<p>1. Prophecy is Evidence that the Bible is the Word of God</p>
<p>Hundreds of prophecies about Christ, including those about His birth time, birth place, family; ministry, death, resurrection and ascension (e.g. Ps 22:11-18; Mic 5:2)</p>
<p>Prophecies about world events (e.g. Dan 2)</p>
<p>2. Prophecy Demonstrates God's Sovereignty Mt 27:46 - Christ's quoting of Ps 22:1 on the cross proved that He was still in control of events (Ac 2:23)</p>
<p>Dan 4:17 - "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind"</p>
<p>Israel's continued existence in spite of all human effort to the contrary.</p>
<p>3. Prophecy Inspires Holy Living 1 Jn 3:3 - the hope of the rapture will cause us to "purify" ourselves 2 Pe 3:11 - the impending destruction of the world will keep us from living for it</p>
<p>4. Prophecy is for Edification, Exhortation and Consolation - 1 Cor 14:3</p>
<p>Edification (building up) - e.g. Ezr 5:2; 6:14 - the building of the temple was successful through the prophesy of Haggai and Zerubbabel</p>
<p>Exhortation (encouragement) - 2 Chr 15:1-8 - Asa took courage because of prophecy Consolation (comfort) - Job 19:25</p>
<p>5. The Main Point of Prophecy: Christ Rev 1:1 - it's called the revelation (singular) of Jesus Christ, not of future events or even of God's purposes Rev 19:10b - testimony about Christ is the essence of prophecy</p>
<p>Prophecy is not an end in and of itself; it is meant to reveal Christ to us Christ is The Prophet (Dt 18:15-18; Jn 6:14;7:40)</p>
==<strong>Prophecy and Speculation</strong>==
<p>Speculation is a serious problem that must be avoided when considering biblical prophecy.</p>
<p>We have 66 books which are words from heaven. We ought not to feel the need to "liven them up" with speculation or sensationalism.</p>
<p>WWe should avoid speculation and sensationalism for at least the following reasons: 1 Peter 2:2 tells us that we should crave the pure milk of the word, not speculation.</p>
<p>2 Peter 1:19 tells us that as wonderful as Peter's experience on the</p>
<p>Mount of Transfiguration was, the prophetic word was more sure. Biblical prophecy is sure, speculation is unsure.</p>
<p>Lots of people have brought ridicule upon Christianity and Christ by speculation.</p>
<p>Speculation undermines our confidence in God's word. We have lots of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible to show us that God's word is trustworthy; speculation produces the opposite result.</p>
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