The Messiah Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Today we continue with week three of our series, Unto Us. This series will lead us to Christmas.

• This series has been taking us through the prophecies concerning the Messiah from the book of Isaiah.

• Remember, the book of Isaiah was written over 740 years before the birth of Jesus.

• The Messianic prophesies (Prophecies about the coming Messiah) contained throughout the Old Testament, and the Book of Isaiah was ALL fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus!

• In Josh McDowell's book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh lists 61 major prophecies contained in the Old Testament, of which Jesus fulfilled all 61 of them!

• Peter Stoner, the author of the book, Science Speaks, was chairman of the mathematics and astronomy departments at Pasadena City College until 1953 when he moved to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

• There he served as chairman of the science division. At the time he wrote this book, he was professor emeritus of science at Westmont.

• Stoner listed eight of the major Messianic Prophecies to calculate the probability that one person could fulfill just eight in their lifetime.

• Stoner calculated the probability of one person fulfilling each of the eight individually.

• Then, multiplying all these probabilities together produces a number (rounded off) of 1×1028.

• Dividing this number by an estimate of the number of people who have lived since the time of these prophecies (88 billion) produces a probability of all 8 prophecies being fulfilled accidentally in the life of one person.

• That probability is 1in 1017 or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That's one in one hundred quadrillions! https://christinprophecy.org/articles/applying-the-science-of-probability-to-the-scriptures/

• When we think of Christmas, we think of gifts, snow, Santa, Christmas trees, debt, and the birth of Jesus. Sadly, sometimes in that order.

• The child we sing about, the child we see in so many nativity scenes across the world; that child changed not only the world that we live in, but He changed things for mankind for eternity!

• Today, from Isaiah 11:1-12, we are going to examine three characteristics concerning the Messiah that have an impact on us today and for the future.

• The child is the Messiah, the Son of God, who will bring peace to the world.

• The application point for us today is simple, the Messiah has rescued us from being enemies of God, so we can learn to be at peace with all.

• Let’s turn to Isaiah 11:1-2 to begin our trek today.

• SLIDE #2

• Isaiah 11:1–5 (CSB) — 1 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears, 4 but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips. 5 Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

The Messiah will be a…

I. Righteous Messiah.

• “That person is just a ‘Messianic figure.’” If you have ever been around political discussions long enough, you might have heard this sentence.

• It describes an inflated view of a charismatic leader that people feel will “save” them from trouble.

• But the term Messiah is from the Bible and describes “the anointed one, the leader appointed by God to carry out the special mission of redemption and liberation” (Millard J. Erickson, The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001], 124).

• When people struggle or are in dark situations, they look for hope wherever they can.

• When we see the economy in turmoil or our world or community under stress, we tend to look to a leader who can make it better, who can save us or rescues us from turmoil.

• However, the only one who can save us from our sin and brokenness is Jesus, the Messiah. Isaiah continues to describe this Messiah in chapter 11.

• Remember the context of Isaiah chapters 7-11. The Southern Kingdom was in trouble yet again because they had another UNRIGHTEOUS King.

• The Northern Kingdom had all 19 Kings be unrighteous. The nation was divided because Solomon's son caused the Kingdom to be divided because of his stupidity.