Connecting the Dots: Prophecies of the Coming Messiah - Christmas

You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

Men and women, it's a forever kingdom.

Isn't that amazing?

And it's gonna continue to move forward, touching all the nations of the world.

The increase of his government will have no end.

Jesus is not up for re-election.

Jesus doesn't run out after two terms.

Jesus is the king.

He's getting stronger.

He's getting more powerful.

He's taking over the globe.

God is using everything we're going through to see the increase of his government upon the globe.

And if you don't, if you don't know him and if you're not a follower of him, I would highly recommend you join the winning team.

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We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

I want to talk about prophecy.

You heard a little bit of an introduction by uh Pastor Brian that we did with the kids.

And uh it's interesting about prophecies because the the amazing supernatural quality of the prophetic sometimes gets lost if you've been around it a little bit.

And you know, those that have been a part, how many of you would say that you cut your teeth on apologetics from time to time?

You read apologetics, you like apologies.

A lot of people aren't church like that.

According to uh Alfred Ederscheim, a completed Jew, great historian, I've read a lot of his books, he says there are 465 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.

465.

That's one every day of the year plus a hundred.

I mean, that's amazing.

465.

But what's amazing is that out of 465, if any one person were to fulfill just eight prophecies, the chance of that happening is one out of ten to the 21st power.

I mean, it's basically impossible that just one person would fulfill just eight, just eight prophecies, much less 465.

And so this morning, what I want to do is I want to look at nine.

I want to look at nine key prophecies, and the way I'm gonna look at it is from a broad perspective, and then I'm gonna narrow it down.

And I've just picked nine, could have picked 25, could have picked 50, um, but I felt like these nine guide us best toward the coming of Christ at what we now call Christmas, the coming of Jesus is our Messiah.

And uh just so you understand this clearly, anybody here come from an ethnic Jewish background?

How many here would have an ethnic Jewish background?

Anybody like that?

Okay, a few, yes, some others.

Okay, we have, I think, five or six families in our church that come of an ethnic Jewish background.

And what's amazing about prophecies is that a lot of times people look at and say, well, that's a Christian thing.

Oh, that's what Christians believe, you know?

But it's not true.

We basically inherited it from Judaism.

Judaism had prophecies about a coming Savior, about a coming king, and a coming Messiah.

Traditional Judaism has a scholar, very famous scholar, and I can't pronounce his name.

Okay?

So we're gonna call him Rambam.

Okay, and by the way, a lot of people call him Rambam.

It's not his real name.

He had, listen now, 13 principles.

His perspective, Rambam's perspective, was that if you didn't believe these 13 principles of Judaism, you couldn't even call yourself a real Jew.

And here's one of them that he said quote, the Jews must believe in the coming of the Messiah, awaiting him every day with unwavering faith.

End quote.

So Rambam believed that if you're a real Jew, if you're a true Jew, not just an ethnic Jew, but you're a religious Jew, fulfilling the calling that's upon your life based on the Torah, Moses, and the prophets, you should be awaiting expectantly the coming Messiah.

He goes on.

Rambam continues.

Whoever does not believe in him or the Messiah, or does not await his coming, denies not only the other prophets, but also the Torah and Moses, our teacher, for the Torah attest to his coming.

So all I'm gonna share this morning would be prophecies that even the Jews believe speak of the Messiah that was to come.

And I'm calling it connecting the dots.

How many of you played connecting the dots when you get?

That was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid.

Connect the dots.

I want to see, what is that gonna tell you?

You know, you gotta look at that thing.

And I and we I knew kids were gonna be in here.

So we're gonna call it connecting the dots, because I think dot one, dot two connects us increasingly to Christ.

And I'm gonna start really big picture.

I'm gonna start big, and then my prophecies that I'm gonna give from the Old Testament are gonna kind of narrow down toward Jesus.

So look at dot number one.

Dot number one is Genesis 3.15.

Genesis, don't turn there, I'm gonna we'll have it up on the screen.

Genesis 3.15 in the Latin has been classically called the proto-evangelion.

The proto-evangelion, meaning the first gospel message is found in Genesis 3.15 after Eve and Adam sinned.

So after the serpent came to them, they ate the fruit, they sinned, the horrible transgression of sin came into the world through Satan.

Listen to this prophetic word given thousands of years ago.

I will put enmity between you, meaning the serpent, Satan, and the woman.

And between your seed and her seed.

Seed.

Note that's singular.

He shall bruise your head, you shall bruise his heel.

So the very first prophetic word about the coming Messiah, about Jesus, is that this one who's to come is going to be singular.

It's gonna be a seed, it's gonna be one person, it's gonna be a human being that comes from a woman, and this woman, this seed coming from the woman will crush the head of Satan.

Is that good news or not?

I mean, the very first thing about Jesus in the Bible, the whole Bible, is spiritual warfare.

And when we go into January and February, I was praying a lot during the break, and God spoke to me.

We're gonna go into Ephesians in January.

January, February, we're gonna go through Ephesians, and it's all about being a warrior.

It's all about being prepared for war, your position, your power, and your purpose.

As we go into the new year, we're gonna look at Ephesians because that's what it's about.

And so he's right here at the beginning, he's saying, look, I'm raising up a human being coming from a woman who is going to, first of all, crush the head of Satan.

Galatians 4, 4, Paul writes, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons.

So here Paul taking us back to Genesis 3 is saying, there will be one born, there was one born, Christ, the Son, who will be a man, born of a woman, a Jew under the law, who will come to bring adoption to all of us.

Dot number two, Genesis 22.

Genesis 22, 15 through 18, he will be a descendant from Abraham.

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son.

Remember the story of Isaac.

Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore.

Now listen up.

And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

In your seed, singular, one person, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you've obeyed my voice.

So there's this, there's this first, this proto-evangelion, that Christ is gonna come.

He's gonna stomp the head of the enemy, and then it's gonna come through Abraham, a descendant of seed, it's gonna come forth from a woman, a human being, will come, and he will now have descendants.

So this descendant will have descendants that will possess, men and women, the gates of say it again?

The enemy.

Spiritual warfare again.

I mean, it's amazing that this God on the movement, and listen, it's gonna go to all nations of the world.

He's prophesying that it will go to all the nations of the world.

Many women, over two billion people today are worshiping God, are worshiping God through Jesus Christ.

Dot number three, I'm gonna narrow it a little bit more.

So, descendant of Abraham, Genesis 21, 12.

Genesis 21, 12.

A descendant from Isaac.

So not only the descendant of Abraham, but now it's gonna be a descendant from Isaac, who is the cherished son of Abraham.

But God said to Abraham, Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad, or because of your bondwoman.

Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called.

So a human male, descendant of Abraham, more specifically coming from Isaac, dot number four, Genesis 49, 10.

And this is one of the most famous prophecies in Judaism.

A king.

A king will come from the tribe of Judah, which is of the lineage of Isaac, which is the lineage of Abraham.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah.

That's huge.

If you're looking at a Bible like this, that would be one you want to underline and circle.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, another word for Messiah, another word for the Son of God.

And to him shall be the obedience of the people.

So this passage is universally accepted by those in Judaism.

Notice now something has changed, and that's the word scepter.

Scepter.

So he's not only a descendant that comes from a woman that comes from the Jewish race, that comes from Abraham and Isaac and Judah, but he's going to be a king.

A scepter.

He'll be a king that rules from the tribe of Judah.

Dot number five.

Dot number five.

We'll narrow it a little bit more.

Isaiah 11.1.

Isaiah 11.1.

A branch from Jesse.

There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Amazing story.

This is really captured in the amazing story in the book of Ruth.

This Ruth is David's grandmother.

And it all connects to the genealogy of Jesus.

So this Messiah will come and be known as the Son of David, because he comes from the branch of David.

And there's just dozens of passages in the scriptures about the Messiah being called the Son of David.

As a matter of fact, when Herod is looking and when others are looking in the Pharisees and Sadducees, they keep saying, Is this the son of David?

It was universally known that he'd be a son of David.

So you have Abraham, Isaac, Judah, Jesse.

Dot number six.

Isaiah 9, Isaiah 9, 6 and 7.

An eternal kingdom upon the throne of David.

For unto us a child is born.

Unto us a son is given.

And the government will be upon his shoulders.

And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Now this is just like amazing.

This whole passage.

We could preach ten sermons just on this passage.

He's saying a child's going to be born.

This child is born from the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Judah, David.

He will have a scepter, he'll have a throne, he'll have a kingdom.

And now he's saying it's going to be a kingdom that's established forever.

It's a forever kingdom.

Men and women, it's a forever kingdom.

Isn't that amazing?

And it's going to continue to move forward, touching all the nations of the world.

The increase of his government will have no end.

Jesus is not up for re-election.

Jesus doesn't run out after two terms.

Jesus is the king.

He's getting stronger.

He's getting more powerful.

He's taking over the globe.

God is using everything we're going through to see the increase of his government upon the globe.

And if you don't, if you don't know him and if you're not a follower of him, I would highly recommend you join the winning team.

Because God is on the move.

And the increase of his government is going to be amazing.

We're going to see revivals, kingdom revolutions breaking out all over the world.

And it's going to happen here in Colorado Springs.

Do you guys realize this?

That for the Jesus follower, it doesn't get any worse than this.

It only gets better.

For you that are not true Jesus followers, or maybe you're faking it or whatever, I don't know.

For you, this is as good as it gets.

What you have now and all the stuff you got and everything you're living for, it doesn't get any better for you.

It's only going to get worse.

Right?

So become a Jesus follower.

Because then it doesn't get any worse than this.

This is as bad as it gets.

All it's going to do is get better for the Jesus follower because Jesus is coming.

So what if they kill us?

You go to heaven, man.

I mean, you get to go to heaven.

I mean, you have no need to fear death.

We have no fear.

We should be fearless and bold as a lion.

Because we have nothing to fear.

But if you don't know Jesus, if you don't have a personal, vital, dynamic, growing relationship with him, you have everything to fear.

Because you don't have protection.

You don't have power.

You don't have anointing.

And that's a real bummer.

And I would just say, change that today.

I mean, wake up, smell the freshly brewed coffee, and follow Christ.

Become a Jesus follower, and guess what?

You have everything to look forward to.

Well, he continues.

How many of you have read this book from Matthew?

You've seen this is the part we skip.

Okay, we skip this part.

In Matthew, how many of you know that the very beginning of Matthew is this genealogy?

It's like, oh, it's like, I I've taught it and it takes everything in me to go through it when I'm teaching it.

But Matthew is of the line of Jesus from Joseph's line, okay?

But then you also have Luke.

And Luke has another genealogy, and that's from Mary's line.

But they come together with the Davidic line.

Now why did they do that?

Why did Matthew give us a genealogy?

And why did Luke the physician give us a genealogy?

The reason is for the Jew, that was very, very important where the Messiah came from.

And so if you take Matthew and you take Luke, they come together from different branches, but they come together with the Davidic branch.

Now, dot number seven.

Dot number seven.

Gone big picture, narrowing it down more.

Born in Bethlehem.

Born in Bethlehem.

So now we know the place.

We know the descendants, we know the king, kingly nature of the scepter.

Now it says he's born in Bethlehem.

Dot number seven, Micah 5-2.

Micah 5-2.

But you, Bethlehem Epraphilah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth of me, to me, the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.

So the exact place of Jesus' birth would be Bethlehem Eprapha, because there were two Bethlehems, and it's that specific.

It's that specific.

It's going to be Bethlehem Eprapha.

Now here's what's amazing about this.

He says, whose going forth are from of old, from everlasting.

Now this is wild, you guys.

He's saying there is a future Messiah coming.

He will actually be born in Bethlehem Eprapha at a time and place, but he's from everlasting.

He's always been there.

He's always been, and yet he will be born on the earth to be ruler over the kingdoms of this earth.

Isn't that amazing?

No one ever, nothing, not even close, has any religion ever prophesied a leader like that.

And here's what's amazing.

I've been all over the world.

And you guys know I spent like 10 years in the Orient, and especially around Buddhism.

I never, and I that's all I did every day was share Christ with college students and people in neighborhoods and stuff like that.

All I did for 10 years.

I never met one Japanese, Korean, or any other Asian who said, Buddha changed my life.

I just want you to know that I accepted Buddha and Buddha changed my life.

Now you might have some Hollywood types that don't play with the full deck anyway who might say that.

But you are not gonna have anybody who truly comes out of Buddha and say, Buddha changed their life.

Because all that Buddhism is, is a religion of principles.

Okay?

So then been to the Middle East, been to Israel and all around that area and shared my faith in Jerusalem and shared my faith in Israel.

Never met one person, Mohammedan, Muslim, or Islam-believing person who said, Mohammed changed my life.

We are the only faith in the whole world who can say, Jesus changed my life.

Not a religion, but a person changed my life.

Gave us the exact location and place of where he'd be born.

And just so you know, you know, like when Herod was confused because the wise men came and said, Where is he?

By the way, the wise men are up there.

I love that.

Isn't that cool?

So next week the wise men are gonna get closer.

So each week they're getting closer and closer.

Okay?

So you kids come and see who can find where the well, you don't know where the wise men are gonna be next week.

I've got an idea how I'm gonna do it.

It's gonna be really fun.

But I thought that was the best place to start.

You like that?

So, remember the wise men went to Herod, got some information, shared that they had been following the star, and then through a dream, they decided not to go back to Herod.

And what did Herod do?

Herod went to the scholars and the scribes, and he asked them, where does it say the Messiah to come will be born?

And they said, Bethlehem, and then he brought the slaughter of the innocents, because even in Judaism they believe that.

Number eight, Malachi 3.1, last book of the Old Testament.

Malachi 3.1.8, a forerunner will announce his coming.

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek.

He will suddenly come to his temple, and that's really, really key.

He will come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom You delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord.

So here's the prophecy of John the Baptist coming, a foretelling of John the Baptist coming.

And he will come.

This is talking about location, location, timing now.

Many of you know historically that in 70 AD, the second temple, the last temple that the Jews had, was completely destroyed by the Romans.

And so he's gonna come before, he's gonna come to the temple.

It means he's gonna come before the temple is destroyed.

Again, nobody could have known that except the prophets hearing it from Jesus, that you would know that the Messiah will come to the temple.

And then dot number nine and last, Isaiah 7.14, born of a virgin.

Born of a virgin.

Talk about specific.

So we've gone from trampling on the head of Satan from a woman, a human being, will be born, descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Judah, Jesse, David, forerunner, king, scepter, now born of a virgin.

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.

And behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel, which men and women means God with us.

God is with you.

This time in history, November 29th, 2020, this day we'll never have again.

This day in history, first Sunday of Advent, Emmanuel is with you.

He's with you.

No matter what CNN says, no matter what CBS, ABC, NBC, or Fox News says, you have Emmanuel with you.

And if you've accepted him as your Lord and Savior, he is in you.

Because he was deity wrapped up in humanity with a scepter, a king.

And every time you pray, every time you pray, you stomp on the head of the devil.

You have been called by God to possess the gates of the enemy.

And I challenge you to pray and to seek God in this time in America.

Atheists aren't going to pray.

Media moguls aren't going to pray.

Big tech presidents and CEOs aren't going to pray.

In most cases, we pray.

It's the church that prays.

And when we look at the drama of the ages across the universe, God's heart is toward the church.

And he's using the church to possess the gates of the enemy.

That's why we're going to study Ephesians in January and February, because we're going to talk about your possession, your power, and your strength as a Jesus follower to possess the gates of the enemy.

Michael Brown, a Jewish follower of Jesus, wrote these words in a recent book.

Just consider how utterly absurd it would have been if you stood at the foot of the cross as Yeshua suffered a torturous, shameful death, and someone told you, they came up to you and told you, 2,000 years from now, this man will be the world's most famous Jew.

That world history would be divided into the years before his birth and the years after his birth.

Hundreds of millions of people, which actually two billion, will from all world religions forsake idols and their dead religions and will instead become followers of the God of Israel through him.

This is the literal truth without a hint of exaggeration.

Now, men and women, I come from a Scotch, Irish, English background.

My descendants worshiped idols.

My descendants were druids.

My descendants went up into the hills and up into caves and they worshiped idols.

And then a man named Patrick came.

We call him Saint Patrick.

Saint Patrick came as a shepherd boy, and he began to preach the gospel, heal the sick, drive out demons, and a revival broke out across the British Isles.

That's what God does.

That's your history.

Your history is full of idols and full of demons and full of demon worship.

You're here today because someone preached the gospel.

Because somebody loved you enough to share with you about a personal, vital, dynamic, growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's Christmas.

That's what this is all about.

This is why we're here.

Now I can tell you, there's a lot of things that are exciting in this world.

I'd love to see the Broncos win today.

I mean, that'd be exciting.

Georgia did an awesome job yesterday.

That was very exciting.

But let me tell you, what drives this world and what makes your life and my life worth living is the legacy that we leave of being Jesus' followers.

And I can't wait for Tuesday to do that memorial service for a man like Paul Stanley, who lived it well, he finished well, and he made an impact.

And every one of you can do that with your lives too.

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