God is Trustworthy

My original Plan

my original plan was to write a 3 week sermon series, preaching through the nativity from the perspectives of different people in the nativity.

As I was studying the birth of Jesus in the Gospels, two things occurred to me

I often approach the scripture in a way where i forget the main character. i approach the text forgetting to ask the question, “what does this tell me about who God is?” After all, the bible is a book about God right? Yet i continue to forget to ask this question, and i don’t teach on it very often. Most of the time i focus on the characters and how we fit into the story. I think i often assume that, (1) i know as much about God as i am gonna know and (2) that everyone else knows these things as well. Perhaps you all don’t make these assumptions, but i realized that I had been.

The other thing i realized while reading through the text was that it makes mention of prophecy fulfillment several times throughout the story. I thought this was pretty interesting so i started going through the prophecies and seeing what was fulfilled through the birth and nativity of Jesus.

I don’t know if you are aware of all the prophecies fulfilled in the birth of Jesus…i didn’t realize how many there were. This morning, we are going to look briefly at the prophecies and how God fulfilled them. There is going to be a-lot of scripture. To make it easier, i have printed a list for you all and placed them in the bulletins. As we look at these, i want you to keep the question in the back of your mind, “What does this tell me about God?”

Prophecy Fulfilment

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Messiah will be born of a virgin

Matthew 1:18–22 ESV

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

Micah 5:2 (ESV)

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.

Messiah will be born in Bethlehem

Matthew 2:1–5 ESV

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

Hosea 11:1 (ESV)

11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

Messiah will be called out of Egypt

Matthew 2:13–15 ESV

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Isaiah 11:1 (ESV)

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Messiah will Be called a Nazarene

Matthew 2:19–23 ESV

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Also Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

John 1:45–46 ESV

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Matthew 1 fulfills Genesis 12:3 and 2 Samuel 7:12-16

Matthew 3 fulfills Isaiah 40:3-5

Matthew 2:2 fulfills Numbers 24:17

Why does all of this matter?

What do you do when you are looking to give someone your business

fix a car

higher an electrician

new restaurant

You look into them first right?

you check out their track record

ask around to friend or family

Yelp

Facebook

Sushi

if 10 said great and 32 said they got sick, i’m probably not eating there

Why do we do this?

We want to know if we can trust them

This is a look into God’s Track Record

What does it tell us about God?

He is Trustworthy

When we says it, we can believe it is true.

Your Sins are forgiven

you can be saved from your enemies

you dont have to be a prisoner anymore

He works for our good

when we present our requests to him in prayer, we can receive peace

Not to worry about what to eat or drink or wear

Matthew 6:31–33 ESV

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I think some of us spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about taking care of ourselves, because deep down inside, we believe it is all on us, and don’t really trust God when He says He will take care of us.

Closing

God’s track record is great

its the best

5 stars

you can’t get any better

100% satisfaction from those who trust in him

God always keeps his word

if you are dealing with something this morning, and you know what God has said about it, but you aren’t seeing the results. Are you trusting God completely?

Do you believe, deep in your heart, that what he says is true?

His track record is solid

Lay it down at his feet

Trust His words