The sermon, delivered by Peter Allison, explores the expected appearance of Jesus Christ in history, focusing on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. It begins by examining Matthew chapter 1, where the birth of Jesus is described as being conceived by the Holy Spirit and fulfilling the prophecy of a virgin birth. The sermon highlights the significant role of the Gospels in portraying Jesus not as an ordinary biographical subject, but as the fulfillment of divine prophecy. Each Gospel is said to serve a unique purpose, with Matthew aiming to demonstrate Jesus as the promised Messiah. The speaker elaborates on several specific prophecies, such as Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, being called out of Egypt, his genealogy linking him to David and Abraham, and his crucifixion. The sermon emphasizes that these prophecies were fulfilled precisely despite appearing improbable, thereby affirming Jesus' identity as the Messiah. Additionally, the sermon critiques other religious prophecies, such as those by Joseph Smith, as false or unfulfilled, contrasting them with the accuracy of biblical prophecy. Finally, the sermon encourages believers to live in anticipation of Christ's second coming, just as the first coming was anticipated and prophesied.

Well, please turn with me in your scriptures to Matthew chapter 1. I'd like to read beginning at verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph being aroused from sleep did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife. And he did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son.

And he called his name Jesus. Thus far the reading of God's word may he add his blessing to it and write its truth upon our hearts. Heavenly Father, we ask as we prepare to look at Your Word, this passage, we ask that Your Holy Spirit would sanctify us, would speak to us, would give us understanding, would open our eyes that we may see and unstop our ears that we may hear. For, Father, except You do this work in us, we remain blind and deaf, unable to hear, unable to see, unable to understand, unable to respond. Father, please sanctify also these sinful lips and set them apart that they may proclaim the excellencies of Your grace through Jesus Christ.

Amen. Grace through Jesus Christ. Amen. Where we've been looking at these last few weeks, at the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the one who has existed from all eternity is God, the Son of God, who has come in the flesh, who was slain for our salvation, raised for our justification, who has, having been humiliated, having taken to Himself a human body, who having lived under the law, being born of a woman, was raised, ascended into heaven, exalted above all other beings. We looked at His work as a prophet, priest, and king.

And last week we began to look at his history, that Jesus Christ was a historical person. This week we want to look at the fact that his appearance in history was expected, was anticipated, was prophesied, and it was looked forward to. The Gospels were written to tell us about the person and the work of Christ, but they are not like ordinary biographies. They don't give us this well distributed account of every area or period of his life, like a good biographer would seek to do, showing the roots where they came from somebody's early years. You look at a standard biography, it's his early years, and moves throughout the life, telling you about the person.

The Gospels aren't that way at all. They tell us very little about the ordinary life of Christ in his first 30 years. We have a few narratives in some of the gospels related to his birth. But the gospels were written to show that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies. They were written to tell us that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.

And that's their focus. And they focus a lot on his death, and his passion, and his teachings. They're written for different purposes. Luke was written to show the history of Jesus as a man. Mark was written to show Jesus' interest in the Gentiles, that he was a man of action.

It was, some say, written primarily for the Romans. John was written very differently from the other three, showing the divinity of Jesus Christ. And has very different material from the other three, but Matthew was written by Levi, who was a tax collector. We see some of his personality come out in this book. We see his interest as an accountant or as a tax collector in money.

He's the only one to record the incident of the requirement to pay a temple tax, something of interest to a tax collector. None of the other Gospels record that. He's the one who records that there were two blind people who were sitting at the roadside. The others don't record that fact specifically. They talk about just one person.

Those aren't contradictions. Those are just two different aspects to the same story. One, another gospel focused on the name of the person who was speaking, but doesn't tell us that there was a second person there as well. And so we do see these differences. But predominantly, Matthew was written to the Jews.

And one of the themes that recurs over and over again was that this appearance of Jesus Christ was that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken. We find that phrase in this Gospel more than any other Gospel. Matthew wanted to demonstrate that this Jesus, born in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, growing up in Nazareth, being called a Nazarene, that this Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, was in fact the Messiah that was long expected. And so there are a number of these details that are recorded about the life of Jesus that are tied back to their to the prophecy in the Old Testament that spoke about it. All this took place to fulfill what was spoken of.

Jesus' appearance was long expected. Appearances are of four kinds, as one wise sage noted once. It's probably obvious. They are things as they appear to be, things are as they appear to be, or they neither are nor appear to be, or thirdly they are but do not appear to be, or fourthly they are not but appear to be. If you think about it, there is nothing hard about that, although the words sound very hard.

If you think about it, it's a very simple proposition. But what's harder is how do we know what's what? How do we know that things are not what they appear to be, Or that the things that are not appear to be as they are. How do we know the difference? We know the difference because of the Word of God.

The Word of God is what tells us what is and what isn't, despite how things may appear to be. I'd like this morning to look at these prophecies about Jesus that we find in our text. We find one very significant one. Note as we go through these list of prophecies, how very specific some of these prophecies are. Some of these statements about Jesus Christ and His appearance are very specific.

The first prophecy we might say, and I put these in logical order, the first prophecy is that He would be born of a woman. The Messiah would be born of a woman. Woman in Genesis 3, we find that promise first given that God would Put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman and that he would crush or bruise his head. The seed of the woman would bruise or crush the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise his heel. Now you say, well that's not such a big prophecy, because everybody is born of a woman.

True but what God is born of a woman. And this is recorded in our text that in verse 23, that a virgin, a young woman, will be with child and bear a son. And that's what happened. Mary bore a son. And Paul tells the Galatians that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.

But it wasn't just any woman. Christ would be born of a virgin woman. A woman who had never known a man. That came in Isaiah. You probably can recite that from memory in Isaiah 7 verse 14.

Isaiah tells us in this famous prophecy, the Lord spoke to Ahaz saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God. Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. Anything you want. In the depth above, there is no limit here. It is not up to half of my kingdom.

There is no limit. Ask a sign or yourself either in the depth or in the height above. But Isaiah said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord." And then Isaiah says, here now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men? But will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel Kurds and honey he shall eat that he may know how to refuse the evil and choose the good for before the child shall know how to refuse the evil and choose the good the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings." God gave a sign that a virgin would conceive. Matthew records the fulfillment of this very specific and miraculous event that a virgin, a woman who had never known a man, behold a virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which is translated God with us. And so Joseph did not put away Mary his wife, and he did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus. There was a prophecy given 600 years before Christ was born that this Christ, the Messiah, would be born of a virgin.

Matthew records that that is what happened. Another prophecy is that the Messiah would be the Son of God. Psalm 2 verse 7 says, You are my son, today I have begotten you, speaking of Christ the Messiah. In Luke 1 verse 35, the angel answered and said unto her to marry, the Holy Ghost shall come upon you and the power of the highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also the holy thing, the hagias, the saint, which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God." And at the baptism that's recorded a little later in this book and also In the Gospel of Luke, at the baptism of Jesus, God declares, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

This is my Son. This man that is standing before you, who is being baptized by John the Baptist, upon whom the Spirit had descended as a dove, the Father's voice comes from heaven saying, This is my Son. A voice speaks from heaven, declaring that Jesus is the Son of God, even as David prophesied in Psalm 2. But also, it wasn't just any man, but this man would come of the line of David and Abraham. Now it wouldn't be very much to say he would come from the line of Noah.

We're all from the line of Noah. It would be a little bit more, but not a lot, to say that he would come from the line of Shem. But it's not just the line of Shem. This is going down several generations, 300 years, to Abraham. But it's not just saying in Abraham, because there were many nations that came out of Abraham, but through Isaac, through Jacob, through Judah.

But Judah had many several sons as well. It was specifically through David. And so This is a very narrow prophecy. Those who are descended from Abraham through David, this Messiah would come from. Genesis 49, 10.

Genesis 49 is Jacob blessing his sons as he is about to die. And this is what he says of his son Judah, speaking in the Spirit, Behold, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes." The scepter, the rule, because this Messiah would be a king and he would bear rule. Remember Isaiah said, the increase of his government there would be no end. So Jacob prophesied that the scepter would come from Judah, one of one of his own children. And in Numbers chapter 24, in verse 17, in Balaam's prophecy, remember he was hired to curse the Israelites and he ended up blessing them.

I think about four times, Balaam tried to get him to curse the Israelites. And he couldn't because he could only speak what God allowed him to speak, what God ordained that he would speak. Here's this man who is hired to curse the Israelites, bringing a prophecy. I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near.

A star shall come out of Jacob. A scepter shall arise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Tumult. Edom shall be his possession. Seer also his enemy shall be a possession. Out of Jacob one shall have dominion and destroy the reigns of the city." That is spoken by Balak.

Jeremiah says, Behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. Jeremiah 23 verse 5 and 6, And he will reign as king, and he will deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land. And in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. Jeremiah is writing long after David, long after Solomon, long after the glory and the splendor of the nation of Israel in the land in Palestine. He's saying he will raise up another branch for David.

And in Ezekiel 34, 23, that's the passage dealing with these false shepherds, the ones who ate the people they were supposed to be feeding. God said, I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David. And he shall feed them, unlike these false shepherds who are fleecing the flock that they were supposed to be caring for. I will raise up one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them.

He will feed them and be their shepherd." And Matthew in the next chapter, Matthew writes, chapter 2-6, but you Bethlehem and the land of Judea are not least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Shepherd, my people Israel." And we saw also that both of these gospel writers give us these genealogies showing that Jesus is both legally and physically descending from David through Abraham. More than that, He wouldn't just be born of a woman, born of a virgin woman, born of Abraham through David, but also the city that he would be born in. The city that he would be born in. Hundreds of years before he was born, Micah writes, You Bethlehem in the land of Judea, out of you will come a ruler who would shepherd my people Israel.

Think about all that has to happen. We can read that and not think about that. All that has to happen for the mother of Jesus to be in Bethlehem so that he can be born in Bethlehem. Think of what city do you think you're going to be in 30 years from now, let alone 300 years from now, your descendants. I mean, think back 30 years.

Are you in the city that you thought you would be in 30 years ago? And supposedly we're the ones making the decisions about where we live, and we think we do. But this is 300 or more, 400 years, 400 years before, 500 years before, Jesus will be born in Bethlehem, Micah said. He would be given gifts. This Messiah would be given gifts.

Psalm 72 verse 10 speaks of the king of Tarshish and the Isles will bring gifts and all the kings shall fall down before Him." This is several different possible understandings, but it is speaking of other kings outside of Israel, kings of nations. Kings of the Isles are the Gentile nations, bringing gifts. Matthew next records that when the wise men saw the child, they fell down and worshiped him and presented to him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is the metal from which the mercy seat was made, the mercy seat of the temple, from which atonement was made. Myrrh is the first ingredient of the anointing oil used to consecrate the temple.

There was a special oil made for consecration and the first ingredient is myrrh. And frankincense is the named ingredients in the incense that was to be burned. These were special things. The Israelites were forbidden from making any incense like that which was compounded for the burning of the temple. And we know incense in the Scriptures represents the prayers of God's people going up.

Christ is our priest, our intercessor. Christ is our sacrifice. He has made atonement for us. And so he has given these very specific gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They are also very costly gifts.

Gold is still a very costly metal One of the most costly frankincense and myrrh are very valuable spices valuable oils They're given to Jesus Christ To that it might be fulfilled which was spoken. That gifts would be given to Him. He would be called out of Egypt. Not just born in Bethlehem, but he would be called out of Egypt. God raised up Herod who issued a command that all the children around Bethlehem from two years old and under should be killed.

An event that was also prophesied in the Old Testament. As a result, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary flee to Egypt. Matthew says that Joseph took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called my son. Now how many people go down to a country and end up never coming back? You see, there is just an uncountable number of things that come to pass, that have to come to pass, including the decisions of free moral agents for any one of these prophecies to come to pass.

Joseph makes a decision to take his wife and son to Egypt and he returns. God ordained the events that make that flight necessary. Amandus doesn't take his wife and young child and move to a foreign land? Think about yourself just picking up and going over to Sudan. That doesn't happen very often.

It's what happened with Jesus. God ordained it. God ordained all of these things to come to pass, to demonstrate to us without mistake that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Jesus would be greater than David. He is called the Son of David, but he would be greater than David.

Psalm 110, in the first verse, David says, Jehovah says to my Lord, referring to Christ. Jesus quotes this in Matthew 22, verses 41. Jesus tests the Pharisees. Jesus asks them, what do you think about Christ? Whose son is he?

What do you think about the Christ? What do you think about the Messiah? What do you think about the Anointed One? They all knew who he was talking about. Whose son is he?

And they said, well, he's the son of David. And Jesus said to them, how then does David in the Spirit, David writing in the Spirit, writing and being moved by the Holy Spirit, he's writing what is the scripture, right, is the word of God. And We know that no scripture comes by private origination, private interpretation, but holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So Jesus says that David in the Spirit, as being moved by the Holy Spirit, called him, called the anointed one, called Christ Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Jehovah said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son?

If David is acknowledging that Jesus is greater than he was, then how is he the son? See Jesus is greater than David from whom he came. He was also, the Messiah would also be preceded by Elijah. Malachi 4, 5 and 6 says that God would send Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord. And Jesus said in Matthew 11 verse 13, John 11 verse 13, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

For all the prophets in the law prophesied unto John, and if you are willing to receive it he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. In Matthew 17 the disciples asked him, Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? The disciples were aware of this prophecy about the Messiah, that before the Messiah Elijah would have to come. And Jesus answered and said Elijah does come and he will restore all things.

Elijah does come. That was after the transfiguration when they saw Moses and Elijah on the mountain. Afterward they asked him, why did the scribes say Elijah must come first and Jesus said indeed Elijah is coming first and will restore all things But I say to you that Elijah has already come and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished Likewise the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands That's a lot of things that have been prophesied specifically about Jesus. Specific things, not those generic things that can be twisted to fit many people, but very specific things. That he would be born of a virgin, that he would be called out of Egypt, that he would be born in Bethlehem, that he would be given gifts, that he would come from this particular line, but there are many more.

We've just barely scratched the surface. Zechariah said that he would come riding on a donkey. Zechariah 9, 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous, and having salvation humble and mounted on a donkey on the colt the foal of the donkey.

Remember how that happened. Jesus told his disciples to go to a certain place and loosen this donkey, this colt. And if anybody asks what you are doing, say the master has need of it. And That is amazing right there that you can tell somebody to walk up to a certain place that there would be an animal there and that if the owner says, what are you taking my donkey, what are you borrowing my car for? You say, well the master has need of it and he will let you have it.

But this was prophesied 400 years before it happened. In Matthew 21, on what we call Palm Sunday, in Jesus' triumphal entry, All this was done, Matthew says, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you lowly and sitting on a donkey, a cult the foal of a donkey." And so the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded and he rode a donkey. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road, Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out saying, Hosanna, the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest, save us. Now that was prophesied too.

He would be publicly acclaimed. It's interesting that Both Mark and Luke also record this story, but they don't tie it to the Zechariah prophecy. Psalm 118 prophesies that Jesus would be publicly acclaimed just as we read that he was. So in verse 25, Save now, I pray, O Lord, O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God and I will praise you, you are my God, I will exalt you, oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever." And just before that is the prophecy about the stone being rejected, that Peter applied to Jesus Christ. Malachi 3.1 speaks of the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in.

Whom you delight in. The messenger of the covenant whom you delight in. So this public acclaim that was given to Jesus was expected. It was prophesied in the Old Testament. When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up saying, Who is this?

And the crowd said, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. And Luke adds a little more detail in Luke 19 verses 37 and 38. It says, as he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Now how hard is it to get a crowd to start chanting something? Do you ever try to get a crowd to start chanting something. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes they like your chant that you are starting and sometimes they just look at you and laugh at the chant that you are starting. Psalm 118 says that Jesus would be publicly acclaimed, that they would cry out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And that is indeed exactly what Matthew and Luke record. This crowd shouted out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus was publicly acclaimed, But he was also rejected at the same time. Now that's a daring prophecy to say the same person is going to be publicly acclaimed and also rejected. You know, if you're going to make your safe bet, you would pick one or the other.

But to have both, that's a different story. Jesus would be rejected. Psalm 118, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it. Isaiah 8.14 says, And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." And Jesus quotes this of Himself in Matthew 21 verse 42. He told the parable of the wicked vine dressers. And he said, have you never read in the scriptures? And then he quotes this passage that we just read, the stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone.

And then He turned to the Jews about whom he was speaking and he said, Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. Of course that didn't make the Pharisees happy, the chief priests. But also, here's another very specific prophecy, that Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.

Now it's it's an amazing prophecy to say 400 years that he would be betrayed And maybe for money, but for 30 pieces of silver, not 29, not 31, not 20, not 100, 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah, chapter 11. Verse 11. And verse 12. Then I said to them, If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages, and if not refrain, so they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me, Throw it to the potter, that princely price they set on me. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. Weigh out for me 30 pieces. So he asked them, if it is agreeable to you, give me my wages, and if not refrain. They weighed out thirty pieces of silver, and God said to him, throw it to the potter, and so he threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.

Now look in Matthew chapter 26. We read a remarkable event. Matthew chapter 26 and verse 14. Then one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest and he said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.

From that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Then we read in Matthew 27 another remarkable detail. Then Judas' betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elder, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to you? What is that to us?

You see to that. And he threw down the thirty pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went out and hanged himself. What did Zechariah say? God said to him, throw it to the potter. And so I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.

Where did Judas throw these? He threw down the thirty pieces of silver in the temple and went out and hanged himself. But there's more. The chief priests took the silver and said it's not lawful to put them into the treasury. They forgot to say it's not lawful to kill people either or pay for their betrayal.

And so they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field. Zachariah writing in the Spirit, hundreds of years before Jesus is born, says that he would be betrayed by thirty pieces of silver and that they would be thrown in the temple to the potter. Jesus would be forsaken. Psalm 22 verse 1 opens up with, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And those are the very words that Jesus cried on the cross.

But even more, The Old Testament prophesied that Jesus, the Messiah, would be crucified. And that was remarkable because that was not a mode of death that was understood or known to the Jews at that time. Psalm 22 again, a psalm that speaks frequently of Jesus' crucifixion says in verse 12, Many bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bation have encircled me. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax, it is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust. A death for dogs has surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me." you remember the crowds that gathered around him mocking him saying he saved others, he can't save himself.

The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. None of his bones were broken, but his hands and feet were pierced. Psalm 22, David being moved by the Holy Spirit, is describing a crucifixion, a form of death that was utterly unknown at the time of David in 1000 BC, 1000 years before Christ. They look and stare at me, they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots and remember the soldiers not wanting to divide the seamless garment cast lots for it but other the other clothes they divided that was expected Jesus crucifixion was expected It was announced in the Old Testament.

It came to pass exactly as it had been written. That it would be fulfilled. That not one word That God had spoken would fall to the ground and we've just begun to scratch the surface today of of these prophecies about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. There are many, many, many prophecies. No other person can claim to have fulfilled so many specific detailed prophecies.

Not vague things that soothsayers and other people make up. Not fortune cookie promises that can come to pass for anybody in any circumstance. But specific. Specific town he would be born in, born of a virgin, the country he would be called from, the exact number of the money that would be paid to his betrayer. What would happen, what that betrayer would do with that money, and what it would be used for.

These were all foretold in the Old Testament and it came to pass exactly as it was prophesied. Other people try. The Book of Mormon has a number of very specific prophecies. The problem is, they all turn out to be wrong. Joseph Smith said that a house of the Lord would be built in Jackson County, upon the consecrated spot that I have appointed." And he identified a particular lot.

Now that I'll give him is a specific prophecy. The only problem is that lot today is empty. Nothing has been built on it. And he said that, as I have appointed, in the glory of God even a cloud by day and a pillar of flaming fire by night shall rest upon the same. And it was reaffirmed in 1874 that before that generation was gone, this would happen on this lot.

Well, it's empty today. It's a barren lot. The false prophecy. It didn't happen, even though he tried to be specific. We read in the Doctrines and Covenants, section 29, a revelation given by Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York, September 1830.

He said, The hour is nigh, and the day soon at hand, when the earth is ripe and all the proud and they that do wickedly will be of stubble, and I will burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that wickedness will not be upon the earth. For the hour is nigh, that which was spoken by mine apostles must be fulfilled, for as they spoke so it shall come to pass." And he goes on a little later to be more specific, he says, nevertheless let the bishop go to the city of New York, to the city of Albany, to the city of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice of the desolation and utter abolishment, which wait them if they do reject these things. For if they do reject these things, the hour of their judgment is nigh, and their house shall be left to them desolate. Yet a little while, and you shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people." The problem is, Albany, Boston and New York are still standing and have never been destroyed since the time that he wrote that.

It didn't come to pass within the generation that he said it would. These are specific prophecies, but they are false. There are many people that try to find prophecies that Mohammed fulfilled. The problem is they are all so vague in general that they could be fulfilled by many people. No other person can claim to have fulfilled all of these prophecies of the Old Testament.

Numerous detailed specific prophecies that when you think about what it took for them to come to pass, that people's decisions, thinking that they were deciding of their own accord about where they would live, about how much money they would pay, about what they would do with that money, about where they would go. These all came to pass exactly as it was written. Because Jesus is God. Jesus is the Messiah who appeared in history. And even though things may not have appeared to be what they are, the Bible records for us what actually was.

This should be a great encouragement to us and to our faith that we are not believing in Christ. We are not taking a leap in the dark. We are not going against all the evidence, but rather the Holy Spirit gives us eyes to see and understand the evidence that is before us. And that Jesus is the Christ. And that there is a history of spanning 4, 000 years of prophecies that were made, specific prophecies that were recorded by people who had no connection with each other, who didn't know each other, who wrote at different times, times separated by millennia, by centuries.

In our mind sometimes David and Abraham are kind of friends. They lived a thousand years apart. That would be like somebody living in a thousand A.D. Even Wycliffe lived more recently than that. Think of the power of God to organize each of these things.

Some are ordinary events. And what's remarkable is that they would be identified so specifically, so far in the future. But other things are extraordinary events. We would call them miracles. And A miracle is not God intervening in history, because God is ever-present in history.

He is the one who brings history to pass. So a miracle is not God intervening, but it is God working in a way that is different from the way that he ordinarily works. But it takes no more power of God to work this way than that way. It's just he ordinarily works this way, in a miracle he works that way. Ordinarily people come from a union of a man and a woman.

That's what science tells us. But many professing Christians of the early 20th century didn't believe in a virgin birth. Their reasons? Well it's not mentioned in the rest of the New Testament. Paul in particular doesn't discuss it.

It's rarely mentioned in the first three centuries of the church's existence and also, you know, Luke and Matthew, well, they were using a faulty translation. They were using a Septuagint. It really should be not that a virgin would conceive, but only a young woman would. So they accused Matthew and Luke of making up a story according to their own misunderstanding Or that they're just imitating pagan myths about a virginal conception of spiritual heroes, but the real reason Those were all you know those are all supporting arguments the real reason that many even quote unquote Christians in the early 20th century did not believe in a virgin birth is because of the scorn that was heaped on them for believing something that science said was impossible. And science was the God of that day, it still is in many ways today, but not quite in the way it was in that day.

In that day, science was the God. And If science said it, then it was true. And science said it wasn't possible for a virgin to conceive. And if you believe something like that, well then you were an evangelical, you were stupid, you were backward, you were dumb, you were ignorant, you weren't sophisticated. You weren't up with the times.

You weren't scientific. And that was to be the worst of all possible. That was to be, in our language, not cool. The laws of physics said that for a human to be conceived, he needed a man and a woman. The question to those people was, whose word are you going to believe?

God's word or man's word? The Auburn Affirmation said that we believe from our hearts. We all believe from our hearts. The Auburn Affirmation was written by ministers in the Presbyterian Church. We all believe from our hearts that the writers of the Bible were inspired of God.

They didn't, earlier in the document, They denied that the Bible was inerrant though, without error. They said, We believe that the writers of the Bible were inspired by God, that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and through him we have our redemption, that having died for our sins, he rose from the dead and is our ever living Savior, and that in his earthly ministry he wrought many mighty works, and by his vicarious death and unfailing presence he is able to save to the uttermost." Here is what they also said, the very next sentence, some of us regard the particular theories contained in the deliverance in a document from the previous year as satisfactory explanations of these facts and doctrines. And what are they talking about here? Well what they are talking about here are these cardinal doctrines. Central to the faith, the inspiration and inerrancy of the scripture, the deity of Christ, the miracles of the Bible, including the six day creation, the virgin birth of Christ, Christ's substitutionary atonement on the cross, Christ's literal bodily resurrection, and Christ's bodily return.

That's what they're talking about here. They said, we are united in believing that these are not the only theories allowed by scripture and our standards as explanations of these facts and doctrines of our religion. In other words, that a bodily, that the Virgin birth, an actual Virgin conceiving the miracles, creation, Christ's substitutionary atonement. These things, these beliefs are not the only theories allowed by Scripture. In other words, you're going to take the Bible and say, we want to believe the Bible.

It's not without error, but we still believe some of what's written in it. We still want to believe it is the Word of God. We still want to say that God inspired the writers that he reconciled the world to himself and through him we have redemption and so on but but we don't believe that he was born of an actual virgin And we don't believe that he bodily rose from the dead science says that can't happen and we don't believe in his bodily return believe in his bodily return. 1, 274 ministers in the Presbyterian Church signed that document. And they were simply reflecting what the people in their churches believe.

And I know because my grandfather and my grandmother were some of those people in that church. This was 1924. They would have been in their 20s. And they were part of these people who did not believe these things. I heard those words from my own grandmother's mouth.

They went to church every Sunday. They didn't believe this about Jesus Christ. All these things have happened that it might be fulfilled, which was written about Christ. But there is one more thing that hasn't happened yet. Hebrews 9.28 says, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and to those who eagerly wait for Him, He shall appear the second time, without sin unto salvation.

To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear bodily a second time, even as He ascended. Are you waiting for Him eagerly, for His bodily return? Paul told Timothy that henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, but not just to me but to all who have loved his appearing. Are you living today expecting and looking for the bodily return of Jesus Christ? Are you ordering your life with that expectation in mind?

You remember Anna and Simeon, these were people who knew these prophecies of the Old Testament and who expected, who were longing for, who were looking for their fulfillment. And they rejoiced to see that day. Now that doesn't mean that you sell all your possessions and stand on the mountaintop. Remember the parable of the talents was that we have been given gifts. We have been entrusted as stewards of a great trust.

And those who were expecting the Master's return were the ones who were using the talents that had been entrusted to them to make more, to expand those talents. The one who simply took that talent and hid it in the ground brought Jesus condemnation. Are you ordering your life with this expectation in mind that one day Jesus Christ will return bodily? Do you eagerly wait for Him to come? It might not appear or look like Jesus Christ is reigning, that he is the King of Kings, that he has taken his authority and is seated at the right hand of God the Father and is reigning.

Peter talks about the people who say, well, it's thousands of years have gone by, Things are now as they always have been. The Bible tells us the true appearance. It tells us what is, even if things don't appear to be that way. Who do you believe? Who do you believe?

Almighty Heavenly Father, we do believe. Help our unbelief. For how often we forget, We know in our heart that this is true and yet we don't order our life as if it is. We don't live as if it is. But we live as if the things will always continue as they are.

And we forget that your people waited for 4, 000 years for the seed of the woman to come and to crush the head of the serpent. Father, as we look at these prophecies that all came to fruition, that all happened exactly as they were written, we ask that you would strengthen our faith and give to us a true belief That we may rest upon your promise. That we may eagerly look forward and anticipate and expect your bodily return. That we might live each day in that hope. Because Jesus Christ has come exactly as you have said he would, and he has done exactly as you have ordained.

How we praise you for so great a salvation. In Jesus' name, Amen.