The Unknown Bible - Pastor Bevans Welder

The True Words of God

Ps 119:160

1-18-09

When witnessing to people about the Lord Jesus Christ, it is important that they believe the words of God. The Bible is our authority and it is the book that tells us who needs to be saved, why we need to be saved, when we need to be saved, and how we get saved. If a person doesn’t believe the Bible then he is not going to be convinced to receive Jesus Christ.

When we “present” the gospel to a lost man, we ask him if he “knows” for sure that he is going to heaven when he dies. We let him know early on that the Bible declares that he may “know” that he has eternal life [1 Jn 5:13]. That is the testimony of the Bible. And so we ask him if he believes that the Bible is, in fact, the word of God. If he believes it then he will be more inclined to believe what it says about him and his need to be saved by Jesus Christ. If he doesn’t believe it then we have to show him some things from the Bible to help him understand that the words of God are true.

Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: they word is truth,” [Jn 17:17]. And so a man needs to know that the words of God are true in order to be sanctified by the words. The best way to demonstrate the truth of the words of God to someone is to show them the ability of the words of God to prophecy accurately and precisely.

So, here are some prime examples of the irrefutable truth of the words of God.

Josiah – 1 Ki 13:2 – an unnamed man of God came to Jeroboam when he went into idolatry in the 10 northern tribes and prophesied that a king named Josiah, in the line of David, would burn the bones of the priests on the altar Jeroboam had built. Well, Jeroboam began reigning in 975BC and only reigned until 958BC. So, this prophecy had to be given within that time period. Do you know when Josiah came to the throne in Judah? He did not come to the throne until around 640BC, over 300 years later. And do you know what he did after he began to rule? You can find the answer in 2 Ki 23:15-20. He did exactly as the man of God prophesied over 300 years before.

Cyrus – Is 44:28, Is 45:1 – Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of four kings [Is 1:1], the last of which was Hezekiah, whose reign ended in 697BC. Thus, for simplicity, it is said of Isaiah that he prophesied around 700BC. In actuality, his prophecies began before 758BC. One of his prophecies concerned a king named Cyrus. One of the decrees of Cyrus is that Jerusalem would be built and that the foundation of the temple would be laid. This is a seemingly strange prophecy because Jerusalem was already built and the city had not been destroyed. Furthermore, the temple was built by Solomon and was completed around 1000BC. It too was standing and had not been destroyed. Furthermore, there was no king named Cyrus reigning anywhere at that time. As it turns out, this prophecy was not fulfilled until years later, after Nebuchadnezzar’s captivity of Judah, his destruction of Jerusalem, his destruction of the temple, and the destruction of the Babylonian kingdom [2 Chr 36:17-23; Ezra 1:1-4]. The decree from Cyrus was given in the first year of his reign, which was not until 536BC. At an absolute minimum, this prophecy was made 160 years before its fulfillment.

Alexander the Great – Dan 8:20-21 – although not mentioned by name, Daniel prophesied the conquering reign of Alexander and the Greeks over the Medes and Persians. This prophecy was made in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar [Dan 8:1]. So, it was given a short time before 536BC, when the Babylonian Empire fell to the Medes and Persians. Darius conquered Babylon [Dan 5] in 536BC, to fulfill Jer 25:9-12, which foretold the 70 year reign of the Babylonians. The prophecy of the 70 year reign of the Babylonians is an amazing prophecy in itself. But what is even more remarkable is that Daniel knew that the king of Grecia would defeat the Medes and Persians. This didn’t happen until Alexander the Great defeated them in approximately 330BC, two hundred years after Daniel foretold the victory.

Now tell me something, what other book in the entire world has a record of foretelling the future with such precision and accuracy? The answer is, “None.” The reason that the Bible can do this is that its author is God. That’s why we call it the word of God. You should believe it.