If God speaks…  What He says prevails over all other claims  Even if it doesn’t make sense to us Noah—God told him to build a ship in the middle of dry land to prepare for a flood that would cover the whole earth! Noah showed faith by accepting God’s word over his own reasoning  God’s Word is the foundation of our faith (Rom. 10:17)

How do we know if God speaks?  Distinctive quality, signature, or fingerprint  Prophecy  General characteristics—the glory of God

Creation—An example of God speaking Psalms 19 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. (NKJV)

Four witnesses of Jesus John 5 36 "But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. (NKJV)

John’s witness  We can’t see John today  We can see the witness of Christ in people today People turn their lives around through Christ My life has tremendously changed

The Works of Jesus  33 Years of life changed the entire world  Lacked worldly ambition  Free from prejudice or hatred  Message that turned the world up-side- down (Matt. 5-7).  Wisdom that confounded the great men of the day  Message of divine love, uncommon in surrounding cultures  Miracles

Testimony of the Father  God directly confirmed Jesus in Matt. 3:17 and Matt. 17:5  Would also include…

The Scriptures  Prophecies from the Old Testament describe details of Christ hundreds of years before He came  Parallels The system that Jesus began (Christianity) amazingly fulfills the Old Testament

Prophecies: The virgin birth Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (NKJV)  Immanuel means “God-with-us”  Not only will a virgin give birth, but she will give birth to God  See Matt. 1:20-23

Prophecies: Place of birth "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." (Micah 5:2 NKJV)  Jesus born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-6)  Jesus is the only everlasting ruler

Prophecies: Divine king For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV)  A man will be born who is the mighty God  He will have an eternal government  David’s line

Prophecies: price of betrayal Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter" -that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter. (Zechariah 11:12-13 NKJV)  The exact number of silver pieces that Judas is paid for his betrayal of Jesus (Matt. 27:3)  The potter’s field was bought with the money (Matt. 27:7).  When Judas tried to return the money, he threw it into the temple

Prophecies: crucifixion For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. (Psalms 22:16-18 NKJV)  Jesus was surrounded by wicked people  Hands and feet pierced (John 20:25)  No bones broken (John 19:33)  Garments divided and lots cast for clothing (John 19:23-24)

Prophecies: Perfect sacrifice For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked-But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:8-9 NKJV)  One who dies for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3)  Jesus crucified with robbers (Matt. 27:38)  Yet, buried in a rich man’s tomb (Matt. 27:57-60)  A sinless man (1 Pet. 2:22)

Parallels Old CovenantNew Covenant PriesthoodThe LevitesJesus (Heb. 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:6) Sacrifice for sin Bulls, goats, etc.Jesus SignCircumcisionBaptism (Col. 2:11-12) ExodusPhysical exodus out of the slavery of Egypt Spiritual exodus from the slavery of sin (John 8, etc). Promised landLand of CanaanHeaven BreadMannaWord of God (John 6:49- 50) SabbathAt the end of each weekHeaven—at the end of our physical lives (Heb. 4:9)

Can He be explained away?  Only 3 choices: Myth: Jesus is fictional and perhaps the Bible is fictional. Fraud: Jesus or a group truly existed but they were frauds Lunatic: Jesus existed, but He was insane

A myth?  Contradicts secular historical knowledge  Author(s) must have invented a complicated and flawless lie.  Author(s) must have possessed great wisdom, such that changed the world, yet were apparently evil.  Motives—why would someone do this? Did they gain anything?  Odds: 1 in 1,000,000,000,000 ????????

A fraud?  Fraud(s) must have interpreted prophecies and, even more difficult, caused their fulfillment.  Evil, yet possess great morality and wisdom.  Change history and thousands of lives through complicated system of lies.  Motives—why? Only gained death (also a very hard prophecy to purposely fulfill).  Odds: 1 in 1,000,000,000,000 ????????

A lunatic?  With the unreasonable mind of a lunatic, He must have flawlessly interpreted prophecies and, even more difficult, caused their fulfillment.  With the unreasonable mind of a lunatic, he possessed great morality and wisdom.  With the unreasonable mind of a lunatic, he changed history and thousands of lives.  Odds: 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ????????

Has God given testimony?  Testimony of people  The testimony of Jesus’ works  Testimony of the Father  Testimony of the scriptures

The next step  Become a Christian today  Or renew your decision