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Songs and Teachings of the Bible
Songs and Teachings of the Bible
Doctrine Six Continued
The Bible is the Foundation of the Church
Part Six
THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS CARRY AUTHORITY
Part Six
THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS CARRY AUTHORITY
"Prophecy is the Gospel!
It's the advance news of what God is going to do."
"If you don't understand Bible prophecy,
then you don't understand the Bible!"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong
It's the advance news of what God is going to do."
"If you don't understand Bible prophecy,
then you don't understand the Bible!"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROPHETS
"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out."
(Luke 13:28)
" . . . prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
(II Peter 1:21)
" . . . be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. . . ."
(II Peter 3:2)
"I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets."
(Hosea 12:10)
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. . . ."
(Hebrews 1:1-2)
" . . . For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
(Revelation 19:10)
JESUS FULFILLED MOSES AND THE PROPHETS
"We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
(John 1:45)
" . . . if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
(John 5:46-47)
"They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. . . .
"If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
(Luke 16:29, 31)
"And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."
(Luke 24:27)
"Then He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.' And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
"Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.' "
(Luke 24:44-46)
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. . . ."
(I Corinthians 15:3-4)
PAUL BELIEVED MOSES AND THE PROPHETS
"But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets."
(Acts 24:14)
"And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain." [This hope included the restoration of Israel -- Acts 1:6; 3:21]
(Acts 26:6-7)
"Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come -- that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."
(Acts 26:22-23)
"So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening."
(Acts 28:23)
ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB WERE PROPHETS
Genesis 20:7; Psalm 105:8-15
MOSES WAS A PROPHET
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; 34:10; Hosea 12:13; Acts 3:22; 7:37
DAVID WAS A PROPHET
Acts 2:29-30
THE CHURCH IS BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE PROPHETS
"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. . . ."
(Romans 1:1-2)
"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them was indicating when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. . . ."
(I Peter 1:10-12)
" . . . those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ . . . whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."
(Acts 3:18-21)
"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
(Ephesians 2:19-23)
"Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith -- to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."
(Romans 16:25-27)
"And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. . . ."
(Hebrews 11:32)
All of the Saints who are mentioned in Hebrews 11 -- "the Faith Chapter" -- will be in the Kingdom of God. This includes the prophets of Israel (Hebrews 11:32; Luke 13:28), many of whom were martyred for proclaiming the Word of God (Hebrews 11:37; Revelation 6:9-11; 20:4).
Jesus said that Israel rejected and persecuted many of the Old Testament prophets, and would reject many more whom He would send in the future (Matthew 21:33-46; 23:29-39; see also II Chronicles 36:15-16; Matthew 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; I Thessalonians 2:14-16).
God will raise up two witnesses at the end of this age who will help prepare the way for Christ's Second Coming. They will 1) proclaim the true Gospel to the nations and 2) nourish the Church of God during the coming Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-13; Zechariah 4:1-3, 11-14).
Jesus said that Israel rejected and persecuted many of the Old Testament prophets, and would reject many more whom He would send in the future (Matthew 21:33-46; 23:29-39; see also II Chronicles 36:15-16; Matthew 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; I Thessalonians 2:14-16).
God will raise up two witnesses at the end of this age who will help prepare the way for Christ's Second Coming. They will 1) proclaim the true Gospel to the nations and 2) nourish the Church of God during the coming Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-13; Zechariah 4:1-3, 11-14).
NINETY PERCENT OF THE PROPHECIES ARE YET TO BE FULFILLED
Christ fulfilled only part of Bible prophecy at His First Coming (Acts 3:18-21). The rest of the prophecies will be fulfilled in conjunction with His Second Coming. Herbert W. Armstrong often stated that one-third of the Bible is devoted to prophecy and that ninety percent of those prophecies are yet to be fulfilled.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
(Matthew 5:17-18)
" . . . but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets."
(Revelation 10:7)
" . . . I will come again. . . ."
(John 14:3)
" . . . This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
(Acts 1:11)
"He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
(Revelation 22:20)
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."
(Luke 21:22)
" . . . the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" [i.e., before the Millennium -- Revelation 6:12-17; Acts 2:19-20; Joel 2:30-31] "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." [i.e., during and after the Millennium -- Revelation 21:1-5; Isaiah 65:17-25; The Seventh Millennial Day]
(II Peter 3:10-13)
"For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night."
(I Thessalonians 5:2)
"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her" [on Babylon].
(Revelation 18:20)
"Then he said to me, 'These words are faithful and true.' And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place."
(Revelation 22:6)
" . . . I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book."
(Revelation 22:9)
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. . . .
"Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand."
(Daniel 12:4, 9-10)
The book of Revelation directs our attention toward the Second Coming of Christ and corroborates the message of the Old Testament prophets. The original apostles believed and proclaimed this message as they looked forward to Christ's Second Coming and His reign upon the earth. Herbert W. Armstrong spent over five decades proclaiming the Good News of the World Tomorrow on radio, television, in print and through personal evangelism all around the world.
Edward Gibbon, in chapter 15 of his book, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, wrote, "The doctrine of Christ's reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory; was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion; and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism." Herbert W. Armstrong, after quoting these words on the radio in his True History of the True Church series, declared, "And that's how Christianity lost the Gospel!" A World in Confusion