New Testament Evangelism

Evidence of God’s Word

If we need to look for hard evidence as to the credibility of God’s Word, we need to look no further than the substance of His Word itself. For example, there are numerous miracles and prophecies that cannot be disputed, but yet reveal God in all of His glory as He deals with both people and circumstances. These records show the perfection of God and His Word. There are 83 miracles in the Old Testament and 81 in the New Testament:1

Old Testament miracles:

  1. Creation – Genesis 1:1–27
  2. Enoch’s translation – Genesis 5:24
  3. The Flood – Genesis 7:17–24
  4. Confusion of tongues at Babel – Genesis 11:3–9
  5. Sodomites blinded – Genesis 19:11
  6. Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed – Genesis 19:24–25
  7. Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt – Genesis 19:26
  8. Ass speaking in human voice- Numbers 22:21–35
  9. Burning bush – Exodus 3:3
  10. Moses’ rod changed into a serpent – Exodus 4:3–4, 30
  11. Moses’ hand made leprous – Exodus 4:6–7, 30
  12. Aaron’s rod changed into a serpent – Exodus 7:8–10
  13. River turned to blood – Exodus 7:20–25
  14. Frogs – Exodus 8:1–15
  15. Gnats – Exodus 8:16–19
  16. Flies – Exodus 8:20–24
  17. Murrain – Exodus 9:1–7
  18. Boils – Exodus 9:8–12
  19. Hail – Exodus 9:18–24
  20. Locusts – Exodus 10:1–20
  21. Darkness – Exodus 10:21–23
  22. First-born destroyed in Egypt – Exodus 12:29–30
  23. Pillar of cloud and fire – Exodus 13:21–22; 14:19–20
  24. Crossing the Red Sea – Exodus 14:21–23
  25. Bitter waters sweetened – Exodus 15:25
  26. Manna sent – Exodus 16:13–36
  27. Water from the rock in Rephidim – Exodus 17:5–8
  28. Amalek defeated – Exodus 17:9–13
  29. Strange fire on Aaron’s sacrifice – Leviticus 9:24
  30. Nadab and Abihu destroyed – Leviticus 10:1–2
  31. Israel’s judgment by fire – Numbers 11:1–3
  32. Miriam’s leprosy – Numbers 12:10–15
  33. Korah and his gang destroyed by unnatural means – Numbers 16:31–35
  34. Murmurers destroyed by a ravaging plague – Numbers 16:41–50
  35. Aaron’s rod blossoms – Numbers 17:8
  36. Water from the rock in Kadesh – Numbers 20:8–11
  37. Brazen serpent healed many bitten by fiery serpents – Numbers 21:9
  38. Jordan supernaturally divided – Joshua 3:14–17
  39. Fall of Jericho – Joshua 6:6–20
  40. Dew on Gideon’s fleece – Judges 6:37–40
  41. Sun and Moon stood still – Joshua 10:12–14
  42. Angel in flame – Judges 13:20
  43. Lion slain by Samson – Judges 14:5–6
  44. Thirty Philistines killed by Samson – Judges 14:19
  45. Water from the hollow place Lehi – Judges 15:19
  46. City gates carried away by Samson – Judges 16:3
  47. Dagon’s house pulled down by Samson – Judges 16:29–30
  48. Dagon’s fall before the Ark – 1 Samuel 5:1–12
  49. Men of Beth-Shemesh destroyed – 1 Samuel 6:19–20
  50. Thunder and rain in harvest time – 1 Samuel 12:18
  51. Uzzah’s mysterious death – 2 Samuel 6:6–7
  52. Jeroboam’s hand withered and restored – 1 Kings 13:4–6
  53. Rending of the altar in Bethel – 1 Kings 13:5
  54. Drought ordered by Elijah – 1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17
  55. Elijah fed by ravens – 1 Kings 17:4–6
  56. Widow’s oil and meal supernaturally increased – 1 Kings 17:12–17
  57. Widow’s son raised from dead – 1 Kings 17:17–23
  58. Sacrifice consumed by fire – 1 Kings 18:38
  59. Rain in answer to prayer – 1 Kings 18:41
  60. Captains destroyed by Elijah’s command of fire – 2 Kings 1:9–12
  61. Jordan divided by Elijah’s mantle – 2 Kings 2:8
  62. Elijah translated to heavens in a chariot of fire – 2 Kings 2:11
  63. Jordan divided by Elisha with Elijah’s mantle – 2 Kings 2:14
  64. Waters of Jericho healed – 2 Kings 2:20–22
  65. Young mockers of Elisha torn by bears – 2 Kings 2:24
  66. Waters supernaturally supplied for Jehoshaphat – 2 Kings 3:16–20
  67. Widow’s food supernaturally multiplied – 2 Kings 4:1–7
  68. Shunammite’s raised from dead – 2 Kings 4:19–37
  69. Poisoned pottage made harmless – 2 Kings 4:38–41
  70. Hundred fed with 20 loaves – 2 Kings 4:42–44
  71. Naaman cured of leprosy – 2 Kings 5:10–14
  72. Gehazi struck with leprosy – 2 Kings 5:27
  73. Axe head caused to float – 2 Kings 6:5–7
  74. Ben-Hadad’s plans revealed – 2 Kings 6:8–13
  75. Syrian army defeated – 2 Kings 6:18–20
  76. Resurrection by touch with Elisha’s bones – 2 Kings 13:21
  77. Sennecherib’s army destroyed by an angel – 2 Kings 19:35
  78. Hezekiah healed – 2 Kings 20:7
  79. Shadow returned to sundial – 2 Kings 20:11
  80. Uzziah afflicted with leprosy – 2 Chronicles 26:16–21
  81. Three men delivered from fiery furnace – Daniel 3:19–27
  82. Daniel delivered from lion’s den – Daniel 6:16–23
  83. Preservation of Jonah in the belly of fish for 3 days – Jonah 2:1–10

New Testament miracles:

  1. Water made wine in Cana – John 2:1–11
  2. Son of nobleman healed in Cana – John 4:46–54
  3. Christ passed unseen through crowd in Nazareth – Luke 4:28–30
  4. Demoniac in synagogue healed in Capernaum – Mark 1:23–26
  5. Peter’s mother-in-law healed in Capernaum – Matthew 8:14–17
  6. Draught of fishes in lake of Galileo – Luke 5:1–11
  7. Leper cleansed in Capernaum – Matthew 8:1–4
  8. Paralytic healed in Capernaum – Matthew 9:1–8
  9. Impotent man healed in Jerusalem – John 5:1–9
  10. Withered hand restored in Galilee – Matthew 12:10–13
  11. Centurion’s servant cured of palsy in Capernaum – Matthew 8:5–13
  12. Widow’s son raised in Nain – Luke 7:11–17
  13. Demoniac healed in Galilee – Matthew 12:22–23
  14. Tempest stilled in lake Galilee – Matthew 8:23–27
  15. Two demoniacs cured in Gadara – Matthew 8:28–34
  16. Jairus’ daughter raised from dead – Matthew 9:23
  17. Woman with issue of blood healed – Matthew 9:20–22
  18. Blind men cured – Matthew 9:27–31
  19. Dumb spirit cast out in Capernaum – Matthew 9:32–33
  20. Five thousand supernaturally fed – Matthew 14:15–21
  21. Walking on the sea – Matthew 14:25–33
  22. Syrophoenician daughter healed – Matthew 15:21–28
  23. Four thousand supernaturally fed – Matthew 15:32–39
  24. Transfiguration of Christ – Matthew 17:1–6
  25. Tribute money supernaturally provided – Matthew 17:24–27
  26. Deaf and dumb man healed – Mark 7:31–37
  27. Blind man healed – Mark 8:22–26
  28. Devil cast out of boy – Mark 9:14–29
  29. Miracles by the seventy – Luke 10:17
  30. Ten lepers cleansed – Luke 17:11–19
  31. Jesus passed unseen through crowd in the temple – John 8:59
  32. Man born blind healed – John 9:1–7
  33. Lazarus raised from dead – John 11:38–44
  34. Woman with infirmity cured – Luke 13:11–17
  35. Man with dropsy cured – Luke 14:1–6
  36. Two blind men cured in Jericho – Luke 18:35–43
  37. Fig tree cursed and withered – Mark 11:12–14
  38. Malchus’ ears healed – Luke 22:50–51
  39. Second draught of fishes – John 21:1–14
  40. Resurrection of Christ – Luke 24:6
  41. Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene – Mark 16:9
  42. Christ’s appearance to other women – Matthew 28:9
  43. Christ’s appearance to two disciples – Luke 24:15–31
  44. Christ’s appearance to Peter – 1 Corinthians 15:5
  45. Christ’s appearance to ten apostles (Thomas absent) – John 20:19–24
  46. Christ’s appearance to eleven apostles (Thomas present) – John 20:26–28
  47. Christ’s appearance to seven disciples fishing – John 21:1–24
  48. Christ’s appearance to eleven apostles in Galilee – Matthew 28:16–17
  49. Christ’s appearance to five hundred brethren – 1 Corinthians 15:6
  50. Christ’s appearance to James – 1 Corinthians 15:7
  51. Christ’s appearance to eleven apostles on day of Ascension – Acts 1:2–9
  52. Outpouring of the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:1–14
  53. Christ’s appearance to Paul at his conversion – Acts 9:1–5; 1 Corinthians 15:18
  54. Lame man cured by Peter – Acts 3:6
  55. Death of Ananias and Sapphira – Acts 5:5, 10
  56. Many sick people healed by Peter – Acts 5:15
  57. Apostles freed from prison by angelic intervention – Acts 5:19; 12:7–11
  58. Stephen’s great miracles – Acts 6:8
  59. Dying Stephen’s vision of Christ – Acts 7:55–56
  60. Philip cast out unclean spirit – Acts 8:6–13
  61. Ananias’ vision – Acts 9:10
  62. Paul’s sight restored – Acts 9:17–18
  63. Aeneas healed of palsy – Acts 9:34
  64. Dorcas restored to life – Acts 9:40
  65. Cornelius’ vision – Acts 10:3–4, 30–32
  66. Peter’s vision – Acts 10:9–20
  67. Agabus’ prophecies – Acts 11:28; 21:11
  68. Peter released from prison by angelic intervention – Acts 12:7–11
  69. Elymas blinded – Acts 13:11
  70. Lame man cured by Paul – Acts 14:10
  71. Damsel delivered from evil spirit – Acts 14:10
  72. Paul’s vision on the way to Damascus – Acts 16:9
  73. Earthquake released Paul and Silas – Acts 16:25–26
  74. Gift of tongues – Acts 19:6
  75. Special miracles by Paul – Acts 19:11–12
  76. Evil spirit overpowered Sceva’s seven sons – Acts 19:13–16
  77. Eutychus restored to life – Acts 20:10
  78. Paul unharmed by viper’s bite – Acts 28:5
  79. Publius’ father healed – Acts 28:8
  80. John’s vision on Patmos – Revelation 1:9; 22:21
  81. Innumerable miracles of Christ not recorded but witnessed by the apostles – John 20:30; cf. Acts 10:38–39

To emphasize, let’s look at some of the miracles in the Old Testament. In Genesis 1:1 it states that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The beginning refers to the beginning of time as we know it. God is not bound by time because He is all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), and all-present (omnipresent). The creation of time was for our benefit, not God’s. This verse also implies that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. That speaks to His power which we cannot comprehend. When we say that we can make a wooden chair, we use something that already exists (wood). God, in His limitless power, can create anything out of nothing. So in this case, He created what we would describe as the galaxies, filled with space and what we would call “heavenly bodies” (planets, stars, asteroids, etc.).

Another miracle was the disappearance of Enoch at the end of his life (Genesis 5:21-24). Enoch “walked faithfully with God.” That is, Enoch honored God and desired to obey Him. After 365 years, God decided to take Enoch from this earth. However, he did not physically die as most mortals do. Instead, he disappeared. When a loved one ceases to live, we can see their body without their spirit. But in Enoch’s case, both body and spirit were taken by God.

A more popular miracle is the Flood (Genesis 7:17-24). In this story, Noah “walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). However, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence” (verse 11). God told Noah that He was going to destroy all creatures except for Noah, his family, and those animals admitted into the ark (verse 13). He then instructed Noah to build an ark and bring two of all living creatures at that time into the ark (verses 14-22). Chapters 7 and 8 describe the event of the Flood. When the waters receded and the ark was opened, only Noah, his family, and the representative animals on the ark survived. God promised Noah that He would never flood the earth again (Genesis 9:11).

Even after the Flood, people had a spirit of pride. All of those alive at the time had one language. They were so confident in themselves that they decided to build a city with a tower that reached high into the sky (11:1-9). The danger here is that they were placing themselves above God. God decided to “confuse their language so that they will not understand each other” (verse 7). It’s hard to imagine how various languages developed, but God introduced multiple languages so that the people would scatter or form their own groups according to each language that they spoke. Thus, God confounded the plans of the people so that they stopped building the city with the tower. God’s intention was to draw people to Himself rather than themselves.

In yet another story, God sent two angels to pronounce judgment for the wickedness in Sodom (Genesis 19:1-29). When they arrived there, they met a righteous man by the name of Lot. Lot offered them to stay at his house instead of the dangerous city square. That night, the men of the town surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that he send out the two men (the angels) so that they could have sex with them. The two men pulled Lot back into the house and struck the men at the door with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two angels then ushered Lot and his family to safety.

In addition to miracles, Prophecies give proof to the divine nature of God’s Word. But do we really give credence to the divine nature of the prophecies themselves? If prophesies were fulfilled in God’s Word, is that sufficient for us to trust it? A.W. Pink provided a nice contrast between our attempts at prophecy and God’s:

Man stands before an impenetrable wall of darkness, he is unable to foresee the events of even the next hour. None knows what a day may bring forth. To the finite mind the future is filled with unknown possibilities. How then can we explain the hundreds of detailed prophecies in the Scriptures which have been literally fulfilled to the letter, hundreds of years after they were uttered?2

The total number of prophecies in God’s Word depends on how they are counted. One person may see a single verse as a prophecy whereas another might see multiple prophecies in the same section. J. Barton Payne’s   Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy lists 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament, for a total of 1,817.3

One example of prophecy in the Old Testament comes from the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah recorded a prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11-12 concerning the nation of Israel: “. . . ‘This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will make it desolate forever.’” In 586 B.C., the king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the nation of Israel after conquering her surrounding nations. The king took into captivity some of the notables but left the rest of the people in Israel to work the land. In 516 B.C., seventy years later, King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and the Babylonians ceased to exist as a nation.

Another example of prophecy in God’s Word is found in Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The Hebrew word Immanuel means God is with us. The fulfillment of this prophecy is as follows:

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and he did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sin.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’). (Matthew 1:18-22)

The original prophecy in Isaiah occurred in the year of 790 B.C. as was fulfilled with the birth of Jesus Christ in 0 A.D.

Yet another prophecy was given by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament (c. 740 B.C.): “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). This was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was persecuted and crucified on the cross for our sins. This occurred in 33 A.D. after Jesus concluded his three-year ministry bringing the news of God’s love and care for all those who would trust in Him. He was “pierced” on the cross when a Roman soldier pierced His body with a spear. He died this death “for our transgressions” – that is, our sins. He took the place of death for our sin so that we would not suffer an eternal spiritual death for our sins. This resulted in “peace” and the fact that “we are healed” (spiritually).

In a similar fashion, Jesus willingly took upon Himself our punishment without complaint as recorded in Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” He did not argue in His own defense regarding punishment and death. Most people would put up some kind of fight before succumbing to this kind of tragedy. Yet, Isaiah foretold how Christ would endure this tragedy over 700 years in advance.

And finally in Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Jesus Christ is a deity,4 however, He was buried among the graves of mortals. This does not minimize God or relegate Him to ourselves. Rather, it shows that God gave Himself up to mortals to be persecuted, crucified, and buried among them as a sacrifice for their sins. He committed no violence and embodied no deceit in his mouth. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins because He is a perfect God.

One example of prophecy in the New Testament (which was actually forwarded from Joel 2:28) is in Acts chapter 2. In the first part of verse 17, Peter explained to the crowd (about 600 years after Joel’s prophecy) that God said in the last days that He would “pour out my [His] Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. . .” This prophecy was fulfilled immediately when Peter (empowered by the Holy Spirit) prophesied about the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He also encouraged the crowd to “repent and be baptized . . . in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (v.38). The whole purpose of prophesy is to share the message of Jesus Christ with another person or with others in a group. God’s plan is that all people would have a chance to ask Him for forgiveness of their sins. The imparting of the Holy Spirit was, and still is, necessary for a Christian in Christ to share this message with others.

In yet another example, the prophet Agabus prophesied in Antioch (present day Syria) that a severe famine would spread throughout the entire Roman world – that is, throughout Asia Minor beyond Rome itself and portions of the Middle East including Judea or what is known today as the western portion of the Middle East (Acts 11:27-28). One historical record identifies the fulfillment of this prophecy in this manner:

During the reign of Claudius, several different famines are known to have occurred. The first famine during this period was centered around [sic] the city of Rome in the years 41 and 42 A.D. The second famine known to have occurred during the reign of Claudius was in the fourth year of his office (45 A.D.), and was particularly centered in Judea.5

Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24 that His disciples “will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you [His disciples] will be hated by all nations because of me” (verse 9). From various sources (biblical and extra-biblical), each of the disciples were murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ except for John, who died naturally on the island of Patmos during his exile around 95 A.D. (he was nevertheless persecuted for his faith, and hence, his exile).6 We know that at the end of his ministry, Peter was crucified upside down in Rome around 64 A.D., so as not to be considered in the likeness of Christ, who was crucified right-side up. Andrew was crucified on an X-cross instead of a T-cross so as not to mimic Jesus in the Greek city of Patras around 60 A.D. James, son of Zebedee was killed by the sword in Jerusalem in 44 A.D. Philip was martyred near Judea. Bartholomew was martyred in India. Thomas was martyred in Mylapore in 72 A.D. Matthew was martyred in Nadabah in 60 A.D. James, son of Alphaeus was stoned to death in Jerusalem. Thaddaeus was martyred near Jerusalem. Simon the Zealot was martyred, but conflicting records indicate this took place in either Iberia, Samaria, or Persia in 65 A.D. Mathias was either martyred in Aethiopia (Georgia) or Jerusalem. Thus, each of the disciples faced persecution or death 30-60 years after Christ’s prophecy.

An unfulfilled New Testament prophecy is found in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” We do not know when the judgment seat of Christ will occur. This also concurs with Revelation 20:11-15:

Then I [the apostle John] saw a great white throne and him [Christ] who was seated on it . . . and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done . . . Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

The assurance that anyone can be saved from such a calamity is found in Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.” At some point in time, we do not know when, this judgment will occur. This prophecy will be fulfilled. It is arguably the most important prophecy for each and every person who was born.

The numerous miracles and prophecies in God’s Word cannot be disputed, but yet reveal God in all of His glory as He deals with both people and circumstances. These events show that the Bible is truly the divine Word of God.

  1. Staff, “How Many Miracles are there in the Bible?” 2/28/19, accessed 8/2/21, https://www.spiritoflifeag.com/how-many-miracles-are-there-in-the-bible/#:~:text=Feel%20free%20to%20share%20with%20others.%20There%20are,more%20than%2080%20found%20in%20the%20New%20Testament. ↩︎
  2. Arthur W. Pink, The Divine Inspiration of the Bible, (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1917), 32. ↩︎
  3. Barton J. Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1973) in Wayne Jackson, “How Many Prophecies are in the Bible?” accessed 8/6/21 https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/318-how-many-prophecies-are-in-the-bible. ↩︎
  4. Jesus Christ is one of the three manifestations of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christ is the manifestation of God the Son. These three manifestations still represent one God. ↩︎
  5. Luther W. Martin, “Famines in the Days of Claudius Caesar,” accessed 9/1/21 www.wordsfitlyspoken.org/gospel_guardian/v7/v7n30p2-3a.html. ↩︎
  6. Staff, “How Did the Twelve Disciples Die?” accessed 9/2/21, https://bibleask.org/how-did-the-twelve-disciples-die/. ↩︎

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