‘MESSIAH In Both Testaments’ ‘$1,000 OFFERED’

An alternative news compiler had a link to the following today:

MESSIAH In Both Testaments

By FRED JOHN MELDAU
ABSOLUTE PROOF OF:
The Fact of God
The Deity of Christ
The Truth of Christianity
The Inspiration of the Bible …

$1,000 OFFERED
THE BIBLE has no competitor. It is the only Book in the world that contains genuine prophecy. CHRIST has no competitor. He is the only One in the history of the world whose life was pre-written and who came down from Heaven to be the Saviour of mankind. Christianity is based on these facts: the Bible is the inspired Word of God; Christ is the unique Son of God. We are offering a thousand dollars reward to anyone who (1) Can show that there is another book in the world, beside the Bible, that has genuine prophecy about a coming Messiah; (2) Can produce any “Christ,” living or dead, (other than Jesus of Nazareth), who can fulfill even half of the many predictions about the true Messiah as given in the Bible and as set forth in this book. …

With no variations or aberrations between the Old Testament predictions of the coming Messiah and the New Testament fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth, one instinctively leaps to the conclusion that “the Hand that drew the Image in prophecy moulded the Portrait in history”; and the inevitable conclusion to this miracle is fourfold:

(1) It proves that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, for unaided man is neither capable of writing nor fulfilling such a literary wonder.

(2) It proves that the God of the Bible, the only One who knows the end from the beginning, and who alone has the power to fulfill all His word, is the true and living God.

(3) It demonstrates that the God of the Bible is both all-knowing to be able to foretell the future entwined around numberless men who are free moral agents, and all-powerful, to be able to bring to pass a perfect fulfillment of His word in the midst of widespread unbelief, ignorance and rebellion on the part of men.

(4) It demonstrates that the Person, Jesus of Nazareth, who so perfectly and completely fulfilled all the Old Testament predictions is indeed the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, the Son of the Living God. …

Fulfilled Prophecy Is Unique to the Bible

The fact of fulfilled prophecy is found in the Bible alone; hence, it presents proof of Divine inspiration that is positive, conclusive, overwhelming. Here is the argument in brief: no man, unaided by Divine inspiration, foreknows the future, for it is an impenetrable wall, a true “iron curtain,” to all mankind. Only an almighty and an allknowing God can in-fallibly predict the future. If then one can find true prophecy (as one does in the Bible), with definite fulfillment, with sufficient time intervening between the prediction and the fulfillment, and with explicit details in the prediction to assure that the prophecies are not clever guesses, then the case is perfect and unanswerable. Remember, there were 400 years between the last of the Messianic predictions of the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the Christ of the Gospels.3 Many prophecies are of course much older than 400 B. C. During the period of 1100 years, from the age of Moses (1500 B.C.) to that of Malachi (400 B.C.), a succession of prophets arose, Messianic prediction took form, and all of them testified of the Messiah who was to come.

So minute and so voluminous are these Old Testament pre-dictions and so complete is their fulfillment in the New Testament, that Dr. A. T. Pierson says, “There would be no honest infidel in the world were Messianic prophecy studied . . . nor would there be any doubting disciples if this fact of prediction and fulfillment were fully understood.” “And,” he continues, “the sad fact is, we have yet to meet the first honest skeptic or critic who has carefully studied the prophecies which center in Christ” (Many Infallible Proofs).

“Prophecy” Is God’s Own Method of Proving His Truth

The teachings of the Bible are so peculiar and different from all other religions, … In challenging the false gods of Isaiah’s time, the true God said: “Produce your cause . . . bring forth your strong reasons . . .show us what shall happen . . . declare us things for to come. Show us things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods” (Isa.41: 21-23).

There are false faiths like Mohammedanism and Buddhism that have tried to prop up their claims on pretended miracles, but neither these, nor any other religion in the history of the world, except the Bible, have ever ventured to frame prophecies.

It is the peculiar “glory” of the Almighty, the all-knowing God, who is “the Lord, the Creator” (Isa. 40:28) to “declare new things before they spring forth” (Isa. 42:8-9) and that glory He will not share with another (Isa. 42:8). The true God alone foreknows and foretells the future. And He has chosen to confine his foretelling to the pages of Scripture.” 5Though there are many other subjects of Divine Prophecy in the Bible—such as the Jews, the Gentile nations that surrounded Israel, ancient cities, the Church, the last days, etc., the divine perfections of foreknowledge and fulfillment can be seen better in the realm of prophecies concerning Christ than in any other sphere.

Here is the clear statement that God alone, in the Bible alone, gave true prophecies: “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND AND I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE” (Isa. 45:9, 10). (The appeal by God that He alone can give and fulfill prophecy, and that it is to be found alone in the Bible, is found in many places in the Bible. See2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Deuteronomy 18:21, 22; Isaiah 41:21-23; Jeremiah 28:9; John 13:19, etc.) …

Since the Bible tells us that man’s eternal destiny depends on trusting Christ—”he that believeth on the SON hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36)—it should be our greatest desire to tell others these facts, and let them know that “there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

“THESE ARE WRITTEN THAT YE MIGHT BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD: AND THAT BELIEVING YE MIGHTHAVE LIFE (ETERNAL LIFE) THROUGH HIS NAME” (John 20:31). http://www.freegraceresources.org/messiahinbothtestaments.pdf

Yes, Jesus is the anointed, the Christ, the prophesied Messiah. No matter how much money is offered, people cannot prove that Jesus was not the Messiah. Oh yes, there have been attempts by so-called scholars to deny Jesus’ existence. And yes, non-believing Jews have come up with many arguments to reason around the scriptures. But the reality is that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and is the prophesied Saviour.

Notice something from the free book Proof Jesus is the Messiah:

Various ones have discounted the Old Testament and/or claimed that the writers of the New Testament deliberately wrote items to make it look like Jesus fulfilled various prophecies, hence they claim that there was nothing supernatural about Jesus.

Those who think that are deceiving themselves as they are ignoring many proofs.

As it turns out, Jesus made many predictions that came to pass.

Consider the following:

⁶ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. ⁸ But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

¹⁰ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. ¹¹ For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. ¹² For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. ¹³ Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26:6-13)

And that story has been told throughout history, and is being told also in this book.

Jesus, Himself, foretold that many false leaders would rise up and claim Him:

⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5)

That certainly has happened throughout history. There were early heretics and apostates, and this has continued throughout the entire church age (documented details are in the free online book, Continuing History of the Church of God, available at www.ccog.org).

Jesus warned about persecutions of His followers:

² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. (John 16:2)

That happened as we can see in the Book of Acts (Acts 7:59-60; Acts 8:1; 13:50). Plus, outside the Bible, the Jewish Talmud advocated putting Christians out (e.g. Berakhot 29a). Also, there are records of murderous persecutions throughout history, starting no later than the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero (e.g. Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome, xv.44).

Jesus warned about going before councils and being scourged:

¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. (Matthew 10:17)

This happened to many, if not all, of the original apostles (Acts 5:29, 40-41) and the Apostle Paul (Acts 16:20-37). We have also seen this type of persecution throughout history (e.g. The Martyrdom of Polycarp). Plus, there was a major Jewish persecution of those who professed Christ in 524 AD (Dysch M. Historians back BBC over Jewish massacre claim. Jewish Chronicle, May 2009).

Notice also the following that Jesus declared:

¹⁸ You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. (Matthew 10:18)

This happened to the Apostle Paul in the 1^st century (Acts 25:23-26:23) as well as the late Pastor-General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, in the 20^th century (though he was not forcefully brought to meet world leaders, he did meet with them and provide testimony to the Gentiles).

Jesus also said people would claim to prophesy and cast out demons in His name:

²² Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” ²³ And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:22-23)

While the “in that day” is not yet here, throughout history various false ones have claimed to cast out demons in Jesus’ name and to prophesying in His name, as well as to claim various wonders in His name.

Jesus predicted that the Christian church would exist and that death (called “Hades” below) would not eliminate it:

¹⁸ … I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

Since the start of the New Testament church in Acts chapter 2 to present, the Christian church has existed and has not been eliminated (documented details are in the free online book, Continuing History of the Church of God, available at www.ccog.org).

Jesus also stated:

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:35)

There are over 5,800 ancient documents, composed of 2.6 million pages, which contain parts of the New Testament (McDowell J, p. 53) and many of those contain Jesus’ words. Furthermore, His words have been translated into at least 1521 different languages (Latest Bible translation statistics. Wycliff Bible Translators. 08/15/18). Billions of copies of the New Testament have been produced in the past few centuries. Jesus’ words most certainly did not pass away.

How many others in history have made such bold claims about themselves and had them repeatedly confirmed for centuries later?

9. Jesus predicted that the gospel would one day be preached to all the world before the end:

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

Substantial efforts to do this have happened over the centuries. Some have claimed the gospel preaching already has reached all the world. While at least a partial witness has been given to many nations around the world, this will be completely fulfilled (to God’s satisfaction) within the next decade or so.

Jesus also made a prediction that was fulfilled just a few decades after He made it:

¹ Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)

History records that the above was fulfilled by the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. (e.g. Josephus. Wars of the Jews, Book VII, Chapter 1, verse 1).

While skeptics have tried to claim Matthew (or someone else) wrote this after the destruction of the temple to make it seem like Jesus predicted it, they have no proof of that.

Actually, internal statements in the Book of Matthew (like Matthew 5:23-24, 17:21-24, 23:16-22) likely would have been written differently if the temple had already been destroyed. Furthermore, in Matthew 21:13, Matthew uses the verb λἐγει meaning “saying” (Green J. Interlinear Bible, 2^nd edition. Hendrickson, 1986, p. 756) making the statement a historic present for the temple, as opposed to something that only existed in the past. Additionally, tradition, which admittedly is often unreliable, has Matthew martyred about a decade prior to the destruction of the temple (Blanchard A. Book of Martyrs. N. G. Ellis, 1844, p. 17).

Furthermore, anti-miracle scholars really have no legitimate argument against the nine other earlier listed predictions that Jesus made that have been coming to pass. There are too many to dismiss as simply “lucky guesses.”

Consider also a conditional statement made by Jesus after His resurrection:

¹ “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, … ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent. Revelation 2:1,5)

When Jesus said this, Ephesus was the most important city in Asia Minor, and it was a major coastal port. Centuries later, Ephesus lost its prominence and, ended up, via silting, to be about 6 miles (around 10 kilometers) away from the coast! My wife and I personally verified this when we visited Ephesus.

Jesus made predictions about the other 6 churches of Revelation 2 & 3 that have come to pass, that I have not listed. Many of them are in the free online book, Continuing History of the Church of God (available at www.ccog.org).

Jesus made other predictions that were listed in the Gospels and then listed as fulfilled in the Gospels as well (e.g. His betrayal, Peter denying Him, etc.). But I have not quoted those here as some may claim those did not count because the New Testament itself is the historical source of both the prophecy and the verification.

But the others shown here clearly have been fulfilled as can be proven from the records of history.

For hundreds of scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments related to the Messiah are in the free online book: Proof Jesus is the Messiah.

Some items of related interest may include:

Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Jesus is God, But Became Flesh Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what? Here is information in the Spanish language¿Es Jesucristo Dios?.
Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It? What does the Bible teach? What is claimed in The Da Vinci Code?
Why Does Jesus Have Two Different Genealogies listed in Matthew 1 and Luke 3? Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 seemingly list two different genealogies for Jesus. Why? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Por qué Jesús tiene dos genealogías diferentes las cuales aparecen en Mateo 1 y Lucas 3?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there. To see how CCOG has done so far, here are links to two sermons Continuing Church of God (CCOG) first year anniversary: What has been accomplished? an CCOG: Four Years Revealing Philadelphia? Here is a written link to a version of that first sermon in the Spanish language: Aniversario del primer año de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios: ¿Qué se ha cumplido?