- [Narrator] Welcome to Grace Digital presentation.
The Bible unveils the future.
All through time,
there is something significant we can learn
about the human race.
And that is that we have a great thirst
to understand what the future holds for us.
We sought this knowledge by spiritual means in the past.
However, in recent times,
we have turned to more sophisticated and scientific ways
to feed this hunger.
We now have experts in various fields
who have concluded countless studies
to shed light on the days to come.
The results of these works,
though thought-provoking and helpful,
nevertheless simply verify the fact
that no human mind or system
can foresee the many contingencies
that affect future events.
For this reason, none of these studies
can be accepted as fully reliable.
However, a third source to which we may look
for revelation about the time that is yet to come.
This third reference is faultless in its reliability.
This source is the Word of God,
and within the pages of this precious book
lie various prophetic insights
that we only have to search for.
The truth is that only the Word of God
can satisfy our longing to see into the future.
First of all, we have to understand
that the Bible gives light
to those that read it and obey it.
Lots of Scriptures also make this clear.
Psalm 119:105 tells us,
"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path."
In order to walk on a path,
we generally require feet to walk with
and a path to walk on.
However, for us to move ahead with the proper confidence,
we also need to see where we are going,
and God's Word provides that for us.
The Bible gives us light for our feet.
In other words, the Bible shows us where to step next.
It may not always show us a long way ahead,
but we are never left to walk in darkness.
What a tremendous blessing that is.
If we study and obey the Bible,
we will never be left walking in darkness.
With this universal desire to know what the future holds,
we might think that believers who consider
the Bible's God's inspired revelation of His will
would search its pages eagerly
for understanding about the period immediately preceding
the return of the Lord.
This time period that is referred to as the last days
in at least half the books of the Bible.
However, it is just the opposite.
There is an adequate appreciation for the importance
of Biblical prophecy.
While I recognize that some Christians have been turned off
by so-called prophets who have made predictions
in the name of the Lord,
including the exact date Jesus is due to return.
Because this happens from time to time
in history of the church,
people get turned off and say,
"If that's what prophecy is like,
"I don't want any part of it."
This is a terrible state to surrender to,
as at least a quarter of the Bible is predictive prophecy.
So you cannot just ignore over a quarter of the Bible
and expect to accept all the things that God has for us.
Now, let us take a look at what God Himself says
in regard to His prophetic Word.
Number one, God reveals the future.
All through the word,
God claims to foretell the future within its pages.
Look at these passages from the book of Isaiah:
This is what the Lord says,
Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty.
"I am the first, and I am the last.
"Apart from me there is no God.
"Who then is like me?
"Let him proclaim it.
"Let him declare and lay out before me
"what has happened since I established my ancient people
"and what is yet to come.
"Yes, let him foretell what will come."
Isaiah 44:6-7 NIV
Those who do make claims of prediction
through alternative sources of information
are easily shown to be imposters.
To the astrologers, fortune tellers, and soothsayers,
of whom there were multitudes in Biblical days
just as there are today,
the Lord says this:
This is what the Lord says,
your Redeemer who formed you in the womb,
"I am the Lord who has made all things,
"who alone stretched out the heavens,
"who spread out the earth by myself,
"who foils the signs of false prophets
"and makes fools of diviners, fortune tellers,
"who overthrows the learning of wise
"and turns it into nonsense,
"who carries out the words of His servants
"and fulfills the predictions of His messengers."
Isaiah 44:24-26 NIV.
When false prophets make a prediction,
God turns the words of these false messengers upside down
and makes them look foolish.
"Remember the former things, those of long ago.
"I am God, and there is no other.
"I am God, and there is none like me.
"I make known the end from the beginning,
"from ancient times, what is still to come.
"I say my purpose will stand,
"and I will do all that I please."
Isaiah 46:9-10 NIV.
Only the purpose of God will stand.
If you believe that God alone
can reveal the future of the universe,
it then follows that we must gain
a newfound appreciation for His majesty.
God does not make mistakes.
Everything He does is right.
The Bible tells us:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
for wisdom and might are His,
and He changes the times and the seasons.
He removes kings and rises up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and secret things.
He knows what it is in the darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
After going through all these prophecies
and after you trust the Word of God,
this leaves every one of us with a final question.
And that is, "What is the ultimate purpose?
"Why would God give us the Word of God
"that tells us what is going to happen in the future?"
The prophecies that have yet to occur
have one central mission.
To make us aware of the coming of the Lord is real.
Let's look at the verse from the Second Epistle of Peter:
We also have the prophetic word confirmed, made more sure,
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.
2 Peter 1:19.
Peter is saying, in effect,
"That revelation we had
"on the Mount of Transfiguration was wonderful.
"It was valid, and it is recorded now in Scripture."
But there is something much more certain.
It is the prophetic word of Scripture,
the written prophecies of the Bible.
Let's make a crucial distinction.
The gift of prophecy comes from human agents
and must be judged by Scripture.
When we talk about the prophetic Word given in Scripture,
however, it is not to be judged.
Every word of God is pure,
like silver purified in a furnace seven times.
"And the words of the Lord are flawless,
"like silver purified in a crucible,
"like gold refined seven times."
Psalm 12:6.
The written prophetic Word of God is totally authoritative,
and Peter says, "We'd do well to give heed to it."
In other words,
it is in our best interests to pay attention to it.
If we fail to do so,
we are depriving ourselves
of an important provision of God for our lives.
We need to give heed to the prophetic Word
until the day dawns
and the Morning Star rises in our hearts.
Peter is not talking about what is happening in the world,
he is talking about what is happening in our hearts.
Even if a person is a believer,
that one will be walking in darkness here on Earth
if he ignore the light God has provided.
God desires that every one of us
live in excited anticipation of the return of the Lord.
That is how every believer should be living.
As Hebrews 9:28 tells us,
Jesus is going to appear
for those who wait for Him excitedly.
Are we waiting for Him eagerly?
If the Morning Star has risen in our hearts,
then we will be waiting for Him with great anticipation,
and He will appear to us the second time.
Let us then turn to God's prophetic guidance
about the end times.
There is a great deal that He wants to tell us
about these days in which we are beginning
to see the glow of the Morning Star.
We are still creating
the in-depth series on Bible prophecies.
If there is any question you have regarding this topic,
put it down in the comments,
and we will work on a video for you as soon as possible.