Evening. It's nice to be back with you. Thank you very much for having me along today. It's been lovely to be with you. Especially to thank Chris and Sian for having me along. You wouldn't see the plate of food that sat down there. You would have thought Sian was going to feed the 5,000. She came back with this wee tray, about three tiers, and just left it beside me. Didn't even get to show it to Chris there. It was absolutely lovely and thank you very much for having along with us tonight and all day. But if you have a Bible with you would you mind turning to 2nd Timothy please. 2nd Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. 2nd Timothy 3, verse 16. It says in 2nd Timothy 3, verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Since there's only one verse we'll take time to read, for correction, for instruction, and righteousness. Amen. Tonight, all we want to try and do is to look at the Bible. We want to look at the Bible tonight because in this verse we see that it claims that the Bible is inspired by God. And we want to see, is that the case or not? Is this book really inspired by God? Or is it just a random collection of writings by different men? Now, in the summer there, I went over to Scotland. I was on a walking holiday. I was walking from Glasgow to Inverness. And in the last two days, I got walking with this English fellow. It was just me and him walking along. In the last two days, we walked something like, I think it was about 38, 39 miles. And we just had plenty of time just to walk and talk. On the second day, well, we realized I told him I was a Christian. We had plenty of time. So he started asking me questions about my faith and different things. And he realized, I kept going back to the Bible. And he says, why do you keep going back to the Bible? And I says, well, it's God's word. It's inspired by God. And this is God speaking to us. And he would say, well, is the Bible just not written by different men? Is it not just writings by different men that have been brought together and has good moral teachings? And he says, well, it is. It's written by different men, but they were all inspired by God. God told them what to write, and they were moved by God. He couldn't really grasp this. He just thought it was just different men had written different parts of the Bible, and they'd brought it all together. But tonight, we want to see, is this book really inspired by God, or has it just, writings by different men being brought together, or has it really been inspired by God? And to do this, first of all, we really need to look at the background of the book, don't we? Let's look at the background of the book, because this is a book like none other. It's a book like none other, because the Bible took more than 15 centuries to complete. It took over 15 centuries to complete. Moses, he was the writer of the first five books of the Bible. Well, he was led to rest in a valley in the land of Moab about 1,500 years before John started to write the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible to close the canon of Scripture. Can you see? It was written over 15 centuries. It took a long time to complete the Bible. It is estimated that there's 40 different writers of the Bible. We're not really 100% sure exactly who wrote the Bible. There's books like the book of Hebrews. We're not really sure who wrote it. We believe, or many people believe, the Apostle Paul wrote it. But we're not really 100% certain. No one can say with 100% certainty. So it is estimated that there's 40 different writers shepherds. Some were fishermen. Some had great education. Like there was Moses, he was educated in Egypt while Daniel, he was educated in Babylon. Some learned at the feet of great rabbis. And as we said, some came from humbler backgrounds. Some of the books of the Bible, you know, were written even from prison cells. Some of the books of the Bible, like the book of Revelation, was written while John was in exile on the Isle of Patmos, banished from his own home. But one thing these men had in common was they were inspired by God. We have seen that there in the verse, 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. 2 Peter 1, verse 21 backs this up. It says, holy men of God stay as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. See, that verse tells us that the Holy Ghost, he moves the men in what to write and what to say. They were moved. by God. So this is a book like none other. But let's see, is this book really inspired by God? It claims to be inspired by God, but it's sort of one thing saying something, it's another thing backing it up. Now, I could stand here tonight and say, well, I'm a great chef, and I have three Michelin stars to my name. But if you come to my house for dinner the next day, and I'm quite poisoned, I can't back up my claim. It's one thing saying something, and it's another thing backing it up. The Bible says it's inspired. But is it really? Let's try and see if I can back up its claim to be inspired. And to do this, we want to consider the miracle of the book. Let's consider the miracle of the book. Because as we said, this book took over 15 centuries to complete. It was written by, we believe, about 40 different men. And they all came from different backgrounds, from different parts of the world, different periods of time. And yet they all agree with one another. Can you imagine if you got 40 men together in a room and got them to discuss different issues and different things? You'd never get them all to agree 100% on everything. But that's what happened with the Bible. About 40 different men from different periods of time, from different walks of life, and yet they all agree with one another. All their messages, they dovetail together. They all agree with one another. And the Old Testament, through his will, they're enfolded in the New Testament, and the Old Testament, or the New Testament is enfolded in the Old Testament. They dovetail together. So they do. And just on a side note, the Old Testament was completed about 400 years before the New Testament began to be written. There's about 400 years between the two testaments. And these years are known as the silent years. The Lord was silent. He stopped speaking to man between the two testaments. And this is actually prophesied in Amos chapter 8, verse 11. It says there, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. See, God came to Amos and said, Amos, tell the people there's going to be a famine in the land. I'm going to stop speaking to men. They're going to stop hearing me speak to them. There's going to be a famine and I'm going to stop speaking. And that was fulfilled. There's 400 silent years when the Lord stopped speaking to man. We can see that prophecy was fulfilled in those 400 silent years. That prophecy was fulfilled. And see, the Bible makes up many different prophecies about different things. It's history that is yet to happen. That's what it is. If the Bible says something's going to happen, it's going to happen. Bible prophecy is history that is yet to happen. But let's look at some of these prophecies. Because surely, if we want to find out if this book is inspired, looking at the prophecies is a good way of doing it. The Bible says something's going to happen. I'm not saying, did it actually happen? Because that's a good way of saying, there must be something behind this book. God is going to send someone into the world to be the saviour of the world. God's going to send one into the world to be the messiah, to be the Christ. And with hindsight, we all know who that is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. We know God is going to send Jesus Christ into the world to be the saviour of the world. But let's look at some of the Old Testament prophecies about the one who's going to be sent into the world to be the messiah, to be the saviour. So when Christ was here on the earth, He actually fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Isn't that amazing? In the first 10 years, he fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies. And tonight, we're going to look at some of those Bible prophecies, some of those prophecies. Now, don't be worried. We're not going to look at all 300 of them, because, you know, I want to get back down the road. I really do want to get back down the road tonight. But we're going to take a look at some of them. And Micah, he prophesied, get this and try and imagine this. about 740 years before Christ. 740 years before Christ, and this is what he said in Micah chapter 5, verse 2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephraim, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel's, whose going forth hath been from of old, from everlasting. Can you see what Micah prophesied about 740 years before Christ? He prophesied that the Messiah, the Christ, the one God was consented to the world, would be born in Bethlehem. Now we all know from the Nativity story, where was Christ born? Everyone knows Christ was born in Bethlehem. Yet Michael is able to prophesy that about 740 years before. And how did he know that? In all the places in the world, how did he get it right? He had to be inspired by God. And if you want scripture for that, you just have to look at Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. He was around about the same time as Michael, about 740 years before Christ was here on the earth. And he said in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, that Christ would be born of a virgin. Imagine prophesying that, that Christ would be born of a virgin. And of course, we know that all happened. We know that the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a miraculous conception. And that was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 1, verse 18. How did Isaiah know that was going to happen? about 740 years before Christ was born. Moses, he wrote the first five verses of the Bible, it was said, and he was around about 1,450 odd years before Christ. 1,450 years before Christ. Yet he predicted that Christ would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and come from the tribe of Judah. He prophesied those things in Genesis chapter 12, verse 18, chapter 21, verse 12, and chapter 49, verse 10. And all these things are fulfilled in the first three verses of the book of Matthew. How did he know, over 1,400 years before Christ was here on earth, how did he know that Christ would come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and come from the tribe of Judah? Of course, he had to be inspired by God. Moses also wrote, in Deuteronomy 18, verse 18, that Christ would be known as a prophet. And when he was here on the earth, the people said, he's a prophet. He's a prophet. He's one of the prophets. You see that in Matthew 21, verse 11. Jeremiah, he was around about 627 years before Christ. And he said in Jeremiah 23, verse 5, that Christ's line would go through King David. And could you remember one of the titles, one of the names that people gave Christ when he was here on the earth? Remember what they called him? Thy son of David. Thy son of David. See, they knew his family line went through King David. And we see that there in Matthew chapter 2, verses 4 and 5. But there's not too many people down around Tamdur-li with that name, so there's no doubt. So we'll go with it. The Samasaf of Asaf, he was around about the same time as King David, about 1,000 BC. And he said in Psalm 78, verse 2, that Christ would teach in parables. Of course, we know Christ taught in parables. Even the youngest in the meeting could tell some of the parables of Christ, the good Samaritan, the prodigal son. We all know Christ taught in parables. Yet the psalmist, about 1,000 years before Christ, was able to say that Christ would teach in parables. And we see that fulfilled in Matthew 13, verse 34. If we go back to Isaiah, about 740 years BC, he pointed out that Christ would be a marital worker. He would heal people. He would do miraculous works. The lads have even been singing about him healing people. And Isaiah prophesied that in Isaiah 35, verses 5 and 6, about 740 years before Christ. I'm not even going to give you a reference, because if you just look through the gospel accounts, you'll see it's army work. Christ healing people, doing miracles, giving the blind back their sight, giving the deaf back their hearing, healing paralytic men, raising people from the dead. He's a miracle worker. That's why people thronged to see him. They wanted to see the next miracle he was doing. Can you imagine? There's someone in Northern Ireland to be able to do those things today. People would throng to see him. And that's why Christ was famous. He was a miracle worker. Yet as I was able to prophesy, that would happen 740 years before Christ was here on the earth. Zechariah, he was around about 520 years before Christ. And he stated that Christ would enter Jerusalem humbly upon the cult of the donkey in Zechariah 9, verse 9. And we know that Christ done that on Palm Sunday, didn't he? He entered Jerusalem humbly upon the cult of the donkey. And if you want to look it up in the New Testament, it's John chapter 12, verse 15. And King David, about 1,000 BC, he stated that a good friend would betray the Lord Jesus Christ in Psalm 41, verse 9. Of course, we all know who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. It was one of his close disciples, one of the 12 disciples. Judas Iscariot, he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. See that in Matthew chapter 10, verse 4. And Zechariah, about 520 BC, stated that Christ would be sold for 30 pieces of silver in Zechariah 11, verse 12. And that's what Judas received in Matthew 26, verse 15 for betraying Christ, 30 pieces of silver. But how did Zechariah know 520 years before Christ was here on earth, how did he know it was going to be for 30 pieces of silver? Why not 29 pieces of silver? Why not 31? How did he know it was going to be exactly 30 pieces of silver? And you see, he must have been inspired by God. To get that right, he had to be inspired by God. Again, going back to Isaiah, at 740 years BC, he foretold how Christ would remain silent while being accused. Remember the chief priests, they accused him of many different things, yet he remained silent. And he fulfilled that prophecy by Isaiah that is given in Isaiah 53, verse 7. You can see that in Matthew 27, verse 12. He didn't answer him. He remained silent. And Christ fulfilled that prophecy that was given him about 740 years beforehand. King David, he forecasted in that great prophetic psalm, Psalm 22, that points to the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He prophesied. He predicted that Christ's hands would be pierced. His hands and feet would be pierced. Psalm 22, verse 16. And Christ's hands and feet were pierced as he was crucified. Remember, Thomas doubted that the Lord had risen from the dead. Well, what did he do when he saw Thomas after he had risen from the dead? What did he say? He said, Thomas, put your finger in the print of the nails. Christ's hands and feet were pierced as he hung on the cross. And the thing is, David forecasted that about 1,000 BC. Crucifixion hadn't even been invented by that stage. how he knew that Christ's hands and feet were going to be pierced. Can you see he must have been inspired by God? God must have revealed it to him. Isaiah, as we've said, about 740 BC anticipated how Christ would be numbered with common criminals in Isaiah 53, verses 9 and 12. He was going to be numbered with common criminals and as he hung on the cross, who was in either side of him? Wasn't it two thieves? It's the thief on the other side. He was numbered with common criminals. We see that in Matthew 27, verse 38. Yet Isaiah stated that Christ would also be associated with the rich in his death. We see that in Isaiah 53, verse 9. Can you see in the same verse, it tells us that Christ is going to be associated with common criminals. Yet in his death, he's going to be associated with the rich. It almost seems that, can you try and picture, if you were reading that verse, before Christ died on the cross and everything that happened there. Can you imagine you're reading that before Christ? And you're saying, well, as I was prophesying that the Messiah is going to be numbered with common criminals, yet he's going to be associated with the rich in his death, you would think, surely that contradicts one another. How is that ever going to be fulfilled? But of course, the Lord fulfilled that there wonderfully, didn't he? As he hung on the cross. There was thieves on the other side of him. But when he died on the cross, there was a rich man called Joseph of Arimathea. And he went to Pilate and he pleaded, give me the body of Christ. Give me his body. Pilate said, you can have it. And Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Christ off the cross. And he took the body of Christ and he laid it in his brand new tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Can you see that those verses wonderfully fulfilled? They seem to contradict one another. They were wonderfully fulfilled, those prophecies given by Isaiah, 740 years before Christ. David foretold how Christ was going to be resurrected and come back to life from the dead in Psalm 16, verse 11. That we have not suffered to see him to suffer corruption. And of course, we know Christ has risen from the dead, don't we? He lives today. He came back to life. You see that in Matthew 28, verse 6. Christ is risen from the dead and we know that as a historical fact. Because remember what happened to the disciples when Christ was on the cross. They all ran away. They all fled. They were cowards. They ran away. They were afraid. But after they saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ, they became fearless. They became bold. And they went out around the world teaching that Christ is risen from the dead. He's risen from the dead. If you actually look at the life of the disciples that went out, most of them were brutally murdered. Others were banished to the light of heavens like John. And they suffered, but they were willing to go through it. And teaching that Christ is risen from the dead, I don't know about you, but I know about myself. I would be willing to die for a lie. But the disciples. They talk boldly, and they're willing to die for the fact that Christ is risen from the dead. They must have seen him alive. It is an historical fact. Christ is risen from the dead. Can you see, just from these few prophecies that we've looked at, that this book must be inspired by God? How did those Old Testament writers get all those things correct hundreds of years beforehand? And Christ wonderfully fulfilled them. This book must be inspired by God. How else could they have got those things right? He really must be the Messiah, the one that God sent into the world to be the savior of the world. Just by looking at these prophecies, he's fulfilled. And remember, he fulfilled over 300 of them. We haven't even looked at a few of them. So if this book really is the inspired word of God, surely we should take a wee bit of time just to look at the message of the book. What does God have to say to us? Because if God has inspired us, surely he has a message for us in the book. Let's take a wee bit of time just to pay a bit of earnest attention to what God has to say to us from his word. And the Bible has a stark warning for us, because it tells us that we are all sinners. It says in 1 Kings 8, verse 46, for there is no man that sinneth not. All of us have sinned. I have sinned, and you have sinned. We're all sinners in God's sight. There's no one that sinneth not. Romans 3, verse 23 says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You might be a good person and you might be badder than me. It wouldn't be too hard to tell you the truth and lie to you. But we all come short of the glory of God. If God's standard is perfection, which it is, you might be badder than me, but you still come short of the glory of God. You don't measure up to his standard of perfection. You might be higher up than me, but you don't measure up to God. We're all sinners. If we just were to take time to look at some of the commandments, you would see Now we're serious. Have you ever told a lie? Doesn't matter if it's just a wee white lie or a wee fib or whatever you want to call it. Have you ever told a lie? Well that means you've broken the 9th commandment and you're a liar in God's sight. Have you ever coveted? Have you ever wanted something that's not yours? Have you ever been jealous of someone? That means you're a coveter. You've broke the 10th commandment. When you were growing up, did you ever disobey your mum or dad? Did you ever dishonour them? That's pregnant. That commandment, so it is. And if we were to take time to go through the other commandments, I'm sure you'd see that we have broken some of them too. Can you see, in God's sight, we are sinners? You might think you're a good person, but in God's sight, we're sinners. And the Bible warns us that if we haven't repented of our sins and asked the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives, If we haven't asked him to forget us, then the wrath of God is abiding upon us. That's what it says in John 3, verse 36. The wrath of God abideth upon him. It's a sobering thought, but if you're still in your sins, the wrath of God is abiding upon you today. Just think, the wrath of God is hovering above you. And it's only by God's mercy you haven't been consumed already. See, the book has a scary warning for us. your sins in your life still you will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment and you'll be judged for all your sins and then the Lord will condemn you and he'll cast you into the lake of fire for all eternity. We see that there in the book of Revelation chapter 20 verses 12 down to 15. That's what the Bible says is going to happen in the future and remember I've got all the prophecies right about Christ, so why should we doubt about the prophecies about the Great White Throne Judgment? If I've got all the prophecies right about Christ coming the first time, why should we doubt those prophecies? Can you see, if you still have your sins in your life, if you haven't asked Christ to forgive you for your sins, can you see what the future holds for you? It's a leg of fire. The book has a scary warning for us. Inspired word of God, it warns us. But let's look at the hope of the book. Because this book gives us hope. Because it says in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That was Christ's mission. It was to come into the world to save sinners. And well, who's a sinner? Well, we've seen that already. I'm a sinner. And you're a sinner. And that means Christ came into the world to save me. It also means he came into the world to save you. That was his mission. It was to make a way of salvation possible for us. See, Christ has always been. When he was born into the world by the Virgin Mary, that wasn't his beginning. That wasn't his beginning because Christ has always been. If you were to take time to look at John chapter 1, you would see Christ is eternal. He is God. He has always been. And he will always be. He is eternal. But he decided to leave heaven and come to earth. He decided to take on flesh to become human and dwell among us. so he could make a way of salvation possible for us. Because he knew there was no way we could get to heaven. So he came to the earth so we could get to heaven. And as we have seen, when Christ came to the earth, he was fulfilling God's plan of salvation. We have seen that it was all prophesied hundreds of years beforehand. We looked at some of the prophecies given by Moses, and those were given about 1,450 years BC. Some of the prophecies were given over 1,000 years beforehand. And you see, when Christ was here on the earth, he was fulfilling God's plan of salvation. It had all been planned. So it had. But this plan was actually a lot older than just 1,000 odd years. Because in 1 Peter 1, verse 20, it says, for ordained before the foundation of the world. See, Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world. The plan of salvation was planned. long before the foundation of the world was laid. See, Christ and God the Father, they knew that before they laid the foundation of the world, before they made man, they knew that we were going to sin and rebel against them. They knew, even if they make me, they're going to sin and rebel against me. They're going to want nothing to do with me. But you know what? I love them anyway. And I'm going to make them anyway. And I know they're going to sin. I know they're going to rebel against me. I'm going to go into the world. I'm going to take on flesh. And I'm going to go to the cross. And I'm going to be made sin for them. I'm going to have their sin and their iniquity laid upon me. And I'm going to let God the Father judge me and pour out his wrath upon me for the sin of the world. I'm going to make a way of salvation possible for them. I'm going to shed my precious blood for them. Because I want to spend eternity with them. I want them to come to be with me in heaven. Can you see how much the Lord loves you? He knew you were going to sin and rebel against him. But he came into the world to make a way of salvation possible for you. And that's why Christ went to the cross, so he could save us. He knew we couldn't work our way to heaven. He knew we couldn't pay our way to heaven. So he had to come to the cross. And he took my sin upon himself. He took your sin upon him. He took the iniquity of us all. He was made sin. And God the Father, in those three hours of darkness upon the cross, judged Christ for the sin of the world. And Christ satisfied the wrath of God. The wrath of a just and holy God. He satisfied it. He paid the price of sin in full. And he gave up the ghost and the cross. But we know he lives. He lives today. We've already seen that. He's alive. He defeated death. and he can forgive you for your sins. He offers you salvation tonight. See, that precious blood that he shed on the cross, it has wonder-working power. Oh, it has wonder-working power, and it can cleanse you from all your sins, from all your iniquities. But the thing is, you have to ask Christ for forgiveness. See, Christ is a gentleman. He's not going to force something upon you that you don't want. You have to ask him. He's done all the work. See, in Romans chapter 10, verse 13, it says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Has there ever been a time in your life when you've called upon the Lord? Have you cried on to him, Lord, save me from the sins. Forgive me. I'm sorry. I want to turn away from the sins. I want to live my life for you. Will you come into my life? Will you cleanse me? Will you forgive me? Will you wash me in your precious blood? If there's never been a time in your life like that, why not? You need to call upon the Lord. If you call upon the Lord and ask for His forgiveness, then you'll be saved. And you can have forgiveness of your sins. And you can know with certainty that you're going to heaven. You'll never have to face that place, the lake of fire. You'll know you're going to heaven. Will you not get right with the Lord tonight? Will you not ask Him into your life? Thank you very much for listening. We're just going to have our closing hymn tonight. Lord, we want to thank you for this time you've been able to spend in your house. And Lord, we thank you that we can see from the prophecies, Lord, that you fulfill when you're here on the earth, that this word, this book, really is inspired by God. And we can stand upon it, Lord, and we know that it is 100% true. It is truth, this book, 100%. But Lord, we just pray for any in the meeting that might be outside of Christ, that they might realize the warning of the book, that if they're still on their sins, they're on their way, the leg of fire. They're going to have to make you as judge. Lord, we don't want that then. Lord, we don't want that. Lord, we thank you for the hope that we see that you came into the world to save sinners. And we want to thank you for what you've done on the cross, how you defeated sin and you defeated death when you rose from the dead. Lord, we want to thank you that you offer salvation. Lord, I want to thank you for my own salvation. Thank you, Lord, for forgiving me for my sins. But Lord, we just want to pray, Lord, Everyone in the meeting and everyone watching online might realise that they need to get right with you, Lord. Please make this a reality, Lord. Please let them see the seriousness of the matter. Let them cry out unto you, Lord, for salvation, Lord. We see your word tells us, Lord, if we call upon you and ask for your forgiveness, Lord, and we really repent of our sins, you'll forgive us, Lord, you'll save us. Lord, please let that be the case, Lord, tonight. Please let there be many new names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, Lord. Please let your spirit strive with man. And let none of it see it, Lord. And I'll ask this in your name. Amen.