Amen. So it's Christmas, so I thought I'd get one of the longest
chapter of the Bible to be read. You know, anyone complaining there, shame
on you. But I'm going to do a little bit more reading from that chapter
again just in case you didn't hear the Bible read enough. So we're just
going to look at a passage. There's a lot going on there, isn't there?
That's a long chapter of the Bible. And we're going to look from verse
67 there. So Luke chapter 1 and verse 67, where John the Baptist's
father, Zacharias, is filled with the Holy Ghost and he prophesies this.
He says in Luke 1 and 6 and 7, it says...
So Luke 1 and 6 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and
7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and
7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and 7 and
8...
OK, verse 69 there, so obviously there's...
..he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the
world began. So Jesus Christ's birth life or death fulfils hundreds
and there's a few different views of how many, I think there's a guy that claims
it's kind of 430 odd others are a bit more conservative with that but it's
a lot a lot of prophecies yeah and there are some of those prophecies many of
those prophecies are specific to his just his birth and the events
surrounding it so basically the first Christmas and those days surrounding it
and being Christmas we're going to look at those today so the title of my sermon
today is 12 prophecies of Christmas 12 prophecies of Christmas I'd like to
pray before we continue father thank you for your word thank you for the
great gift that we remember at this time of year your your son Jesus Christ being
born this you know we celebrate it this day 2,000 plus years ago we thank you
thank you for the gift of well Jesus Christ gift of eternal life please help
me to preach this sermon just accurately Lord now and help everyone to have
attentive ears little film with your spirit please just name we pray all this
amen so last year I don't know if anyone remembered I preached a sermon
called 12 pitfalls of Christmas probably a bit more of a negative one at
Christmas time and I kind of like the number 12 at Christmas time and and I
appreciate that the 12 days of Christmas is a lot of likely Catholic nonsense but
I quite like the song anyway it's quite catchy and I'm gonna preach about about
the 12 prophecies of Christmas today and and in in a kind of style that hopefully
you'll be able to remember it thanks to that catchy tune but with that as well
do you know there's nothing wrong with 12 is there we like 12 yeah the Lord
twelves in the Bible you know the the 12 tribes of Israel the 12 apostles you
know and then 12s are good and we're gonna look at the 12 prophecies of
Christmas today or at least 12 that I wanted to focus on today now 12
prophecies of Christmas no other so-called prophet because many like to
call him a prophet don't they of another religion had his birth prophesied okay
no other did Buddha didn't have his birth prophesied we were talking about
Buddha earlier and and their so-called spiritual Nirvana and everything else
this guy was a wicked false prophet and his birth was a prophesied Muhammad
didn't have his birth prophesied okay again a wicked false prophet and he
didn't have his birth prophesied Charles Taze Russell you know amazing
Charles Taze Russell didn't have his birth prophesied none of these guys none
of these wicked false prophecies Joseph Smith the rest of them you know Ellen G
White whoever you want to name they didn't get their births prophesied Jesus
Christ didn't know you could argue with these that admittedly second Timothy 3
13 did say evil men and seduces should wax worse and worse to see if you're
being see so they kind of did get prophesied to some degree you know
Matthew 24 11 says and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive
many so there's a there's a prophecy of sorts however there was a difference for
Jesus Christ wasn't there Jesus Christ is legitimate he's a real deal and he
fulfilled tons of prophecies just his birth alone fulfilled many he was he was
recording prophecies which were recorded up to 1,500 years before he was born and
they're non debatable because of course the people that want to attack the Bible
or people that have no idea at all fairy tales this sort of stuff there's no
debate that all these prophecies that we're going to look at were written
hundreds and up to 1,500 years before he was born and no one can really argue
that unless they just are just coming from a complete just laughable
standpoint and we're going to look at how these were fulfilled in the in the
life of Christ and especially the birth here verse 70 says as he spake by the
mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began so from
Abel's offering to Zacharias that we just read about here that there have
been hundreds of prophecies now some are clearer than others but the ones
that we're from the world began well were recorded by Moses under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit obviously in what's known as a Torah you know
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy yeah okay but and we are
going to go there we're going to go to the first book there so these are
written sort of many years before Christ 1,500 years earlier the Genesis chapter
22 to see the first prophecy so if you turn to Genesis 22 relate to Jesus
Christ birth and and although earlier too so this isn't the first prophecy but
this for me is just a very clear one and and he obviously makes this prophecy
earlier on but this is the clearest for me so Abraham takes his son Isaac to be
sacrificed he prophesied of the coming Christ in verse 8 Genesis 22 Genesis 22
in verse 8 says and Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering so they went both of them together so there's that first
prophecy there he's saying that God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering however we're going to focus on the part that relates to his birth and
that's from verse 15 so Genesis 22 15 it says in the angel of the Lord called
unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said by myself have I sworn
saith the Lord for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son
thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying or
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as a sandwich upon the
seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou has obeyed my voice
that's the prophecy of Jesus Christ out of turn the Galatians 3 16 says now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made he saith not unto Caesars of many
but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ so Jesus Christ possesses a gate
of his enemies in Revelation 1 18 he said I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold I'm alive forevermore our men and have the keys of hell and of death
Jesus Christ possesses the gate of his enemies the gates of hell did not prevail
against our rock I preached that recently in our in our Matthew Bible
study and it's in Christ that all the nations of the earth are blessed yeah
but the point is that Jesus Christ was of the seed of Abraham okay Jesus Christ
was of the seed of Abraham go to Luke 3 Luke chapter 3 because although although
to the eyes of the world you're supposed to be the son of Joseph and and you know
therefore fulfilling this and other prophecies through Joseph's genealogy in
Matthew 1 which obviously is emphasizing the kingly line from David the genealogy
of Luke is that of Mary and and the one that counts now some trying to bait this
I have no doubt it's of Mary we just read thy seed shall possess the gate of
his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed
because thou has obeyed my voice and in Luke 3 he's just being baptized and we
read this verse 23 Luke 3 23 and Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of
age being as was supposed the son of Joseph which was the son of Heli now who
was Joseph the son of well Matthew 1 16 says in Jacob begat Joseph the husband
of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ now some guy it must be a
contradictory who is he lie well for me that's Mary's father it was Jesus that
was the son of Heli son also referred to grandson as great-grandson's etc you
could read it like this and Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of
age you could even add brackets being as was supposed the son of Joseph which was
the son of Heli so in Jesus began to be about 30 years of age which was the son
of Heli it was Jesus Christ which was the son of Heli okay he lie being his
grandfather because we're just looking at this male line here but which just
stops obviously we go then through Mary to Jesus Christ then we see this
alternative genealogy from the one in Matthew all the way up to King David
where the Matthew genealogy goes from David's son Solomon here it's from his
son Nathan okay so it's from from David's son Nathan in verse 31 it says
which was the son of Malia which was the son of Menon which was the son of
Matatha which was the son of Nathan which was the son of David it's an
identical up to Abraham verse 32 says which was the son of Jesse which was the
son of Obed which was the son of Boaz which was the son of salmon which was the
son of Naasen which was the son of a Minadab which was the son of Aram which
was the son of Ezra which was the son of Phares which was the son of Judah which
was the son of Jacob which was the son of Isaac which was the son of Abraham
which was the son of Thara which was the son of Nacor and continues all the way
back to Adam and and then to God so we see in this genealogy the promise to
Abraham about his seed was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ yeah who
through Mary was a direct descendant of Abraham so twelve prophecies of
Christmas and number one the seed of Abraham okay the seed of Abraham he was
a son of Abraham now keep a finger there and in case you're thinking man we got
eleven of these to go through like this don't worry you are going to get to eat
we're going to speed up a little bit okay that's just to set the scene keep a
finger there and go back to Genesis 26 because Abraham had another son called
Ishmael of Hagar and then later in life six more sons by Keturah his his wife
later in his later years which one was the Christ to come from well that was
made clear by another prophecy in chapter 26 Genesis 26 and from verse 1
we're now following his son Isaac and it says in verse 1 there was a famine in
the land beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac
went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gira and the Lord
appeared unto him and said go not down into Egypt dwell in the land which I
should tell thee of so journey this time no will be with thee and will bless thee
for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries now perform the
oath which I swear unto Abraham my father I'll make thy seed to multiply as
the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries that in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because Abraham obeyed
my voice kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my laws Luke 3 34 said
he was the son of Isaac Luke 3 34 says he was the son of Isaac 12 prophecies of
Christmas number two a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham okay the third
prophecy of Christmas comes to Genesis 28 because Isaac had two sons the twins
Jacob and Esau in Genesis 28 Jacob's been sent out to Padan Aram to find a
wife Genesis chapter 28 and verse 10 Genesis 28 10 says and Jacob went out
from Beersheba and went towards Haran and he lighted upon a certain place and
tarried there all night because the sun was set and he took of the stones of
that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep
pretty hardcore isn't it he put stones down for his pillows okay Jacob was a
tough guy verse 12 says and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth
and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and
descending on it and behold the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord
God of Abraham my father and the son and the God of Isaac the land whereon now
lies to thee will I give it and to thy seed and thy seed should be as the dust
of the earth that shall spread aboard to the west to the east to the north and to
the south and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed Luke 3 34 said he was the son of Jacob 12 prophecies of Christmas number
three a son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham the fourth
prophecy of Christmas comes from Genesis 49 now because Jacob had 12 sons didn't
he in Genesis 49 Jacob prophesied to teach sorry to each of his 12 sons
Genesis 49 and verse 8 he says this Judah thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies thy father's
children shall bow down before thee Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey my
son thou art gone up he stooped down he couched the lion as an old lion who
shall rouse him up the scepter scepter is a staff of both a shepherd and a
ruler shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until
Shiloh come Shiloh is a name of a city but it means peaceful one was referred
to Christ and unto him shall the gathering of the people be a revelation
5 5 out of 10 it says one the elder said unto me weep not behold the lion of the
tribe of Judah the root of David has prevailed to open a book and to loose
seven seals thereof clearly referring to Christ Luke 3 33 says he was the son of
Judah 12 prophecies of Christmas number four son of Judah three a son of Jacob
two a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham for the fifth prophecy of
Christmas okay jump forward to Isaiah 11 where we see the prophecy relate to the
next person several generations on now there's a less obvious one of Obed in
the book of Ruth but in Isaiah 11 we see this prophecy of the by now deceased
Jesse Isaiah 11 chapter 11 sorry and verse 1 so Isaiah 11 and verse 1 book of
Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 says and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse this is Isaiah 11 1 and a branch shall grow out of his roots in
the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and
understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the
Lord he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after the
hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall he judge the poor
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth he shall smite the earth with the
rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked a
righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins of faithfulness the girdle of his
reigns clearly referring to the Lord Jesus Christ yeah verse 10 then says
verse 10 and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an
end the sign of the people to it shall the Gentile seek and his rest shall be
glorious Luke 3 32 says he was the son of Jesse he was the son of Jesse so 12
prophecies of Christmas number five a son of Jesse for a son of Judah three a
son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham so for the sixth
prophecy of Christmas we go to a number of places but turn to Jeremiah 23
Jeremiah chapter 23 in Jeremiah 23 and verse 5 and I'm just working up an
appetite here for Christmas you're thinking man it's a lot of Bible Tony
well good okay it's good for you right Jeremiah 23 in verse 5 Jeremiah
prophesies of Jesus coming it says in verse 5
Jeremiah 23 5 behold the days come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a
righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth in his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall
dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness Romans 9 6 by the way says not as though the word of God has taken
an effect for they're not all Israel which are of Israel the children of the
promise of the ones that are saved by the way Jeremiah said that he was a
right that the righteous branch sorry was raised unto David Luke 3 31 says he
was the son of David 12 prophecies of Christmas number six a son of David five
a son of Jesse for a son of Judah three a son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the
seed of Abraham now turn the mic of five but let's just pause for a minute okay
we're halfway through now thank you okay that wasn't so bad brother and we're
only 15 20 minutes in you're halfway through and let's just get an
understanding of the impossibility of this okay from Abraham is one thing but
to pinpoint each of these men in in in that line and fit to fit to all be
fulfilled in one man you go well okay well there's a family line there yeah
there's a family line with a guy that then not only lived a life with all
these witnesses recording everything that happened in his life all these
amazing things fulfilled all these other prophecies as well and then died on a
cross and was seen of over 500 witnesses at once that he rose from the dead as
well it's impossible okay it's completely impossible to pinpointed
everyone in that line is impossible from Abraham is one thing well okay well he
came from Abraham but to pinpoint each of these men in that line for all to be
fulfilled can only be of God okay then now we're gonna see some more stuff in
here okay because it gets even more unlikely because the prophecies of
events surrounding his birth so Micah chapter 5 and verse 2 the prophet says
this but thou Bethlehem afraid though thou be little among the thousand Judah
yet out of these shall he come forth unto me there is to be ruler in Israel
whose goings forth have been from old from everlasting one of the reasons we
use the King James Bible in this church because it doesn't change Jesus Christ
to have some sort of beginning okay he's from everlasting okay Jesus Christ is
God and through his prophets 700 years before he came to earth he told us
exactly where among the thousands of towns in Judah alone and turn to Luke 2
to see this prophecy fulfilled Luke chapter 2 you're going to turn to we
just saw about Bethlehem afraid of thy there be little among the thousands of
out of these shall he come forth unto me that is to be rule in Israel whose goings
forth have been from of old from everlasting okay clearly referring to
Jesus Christ Luke 2 and verse 4 says and Joseph also went up from Galilee this is
Luke 2 for out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David which
is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be
taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child and so it was that
while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be
delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for
them in the inn so 12 prophecies of Christmas number seven born in Bethlehem
six the son of David five a son of Jersey for a son of Judah three a son of
Jacob to a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham okay turn to Isaiah 7 for
another amazing prophecy 700 years earlier Isaiah chapter 7 Isaiah chapter
7 and verse 14 if you're just like getting a bit you know I don't even know
where I'm turning next just look like you're turning somewhere that'll be good
enough Isaiah 7 and verse 14 says therefore the Lord shall give you a sign
behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel
right go to Matthew this time in chapter 1 to see this one fulfilled we just read
therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold a virgin shall conceive
that is an amazing miracle isn't it and bear a son and shall call his name
Immanuel meaning God with us Matthew 1 and verse 18 says Matthew 1 18 says now
the birth of Jesus Christ is on this wise when as his mother Mary was a
spouse to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost then Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her
public example was minded to put her away privately but while he thought on
these sings behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying
Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that
which is conceived in hers of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth the Son
and thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their
sins now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
sorry of the Lord by the Prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child shall
bring forth the Son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being
interpreted is God with us then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel
of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she
brought forth her firstborn son he called his name Jesus
clearly fulfilled there 12 prophecies of Christmas number eight born of a virgin
seven born in Bethlehem six son of David five a son of Jesse four son of Judah
three son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham now we're coming
back to Matthew but go to Isaiah chapter 60 where there was a prophecy
that required some wisdom to understand so Isaiah chapter 60 Isaiah chapter 60
we're gonna look from the beginning of that chapter from verse 1 Isaiah 60 in
verse 1 Isaiah prophesies this he says arise shine Isaiah 60 verse 1 arise shine
for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee for behold
the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness of people but the Lord
shall rise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee and the Gentiles shall
come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising now go back to
Matthew and chapter 2 because there were some men that were wise enough to
understand this it seemed you go back to Matthew and chapter 2 now and verse
1 says now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod
the king behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying where is he
that is born king of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east and have
come to worship him Herod sends them off to find him then verse 9 says verse 9
when they had heard the king they departed lo the star which they saw in
the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was
when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy okay now they
they somehow interpreted that for me that's where they got it from arise
shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee
they said his glory shall be seen upon thee and the Gentiles shall come to thy
light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising which maybe is why many you know
that's the hymn we three kings and people assume they were kings 12
prophecies of Christmas number line lit by a star eight born of a virgin seven
born in Bethlehem six son of David five a son of Jesse for a son of Judah three
a son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham right keep a finger in
Matthew and go to Psalm 72 which has another prophecy of that first Christmas
now Psalm 72 is a prophetic psalm written to Solomon yet also prophesying
of Jesus Christ Solomon being a great picture of Jesus Christ in many ways his
life okay so Psalm 72 book of Psalm Psalm chapter 72 and verse 1 says a
psalm for Solomon give the king thy judgments I God and I righteousness unto
the king's son he shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with
judgment the mountain shall bring peace to the people in the little hills by
righteousness he shall judge the poor of the people he shall save the children of
the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor they shall fear thee as long
as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations he shall come down like
rain upon the mown grass and showers at water the earth in his days shall the
righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth he
shall have dominion also from sea to see him from the river and to the ends of
the earth they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him and his
enemy shall lick the dust the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring
presents the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts now though it was
first fulfilled in Solomon you could also you could also argue maybe it will
be filled later with the millennial reign as well Solomon's reign obviously
pictures there this is also fulfilled I think in a first coming of Jesus Christ
Tarshish being far west the Isles could be Far East maybe what we now know of as
the Persian Gulf I'm not sure but either way Jesus Christ was brought presents he
was offered gifts and these wise men were likely kings if we look at the last
prophecy as well Matthew 2 and verse 11 Matthew 2 and verse 11 says and when
they were coming to the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and
fell down and worshipped him and when they had opened their treasures they
presented unto him gifts gold and frankincense and so 12 prophecies of
Christmas number 10 number 10 sorry presents from afar 9 lit by a star 8
born of a virgin 7 born in Bethlehem 6 son of David 5 a son of Jesse 4 a son of
Judah 3 a son of Jacob 2 a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham right keep a
finger there go to Hosea for the next one where the Prophet Hosea prophesies
of Christ using an event in Israel's history okay so Hosea the book of Hosea
and we're going to look from chapter 11 Hosea and chapter 11 Hosea 11 and from
verse 1 Hosea level 1 says when Israel was a child then I loved him and called
my son out of Egypt when Israel was a child then I loved and called my son out
of Egypt now of course the young nation of Israel was called out of Egypt under
Moses but then remember that Christ was a son of Jacob who became Israel go back
to Matthew 2 with that in mind Matthew chapter 2 and verse 13 says Matthew 2
13 and when they were departed behold the angel of the Lord appearance to
Joseph in a dream saying arise and take the young child and his mother and flee
into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him when he arose he took the young child and his mother
by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying out of
Egypt have I called my son obviously referencing Hosea 11 where we just were
12 prophecies of Christmas number 11 called from Egypt 10 presents from afar
9 lit by a star 8 born of a virgin 7 born in Bethlehem 6 a son of David 5 a
son of Jesse 4 a son of Judah 3 a son of Jacob 2 a son of Isaac and the seed of
Abraham right keep a finger then go to Jeremiah 31 for a final prophecy of that
first Christmas Jeremiah 31 in Jeremiah 31 in verse 15 Jeremiah prophesies of
the worst events ran in Christ's birth okay this is a bad part now he says this
in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 15 Jeremiah 31 15 says us saith the Lord a
voice was heard in Ramah lamentation and bitter weeping Rahel weeping for her
children refused to be comforted for her children because they were not now
another way of saying that they had died okay children plural go back to Matthew
2 to see this fulfillment go back to Matthew chapter 2 and from verse 16 we
read this Matthew 2 16 then Herod when he saw that he was mocked of the wise
men was exceeding Roth and sent forth and slew all the children that were in
Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof from two years old and under according
to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men then was
fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet saying in Ramah there
was a voice heard lamentation and weeping and great mourning Rachel
weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they're not now
Rachel the mother of the Benjaminites and Ramah one of the cities of them in
the coast of or surrounding Bethlehem so amongst all of these great prophecies
being fulfilled there's this reminder isn't there that due to it being a
momentous time in the world's history the haters of God were raging foaming at
the mouth and they haven't stopped since really okay and that's a good reminder
that with all that joy with that all those prophecies being fulfilled the
birth of Christ there's still wicked people out there that hate Jesus Christ
and hate his followers as well 12 prophecies of Christmas so number 12
morning lost children 11 called from Egypt 10 presents from afar 9 lit by a
star 8 born of a virgin 7 born in Bethlehem 6 son of David 5 a son of
Jesse 4 a son of Judah 3 a son of Jacob 2 a son of Isaac and the seed of Abraham
okay now that's just concerning the first Christmas that's just the events
surrounding the birth of Christ and of course look you're never gonna prove the
Bible to unbelievers okay that's not how it works because the faith is what's
first required to them proven isn't it okay you need to put your faith in Jesus
Christ then when you have faith you see all these things which are just this is
absolutely amazing but without that they'll just argue that oh well did
that really mean that oh just forget that you know and I always just think I
remember you know I always think of this conversation I once had years ago with
this guy coach and and I've just been reading about worker ants being female
and just you know something in my head and I've gone in in the morning I've
just been reading and talk about it with my family I've gone to coach this guy
and this guy was a scientist yeah nice enough fella I think he worked he did
sort of pharmaceutical testing or something like this and you know he's
quite proud of his sort of education and quite bright and you know that sort of
guy we were chatting and I said oh something I was reading about earlier I
said did you know that all worker ants are female I say it's funny because in
the book of Proverbs it talks about you know look at the ant thy slugger
to consider her weight you know and you know she being wise I said it just
refers to as a female all these other places referring to you know using like
the male as the kind of go-to and I said funny that because this was written you
know sort of for a couple of thousand years ago you know three thousand odd
years ago and his answer is this you think okay so how's he going to argue
this one or was it was it I said well clearly it was it or did it get written
then I don't think anyone would argue the book of Proverbs was written many
thousand years ago well you never know change subject because it doesn't matter
it doesn't matter how rational you think this person might be how logical he
might be how might he might go wow that's amazing how did people thousand
years ago how did Solomon know that work answer because it doesn't matter it
doesn't mean like you're not gonna come and give a load of evidence to the
unbeliever and they're gonna go you've solved it now I'm gonna get saved
because there's a lot of people that believe theoretically the Bible and
still won't get saved because they don't want to put their faith for the Savior
because of pride or whatever other reason okay so it's not obviously we're
not gonna prove it to him however with that in mind I hope everyone here is
saved so turn the second Peter one and while you turn now I'm gonna read
something that I found really interesting because you know there's
some interesting stuff out there about the odds of these prophecies being
fulfilled and I looked at a study done on the probability of the fulfillment of
just a handful of these okay so the science of probability it attempts to
determine a chance that a given event will occur now this this is the the
article I'm going to read you about a professor at Westmont College okay he
calculated the possibility of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made
concerning the Messiah the estimates were worked out by twelve different
classes see the twelves yeah it's not not me for this twelve stuff Catholic
clerics robe in the back okay the the so the twelve major prophecies sorry
twelve different classes represent some six hundred university students the
students carefully weighed all the factors discussed each prophecy at
length and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that
men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy they made their
estimates conservative enough so there was finally unanimous agreement even
among the most skeptical students however the professor then took their
estimates and made them even more conservative he also encouraged other
skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were
more than fair finally he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the
American scientific affiliation okay upon examination they verify that his
calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific
material presented for example concerning Micah 5-2 where it states a
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem the professor and his students determine the
average population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah to the present then they
divided it by the average population of the earth during the same time period
okay so they try to work out the population there they concluded that
the the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in three hundred
thousand okay is everyone following with me here yeah isn't you know you're not
just sitting there going what is he on about okay so after examining only eight
different prophecies eight they only did eight yeah and they conservatively
estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one
in ten to the power of seventeen if anyone's going what's all this power
stuff basically that's seventeen with ten zeros I don't even know how you say
that number is it zillion that's got to be zillions isn't it that's that's not
zillions okay though other scientists I noticed I'm mathematician okay so so to
illustrate how large the number is ten to the you know ten in well ten to the
power of seventeen sorry the professor gave this illustration okay if you mark
one of ten tickets and place all the tickets in a hat thoroughly stir them
and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one his chance of getting the right
ticket is one in ten yeah pretty obvious right suppose that we take ten to the
power of seventeen silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas let's go
with like England I think it's similar anyway yeah they'll cover all the state
two feet deep okay two feet deep now mark one of these silver dollars and
stir the whole mass thoroughly all over the state blindfolded man and tell him
that he can travel as far as he wishes but he must pick up the one silver
dollar that has a special mark on it what chance would he have of getting the
right one probably similar to winning the lottery yes people still play it
anyway just the same chance that the prophets would have had he says here of
writing these eight just eight prophecies eight prophecies and having
them all come true in any one man from their day to the present time okay
that's how unlikely it is and in financial terms is there anyone who
would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure well were only
one in ten to the power of seventeen it's the kind of sure investment were
offered by God he says for faith in his Messiah so from these figures a professor
concludes a fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God
inspired the writing of the prophecies the likelihood of mere chance is only
one in ten to the power 17 another way of saying this is that any person who
minimizer ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concern
the Messiah would be foolish but the fool have said in the heart that there
is no God right let alone that the Lord Jesus Christ is God but of course there
are many more than eight prophecies in another calculation of the professor
used 48 prophecies even though you could have used so this guy Eda Shimes 456 I
think this is kind of someone who seems to think for much study that there's
456 biblical prophecies it doesn't really matter when I mean 48 you're
already getting beyond ridiculous yeah and arrived at the extremely conservative
estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person
is the incredible number 10 to the power of 157 that's 157 zeros yeah how large
is 10 to the power of 157 zeros well he then gives this illustration okay using
electrons electrons very small logics are smaller than atoms it would take two
and a half times 10 to the power 15 of them laid side by side to make one inch
okay two and a half times that even if we counted 250 of these electrons each
minute and counted day and night it would still take 19 million years just
to count a line of electrons one inch long with this introduction let's go
back to our chance of one in ten to the power of 157 let's suppose that we're
taking this number of electrons marking one and thoroughly stirring it into the
whole mass and blindfolded a man and let him try to find the right one what
chances here of getting the find the right one what kind of a pile will this
number of electrons make they making an inconceivably large volume and this is
the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies and that's concerning his
life yeah we just talked about 12 concerning his birth obviously the
probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly
smaller once one guy's passed he says one chance 10 to the power of 50 the
probabilities are so small that is impossible to think that they could ever
occur okay it's ridiculous off the scale it's completely off the scale as the
professor concludes any man who rejects Christ as a son of God is rejecting a
fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world I like this
professor I want to be friends really that's cool he's got some long words as
well but that's impressive isn't it yeah and that's the truth of it however you're
not going to prove that to someone but it's nice for us isn't it just to remind
ourselves of things like that you turn to 2nd Peter chapter 1 and verse 16 says
this 2nd Peter 1 and verse 16 says for we have not and I know we've we've read
this a couple of times recently in sermons second Peter 1 16 says for we
have not followed cunningly devised fables you know that you haven't followed
cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ but what eyewitnesses of his majesty for he
received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to
him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased
obviously referring to the Mount of Transfiguration however yeah he says
this and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in
so he was up there Peter he heard this he saw this he says in verse 19 we have
also a more sure word of prophecy it's the word of prophecy where unto you do
well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place till the
day dawn and a day star arise in your hearts knowing this first that no
prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost and that's what it comes down to really isn't it because
that none of these prophecies could have been fulfilled without it being holy men
of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost what we read and what we
study and what we learn and what we preach is the inspired preserved Word of
God and it was written by by holy men of God speaking as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost so it's by faith that we say but it's nice to be reminded of how sure
that hope is isn't it celebrate the birth of Christ with all its fulfilled
prophecies a great time to do that we were talking earlier about different
sort of you know so-called Christians and others that like think that
Christmas is wicked and all this sort of stuff it's funny because there were a
lot of prophecies about the birth of Christ yeah there were a lot of people
that celebrated the birth of Christ in the Bible when there was the birth of
Christ it what oh well we just wait you know 33 years you know nothing to see
here wait till Easter you know look the birth of Christ important right the
birth of Christ was a was a big event in the Bible a massive event in the Bible
prophesied about from the Old Testament we've just looked at 12 of them okay and
you know I'm sure we can find many more as well and that's why it's a good time
to celebrate isn't it good time to celebrate and look if everyone else
wants to celebrate Santa Claus they could do what they want but we're gonna
celebrate Jesus Christ in the birth Jesus Christ 12 prophecies of Christmas
12 morning lost children 11 call from Egypt 10 presents from far nine lit by
star eight born of a virgin seven born in Bethlehem six son of David five a
son of Jesse four a son of Judah three a son of Jacob to a son of Isaac and the
seed of Abraham on that let's pray
heavenly father thank you for thank you for all that just just those you know
for us just those faith strengtheners of all those amazing prophecies in the
Bible all just that the you know all those amazing things that came true not
just in the birth of Christ but in his life too all those events are prophesied
many times before including his death and the events surrounding that Lord we
thank you for that we thank you for this for this day that we're thinking about
over 2,000 years ago now when you sent your son to Darnacross for us we thank
you for all that that means to us we thank you for the gift of salvation we
pray that you just help us to have a great time of fellowship now for those
that are part in company to go and just you know have a great time thinking of
you for those viewing online to be able to just have a great day thinking of you
putting you in the center of it Lord and in Jesus name we pray all of this amen