Music recording by The Falls Church Anglican Choir directed by Simon Dixon, From And the Glory of the Lord Shall Be Revealed, by George Frideric Handel, 1742. View the Lyrics. Narration by Aimee Riegert.

Devotional by Steve King.

Image: Clay oil lamps were used during the same time of Jesus to provide light in homes.

How do we know the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ birth are golden treasures for our faith and not fool’s gold?

Because the Holy Spirit guided the prophets without sidelining their personalities, writing styles or historical context. Yet, He assured they spoke from God.¹ Consider the evidence that the Bible is God’s Spirit-inspired Word:

Profound unity––40+ authors wrote over 1,400 years on hundreds
of controversial subjects producing one harmonious story²

Hundreds of prophecies fulfilled in history along with hundreds
about a coming Messiah fulfilled in Jesus Christ³

Historical reliability confirmed by archaeology⁴

Textual trustworthiness demonstrated by vast
numbers of copies with variances that do not
change its doctrines⁵

Power to radically alter worldviews and heart motivations⁶

Trust the Holy Spirit who guided the prophets and lives in you.⁷ You can rely on Him to guide you to golden treasures of truth, not fool’s gold.⁸

Notes

¹ 2 Peter 1:21.
² Erwin Lutzer, You Can Trust the Bible, 40–47.
³ Erwin Lutzer, You Can Trust the Bible, chapter 3.
⁴ Norman Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, 31; William Ramsey, St Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, pp. 81, 222; Norman Geisler, When Skeptics Ask, 103.
⁵ F.F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, 117; Frederick Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, 38.
⁶ Acts 8–10 describe three different conversion stories: an African aristocrat, a slave girl, and a Roman prison warden. In each case, their faith in Christ radically altered their worldviews and heart motivations.
⁷ Ephesians 1:13; 4:30.
⁸ John 14:17. The Holy Spirit is God, third person of the Trinity, and as the Spirit of Truth cannot lie.