INVINCIBLE CHURCH 10-13-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
10/13/2024
God’s Perfect Prophecy – Isaiah 46:9-10
Everything a true follower of Jesus does should always “start and stop” with seeking God first through prayer, God’s Word, and God’s revelation. In prior messages, We’ve been in a progression: how to handle our relationships, then learned about the enemies of God, walking by faith, God’s revelation, true courage, God’s government, last week was rebuilding with God, and today is God’s perfect prophecy!
Prophecy is “a message from God”! To speak a message from God is to prophesy! The messenger of God’s prophecy is a prophet. Now, revealing the future is not the only element of prophecy, but since only God knows the future, any authoritative word from God is a prophecy.
God “inspired and used” men to write His book called the Holy Bible, which gives us 100% accurate accounts of people, places, and miraculous events in history. The absolute accuracy of the connection between all of these is His “perfect prophecy” because only the “perfect/infinite” mind of God can know all things!
Which means one of the greatest proofs that Scripture is God’s “perfect revelation” is that there are predictions in the Bible that came to pass years afterward with such amazing accuracy that it’s only possible for them to have been “authored and revealed” by God!
God is “a being” who knows everything! It’s called omniscience. Since the Bible is a product of God, it’s God’s holy word, so the Bible knows everything! God made us in His image and gave us powerful brains so we could “experience and encounter” Him, but He didn’t make us to be Him! That is why we only have limited capacities in intellect and perception!
Which means, outside of God’s revelation, there is no way for human beings to know the future! So, there’s no way that man can accurately predict the future! People have certainly tried and keep on trying, but it never “works out” with 100% accuracy!
It’s because, in God’s infinite wisdom, He only wants us to know what He wants us to know about future events! The proof is, He’s told us a whole lot of things that are going to happen leading up to the return of Jesus, but He doesn’t tell us the exact “date and time.”
Also, only God can give us history with exact detail before it happens, which is what He does for us in the Bible! That’s why Bible prophecy is the only true prophecy, and why pagans hate the Bible so much and want it eradicated from everything!
The amount of prophecy in the Bible is one of the things that makes it unique from all other religious books! There’s not a bit of emphasis on “predictive prophecy” in books like the Qur’an or the Hindu Vedas, but the Bible repeatedly points out fulfilled prophecy, which is direct proof that it’s only God who speaks “perfect prophecy.”
So, there’s no way any man can pinpoint people, places, and events that are going to happen in the future, by name, with detailed factual data! This kind of “perfect prediction,” with 100% “accurate fulfillment,” proves one of the claims that Scripture is the perfect “prophecy and revelation” of God!
Isaiah 46:9-10 NIV 9 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. 10 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.’
It’s why only the Bible predicts the future with 100% accuracy! People say, “What about Nostradamus, Muhammed, Joseph Smith, Buddha, Mother Shipton, Edgar Cayce, or whoever else they want to name?” Well, when we study the predictions of “false prophets”...
They are cryptic, dark, and open-ended! People are going to claim that some of these types of predictions have happened, but it’s always in a general, non-specific, eclectic kind of way. And even by these very loose standards, it’s really rare when anything they’ve “predicted or prophesied” actually happens—let alone even close to 100% accuracy!
And the reality is, a lot of the predictions that these people make are demonically driven because Satan is always trying to counterfeit everything God does! So, the demons will try to influence someone to make a prediction about something they can control, because…
There are some things that Satan can “affect and do.” And since the demons know that, they use it as part of their “evil strategy.” So, in those rare cases, “false prophets” can kind of “predict” that certain things will happen, and that’s how “lost people and immature believers” get “deceived and hooked.”
But the Bible makes and verifies “perfect prophecies” over and over and over! It’s why Bible scholars can point to at least a thousand different prophecies, and every one of them has come to pass with absolute accuracy! But some people still deny that…
“Fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible is the Word of God!” But think about it—if prophecy doesn’t prove the Bible is the Word of God, it could surely prove that it isn’t, just by being wrong a few times. But it’s never been wrong and never will be! The biblical principle for it is in…
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NIV 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” 21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
God does not tolerate “false prophets.” And the way we can tell if a “preacher or leader” is legitimately speaking God’s truth is when they speak in the name of Jesus and what they’re saying is in alignment with God’s Word! Without these two criteria, then it’s not God’s “perfect prophecy.” Besides all that…
False prophets don’t always even know the truth! But if they do, they’ll only be referencing it in their “spin tactic” to try and manipulate or influence people to dishonor God! True followers of Jesus don’t have to be “afraid or worry” about it because we can discern God’s truth through the Holy Spirit!
So, God’s standard for His prophets has always been absolute accuracy! It’s why nobody will ever find one prophecy in the Bible that hasn’t happened exactly the way it says it will happen because God demands “absolute accuracy” for His perfect prophecy! Look at…
Isaiah 41:21-23 NIV 21 “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King. 22 “Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, 23 tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.
This is a “test” of true prophecy! The Old Testament shows us the only way that prophecy can pass the test for truth is when the prophet predicts the future with 100% accuracy! Then, we can put the Scriptures together with what 100% accurately transpired, and it’ll show us how the Bible’s principle of “perfect prophecy” works! Like it says in…
Jeremiah 28:9 (NIV) - 9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true!
We can tell a true prophet because what he says eventually happens with absolute accuracy! So, fulfilled prophecy is the greatest proof of the “inerrancy and infallibility” of the Bible! Matter of fact, the first Christian sermon ever preached was on the Day of Pentecost, and it was based on prophecy!
Peter stood up and preached that “God had determined Jesus Christ would have to die!” Jesus had just been executed, and Peter immediately launched into the prophecies of the Book of Psalms, which predicted the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how it had come to pass!
From that point forward, the rest of the preaching of the apostles and the early church had prophetic themes in them! So, God’s “perfect prophecy” has always been proof of His perfect plan for His creation and Christianity!
It started in Genesis, with the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15, where it predicted that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head! No woman had ever had a seed without a human father until Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit of God!
So, for the first and only time in the history of mankind, the seed was in the woman! And Jesus was born of that union! So, all the way back in Genesis, the Bible predicts there will be a “virgin-born” man, and God’s “perfect prophecy” goes all the way to the Book of Revelation!
And all prophecies that God has designed to be fulfilled in history up to this point in time have been fulfilled with such accuracy and precision—it really is amazing! Look at…
1 Peter 1:10-11 (NIV) - 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.
This passage tells us that the prophets didn’t even know what they were writing about! It was all so “futuristic and prophetic” with what was going on at the time that they didn’t even understand it! But they believed in God, had faith in Jesus, and trusted the Holy Spirit!
Back then, when a prophet predicted that Babylon would be destroyed, it was like predicting that New York City would be knocked off by a Cub Scout troop! It was just absolutely beyond belief because it was foreign to the thought of the day.
Basically, it means the Old Testament prophets predicted the coming of Christ, and then they read what they wrote to figure out what it meant! That’s God’s divine inspiration! They actually had to read their own prophecies, and they still had a hard time understanding them!
We see one example with Isaiah! Isaiah sat down to write one day, and he was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he wrote this amazing passage in…
Isaiah 44:28 (NIV)- 28 “… who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’”
Isaiah was writing about Cyrus, and he tells the people, “There’s a man coming in the future who’s going to release the Jews from captivity and send them back to build a wall and build a temple. His name is Cyrus.” Understand what’s going on here…
Isaiah said this 150 years before Cyrus was ever born! Scoffers might say it was a really “good guess,” but the reality is, nobody could ever guess that Cyrus was going to be the king and release Israel 150+ years before it happened! Another one that’s similar is in…
1 Kings 13:2 (NIV)- 2 “By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: ‘Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”
Just the thought of this seems crazy! He says, “There’s a man coming named Josiah who’s going to burn all these false priests!” The amazing thing is, he said it 300 years before Josiah was born! He named him and predicted what he’d do—and he did it! There’s no way for a man to know that, so it has to be God! Again, remember…
Even if prophecy couldn’t prove the Bible is the Word of God, it could easily prove that it isn’t—if it wasn’t—but it is! In this case, all that had to happen was for this guy to be named something other than Josiah! God’s “absolute test” is the accuracy of His Word.
God says, “Try Me... put it to the test so you can see it!” It’ll stand up to the pressure! It’s never wrong! Jesus referenced this exact passage in a “prophetic context” when He told the people why they ought to be listening to what He’s trying to tell them in…
Mark 13:23 (NIV)- 23 “So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”
He’s using a prophetic context from the Old Testament to get them to understand that they better listen to Him! He’s telling them the future, and it’s not something a false prophet can do. So, they ought to be able to recognize who He is! Because the evidence for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy is overwhelming! Let’s go to…
Ezekiel 26 is full of prophecies that came to pass. The first one is about Tyre, and the judgment on Tyre actually goes all the way to Ezekiel 28:19. But we’re not going to read it all—just this part of chapter 26 is enough to make the point. It’s a very detailed prophecy! There are probably 9, 10, 12, or so prophecies in here, but we’re just going to look at a few. The first one is in…
Ezekiel 26:3-4 (NIV)- 3 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock.”
The prophecy says many nations will rise against Tyre, and “they’ll come like waves of the sea.” It means in succession—one after the other, after the other—like waves roll in and go back, and roll in again!
And Tyre would be made bare like a flat rock—it says it twice! It also says twice that fishermen will dry their nets there. And then in…
Ezekiel 26:12-13 (NIV)- 12 “They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber, and rubble into the sea. 13 I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.”
Verse 12 says that all the rubble will be cast into the sea; all that is left of the city will be thrown into the water. And it is stated again in…
Ezekiel 26:14 and 21 (NIV) - 14 “I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.” … 21 “I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Verses 14 and 21: Tyre will never be rebuilt. Now, Tyre was a great city—it wasn’t just a little city. The Phoenicians were the world’s greatest colonizers of ancient times, and all these prophecies happened exactly the way it was written! Then after that…
King David was succeeded by his son Solomon. Solomon didn’t build a palace; he built a temple, and he used King Hiram of Tyre to help him do it! Hiram floated the great cedars of Tyre down the shoreline, and then they hauled them up to Jerusalem to build the great temple. Then back in…
Ezekiel 26:7-8 (NIV)- 7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls, and raise his shields against you.”
Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the mainland city of Tyre. Now, three years after the prophecy was given by Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar did exactly what the prophecy said. He threw up a mound against the city, and he began to siege the city. In those days, they conquered cities by cutting off supplies.
They just surrounded it, and sooner or later, the supply was cut off. As soon as they laid siege to a city, the city couldn’t come or go: no traffic, no trade, nothing. You had to live on what you had and hope that the army starved before you starved. We see that Nebuchadnezzar gained no plunder in…
Ezekiel 29:17-18 (NIV)- 17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre.”
Here’s what happened! They took the mainland city. It was destroyed, but there was a new little island city a half-mile offshore, and it flourished for 250 years. So, the prophecy was fulfilled. The city of Tyre was destroyed, and all the rubble remained for 250 years sitting right there on the old site of Tyre.
But remember what it said back in Ezekiel 26:12 - 12 “They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber, and rubble into the sea!” The walls have been broken down; the towers have been broken down.
All of this proves the Bible is true! So, if it’s true when it tells us about Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, Nineveh, just to name a few, then it’s true when it tells us about Jesus Christ. This is God’s book. The reason we’re here, and the reason true followers of Jesus (T.F.O.J.) do what we do is because we believe this is the revelation of God, and there is no other. We believe we can bank our lives on it. It’s in that confidence that we live and die—because we love Jesus!
The Bible is reliable! What we’ve looked at today doesn’t even “scratch the surface” of the Bible prophecies that have already been fulfilled. And it has already made a strong case for the Bible’s reliability as the inerrant, infallible, 100% true word of God!
What does this do for us today? It arms us with weapons of proof that the Bible is God’s word, from both the “miracles performed” perspective to the “prophecy fulfilled” perspective! Studying and understanding Bible prophecy helps us get past being hesitant in trying to explain the truth of the Bible to non-believers! It’s a vital part of the equipping process for every true follower of Jesus!
The Bible is a supernatural book, written by God. And God is omniscient, so He knows the past, present, and future—even before it ever happens! Prophecy proves it! There are prophecies in the Old Testament that are fulfilled later in the Old Testament…
There are prophecies in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament with the first coming of Jesus, and there are many more prophecies in the New Testament that are currently being fulfilled today. And then Bible prophecy will be completed with the return of Jesus and the completion of His millennial reign!
God reveals all His prophecies to us in His word—the Holy Bible—and He tells us how they are going to come to pass. So, we need to dig into the word of God so we can know Him and His prophetic revelations to us better!
It’s the tangible action we should be diligently taking as a true follower of Jesus so we’re fully equipped to be a faithful and productive ambassador, warrior, servant, or saint for the Kingdom of God! It’s what Jesus calls all of us to do!