Hope
Notes
Transcript
Thank you Ryan and Yanci for reading today’s Scripture and lighting the first of five Advent Candles.
Isaiah 9:6–7 (NASB95)
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
For those who are not familiar with celebrating Advent, the advent candles are just a reminder of the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love we can have through Christ.
Today’s Advent Candle represents Hope! It is called the prophecy candle as hope was given to people of Israel throughout the Old Testament of a coming King the Messiah who would rule from the lineage of David.
The prophecy written by the prophet Isaiah was written right around 730 B.C.
The people of Israel always had hope of freedom form their enemies from prophecies like this and many others.
They would sing songs of the Messiahs ruling the nations from the writings of David.
Psalm 110:1–2 (NASB95)
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
They relied on God’s kept promises trough fulfilled prophecies from the past. About 360 years before Joseph and his brothers had a falling out and his brothers sold him into slavery, God spoke to Abraham about his decedents being enslaved in Egypt for 400 years and then leaving with many riches.
Genesis 15:13–14 (NASB95)
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
“But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing;
and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
God had fulfilled prophecy after prophecy, so surely the prophecy of a King overthrowing the government and ruling had to take place soon.
You can imagine their surprise, their questioning, and quite possibly their discouragement to hear the rumors of some baby being born in a stable, who some claimed was the coming Messiah, the one who would get them out of the stranglehold of the Roman Government.
There were a few who remembered the prophecies like Simeon and Anna and believed despite the humble circumstances.
Simeon saw salvation for his people and the Gentiles
Luke 2:27–32 (NASB95)
And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Anna became an Evangelist at the young age of 84 preaching Jesus as the redeemer to anyone that would listen.
And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Although these two believed the prophecies of old, most did not!
The question we have to ask ourselves this morning is what is Hope?
We might hope for our sports team to win
We might hope for good health
We might hope for specific people to be elected
We might hope for certain Christmas presents
We can hope for just about anything…
There are even incredible stories of hope. I read recently about an earthquake victim back in 2010.
Haiti was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake back in January 2010 destroyed buildings and killed or maimed tens of thousands of people. Hope was all but lost for almost any survivors. Hope was renewed with the discovery of a survivor in the wreckage of a hotel grocery store. Rescuers searched and dug through the rubble and pulled Wismond Exantus out after being stuck for 11 days after the earthquake. Exantus told reporters from his hospital bed that the first thing he wanted to do was find a church to give thanks. He said he spent the time praying, reciting psalms, and sleeping. He summed up his experience saying, “I wasn’t afraid because I knew they were searching and would come for me.”
Wismond’s hope was not based on want like many things we call hope, but on God being able to provide a solution to his dire circumstances.
The word Hope is found in the Bible 154 times and in almost every instance whether Hebrew or Greek the definition for hope is one of the following…
Hope - expectation with confidence, to desire with an expectation of obtainment, looking forward to in confident expectation.
How is it that you and I can have true Hope? Is it really possible to read the Bible and truly believe Christ lived and is God?
I love the words of Isaiah to the Israelites and quite frankly to many of us today…
Isaiah 48:4–5a (NASB95)
“Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze,
Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
This morning, I am hoping you don’t have necks of Iron and bronze foreheads… Let’s look at two observable evidences that prove God’s prophecies.
We can observe evidence.
When you study the Old Testament there are about 330 Messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.
The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in 1946. There were 981 different manuscripts as early as the third century B.C and up to 68 A.D. But many of the older manuscripts that were written contained prophecies of Jesus, so again proving that Jesus is not a made up story.
We can also use Math as evidence.
Peter Stoner who was a professor of Mathematics and Astronomy sheds a little light on how incredible the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus are.
So we know that Jesus fulfilled about 330 prophesies
Mathematically stated to have Fulfilled just 8 prophecies the probability is 1 in 10 to 17th power
1 in 10 to 17th power = 100,000,000,000,000,000
I love the way Stoner illustrated the meaning of this number. He asked the reader to imagine filling the State of Texas knee deep in silver dollars or in our case 6 Louisianas filled knee deep in silver dollars. Include in this huge number one silver dollar with a black check mark on it. Then, turn a blindfolded person loose in this sea of silver dollars. The odds that the first coin he would pick up would be the one with the black check mark are the same as 8 prophecies being fulfilled accidentally in the life of Jesus.
If we increase this calculation to 48 prophecies the number is 1 in 10 to 157th power
1 in 10 to 157th power = 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
In case you’re wondering, the Mega Millions odds of winning it are merely 1 in 302,575,350.
The point is for someone to claim the validity of the Bible or to state Christ is not real is literally insane! They truly have iron necks and bronze foreheads!
You might be thinking why all the numbers? Why all the fact checking?
When you and I begin to understand God’s the power of God, our Hope is not just a whimsical hope but a Hope with expectation and confidence that God will follow through with what He promises.
Christ Birth put in motion His earthly ministry which cumulated in His death. By this you and I are guaranteed Salvation to those who believe!
Acts 16:31a (NASB95)
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”
Our prayers are heard
1 Peter 3:12a (NASB95)
“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer…”
Heaven is Real! And Jesus is coming to get us!
John 14:3 (NASB95)
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Lastly and if you need more evidence, God in His character not only fulfills all that He says, but according to Hebrews 6:18 He say He cannot lie.
When Christ was born and came as a helpless baby boy, He will one day rule as we read earlier in Isaiah 9:6-7, part of the prophecy was fulfilled 2024 years ago and the rest is guaranteed to come.
This morning you and I can indeed have hope and confidence in God’s Word.
If there is one thing, I want you to take away this morning it is this phrase…
He said it, therefore I believe it and can have a confident hope with expectation this morning in Jesus and His promises for you and I.
Let’s Pray
