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Muskegon SDA Church

Jason Sliger

The Fulness of Time


Father in heaven, thank you for the opportunity to come together this morning to reflect upon the birth of our Messiah, our Savior, and our Lord. Father, we ask that you would send your Holy Spirit to give us clear thoughts And we may take away the lesson that you have for us this morning We thank you father In Jesus name, amen Just prior to the birth of Jesus, we are told that the earth was in a terrible state at that time. For 4, 000 years, Satan had been working very hard to make the gulf between heaven and earth unpassable, impassable. His lies had emboldened men in their sins, and his goal was to shut out of man's mind the true knowledge of God. We're told that even the services in the temple, the earthly sanctuary, had lost their impact on the minds of God's people because sin was abounding.

But in this time just before the advent of Jesus, we're also told that there was a small group of people, both of Jewish descent and Gentile descent who were transfixed upon the many promises found in the Hebrew scriptures, prophesying the coming of the Messiah. Prophecies from the books of Moses, writings of David, prophets Daniel, Isaiah, and Malachi all spoke of the coming of the Messiah. And of course, today we understand Daniel chapter 9 being 1 of the greatest of those prophecies, predicting not just the coming of the promised 1 but the very time that he would come. But alas, even prophecies so clear as Daniel chapter 9 largely went misunderstood because of the lawlessness and iniquity that abound. For many of those who were hoping for the coming of the promised 1, It felt like what Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 12 and verse 22 that the days are prolonged and every vision Faileth it seemed like a dark time in the history of God's people but yet God was about to perform a great miracle.

God had appointed a time, and just when that time came, Something momentous took place and we're told in Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5 we read in our scripture reading That when the fullness of time was come I like the way this is translated in other translations It says when the right time came or when the set time had fully come, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son. I would suggest that you take time over the next couple of weeks to think about those few words. God sent forth His son. Aren't you thankful for that? Made of a woman.

To redeem them that were under the law, that's you and I, that we might receive the adoption of sons. This passage is full of meaning, but I want to take the first part of it and meditate just a little on it this morning it was a dark time among God's people but the fullness of time had come And God sent forth his son to redeem those who were under the law that they might have the opportunity of eternal life. In fact, John the Baptist knew that this time had come when he said almost in a prophetic way, Mark 1 and verse 15, John said, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel, the Messiah had arrived. Of course, you know the Bible is full to overflowing of messianic prophecies. Some calculate some 350 prophecies of the Old Testament predict that the coming of the Messiah.

It's interesting to me and you may find this interesting as well That there's not a single prophecy predicting the coming of any other religious leader in the history of this world No prophecy predicted the leaders or the leader of Islam. No prophecy predicted the leaders of Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other religion, world religion. Yet with Christianity, there is unmistakable evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. And this is the time of the year where we can reacquaint ourselves with many of these prophecies and I've decided this morning to go through all 350 of them. I will let you do that on your own this next week because it is a great study.

But it's this time of the year that we are reminded how Jesus fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy every single 1 of these predictions, Not just a third of them, not just half of them, not just 2 thirds of them, not 3 fourths of them, but every single 1 of them in every 1 of their very details, Jesus fulfilled. In fact, if you go through the Gospel of Matthew, and I would invite you to do that perhaps sometime this week, you will find that there is a phrase that is repeated some 14 times as the great evangelist Matthew makes his case that Jesus was the Messiah. The phrase that he repeats is in some form or another is the phrase, that it might be fulfilled. And he applies that in the life of Jesus. And I'm going to share with you just quickly here a few of those in Matthew chapter 1 verses 22 and 23.

Matthew reminds us of that well-known prophecy. Now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us, that it might be fulfilled. He continues to make his case in Matthew 2, verses 5 and 6, where he says this, and they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, thou Bethlehem in the land of Judea are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of these shall come a governor and shall rule or shall shepherd my people. For thus it was written by the prophet. Matthew is making his case that Jesus is the promised 1 that was written about in times past.

Chapter 2, verses 14 and 15, he continues as the angel comes to speak to Joseph in a dream telling him to leave and go to Egypt. The Bible tells us in verse 14, 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 by the Lord, spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, out of Egypt I have called my son. You can find all the cross-reference on this in your center column in your Bible that takes you back to the Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled in the life of Jesus in just the few short months in the beginning part of his life. Matthew continues his defense of Jesus being the appointed 1. In Matthew 2, verses 17 and 18, he says this, beginning in verse 17, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, in Ramah, was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because They are not and of course.

He's referring to Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 15 Go through the Gospel of Matthew and you will see this phrase repeated over and over again as Matthew points to the fact that Jesus is the promised 1. It was a dark time in the minds of God's believers, both Jew and Gentile, just prior to the coming of Jesus. But God was about to do something amazing for fallen humanity. In fact, the argument has been well made, both by historian and inspired writings. You can read this in the chapter, The Fullness of Time in the book, Desire of Ages, that although for many they thought it was a dark time in religious history, lawlessness abounding, that it was the most, it was the most optimal time for the arrival of the Messiah.

You know, oftentimes God works in the most inopportune times, does he not? The time when we think that in our human perspective that God is working the least, as we begin to watch, we will actually see that God is working the most. And this was an optimal time in Earth's history for Jesus to come and here are just a few reasons. Again, this is, these arguments are made in Desire of Ages and also by other historians. The first point is that at this time in Earth's history, the world was in relative peace at this time.

Of course, it was dominated by the Roman Empire. Did the Jews appreciate being dominated by the Romans? No, but with that domination, Although they resisted it and did not like it, with that domination it brought a time of peace, relative peace in the earth that created an atmosphere where there was freedom to travel and carry the message that Jesus had come, that the Messiah had arrived. Another thing that had happened to bring great advantages to the promulgation of the gospel was that at this time in Earth's history, The almost universal language of Greek was used far and wide. Prior to this, in the time of the Old Testament, you will find that there were many barriers to the carrying of the gospel to the far-flung parts of the world.

But many of these barriers had been torn down now, and it was an ample time for this good news to go to all the world. The Greek language was now being spoke, and for almost 200 years before the birth of Jesus, the Old Testament had been translated into the Greek language. And both Jew and Gentile had access to these many prophecies predicting the coming of the promised 1. And there we find evidence of this in the Gospels with the wise men pouring themselves over these prophecies, although they were Gentile by descent, they were being led by the Holy Spirit in their study of the Greek Old Testament. You know, I find today that conditions are somewhat similar to the time they were right before Jesus' advent.

I believe that today we live in a time in earth's history where it is an optimal time for the promulgation of the gospel. Would you say amen? That although it seems like darkness and lawlessness abounds, that the love of many has waxed cold, I believe that we are living in a time when God is about to do something extraordinary. And I wanna be part of that small group of people right before the advent of the Messiah who were comforted by the prophecies of Scripture that did not go by what they saw but what they read in the Word of God. I want to be part of that group of people who clung to the promises of God that he would come and send the Anointed 1 All throughout the world There are people who are we are told wistfully looking to heaven Waiting only to be gathered in There are people who are longing for something more than what this world has to offer.

And we're actually told that the heathen Gentiles before Jesus' birth had become weary of heathen traditions. They had become tired of the heathen rites of worship and were looking for something with substance. I believe the same is true today. Although heathen worlds will not express it in such a way, I believe that the same thing is true. In fact, reliable reports suggest that more Muslims have become followers of Jesus in the past 2 decades than in Islam's combined 1, 500 years of existence.

Somebody ought to say amen to that. More Muslims have converted to become followers of Christ in the last 10 years than in the last 15 centuries. I believe God is moving in our world and we are seeing a repetition of what took place just before the advent of Jesus. People are longing for something with substance. I read a story several years ago in the Adventist World Radio about a Seventh-day Adventist pastor who was working in a city where Christians were being persecuted for what they believed.

He received an invitation to visit someone's house in this persecuted city. And when he showed up to his surprise, it was a Muslim imam's house that he had been invited to. Now being a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, being invited to a Muslim leader's house, Fear gripped his heart as he thought something terrible was about to take place yet by faith He walked into that house and when he walked into the front room He found that not only was the Muslim leader there But there were 30 other men that were gathered around inside that man's living room. And as the pastor sat down, the imam told him that they would all like to be baptized in a secret baptismal service. I think the pastor was a little speechless at that point.

And he asked them, how can this be? And the Muslim leader very revently said, for the past several months I've been visited by an angel. And this angel has instructed me in the teachings of the Bible. And I have in turn taught those teachings to my friends that are gathered here. And we have all come to the decision that we want to be followers of Jesus.

Being a good Seventh-day Adventist pastor, he pulled out his clearing card. And he went through point by point Seventh-day Adventist doctrine. And these men knew biblical teaching. God is moving in a supernatural way and although it may seem like we are in a time of darkness in this world. There are people who are looking for something of substance much to the way the 3 or the wise men did prior to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

We're told in the book, Desire of Ages, page 33, among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had a better understanding of scriptures and prophecies concerning the Messiah than had the teachers of Israel. I hope that's not the case for us today. I believe that it was because God had pulled down these barriers that would have prohibited the carrying of the gospel to the world that we are able to find in the book of Acts where the Bible says that that small group of people were able to turn the world upside down. Another considerable advantage of the time when Jesus came was that Jews had been dispersed everywhere throughout the then known world. They were not just congregated in a small area, but they were dispersed in all parts of the world.

And they would come back to Jerusalem from time to time to celebrate the feasts there in Jerusalem. And they would then take back with them to the different parts of the world, the things that they heard that were being taught in the temple. The time was just right when God sent his son to redeem this world. I want to read to you a statement that has been an encouragement to me. It's from Signs of the Times, July 26th of 1883.

It says this, viewed From a human standpoint, the path of duty and righteousness is not a path of peace and safety. By faith, we must follow as the Lord leads us onward. Listen to this. The way of God's choosing may seem dark, yet it is the surest way to the light. In the midst of apparent disaster and defeat, God's providence is working out his purpose.

We are about to embark upon a new year together. And as we go through 2019, I don't know what types of peaks and valleys we are going to go through. We have plans by God's grace to do great things for him and we'll be talking more about that in the weeks to come. But we really don't know what the Lord has in store for us. We like the faithful before Jesus was born might feel like the world is kind of falling in on us.

That darkness is all around us. That disparity is closing in upon us. But I want you to remember that in the midst of apparent disaster and defeat, God's providence is working out his purpose. As we remain faithful to God in 2019, He will lead us as he led those wise men. He will send whatever star is needed in our life to point us in the right direction to keep our eyes fixed upon him.

And Just like Jesus surely came and fulfilled the many prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the advent of the Messiah, so Jesus is soon to come, brothers and sisters. And he will fulfill the many prophecies of Scripture concerning his second advent. And I pray that by God's grace, we will be found faithful at that time when he comes, that apparent disaster and defeat will not keep us from keeping our eyes fixed upon him. How many of you wanna say, Lord, help me to remain faithful to you, no matter what comes my way. Father in heaven, we are grateful for the reminder that you have given to us that although by our human eyes things may seem like they are all going wrong.

That you have your timing and that your timing is perfect. And Father, we want you to work out your will in our lives. And as we enter into a new year together, I pray that we would remain faithful to you no matter what life may bring our way. And Father, if need be, I pray that you would help the scales to fall from our eyes and That we will see the providential leading of Jesus in our lives Keep us faithful to you Lord. We pray We thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen. If you'd like to know more about Audioverse, or if you'd like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org. ♪♪ you

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The Fulness of Time

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