11-28-21 “There is great hope for your future ” (The Prophecy Candle)

Scripture      Luke 1:39-44

 

APOSTLES ARE EYEWITNESSES TO PROPHECY FULFILLED

2 Peter 1:16-21
We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."  We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
          And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
 

PROPHECY: JESUS SAID THE O.T. IS ABOUT HIM

John 5:46
"If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me."
Luke 24:44
Jesus said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
 

WHAT ARE THE BIRTH PROPHECIES ABOUT JESUS?

THE PLACE OF HIS BIRTH

Matt 2:1-6
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
 
Mic 5:2             (700 years before Christ Micah prophesied that the eternally existent one would be born in Bethlehem)
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
(Why Bethlehem? It literally means "House of Bread" Jesus said, John 6:48-51  I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.)
 

THE PEOPLE OF HIS BIRTH

Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
Isaiah 7:13-14
Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
          The most important person in the birth narrative is Mary. Joseph, Herod, the shepherds, the angels, the wise men are all important, but Mary conceived in her the absolute Son of God. Not since Adam and Eve has anyone been this close to God (and maybe not even them). Two things caused God to choose Mary for the most important task ever known:            1) she was a virgin.
                                 2) she loved God in a way that made her the right person to bear God's son.
          But why was he born of a virgin? The virgin birth highlights that salvation is a work of God. In the Old Testament, God often raised up mighty heroes to deliver his people in miraculous ways. Some of the greatest Old Testament savior types were born to mothers who had difficulty conceiving.
Sarah was barren before she conceived Isaac       (Gen 11:29-30).
Rebekah was barren before she conceived Jacob (Gen 25:21-26).
Rachel was barren before she bore Joseph           (Gen 30:22-24).
Samson’s mother was barren before she bore him  (Judges 13:2).
Hannah was barren before she conceived Samuel  (1 Sam 1:1-2).
God worked against the odds to demonstrate his power and glory. It’s only fitting that the savior of all would be born against all odds, to a virgin! The impossibility of the virgin birth exhibits the divine entrance of Jesus into the world, and prepares the way for the expectation that he would be the ultimate deliverer of God’s people.
 

THE PURPOSE OF HIS BIRTH

Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
 
 
Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil.
Colossians 2:13-15
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
 
HIStory about the prophet JTB and his father Zechariah!
Luke 1:39-44
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."
 
Luke 1:67-79
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

 

God knew Zechariah's future. God knew Elizabeth's future, God knew Joseph's future, God knew Mary's future, God knew Jesus' future…GOD KNOWS YOUR FUTURE!
 
Jeremiah 1:4-5
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
 
Jeremiah 29:11
The Lord declares, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."