This is Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. and we're so glad you've joined us for today's program. Here at Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement every day. And if you'd like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers straight to your inbox.
Everything designed to help you stay strong in your faith. It only takes a minute to sign up, but go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com.
Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skiff Heitzig. They predicted that his garments would be torn. And those around would cast lots for them. Psalm 22, 18. They further predicted his bones would not be broken.
Psalm 34, 10. That his side would be pierced, Zechariah 12.10. They predicted he would be buried in a rich man's tomb, Isaiah 53, verse 9. Then they predicted that he would rise from the dead. Psalm sixteen, verse ten.
Now that's just 16 predictions. Sixteen arrows shot up. That's to say nothing of all the glories that would follow, the millennial glories that would follow. Isaiah the prophet, Daniel the prophet, Ezekiel. They all speak of The millennial kingdom, the reign of Christ upon the earth.
Now let me remind you of something. The sheer odds The sheer odds of any one person in history fulfilling 330 predictions. It's crazy. The idea that all of those prophecies, all of those arrows would fall on one person, the odds against that are astronomical. I mean, there are certain things humanly impossible to prearrange.
You didn't arrange where you were going to be born. Who your mother would be, what tribe you would come from, or town you would be born in, etc. I have a little book in my library. I pull it out from time to time called Science Speaks by Dr. Peter Stoner.
Peter Stoner was the Emeritus Professor at Westmont College in Science and Applied Mathematics. And he did a book all about this. Calculating the odds of one man in history fulfilling the predictions made about Christ that he indeed fulfilled.
So, for example, he says in his book, If you were to take eight. Just eight of the predictions. I gave you 16. For one man in history. To fulfill eight things foretold about him before he was born, for him to actually see those things come to pass.
The odds of that would be one in 10. to the 17th power. To visualize that, said Stoner, you could take the state of Texas and fill it two feet deep. Full of silver dollars. If you could do that, you'd be a very rich person, but let's just suppose you could do that.
You fill the state of Texas two feet thick full of silver dollars. You pre-mark one. You send a man in blindfolded. The odds of him selecting the one silver dollar you have pre-marked is one in 10 to the 17th power. And Stoner even got more elaborate.
He said the odds of one man in history fulfilling 16, we just gave you 16 of the predictions made about Jesus Christ that he fulfilled would be 1 in 10 to the 45th power. And again, whenever you have numbers, you gotta visualize it because it's like, yeah, whatever, that's a number.
So This is what it would be like. If you could get enough silver dollars. To make a ball.
So big. That from the center of that ball to the circumference edge of that ball. Would be 30 times the distance the Earth is presently from the Sun, which is 93 million miles.
So 93 million miles times 30 is the distance from the center of your silver dollar ball to the edge. You pre-mark a silver dollar, send somebody in that Globe. The odds that he could find the silver dollar is 1 in 10 to the 45th power. Then Stoner went on to say, What about 48 predictions? And it gets so crazy that he has to use electrons, not silver dollars, because there's just no way you could do that.
Now here's what I want you to know. There are 25 books in the world, thereabouts, that claim to be scripture. All of them have one important ingredient absent from them. All of them Except for one. Have something missing.
Prophecy. predictive prophecy. The Quran doesn't have it. The Upanishads of the Hindus don't have it. The writings of Confucius They don't have it?
They're absent from them. The Bible has predicted prophecy.
So the prophets made all of these crazy predictions. The problem is They didn't understand everything they wrote. In fact, I would even say they understood very little of what they wrote. They shot the arrows out. And they were looking like, now where's that going to land?
Example, in Isaiah chapter six, God commissions. Isaiah to go proclaim To a nation, the desolations that will come. And Isaiah asks the question: how long, O Lord? The prophet Habakkuk says the same thing when the predictions are made about Judah and Jerusalem. Oh Lord, how long?
We studied the prophet Daniel for months. Daniel didn't understand everything. Daniel 7 says, I was grieved in my spirit. Within my body, because this vision troubled me, and he had to ask the angel who was standing by him what these things meant.
So these prophets predicted these things. And then they looked at what was written. to try to figure out what it all meant. There were two basic things they were trying to understand. Notice what it says.
Searching what, verse 11. Or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Now, some translations say, searching what person or what time. Basically, those were the two things they wanted to know. Who am I writing about? When will these things happen? What's the timing and the circumstances around the coming of the Messiah?
I mean Imagine Isaiah the prophet. Writing what he wrote, Okay, so listen to how this sounds. Isaiah 7.14. Behold, A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Here you go.
What does that mean, God? And Shrega would have to say, don't worry about it. You wouldn't believe it if I told you. And so it was with Jeremiah. and Ezekiel and Daniel and Micah and Zechariah and the rest of them.
I mean, it's like 25 men all trying to put together one of those 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles. You know, every one of them has a few of the pieces. But none of them have all the pieces and no one has the... Picture on the front cover of the box. Add to that, most of these guys didn't know each other and lived hundreds of years apart.
That's what being an Old Testament prophet was like. David had a few of the pieces, Moses had a few of the pieces, Isaiah had a few of the pieces, Daniel had a few of the pieces, Zechariah had a few of the pieces, but no one prophet had them all. But when all of those pieces were put together, The picture on the front of the box Was Jesus Christ? And so Jesus walks from Jerusalem toward Emmaus with two of his disciples. And they're bummed out because they don't know why Jesus died on that cross, and they don't think He's alive from the dead.
He happens to be right next to them. And in revealing himself to these two apostles, Jesus says these words: O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written. Ought not Christ to have suffered? and enter into his glory? And then Luke says: beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in the scripture all things concerning himself.
On one occasion, Jesus even said to his disciples, Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it. And to hear what you hear and have not heard it. Folks, that's why we study all the Bible. If you ever wonder, why do you study the Old Testament?
so we can understand the New Testament. Because you've got a whole bunch of predictions made in the Old Testament. You got to know where they're going. Those arrows were shot up. Where are they going to land?
In the New Testament. But if you just read the New Testament, it's like you go to a field with a bunch of arrows and you ask, where did these things come from? Got to read the Old Testament. That's where they shot those things off at.
So, as one scholar put it so beautifully, the new is in the old contained, the old is in the new explained. That is, the New Testament is in the Old Testament contained. The Old Testament is in the New Testament. Explained. You need both.
To see who and when those arrows were shot and how they were fulfilled in Christ. Look at verse 12. To them, that is to those prophets he's still speaking about, it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things. which have now been reported. to you.
At some point, those prophets Began to understand that what they were writing about. was going to be fulfilled At a distant time, far into the future. It wasn't going to happen. In their time.
Some things they predicted did, but much of it was going to happen beyond their time. And Peter is saying to his audience: You're the audience, you're it, you're the recipients. I can just cite a couple of examples. Moses in Deuteronomy 18 made one of the earliest predictions of the Messiah. And he put it this way.
The Lord your God will raise up for you. A prophet like unto me. from among your brethren, him you shall listen to. In the book of Daniel, which we studied at length, in Daniel 10, 14, The angel said to Daniel, I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision refers to many days yet to come.
Daniel 12, verse 4. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end and all. I find this extremely encouraging. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps reach more people with God's Word, changing lives through clear, practical Bible teaching.
And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful and inspiring resource from Skiff's wife, Lenja Heitzig. It's her book, Reload Love, Transforming Bullets to Beauty and Battlegrounds to Playgrounds. This remarkable book tells the true story of how God took Lenya's heartbreak over suffering children in war-torn regions and turned it into a global movement of compassion, melting down bullets to build playgrounds and bring hope where it's needed most. Request your copy of Reload Love when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888.
or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer.
Now let's return to today's teaching. I find it encouraging that my salvation was never an afterthought. I was never an afterthought. It was all planned in the mind of God who gave a message sent from heaven. Given to and through prophets.
fulfilled in Christ, proclaimed by the apostles. and received by you and I. Because life happens, sometimes life happens so suddenly, it takes us off guard, it's so surprising. What Peter is saying is, this whole salvation enterprise was not surprising to God. It's all part of his eternal plan, and you're part of his eternal plan.
See, sometimes things happen and we think, man, that's so random what happened. Redemption isn't random. It's all part of God's great plan. The prophets predicted it. Second thing I want you to note is preachers proclaim it.
Oh, by the way, a little piece of trivia. This is the only scripture where. Profits. Preachers and angels are talked about in the same section. The Bible has a lot to say about all three of them, but this is the only place where all of them are put together.
The prophets predicted it, but notice preachers proclaim it, verse 12. 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. Prophets predicted it. But they did not originate it.
It came from heaven. to the prophets, through the prophets. And it was picked up by preachers. who preached to anyone who would listen. And who does he refer to, those who preach to you?
Well, primarily the apostles. In that day and age, it was Peter and it was Paul and it was John and James and the rest of them going out and sharing the gospel. It was the earliest apostles who preached the gospel to people. In fact, Peter, the author of this book, was the first preacher. In the early church, the day of Pentecost, he stood up and preached, thousands of people got saved.
came into salvation.
Sometime later, Peter and John were going into the temple. There was a man who was lame from birth. He was picked up, healed. Peter preached a message, and he said in that message, Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. What began with the prophets and was passed on to Peter and the apostles.
Was preached to anybody who would listen.
Now, fast forward 2,000 years to Albuquerque, New Mexico, 9:30 service, Calvary, Albuquerque. Here you are. The reason you are here is because of the faithfulness of those who picked up that message and preached it, and others heard it and preached it, and others heard it. You? And you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you?
are all commissioned. To take up that banner and to preach the gospel to this generation and to the next generation. My question to you is, have you preached it? Have you taken this sacred trust? Given to prophets.
and apostles. Have you ever seen yourself as On a mission from God. Isn't that kind of cool? You wake up in the morning, I'm on a mission from God. No joke.
You are on a mission from God. You've received the gospel.
Now it's your turn to transmit the gospel. And please don't say something like this.
Well, I would, but I don't want to offend anyone. Oh really? What do you mean by that? It's a disturbing message. I could disturb someone and offend them.
Well, I suppose you could, but if you had a neighbor's house that was on fire. Would you say, I don't want to disturb them or offend them by telling them that? It would sound like this. The other day my friend's house was on fire. I don't think he knew it, even though he was inside it.
He must have been asleep. I thought about telling my friend his house was on fire, but then I wondered what he would think. He might get embarrassed. Or what if I got off Full of soot. And what would my friends who don't believe in fires think?
Besides, isn't this the fireman's job? You don't want to offend them? How shallow would that sound on Judgment Day? Yeah, Lord, I didn't share with them because I didn't want to offend them. Don't you think it's more offensive to end up in hell?
So the prophets predicted it. Preachers proclaimed it. And I hope you and I are part of that. Preaching choir.
Now Before you get all guilty. Yeah, man, I haven't preached the gospel for a long time. I haven't shared with them. I'm going to just tell you something. The onus really, it's on you to engage, certainly, but the power doesn't come from you.
It's not like you have to go through a special class and get a. All you have to do is get plugged into the right source. And I want you to notice this in verse 12. Reported to you. Through those who have preached the gospel to you by what?
The Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Do you know the Holy Spirit is mentioned? twice in three verses. The Spirit of Christ With the prophets, verse 11. and the Holy Spirit, verse 12.
In other words, the Holy Spirit animated the prophets. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit activated preachers in the New Testament.
So the formula is simple. When the people of God Receive the power of the Spirit of God to preach the gospel of God. Lives change. It's a winning combination, still works today. Prophets predicted it.
Angels proclaim it. Finally, in verse 12, angels ponder it. Look at the last part of verse 12. Things which angels desire to look into. The things he's speaking about are the things of salvation.
Things angels desire to look into. The New Living Translation renders it. It is also wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
Okay, there's two important words that you need to be aware of what they mean at the end of verse 12. First is the word desire. The word desire means to have an overpowering impulse that is not easily satisfied.
Okay, so what does that mean? It's like, man, I really gotta do this. I really gotta have this. Really, really, really, really want this. That's the word desire.
Now the angels have that kind of a desire for what? Look at the second word, look or look into. The word means to stoop down and take a peek. They really, really, really, really want to stoop down and take a peek. Literally, to stretch one's neck forward.
Peter is picturing as if the angels are on their tiptoes looking from the ramparts of heaven. At us. They're terribly interested in salvation and how it works. That kind of makes sense, right? Who was present at the birth of Jesus?
Angels, they announced it. Who was there at the tomb of Jesus when he rose from the dead and told the women? Couple of angels. And now they're still interested as they look down on us.
Now, here's the question: why? Why are we such a wonder to these creatures? Here's the simple answer. Because angels can't be saved. Only humans can.
Only human beings can take part. In the redemption that comes through believing in Christ.
Now, there are fallen angels, and there are faithful angels, there are bad angels, there are good angels, there are elect angels. But there are no saved angels. We can be saved. Only humans can experience God's saving grace. The angels watched as God gave his best to earth's worst.
They're fascinated by that. I think they're fascinated when a drug addict becomes a pastor. I think they're fascinated when a criminal becomes a missionary, when a blasphemer becomes born-again child of God. They ponder it, they marvel at it. And they rejoice over it.
Jesus said in Luke 15: There is rejoicing in the presence of angels. over one sinner who repents.
So it seems that in the classroom of the universe, God is the teacher, the angels are the students, the subject is salvation, and the illustration is the church. And the angels are looking down going, man. That's interesting. It's marvelous. And they ponder it.
One of the reasons I think they're so curious is a little phrase that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6. that I think has bothered the angels ever since he wrote it. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6, Do you not know that we will judge the angels? If I'm an angel going, what was that? Excuse me?
They're going to judge us. These human beings who are made a little lower than the angels. Are going to judge us, these Christians? Who rarely pray, who don't witness much, who don't even know much about angels except they eat angel food cake? They're going to judge me.
But it is true. You're gonna with Christ Even make that final pronouncement. For those angelic beings who Who had fallen? Wow. You know what?
You could do something today that would make the angels Marvel. You could do something today that would make the angels rejoice. Get saved. Every time one person He's in that process of salvation. It's like all the angels, they get a little bit closer to the railing, going, look, look, look.
Look, look, look. And then a person goes, Jesus, come in. Wow, it happened again. Come on guys, let's have a party. You see?
A person may go to a doctor and walk away a healthy Sinner. He may go to a psychiatrist and walk away a well-adjusted. Center. He may go to a church and walk away a religious center. But only when that person comes to the cross of Jesus Christ will he walk away a forgiven.
Center. And that is the message of the gospel. that came from heaven. Announced by prophets, proclaimed by preachers for the last two thousand years, received by us. And the angels look at it and go.
And How cool is that? Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share God's word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we'll send you Lenya Heitzig's powerful book, Reload Love, Transforming Bullets to Beauty and Battlegrounds to Playgrounds, as our thanks for your gift. This inspiring story shows how God can turn bullets into beauty and how love can transform even the most broken places into beacons of hope.
Gift now at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skiff Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection! Make a connection now. Yeah.
Of the crossing. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
