1. The Book Which We Call The Holy Bible Contains The Word of God Part 3 Lesson 6 God’s Plan to Save Man

2. Fulfilled Prophecies Relating to God’s Kingdom, the Church We will learn that the church is God’s kingdom here on this earth. Will see that God has been promising to establish His kingdom on this earth for many hundreds of years. For thousands of years, God has been working toward that end. Galatians 4:4 but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, This was when Jesus came into the world. Genesis 12:3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. This speaks of the possibility of all nations being blessed through the gospel. ASV Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed. Jesus Christ came into the world through Abraham, and through Isaac, Abraham’s son by promise. Luke gives us the inspired genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38. ASV Luke 3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ASV Luke 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Keep in mind that God only has to say a thing one time for His will to be revealed to us.

3. God fulfills Joel 2:28-32, an 830 year old prophecy in Acts 2:15-21. ASV Acts 2:15-21 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: 18 Yea and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day. 21 And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Here in Acts 2:15 the NT writer begins to quote, almost verbatim. what Joel said more than 800 years previous to this. This shows that God “keeps His word”. This kind of evidence, over and over again, sustains the claim that the Bible is indeed God’s inspired word.

4. In Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The king’s dream is recorded in Daniel 2:31-35

5. In Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The king’s dream is recorded in Daniel 2:31-35 ASV Daniel 2:34-35 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

6. In Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The king’s dream is recorded in Daniel 2:31-35 Head of Gold – Babylonian Kingdom Chest and Arms of Silver - Medo-Persian Empire Belly & Thighs of Brass - Macedonian or Greeks Legs and Feet of Iron & Clay - Roman Empire

7. In Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The king’s dream is recorded in Daniel 2:31-35 ASV Daniel 2:44 And in the days o days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. “In the days of those kings” refers to the rulers of the 4 th kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which we ’ve seen is the Roman Empire.

8. It was during Rome’s rule that God established His spiritual kingdom on earth. This is the “church” that Jesus Christ built as He promised He would do in Matthew 16:18 - And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Let’s read verses 13-19. Doing this will help us get most of the context associated with this very important incident in Jesus’ earthly ministry.

9. Matthew 16:13-19 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is? 14 And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

10. We know this was to be a “spiritual kingdom”, not an earthly, or a physical one. We know this because when Jesus stood before Pilate on trial, He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. ASV John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. So, it would be “Jesus’ spiritual kingdom established on this earth and made available for men and women to become citizens of it”. This is what God promised, and what Jesus came to do.

11. Later, Jesus promised the people that some of them would live to see this kingdom come “with power”. ASV Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power. Apostles were to receive “power” when the Holy Spirit came upon them. ASV Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit came - ASV Acts 2:1-4 And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Fulfilled the prophecies of Joel 2:28-32; Isaiah 2:1-3; Daniel 2:36-44. ASV Acts 2:41 They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.

12. Throughout the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the church is spoken of as in existence after Acts chapter two. ASV Colossians 1:23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. Hebrews writer wrote the Hebrews were receiving this kingdom. ASV Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: We conclude that God fulfilled His promises to establish His eternal, universal kingdom on earth, and that it is the only "universal kingdom" in existence today. The Bible teaches that it will continue to exist till Jesus comes to receive His own, and take them to their eternal home in heaven. We will study this in another lesson.

13. In our next class, we will study: 1. The process of "revelation" 2. Some consequences of the Bible being inspired by God 3. Review some facts in the area of textual criticism 4. And note the popularity of the Bible throughout its history. All these add tremendous evidence which sustains our subject: “The Book Which We Call The Holy Bible Contains The Word of God”