The Future Looks Uncertain...but God - Part B

God wants to make known to you to us the future.

Not all of it.

As I said all the details of it would be overwhelming, but parts of you want to give us a limited amount of knowledge and that's essentially what the prophecy is this God telling us what's going to happen in the future.

So, for example, he told Israel before it happened to go to captivity in Babylon.

They did to bring you back. They came back.

God want you to be at peace concerning the future and he's even given you his word to tell you what's to come today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shares what God has revealed about his plans and what you can trust in his work, but first we want to share about an exciting resource that answers your questions about God as you explore who he truly is God says and if he dies. Is it possible to know him your answer to those two questions shapes how you see the world skip.

I think once wrestled with those very questions himself, you know, I've been teaching the Bible for over three decades before I became a Christian and when I was new to the faith. I studied science and philosophy alongside the Bible as I studied, I grew confident that God does exist. And yes, we can know in the biography of God. The brand-new book by skip, I think you learn to remove the limits you may have placed on your idea of who God is. Everything changes when you acknowledge and believe that God is who he says here's biography of God is always a thank you when you give $35 or more today to help expand this vital teaching outreach to more people request your copy when you give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888 Daniel chapter 2. As we dive into the teaching with skip-Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and wider his he changes the times and the seas. He removes kings and raises up he gives wisdom to the wise, and dollars to those who have understanding.

He reveals deep and secret things he knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him.

I thank you and praise you God of my fathers, you have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you. You have made known to us the king's demand, God can do that is to God as a quality he has an attribute.

Here's a characteristic that makes knowing the future possible and that is this he knows everything and when you know everything you know the future. In Psalm 139 David said, Lord you have searched me and known me, you have known my sitting down in my rising up.

You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down your acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, Lord you know it all together.

In other words, even before I think the thought, you know what I would think you know I thought afar off, you know, before I know that's how comprehensive God's knowledge is so God has all knowledge the Bible for treason is that all knowledge is on this shift.

He is the know it all, God, and that means you can never tell God something he doesn't know ninth that most of us believe that. But even the best we can ever do to describe this attribute of God because it's so foreign to us. We kinda walk away going to get because God's knowledge is immediate, comprehensive, and without deterioration.

None of us can relate to that. If I were to give you a test from your high school days you probably failed because all that knowledge you learned right before the test. It's gone pretty quickly, but a lot of us forget what we did yesterday. So God's knowledge is immediate, comprehensive without deterioration and without painstaking research know for me. The preaching is easy. It's all the research that leads up to God is enough to do that he doesn't have to move from one logical premise to another logical premise to come up with a conclusion.

God never had to go to school.

God doesn't ever have to be informed. God never says oh really. Or wow or or I didn't know that he never says those things because his knowledge is immediate, comprehensive without deterioration because he knows it all. He therefore knows the future, and that is what Daniel is banking on. That is why Daniel stands before areata he's not panicking is very poised is very confident and unruffled because he knows God knows, and all it is a matter of God revealing it to him now.

God exists out of time. That is, he is not confined by our space time continuum. He dwells in the realm of eternity by quality eternal present. That is why God can predict the future and you'll notice this when you read the Old Testament, he often predicts what hasn't happened. By using past tense verbiage as if it is already happened because to him. It's like it already has happened give you little illustration. Let's say it's 4 July parade and I'm I'm there on the curb right in the middle of the parade route, so I'm there.

The parade is going by, and that the clowns on bicycles go by. Not spooky grounds nice clowns happy Kaiser waving my way back to the clowns of plans go by now the mayoral float is still at the beginning of the parade route that hasn't come by yet I haven't seen that's it.

One of you sees me then you come up and I say will just sit right here you can enjoy the parade and you go out that I really want to see the clowns on bicycles as it will they've already gone by. But if you go ahead you can see what's past somebody else comes up and says that IIIII hope I was the mayoral float.

I want to see the mayor on the flip but I don't have much time so well that still at the beginning of the route, but if you go to the beginning. You can see the future what is the future to make now is take it a step further, let's say we were to leave the ground level getting a helicopter and get over the parade will now we can see it all at once.

I can see the clowns on bicycles. I can see the mayor on his float and everything in between. At one time Daniel knows that God has this attribute, so Daniel activates his faith in God because the God he knows knows it all and that is what Daniel is banking on somebody once said, faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket and then counting your blessings before they hatch choices areata to cool your jets man chill. Give me a little bit of time.

Gotto tell me about this stuff and I'll tell the king so the future is unknown to us, the future is well known to God and give you third certainty, the future is made known to us dislike it was made known to Daniel.

Daniel will now make it known to the king who had the dream to begin with. If you go down to verse 26 this is the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Bill to show us our are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen in its interpretation. Daniel answered in the presence of the king and he said the secret which the king has demanded the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. Verse 28 is the key verse in our blood God series.

In this particular instance, but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days the future your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed with these is for you okay thoughts came in your mind while on your bed about what would come to pass after this. And he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. So Daniel stands before the king and says they can't tell you about your dream and I can't tell you about your dream. But there's a God in heaven who can in the God in heaven knows your future.

He's revealed it to me and I'm about to tell it to you. So the future is made known to us and others.

The principal principle, God wants to make known to you to us the future. Not all of it. As I said all the details of it would be overwhelming, but parts of it you want to give us a limited amount of knowledge and that's essentially what biblical prophecy is as God telling us what's going to happen in the future. So, for example, he told Israel before it happened you to go into captivity in Babylon. They did to bring you back. They came back he announced that there would, one day a ruler Messiah, the make a profit to deliver and the prophets told about his birth, his life, his death and his resurrection.

The Bible reveals to us future judgment is coming Monday. A rapture is coming one day a great tribulation period is coming. One day Jesus will come back to the earth. That's gonna happen one day his rule and reign for thousand years. That's can happen one day. There's an event being eternal kingdom of the new heaven and in the work that's can happen one day. The future is given to us revealed by God. Now how impressive is biblical prophecy.

Pretty impressive because there are some accounts where events and people are spoken about before they are born.

Some of them are even named by name hundreds of years before they existed and were told what they would do.

And in fact one fourth of the Bible is prophecy. It's a big chunk 1/4 of the Bible is predictive prophecy, God telling people what can happen in the future now anybody can make predictions. Having those predictions come true. That's a whole another level, I can make all sorts of predictions by having them happen is quite a different category, especially as you add details to those predictions know when you make a prediction and then you add detail upon detail upon detail that you complicate the prediction and when you complicate the prediction you add risk and the risk diminishes the possibility of ever being fulfilled so you enter the realm called compound probability.

The more details you add the odds of ever happening are slim. So the Jewish prophets. For example, predicted by 300 to 330 different layers of what would happen to this Messiah who is going to come where he would be born. As I said his life, his death, his resurrection is a sampling.

They predicted he would be born of a virgin, that narrows the population down quite a bit.

As Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 that he would be born in Bethlehem.

Micah chapter 5 verse two.

They predicted he would be born into the tribe of Judah. Genesis 4910. They also predicted that his ministry would begin, not in Jerusalem but up in Galilee. Isaiah 91.

They predicted he would work miracles. Isaiah 35 verse five and six.

They also predicted he would one day enter into Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah 9 verse nine he would be betrayed by a friend of Psalm 41 verse nine he would then be sold for 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah 1112 he would be wounded and bruised. Isaiah 53 verse five. His hands and his feet would be pierced. Psalm 22 verse 16.

It would be then crucified with thieves. Isaiah 5312.

His garments would be torn and lots would be cast to see who owns them that Psalm 2218 his bones would not be broken. Psalm 34 verse 20, his side would be pierced. Zechariah 12 verse 10 he would be buried in a rich man's tomb. Isaiah 53 verse nine and he would rise from the dead. Psalm 16 verse 10 those are 16 only of those 300 predictions very detailed predictions of what would happen to this Messiah. Now, I think you will agree. These are impossible to arrange from a human level, you can decide in advance what tribe you're going to be born into or who your mother's going to be or will you where you will live as a baby.

All those are predicted.

In fact, 100 billion years isn't enough time to give us enough chances for those prophecies to ever be fulfilled without God.

That's why Dana said, but there is a God in heaven who knows all these things and reveals secrets so that's Bible prophecies.

The Bible prophecy is in a good guess it's good news to a guessing world to give them certain matters because in Bible prophecy, you have multiple contingencies in features different layers of those that cannot be known, they cannot be controlled, and so your left at the end going is only one explanation for that divine authorship. There's really no other way to explain the Bible's ability to predict the future unless you see God as the author. Because the precision is undeniable, undeniable the future is unknown to us. Future is well known to God. The future is made known to us and forth and finally the future makes God known to us.

This is the most important point. The reason God predicts future events is to make himself known to people so good out of verse 45. After Daniel tells him what he saw what it means what's can happen after he dies all the kingdoms are coming. Verse 45 inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold is all the kingdoms that would come after Nebuchadnezzar, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. Notice what he calls God not just a God or my God, but he great God, the great God is made under the king will come to pass and then look what he says the dream is certain, the interpretation is sure. Then verse 46 Nebuchadnezzar said cool I I on purpose misread that Nebuchadnezzar did what anybody would and having a guy's telling exactly what he dreamed exactly what he was thinking about before he fell asleep, and exactly what it means in terms of future prophecies that Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face. Prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering an instance to him and the king answered Daniel and said truly, your God is the God of God's the Lord of kings and the revealer of secrets.

Since you could reveal this matter. That is the reason for biblical prophecy so that people will realize the there's only one God is only one true God, and that's the God he can predict the future.

Did you know that God himself uses a prophecy as his business card.

He doesn't mean he he uses prophecy to show that other world religions are all a sham all made up all demonic endeavors that don't add up to anything I want to listen. Isaiah 41. This is God speaking. He says, present your case set forth your arguments bringing your idols and have them tell us what is going to happen declared to us things to come, tell us what the future holds so that we may know that you are God see God showing off the sink. I can predict the future. Can they can your idols, your false gods know they can. Jesus prophecy is basically the same thing as a reason to believe a reason for faith.

John 1429 Jesus said, and now I have told you before it comes to pass, so that when it does come to pass.

You may believe that's the goal that you may believe that you may trust you see Jesus as basically three credentials that set them apart from every other religious system or belief system number one. His impact upon history is incomparable number to his resurrection from the dead and number three fulfilled prophecy fulfilled prophecy.

Most religions in the world will base their beliefs on the philosophical postulates of their founders things they said words of wisdom a lifestyle capture by disciples and written down but of the 25 books that are out there or thereabouts, about 25 books that claim to be Scripture there is something absent in all of them except one that's detail prophecy detail prophecy, you won't find it in the Koran. You won't find it in the writings of Buddha you will find in the writings of louts to Taoism. You won't find it in the sayings of Confucius or the Hindu Vedas prophecy about the future of which God stakes his reputation on is found only in the Bible so there's God thing. I know the future you don't nobody does. But I'm in the business of revealing it to you but it so that I can reveal myself to you. I want to make myself known to you. I want a relationship with you. Never when Paul stood in Athens on the Areopagus on Mars Hill and he confronted the philosophers of Athens and he was ingenious. He said you know you guys are so religious you have so many gods, I was even wandering through your streets today and I found a statue to an unknown God said to the unknown God you worship all these gods and even made one called the in case you left somebody out this is the unknown God and then Paul said him I proclaim to you the God you don't know is the God that you should know and he wants you to know him and he from that point preach the gospel to God wants to make himself known and made himself known to Nebuchadnezzar. I love it. Verse 45 notice.

Daniel says the dream is certain the interpretation is sure you hear any hesitation in his voice at all. He didn't suck it I get it right. Mr. King's are is that this is a done deal. King, it's certain that sure there's a weighty ring to his speech he knows he has heard from God and that's what's going to happen in the future. So that's why God reveals himself in prophecy. It's not just to make people aware is to make people adore is not just to inform people of God's plan is to conform people to God's plan. It's not just to get people to wow but to get people to worship, surrender to submit to his plan and by the way, since you don't know what's ahead in your road you can see around the curves. God does.

He knows and he will be there to meet you when those events occur in your life to give you grace to endure them all, but doesn't it make most sense that because we are limited in God is unlimited that we were limited would surrender ourselves to the unlimited being who wants to be a part of our lives makes most sense. Corrie 10 boom, one of my favorite people in modern history was or Christian believer who helped hide Jews during World War II.

She was caught. Her family was caught. Some were killed. She was put in concentration Nazi concentration and then another concentration camp she almost died. She was brutally treated for years. She said this.

Never be afraid to entrust an unknown future into the hands of unknown God sums it all up.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future into the hands of an that makes sense. And if you don't know this God he wants to reveal himself to you and to walk with you and have a relationship that includes Skip a text message from the series but God right now want to tell you about a unique opportunity to take your knowledge of Scripture to a new level. Calvary College is now open for registration. Calvary College is offering select online classes as an opportunity for individuals to take their lives calling to a whole new level with an educational emphasis in biblical studies with our unique partnerships with Veritas international University and Calvary Chapel University. You will have the opportunity to obtain your bachelors or Masters degree with complete online program. Whether you're looking to obtain an accredited online degree or take individual courses to become better equipped in your knowledge of God's unchangeable truth.

Calvary College has you covered with a range of opportunities for updates on classes and registration information for Calvary College's visit Calvary ABQ.college that's Calvary ABQ.com for Calvary College, Calvary Q.college listeners like you are a vital part of helping share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible. If these teachings icecap and encouraged you could pass that blessing onto your support to help keep these messages available for you and others just visit connectwithskip.com/donate to give the gift now that's connectwithskip.com/donate or you can call 892 1888, 892 1888. Thank you for connecting more people to tune in tomorrow Skip Heitzig talks about the reality of life without Christ and the joy of living your life with him.

Unbelievers are just sick. Their dead, they lack the capacity to respond to stimuli. In this case for so that's important because it shows us they don't need a self-help horse didn't need a personality test they need salvation, they needed divine God moment so Skip presentation of connection communications to God's unchanging truth