TOPIC: JESUS CHRIST IS THE MESSIAH! FOLLOW HIM!
Text:
John 3: 16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.
Introduction
Sometimes
ago, I watched a religious debate between two religious scholars of high
repute. Each belonged to a religion different to that of the other and both religions
are touted to be of Abraham’s descent. In the debate, each was trying to give
reasons, which included making references to various religious books and
writings, why his religion is the truth.
One of the arguments, that one of the debaters made reference to, was
how that the contents of the ‘holy book’ of his religion form some mathematical
sequences and logics that only ‘a being that has higher knowledge’ than man
could have written, and to him, ‘that being’ should be God. To him, by doing
so, God has secured the contents of the holy book of his religion from being
faked.
After
the debate, I began to compare the ‘seeming’ impossibility of any man
replicating mathematical sequences contained in the writing of a book to the absolute
impossibility of any man acting under false pretenses, which include laying
down of his life, to lay claim to fulfilling the sequences of prophecies about
being the Messiah, except by the making of The Almighty God. I then concluded
that the latter is more difficult that the former and that while the former
only seem to be impossible to man, the latter is absolutely impossible to man
except by God, Himself, working it out.
Over
the years, across many tribes and races, including the bible times, many people
have tried, in vain, to parade themselves as the Messiah and all their lies
have been made bare. God, in His Superior Knowledge, knew that the devil would
raise some people and parade them falsely as the Messiah. However, God, not
wanting anyone to miss the identity of the Messiah and the ultimate work of
salvation which the Messiah would do, had carefully put in place sequences of
prophecies which no man could fake, and still cannot conform or adapt himself
to fit, to being the Messiah unless the person is the true Messiah.
God’s
Unparalleled Efforts at Securing the Personality of the Messiah from being
Faked
Here,
I want to look at some of the unmatchable efforts God had put in place towards making
sure that everyone recognizes the personality of the Messiah and that no impostor
can fake being Him.
-1.
Enormous Messianic Prophecies
to be Fulfilled by The Messiah
Prophecies
were given through different books of the bible and by different prophets
concerning who will be the Messiah. Not only that, the Messiah is required to
fulfill all of them and to minutest details. The collection of all these
prophecies is known as the Messianic prophecies. There are hundreds of such
prophecies which the Messiah is expected to fulfill. Let us mention just a few
of them.
-a. The Messiah would be from the
lineage of King David. Jeremiah 23:5
-b. The Messiah would be betrayed for
30 pieces of silver. – Zechariah 11:13
-c. The Messiah would have his hands
and feet pierced. – Psalm 22:16
-d. People would cast lots for the
Messiah’s clothing. – Psalm 22:18
-e. The Messiah would appear riding on
a donkey. – Zechariah 9:9
-f. A messenger would be sent to
herald the Messiah. – Malachi 3:
-2.
The ultimate sacrifices of
Bible Prophets that gave the Messianic Prophecies
Being
a prophet of God in the bible times was not a joke as it seemly is, in these
last days. Any Prophet of God in those times risked being killed by the people of
Israel if he gave a prophecy that did not come to pass (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) On
the other hand, if Israelites had confirmed any prophet to be a true prophet of
God, such prophet still risked being killed by the people, in annoyance and
rebelliousness, if he gave a negative prophecy against them. Both ways, it was
almost certain that a prophet in bible time would be killed by his people.
That
was the dilemma that most of the prophets of bible times encountered and that
might be their fears and reasons for trying to reject God’s call upon their
lives. For instance, Prophet Moses tried escape the call by saying he was a
stammerer (exodus 6:29-30) while Prophet Jeremiah gave the excuse that he was a
child (Jeremiah 1:4-6). It was until God
had assured them that they would then accept God’s call to be His prophet.
Such
newly-called prophets would then withdraw to the wilderness or a mountain to
learn how to recognize the voice of God unmistakably. For instance, Luke 1:80
says about John, the Baptist.
Luke 1:80
80 And the child grew, and waxed strong
in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
When
such prophet was eventually revealed to Israel, the Israelites would revere
them as prophet of God because their words would come to pass. Then it would
come a tie that Israel would fall into sins and then the prophet would rebuke
them for their sins and gave a negative prophecy against them as instructed by
God. This would anger Israelites and would kill such prophet.
The
Lord, Jesus Christ, in Mathew 23:30-31 and Luke 11:47 that the Israelites were
the ones that killed their prophets.
Mathew 23:30-31
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore
ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which
killed the prophets.
For
instance, Prophet Isaiah that gave the popular prophecy that a Messiah would be
borne by a virgin (Isaiah 9:6) was said to be cut with a saw, into two halves,
according to historical accounts. Prophet Zechariah that gave the prophecy that
the Messiah would ride upon an ass (Zechariah 9:9) was killed between the porch
and the altar. Prophet Jeremiah that prophesied that God would make a new
covenant with the house of Israel (31:33) was once thrown inside a well.
Ultimately, John, the Baptist, the fore-runner of Christ, who prophesied that
the Messiah would baptize with Holy Ghost and with fire was beheaded by Herod
as a gift for one ‘useless’ girl for dancing very well at herod’s birthday. In
like manners, most of the Apostles of New Testament that went about preaching
the Messiah also paid similar ultimate sacrifice.
-3
The Odd of fulfilling 8 Messianic
Prophecies by chance or Under False Pretense
Let
us consider the possibility of fulfilling a few, just eight, of the Messianic
prophecies by chance. By this, we mean the chance of someone who is not the
messiah fulfilling eight of the prophecies by happenstance.
Professor
Peter Stoner, (June 16, 1888 – March 21, 1980), a Professor Emeritus
of Science, Westmont College; a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and
Astronomy, Pasadena City College; and a Christian writer was the author of the
book ‘Science Speaks’, a book which applies the science of probability
to the scripture. He was
said to have given 600 students, a math probability problem that would
determine the odds for one person fulfilling eight specific messianic prophecies.
(This is not the same as flipping a coin eight times in a row and getting heads
each time.)
Let
us consider 8 of such prophecies below.
Prophecy: The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
Prophecy:
The Messiah would be from the lineage of King David. – Jeremiah 23:5
Prophecy:
The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. – Zechariah 11:13
Prophecy: The betrayal money will be used to purchase a
potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13).
Prophecy:
The Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced. – Psalm 22:16
Prophecy:
People would cast lots for the Messiah’s clothing. – Psalm 22:18
Prophecy:
The Messiah would appear riding on a donkey. – Zechariah 9:9
Prophecy:
A messenger would be sent to herald the Messiah. – Malachi 3:1
The
students calculated that the odds against one person fulfilling all eight
prophecies by chance or under false pretense are astronomical-one in ten to the
21st power (1/10^21); “one chance in a trillion,
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion.
To
illustrate that number, Professor Stoner gave the following example: “
First,
blanket the entire Earth land mass with silver dollars 120 feet high.
Second,
specially mark one of those dollars with ink and randomly bury it.
Third,
ask a blindfolded person to travel the Earth and select the marked dollar from
the trillions of the silver dollars.”
The
eight prophecies we’ve reviewed about the Messiah were written by men from
different times and places between about 500 and 1,000 years before Jesus was
born. Thus there was no opportunity for collusion among them.
-4. The Level
of Power of God That Conceived the Messiah
Luke 1:35 35 And the angel answered and said unto
her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God.
The bible described power of God that was brought into action
for the conception of the Messiah to be made possible as the Power of the
Highest. The Power of the Highest simply refer to the power God Almighty
because God is the One that is referred to as the Most High or The Highest. By
this is meant that the conception of the Messiah was engineered by God, the
Father, Himself and not by any coincidence. It was a deliberate action by God.
Before the Messiah was born, God has been displaying a high
level of Power in different circumstances. For instance, He parted the red sea;
that was a great power displayed. He brought out of rock; that was an enormous
display of power. He brought down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah; that was a mighty
power of God displayed. Accounts of great displayed of power of God was
recorded through the old testament. But as much as those powers were great,
they were nothing compared to the power of the Highest that conceived the
Messiah.
-5. God’s Willingness
to Give Any Signs for Messiah’s Identification
Isaiah
7: 10-14
10 Moreover
the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask
thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or
in the height above.
12 But
Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
13 And
he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing
for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.
In
the scripture above, God, through Ahaz, gave a blank cheque for the Israelites
to fill, concerning what sign He should give them to be able to recognize the
Messiah when the Messiah would come on board. Assuming the Israelites had taken
up the challenge in Isaiah 7:11 and asked God for any sign, even if it was an
odd one, by which they would recognize the Messiah, God would still have done
it.
For
instance, if they had asked God to make the moon and stars come up in the
afternoon, and the sun come up in the night, on the day the Messiah would be
borne, to make them recognize the arrival of the Messiah, God would have done
it. But since they refrained from asking God for any sign, God still went ahead
and gave them the sign of a virgin conceiving and giving birth to the Messiah.
The only responsibility of the Israelites would then be to watch out for when a
virgin would conceive and they would recognize the Messiah.
Why
God Put Stringent Measures in Place to Ensure That the Messiah Could Not Be
Faked.
-1.
God’s effort to redeem man
will not be forfeited.
Since
it was obvious from God’s plans that there would be no remission of man’s sins
unless the Messiah shed His blood for sins of man, and that no man would be
saved unless he keys himself into the Messiah’s sacrifice and ultimately that
God does not want any man to perish, it became imperative for God to ensure
that man does not believe in a fake Messiah or an ‘impostor’. Otherwise, God’s
purpose to ensure man’s salvation would be forfeited if man ends up believing a
fake Messiah.
-2.
Man will not worship an
‘impostor’ but the Messiah.
Mathew 2:1-2
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his
star in the east, and are come to worship him.
-3. Man should believe the Messiah
John3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-4.
Man should obey the Messiah’s
commandment
John 14:15 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
-5.
Man can preach repentance and
remission of sins in His name.
Luke 24:47 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Summary
Conclusion
Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Saviour of the
world. God had invested so much at making sure that no impostor will falsely
parade himself as the Messiah to you and lead you to hell. Now, all you need to
do is to believe in the Messiah as the Scripture has rightly said that whoever
believes in the Messiah will not perish but have an everlasting life. Time is
short. Quickly run to the Messiah to save you.
Actions
Are you an
elect of Christ? Are you truly saved? Are you on the narrow road? Do you want
to make the rapture/heaven? If your answers are yes, then,
• Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.
• Be
watchful. Pay attention to what is happening around the World and see whether
they match what the scriptures say.
• Be filled
with the Holy Spirit and be in the Spirit all the time.
• Fast,
consecrate yourself, run away from sin and worldliness.
If
your answers are NO, then you can repent today. Accept Jesus Christ as your
Lord and Saviour. Kindly sincerely and faithfully pray the prayer of repentance
below and make a determination never to commit sin again.
Prayer
of Repentance
Lord, Jesus Christ, I am sorry for all my sins. I confess them with
my mouth and I ask for mercy. Please forgive me and wash me in your blood. I
accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Write my name in the book of life.
Give me power over sins and fill me with your Spirit and Joy of Salvation. When
rapture trumpet sounds, let me make it. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name,
I pray.
Begin to read bible. Begin with the book of John. Pray always. Fast regularly (you can begin with once in a week). Look for a bible believing church where they teach repentance, holiness, salvation and fellowship with them. Pray before you go. Always run away from sins.
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Shalom.
To Make Rapture:
Confess your sins to JESUS CHRIST and ask Him to save you.
Repent of your sins constantly on daily basis and run away from sins.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
Live in Holiness and Righteousness
Do all Restitutions
Cut off all worldliness.
Forgive all people.
Pray and fast.
Consecrate and study the bible.
Watch.
JESUScoming
