What I'd like to do today is share with you a message about prophecy. And this is more than just actual prophecies. What I wanna do is talk about the omniscience of God. And that's a big word, it's a little bit scary. I'm gonna explain that. But it's an important word for Christians because our God is not like any God. Our God isn't like some piece of wood or piece of metal, our God is alive, he's all powerful, he's all-knowing, he's always present. And I wanna talk about his all-knowingness, his omniscience. I wanna talk about the fact that that will make a difference in our life, that will make an impact in our life. But isn't that amazing? How does God know the future? Have you ever wondered that? How does God know the future? I have an incredible gift some of you don't know about. I can predict what's inside a wrapped present. It's a gift. My sister once sent me a birthday card. I think she thought it was funny. She said, forget about the past, you can't change it. Forget about the future, you can't predict it. Forget about the present, I didn't get you one. We're talking about God's omniscience. The fact that God knows the future. So how does that impact me? How does Bible prophecy impact my life right now? How will I be different tomorrow when I wake up and I go to do the things that I do? How will the understanding that God knows the future help me? Well, I tell you this, God's knowledge of the future is the key to our hope for eternal life, okay? We live in a sad world, don't we? We live in a world that there's dysfunction, and there's suffering, and there's death, and all of that is all around us all the time, and people are hopeless, and they're living uncertain lives. And they ask the question, in this sad world, is there hope? Will there ever be a day where there would be no more death and suffering? And I will say, based on God's foreknowledge and God's promises and the word of God, the answer is yes. How do we know? Well, we know that suffering and death is in the world because of Adam's sin and us perpetuating his sin, his disobedience. For we've all been born in sin, that came from our father, that came from Adam, and we all sin. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. And we can understand that because the Bible tells us the people that don't know God and don't know the Bible, they don't understand the origin of these things, but we do. At least we know why it's here and we know how it started. But is there ever a day when that won't be around anymore? The Bible says, yes, look at Revelation 21 verse four. And God shall, what? Wipe away all tears from their eyes. This is one of the most hopeful passages in the Bible. I love reading this at funerals because people have tears. at funerals, and I want people to know that there is a day, there's a hope that God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, amen? Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. As you get older, the more people hurt. One guy went to the doctor and pointed to his finger and said, doctor, can you help me? The doctor said, well, is that where you're pain is? He says, no, that's the only place I don't hurt. And that's how it gets, right? As we get older, there's more and more pain. But the Bible promises and God has predicted in his knowledge of the future that there is a day that there will be no more pain, sorrow, death, or even crying. And that's why I love Bible prophecy. I love fulfilled Bible prophecy. And on Sunday nights, when I'm preaching in the series, we're gonna talk about some of those things, like the prophecies of the Messiah, dozens of them, the prophecies of the rise and fall of world empires. The Bible gets it right every time. The prophecy of the timing of the Messiah, Daniel 9, and other prophecies. We're gonna cover these things in this series, but I really wanna set the stage in this first message because I think we need to understand how important it is that God knows the future and how these prophecies prove he does. I mean, there are thousands of predictions in the Bible. I think over 2000 and all but 500 have come true. So that's a huge track record and all the ones that should have already been fulfilled are fulfilled exactly as predicted. So that gives me hope for the future 500. He's done it every time up till now. I am 100% confident he will do it all the way to the end. How does he know? How does he know? Well, it's a little hard to understand. You kids, is it a little hard to understand? How does God know the future? Is that hard to understand? How does God know the future? Well, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been to a parade? Raise your hand, kids, if you've been to a parade. Let me see your hands. Kids, have you been to a parade? What do you like about parades? Candy, I know, it's what it is. You like candy, right? I think the grandkids went to a parade and they weren't throwing candy, and they were very disappointed. But when you see a parade and you sit there on the ground from your chair and you see all the things passing, you can be there at the very beginning and you sit there and there's the first vehicle and the bands and the floats and all the floats and then the end. And it's great, right? And that's our view. That's our view of life. We are linear in the way God made us. There's time. and we have the sunrise and the sunset, and we have what happens that day, and what happens the next day, and that continues on. But what if you were to go and get into a helicopter, and take that helicopter up, and then look down? What are you gonna see? The entire parade. All the floats from the beginning to the end. That is God's vantage point. He's not inside of time, he's outside of time. He actually created time. So that's how he knows what's going to happen. He is what's called omniscient. That word means he knows the future. He's an omniscient God. And I think that's absolutely wonderful, knowing that he is. 1 John 3, 20 says that God knoweth all things. Doesn't that make you feel better? Because we're scared about the future. We're uncertain about the future. But if you're saved, you don't have to worry about that because God knows the future. The past, the present, and the future. His knowledge covers all time. He knows all possibilities. That's something my dad used to say. God knows all possibilities. He knows all the things that could happen if you did this and could happen if you did that. Now, we can predict certain things and we can be fairly accurate. Some of you, I know exactly what you're gonna say or you're gonna do, not exactly, but I have a good guess just because you've learned people's personalities, you learned their favorite words, and you can probably be pretty good at predicting what they'll do and what they'll say. But not always, right? And often we get things wrong if we try to predict what's gonna happen. And a lot of people would make a lot of money if we could accurately predict the future. But God has the ability to know all possibilities. And to know if this happened, this would happen. If this didn't happen, this wouldn't happen. He knows all of that. And here's an example of that. This is very interesting. In 1 Samuel 23, David was, he was in the middle of fleeing from Saul's jealousy and wrath. And we did an In Grace series. It's an edit right now. I actually worked on this series while I was in Canada, where David was hiding out. And we went to two places that David was hiding out. Now, he wasn't like shaking and hiding. While he was hiding, he was also fighting the Philistines for the good of Israel. Isn't that neat? Still trying to protect himself and he probably could have gone against Saul because he was anointed by God. Samuel had anointed him when he was a boy before he killed Goliath. And the whole series, by the way, that we're gonna be broadcasting soon is about King David from a shepherd boy all the way to his death and a pretty amazing man. Why was he called a man after God's own heart? There's a lot of theories, but I think Dr. Karl Ball, who's my guest on the show, he put his finger on it. And I want you to watch that series to know what that was. So now David's hiding out and has come to Calah, and he's there, and he had helped them, the people of Calah. And then David is gonna implore the Lord, because David believed that God knows the future, that God can accurately predict all possibilities. So David said to the Lord, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Calah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Calah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? Wouldn't that be nice? If you could ask God an exact question and God would give you an exact answer. Lord, should I do this or should I do that? Should I marry this person? Should I date this person? Should I buy this? And then God says, yes or no, yes or no, yes or no. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Now, if God does that for you, praise God. And he hasn't done that for me. So we rely on his word. We rely on a lot of prayer. We stay on our knees a lot. We need good counsel. That's how we know God's will. And usually we get, we hear from God in a pretty certain way, although not audibly. But David got to hear audibly from God. The Lord God of Israel, he said, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, he will come down. So he was saying, Lord, will Saul come to Calah and try to get me here? And God says, yes, Saul will be coming to Calah. Then David said, will the men of Calah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? So not only will Saul come down, but also he's asking, will the people in this town, even though I've helped them, give me up? And the Lord said, they will deliver thee up. In other words, if David had stayed, God said, if you stay, they will give you up. Saul will come down. David didn't stay because of God's prediction of what would have happened, what could have happened if he'd have stayed. So God knows the possibilities. He doesn't just know the future. He knows every combination of possibility that there could be. And David and his men, which were about 600, arose and departed out of Caela, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David escaped from Caela, and he forbear to go forth." So he didn't even go. So does that mean God wasn't accurate in predicting that Saul would come down? No. God said, if you stay, Saul will come down, and the men will give you to Saul. See? Isn't that wild? Okay, now, let's compare God to the gods. And when I say gods, I mean the false gods, small g. In Isaiah, I want you to read Isaiah 40 through 45. Not tonight, but, well, maybe tonight, but not right now. We're gonna read in Isaiah 40, 18. We're gonna read several verses that is called the trial of false gods. It's fascinating, too. When you start to compare the one true, almighty, all-powerful, omniscient God to all the gods, there's no comparison, right? Because they're nothing and he is everything. He made the wood and the gold and the silver that they're making their gods from. By the way, just because we might not worship an actual idol, don't think that you don't have idols and make sure you're looking in your life for anything that you put above God. That's an idol. To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, no offering, chooseth a tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. So if you're rich, you're gonna make a golden idol. If you're poor, you're gonna make a nice, sturdy tree idol. Both are nothing compared to God. Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Hath ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? He didn't say this, but I'll say, he's probably saying, you idiots. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. Isn't that interesting, the circle of the earth? They didn't know. The earth was a circle, was a sphere. And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. Remember how I said God is outside and looking down at a parade from a helicopter? When you're up in the air and you're up on a tall building, kids, what do people look like? Grasshoppers, ants, right? that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Skip to verse 28. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not? Neither is weary, there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might. He increases strength. Even as the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail, but they, and don't you love this verse, they that wait upon the Lord shall what? Renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. All of this, this promise of strength to the weary, might to the powerless, that's what we all are. We're all weak. We're all powerless, but God can give you great strength. God, because of his knowledge, his ability, his power, it's unimaginable how great he is, that God wants to bless you, wants to help you, if you'll let him, if you'll let him. There's no contest when you look at the trial of the gods. He doesn't just know what's gonna happen. He knows why it's gonna happen. That blows me away. He doesn't just know what happened. He knows why it happened. We have a lot of people trying to figure out what's going on with the bears. We know what happened. We don't know why it happened. Well, maybe we do. But the Lord knows all of those things. The false gods couldn't tell them what happened, nor could they tell them what's gonna happen, nor could they tell him what will happen or why it happened. So therefore, when we study predictive prophecy and fulfilled prophecy especially, we are studying it to understand that God is guiding human history in order to accomplish his purpose. God has a purpose, God has a plan, and he's guiding. Without affecting free will, he guides and accomplishes his purpose. When things seem out of control, they're not. When you think our country is finished, you might be right, but that might be part of his plan. By the way, I don't think we should give up. I think we should continue to look for people that will govern us in the ways of God and continue to work hard on that. People wanna know what I think about the upcoming election and who looks good. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not going to answer that right now. Sometimes it's better to kind of let the field shake out a little bit and see what happens. I know that there's still a lot of people that like President Trump, and I liked what he did. I liked his policies and those things that he accomplished. I loved it, but I did not like what he did to Vice President Pence. And anyways, that's a whole big issue, but God knows. He knows what's gonna happen. Don't you wish you knew what was gonna happen? But God does know. He knows why it's gonna happen. He's all-knowing. So that means I don't have to worry about tomorrow. The one who knows about the past, the present, and the future, he knows why these things happen. He's gonna finish what he started. That's the important thing. And what is that? Well, he's promised to save you to the uttermost. Look at Hebrews 7, in verse 25, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost. I love that word, the uttermost. Anytime you see the word uttermost, it's talking about like the furthest reaches, like the queen of Sheba came from the uttermost, you know? And the uttermost parts of the world we're to bring the gospel to. That's God's ability is to save you to the uttermost, to the furthest extreme. That's in the future. And then God will wipe away all tears. And that's a promise. He knows that's gonna happen, he's predicted it, he knows it will, and he's gonna accomplish what he started. That come unto God by him, seeing that he liveth to make intercession for them. So it's by faith that we're saved, and then God will fulfill the promise to give you eternal life. Isaiah 46, nine says, remember the former things of old for I am God and there is none else. There's not a contest, there's no one else. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from the ancient times, the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. So as we study Bible prophecy and predictive prophecy, we're not going through like all the tribulation and all that. We've done that recently. We're gonna talk about some of the things, really interesting things that the Bible has predicted. and have come to pass, exactly as predicted. We're gonna talk about the odds of that happening by chance, which are astronomical. It's not possible. Folks, let me just tell you this. This is one of the reasons that I have such confidence that this is God's word. It has no error because of all of the many prophecies that have been fulfilled. It's actually so accurate that they said, there's no way Daniel could have written it before the event. That's how accurate this is. But then they've discovered that Daniel knew too much about that society and that civilization. We've only recently learned these things from archeology. He knew too much about the future, but he also knew too much about the present. In other words, the predictions of Daniel and others came from God. And it's true, and it's right, and it's accurate. So let's close with Jeremiah 29, 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. What are the thoughts? What are God's thoughts towards you? Thoughts of peace, not evil, to give you what? An expected end. He has a plan, and his plan's gonna be fulfilled. And I want you to learn how to go his way all the time. You say, well, how do I know what God's plan is for my life? Because I'd like to hear God say, turn right, stop, turn left. Don't do that, do that. Wouldn't that be great if God just said it and boy, that would be so easy. Well, there's a reason he doesn't do it, but I think he still guides us almost exactly the same way. You're not gonna hear his voice, but as you approach each day, just say, Lord, I need your guidance today. I need your guidance. You remember Solomon asked for wisdom and he became the wisest man? Ask for wisdom. Ask for help. Say, God, guide me. Guide my thoughts today. Give me the opportunities that you want me to do your purpose and your will in my life today. And it's gonna be amazing the things that happen if you just totally give those things to the Lord. And we saw that. when we were in Canada and we were hearing all the miracles that happened for the building of a camp there. And it's just like, every time they got to a roadblock where, okay, they've done everything they can, they've been thoughtful, they've been prayerful, they felt like it was the right direction, and now there's an impasse. There's no way they're gonna get a pump or truck, but they've got concrete coming. You know, like those types of things. Now what are we gonna do? A miracle comes through and they get the truck or whatever it is. Over and over and over it happened. So I got a new sense of God at work today. And I'm so glad that I know a God that knows the past, the present, and the future. And I'm getting over my sister not giving me a present. She really didn't do that, but she probably would if she knew how funny that would be. But God knows the future. And here's the important thing. God has promised to save you if you'll put your trust in Jesus. And that's a promise that will be kept by God who keeps his promises and can predict the future. And have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? Do you remember a time that you've said, Lord, I'm a sinner and I need a savior and I put my trust in Jesus who died for me on a cross and rose again. I believe that Jesus is the son of God who paid for my sins on a cross. If you've done that, the Bible says that you're saved and that you will be in heaven and there's gonna be a day that there will be no more pain, sorrow, suffering, tears. If you haven't, there's awful anguish for you for eternity. That's not because God hates you. God loves you, but you've pushed his love. You've rejected his love. He's loved you so much he gave his son. If you'll receive that, if you'll believe in Jesus and him alone, not religion, not a church, not a priest, not a pastor, but in Jesus, if you'll do that, the Bible says you've passed from death to life. It's like you're already in heaven. God has promised to save you to the uttermost. If you'll simply believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins, you were saved. You're a child of God. Once you're born, you can't be unborn. Now we wanna serve him, now we wanna grow, now we wanna learn from him and help him guide, ask him for guidance in our life. And he does. And when you finally make that decision, whatever it is, if it's a big decision especially, you'll know for sure if you've been seeking him and asking and seeking counsel and making sure it's in the Bible, it's not against the Bible, once you've made that decision, you know that it's God's will, just as sure as David knew that he needed to get out of town. And so let's first know God, know Jesus, and then let's ask for his wisdom and his help and his guidance. But we serve a God that knows all things. He knows the future. He knows tomorrow.