our place! He took our sins upon Himself! Before a Holy and Righteous Creator, we are guilty! The only way we can stand justified before God is by the blood of Christ that was shed on that rugged, wooden cross 2,000 years ago.

You remember Barabbas, right? Barabbas was guilty. Barabbas was condemned to die. What happened? Jesus took his place. Jesus went to the cross and Barabbas walked away! The murdering criminal walked away innocent! Jesus and Barabbas switched places.

We . . . you and I . . . are Barabbas.

Are you willing to live another day without Christ? Are you prepared to pay a debt to God worthy of death and eternal separation from Him? If not, you can change your eternal destiny by calling upon the name of Jesus and turning away from sin. If you would chose a time to do this, I can’t think of a better day than this day: the day we remember Jesus paying our certificate of debt and declaring it: “PAID IN FULL!”

May He Increase!

• Contemporary
• Composite
• Chronological

As a recap, the churches Jesus wrote to were:

1. Ephesus
2. Smyrna
3. Pergamum
4. Thyatira
5. Sardis
6. Philadelphia
7. Laodicea

These churches represented the following periods in church history:

1. “The Light of Asia,” the period just after Pentecost.
2. The Persecuted Church
3. The Pagan Church
4. The Church of Romanism
5. The Protestant Church
6. The Revived Church
7. The Apostate Church

The Seven Parables of Matthew 13: A Summary

When you carefully read the seven parables of Jesus found in Matthew 13, you are struck by the parallels between those parables and the seven letters.

The seven parables and their audiences are as follows:

1. The Sower – publicly given
2. The Wheat and the Tares – publicly given
3. The Mustard Seed – publicly given
4. The Leaven – publicly given
5. The Hidden Treasure – privately given to the disciples
6. The Pearl of Great Price – privately given to the disciples
7. The Dragnet – privately given to the disciples

Over and over again in the Bible we are presented with the number 7. Even the division between the publicly spoken parables and the private ones are a sum of 7. All of this is evidence of the skillful and deliberate design of the Creator.

Some commentaries have pointed out that the first parable–that of the sower–serves as an introduction to the remaining six. Of the remaining six, they can then each be paired up: the second and the seventh, the third and the fourth, and the fifth and the sixth. Each of these pairs speak the same truth but each in its own way. This, too, is evidence of deliberate and supernatural design of the scripture.

Why Parables?

Jesus’ disciples asked Him privately why He used parables to teach the people. Jesus told them,

“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” –Matthew 13:11-13.

In other words, those who were rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, would be in capable of understanding the meaning of His words. This fulfilled exactly what Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 6:9-10!

Jesus continues:

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” –Matthew 13:16-17.

This is why Jesus spoke in parables.

Next time

In the next post, we will study the first parable, that of The Sower and its relation to the first church in Revelation: Ephesus.

May He Increase!