Prophecy Outline 1
The Purposes of Prophecy

1. Prophecy is Evidence that the Bible is the Word of God

• Hundreds of prophecies about Christ, including those about His birth time, birth place, family; ministry, death, resurrection and ascension (e.g. Ps 22:11-18; Mic 5:2)
• Prophecies about world events (e.g. Dan 2)

2. Prophecy Demonstrates God's Sovereignty

• Mt 27:46 - Christ's quoting of Ps 22:1 on the cross proved that He was still in control of events (Ac 2:23)
• Dan 4:17 - "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind"
• Israel's continued existence in spite of all human effort to the contrary.

3. Prophecy Inspires Holy Living

• 1 Jn 3:3 - the hope of the rapture will cause us to "purify" ourselves
• 2 Pe 3:11 - the impending destruction of the world will keep us from living for it

4. Prophecy is for Edification, Exhortation and Consolation - 1 Cor 14:3

• Edification (building up) - e.g. Ezr 5:2; 6:14 - the building of the temple was successful through the prophesy of Haggai and Zerubbabel
• Exhortation (encouragement) - 2 Chr 15:1-8 - Asa took courage because of prophecy
• Consolation (comfort) - Job 19:25

5. The Main Point of Prophecy: Christ

• Rev 1:1 - it's called the revelation (singular) of Jesus Christ, not of future events or even of God's purposes
• Rev 19:10b - testimony about Christ is the essence of prophecy
• Prophecy is not an end in and of itself; it is meant to reveal Christ to us
• Christ is The Prophet (Dt 18:15-18; Jn 6:14; 7:40)

Prophecy and Speculation

• Speculation is a serious problem that must be avoided when considering biblical prophecy.
• We have 66 books which are words from heaven. We ought not to feel the need to "liven them up" with speculation or sensationalism.
• We should avoid speculation and sensationalism for at least the following reasons:
• 1 Peter 2:2 tells us that we should crave the pure milk of the word, not speculation.
• 2 Peter 1:19 tells us that as wonderful as Peter's experience on the Mount of Transfiguration was, the prophetic word was more sure. Biblical prophecy is sure, speculation is unsure.
• Lots of people have brought ridicule upon Christianity and Christ by speculation.
• Speculation undermines our confidence in God's word. We have lots of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible to show us that God's word is trustworthy; speculation produces the opposite result.