The Fullness of the Time - Part Three Dec 20, 2020 by: John Herbert | Series: The Fullness of the Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T010_20201220.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come....... We will continue to look at the significance of the fullness of the times. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday December 20th 2020 The Fullness of the Time Part Three 1). Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given……… Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those who were under law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. We have seen from our previous studies that the fullness of the time refers to a predetermined moment in human history that had been promised in the Garden and then given a precise timing through the prophet Daniel - Da 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. And as we look at these verses in Daniel, we see that the coming of ‘Messiah the Prince’ is placed in a context that deals primarily with future events that anticipate the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, in Christ. The coming of Messiah the Prince in ‘the fullness of the time’, cannot be separated from the 7th Day. The Lord’s birth is not an end in itself. a). And then from the verses in Galatians Chapter 4 we see the clear connection between the sending forth of God’s Son and our own adoption, literally ‘son placing’, as firstborn sons with regards to the 7th Day. b). And so, we must understand that the events surrounding ‘when the fullness of the time had come’, were all a precursor to the Lord’s second advent – God sending forth His Son to be born of a woman was a significant marker on God’s prophetic calendar, declaring to those with eyes to see, both the certainty and the closeness of the complete fulfillment of God’s plans and purposes for His Son and rulership with regards to the heavens and the earth, as set out in the Scriptures from opening verses of Genesis onwards. 2). With this in mind let’s look at the encounter between Gabriel and Mary - Lu 1:26 ¶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 "For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Mary would have known the OT scriptures, and it is to these very scriptures that Gabriel drew her attention – we might particularly note the reference to the promise that had been made to David the king by God through the prophet Nathan, remembering that Mary is in the bloodline of David through David’s son Nathan [not the prophet] and her betrothed, Joseph, in the regal line of David through Solomon – 2Sa 7:12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.14 "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son………… And we can add to this the promise given in - Jer 33:20 "Thus says the LORD: 'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 'then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. And then to confirm the veracity of God’s word Gabriel gives witness to the power of God in the life of Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, ‘who was called barren’. a). No doubt Mary would recall the words of the prophet Isaiah – Isa 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. And intriguingly we see in Isaiah that the virgin birth is given to Israel as a sign – something pointing beyond the birth itself to a metaphorical birth that would come yet future from another barren womb, that of barren Israel in connection with ‘Immanuel.’ [God with us] – Isa 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. And Mary’s response to Gabriel, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’ is a magnificent example of faith in action – Mary’s faith is not just in the words spoken to her at that moment, but in all that God had promised in His word concerning those things which would come to pass in future time –Mary’s faith here is the same as that of Abraham. b). So then, at the pronouncement of the Lord’s conception, God’s focus is His Son’s Messianic Kingdom – it is for that day, the day of His Kingdom, that He is begotten. This is the purpose. c). And because of the foundation of the 7 days laid out for us in Genesis we would know that Christ’s first advent could only be a precursor to that Day, it would not be the Day itself - Lu 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Let’s look at Mary’s words as she visited Elizabeth, after the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her - Lu 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever." Mary’s words are both of praise and prophecy – and what she says in v51-55 is all about that future Day when Gentile world power will be overthrown and God will fulfill His promise to Abraham and his seed, both in the heavens and on the earth, through THE Seed conceived in her barren womb. 3). This same prophetic truth concerning Christ’s birth is given in – Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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. Again, here we see regality that had been promised to David – a Kingdom to be administered in righteousness and justice, a Kingdom that will be an everlasting Kingdom, with the government of that Kingdom on the shoulder of the Son. a). But note that the description given in Isaiah Chapter 9 is not the same as that found in Isaiah Chapter 53 – Isa 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. And we can see from Isaiah Chapter 53, that Christ’s rule, seen in Chapter 9, must first be preceded by suffering – Jn 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." Christ’s Kingdom cannot be established in this age, it must wait for the age to come – an age that awaits the Lord’s Second Advent – the coming age to which all of scripture moves. b). Even the declaration of the location of the Lord’s birth has its focus on a future regality and the future redemption for Israel – Mic 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." 3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; Bethlehem is the place of our Lord’s birth, but it is not the physical place or the birth itself that is the focus of the scripture from Micah, but rather it is the re-gathering of Israel from the nations – that future Day which the coming of ‘the fullness of the time’ makes possible through the One who is ‘from everlasting’, the Seed of Abraham, born within its walls. c). And the focus is not the birth of Christ per se, but rather the birth of the 144 thousand Jewish evangelists depicted in Revelation Chapter 12 to which the virgin birth, through Mary was to be a sign. Those who will be the firstfruit of the whole nation that will be born in a day – Re 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And there is a direct connection between Bethlehem and David the king that we see in – Lu 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, This connection through Joseph takes us back to 2 Samuel 7 and the future Kingdom of the greater Son of David as God had promised. The reference to Bethlehem then has more to do with lineage and promise, than with location. 4). Then following the Lord’s birth there is an encounter that takes place in the Temple on the day of the Lord’s circumcision - Lu 2:25 ¶ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." 33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising [again] of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 "(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." This is so much more than just a confirmation of the Lord’s deity, it is a prophetic pronouncement, not only of the promised salvation of Israel that will result in their glory, but also of the light that would be brought to the Gentiles, anticipating the formation of the Church, looking to the Day when both these entities will occupy the position of a firstborn son. a). V34 is particularly interesting – It is exactly because of Christ that Israel fell to the lowest point in their history of unbelief at his crucifixion – Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" And it will be through Christ, who is ‘the resurrection and the life’, that Israel will rise again to walk in the fullness of God’s purpose for them at the head of the nations during the Millennial Kingdom at His second advent. b). And according to God’s own commentary, Christ is given for a sign – a sign that shows both death and resurrection leading to regality – a sign which would be spoken against - A sign that is pointing to a future day. 5). And then there is Anna - Lu 2:36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. In Simeon and Anna, we see a single-minded devotion. Simeon, waiting for the Consolation of Israel so that he could depart this world ‘in peace’. And Anna, after the death of her husband, choosing not to marry again but rather choosing to serve God day and night ‘with fastings and prayers’ as she looked for ‘redemption in Jerusalem’. Something it appears that others were also looking for. In these two then, we can find a type for the watching and waiting Christian of today. a). But note that neither Simeon nor Anna saw the fulfillment of that for which they waited. They saw the baby Jesus only – yet in the presence of this baby, ‘when the fullness of the time had come’, was the absolute assurance of everything God had promised concerning the Consolation of Israel and redemption in Jerusalem yet future and it is this future fulfillment that is Simeon and Anna’s focus – there is no suggestion that what they waited for was to be fulfilled in their lifetime, but the birth of Christ made it certain. 6). Simeon and Anna offer a sharp contrast to Herod whose focus, on learning of the birth of Christ, remained entirely on self-preservation - Mt 2:1 ¶ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him………..16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." Herod had a knowledge of the Scriptures, but despite this, his focus was not on God’s promises for the future, but self-preservation in the present. a). There is another predetermined moment in human history when God will send forth His Son a second time. When everything set in motion at His first advent will be brought to completion and the promise to Abraham, of which He is the embodiment, will be fulfilled – Heb 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And as we wait for this moment to come, it is interesting to note that the spiritual condition of the ‘Church’ immediately prior to the Lord’s second advent is exactly the same as the spiritual condition of Israel immediately prior to ‘the fullness of the time.’ b). And just as Israel had a precise timeframe for the Lord’s first advent – 483 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, so we have a precise timeframe for the Lord’s second advent – 2 days, 2000 years from His first advent. c). And just as Israel had the precise timeframe but not the exact day or hour so we have the precise timeframe but no exact day nor hour either– Mt 24:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 1Th 5:1 ¶ But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. The Lord’s first advent came as a thief in the night for the majority of Israel as their religious leaders had failed to prepare the people for it. And the Lord’s second advent will come as a thief in the night for the majority of Christians alive at the time also, because they will not have been properly prepared for it either. d). Then if we continue in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5, we find something pertinent to this thought – 1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, So, what do we see here? Those Christians who won’t experience the Lord’s second coming as a thief in the night are those who are properly preparing themselves for that Day, whenever it should come – those who are not asleep but are watching and sober – those who are continually putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation – those then whose focus is on the salvation yet to be revealed, the salvation of the soul – those whose future hope directs their present action; those who will continue in patient endurance during the trials and tribulations of life, knowing that they must be prepared every moment, without ever knowing how much time they have left, but having the certainty that their hope will not be disappointed – Heb 12:1 ¶ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. What we see from Thessalonians and Hebrews, as in all the other places in Scripture, is that our focus is to be the same as God’s focus – on the Kingdom which is to come – and of course, on what is necessary on our part to participate in the Kingdom as a joint heir with Christ, as the seed of Abraham. e). We must regard all of this neither lightly nor casually but with a determination that cannot be shaken – Heb 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. We will continue next time – If the Lord is willing. The Fullness of the Time - Part Three Dec 20, 2020 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Fullness of the Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T010_20201220.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come....... We will continue to look at the significance of the fullness of the times. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday December 20th 2020 The Fullness of the Time Part Three 1). Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given……… Ga 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those who were under law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. We have seen from our previous studies that the fullness of the time refers to a predetermined moment in human history that had been promised in the Garden and then given a precise timing through the prophet Daniel - Da 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. And as we look at these verses in Daniel, we see that the coming of ‘Messiah the Prince’ is placed in a context that deals primarily with future events that anticipate the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, in Christ. The coming of Messiah the Prince in ‘the fullness of the time’, cannot be separated from the 7th Day. The Lord’s birth is not an end in itself. a). And then from the verses in Galatians Chapter 4 we see the clear connection between the sending forth of God’s Son and our own adoption, literally ‘son placing’, as firstborn sons with regards to the 7th Day. b). And so, we must understand that the events surrounding ‘when the fullness of the time had come’, were all a precursor to the Lord’s second advent – God sending forth His Son to be born of a woman was a significant marker on God’s prophetic calendar, declaring to those with eyes to see, both the certainty and the closeness of the complete fulfillment of God’s plans and purposes for His Son and rulership with regards to the heavens and the earth, as set out in the Scriptures from opening verses of Genesis onwards. 2). With this in mind let’s look at the encounter between Gabriel and Mary - Lu 1:26 ¶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 "For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Mary would have known the OT scriptures, and it is to these very scriptures that Gabriel drew her attention – we might particularly note the reference to the promise that had been made to David the king by God through the prophet Nathan, remembering that Mary is in the bloodline of David through David’s son Nathan [not the prophet] and her betrothed, Joseph, in the regal line of David through Solomon – 2Sa 7:12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.14 "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son………… And we can add to this the promise given in - Jer 33:20 "Thus says the LORD: 'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 'then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. And then to confirm the veracity of God’s word Gabriel gives witness to the power of God in the life of Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, ‘who was called barren’. a). No doubt Mary would recall the words of the prophet Isaiah – Isa 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. And intriguingly we see in Isaiah that the virgin birth is given to Israel as a sign – something pointing beyond the birth itself to a metaphorical birth that would come yet future from another barren womb, that of barren Israel in connection with ‘Immanuel.’ [God with us] – Isa 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. And Mary’s response to Gabriel, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’ is a magnificent example of faith in action – Mary’s faith is not just in the words spoken to her at that moment, but in all that God had promised in His word concerning those things which would come to pass in future time –Mary’s faith here is the same as that of Abraham. b). So then, at the pronouncement of the Lord’s conception, God’s focus is His Son’s Messianic Kingdom – it is for that day, the day of His Kingdom, that He is begotten. This is the purpose. c). And because of the foundation of the 7 days laid out for us in Genesis we would know that Christ’s first advent could only be a precursor to that Day, it would not be the Day itself - Lu 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Let’s look at Mary’s words as she visited Elizabeth, after the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her - Lu 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever." Mary’s words are both of praise and prophecy – and what she says in v51-55 is all about that future Day when Gentile world power will be overthrown and God will fulfill His promise to Abraham and his seed, both in the heavens and on the earth, through THE Seed conceived in her barren womb. 3). This same prophetic truth concerning Christ’s birth is given in – Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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. Again, here we see regality that had been promised to David – a Kingdom to be administered in righteousness and justice, a Kingdom that will be an everlasting Kingdom, with the government of that Kingdom on the shoulder of the Son. a). But note that the description given in Isaiah Chapter 9 is not the same as that found in Isaiah Chapter 53 – Isa 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. And we can see from Isaiah Chapter 53, that Christ’s rule, seen in Chapter 9, must first be preceded by suffering – Jn 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." Christ’s Kingdom cannot be established in this age, it must wait for the age to come – an age that awaits the Lord’s Second Advent – the coming age to which all of scripture moves. b). Even the declaration of the location of the Lord’s birth has its focus on a future regality and the future redemption for Israel – Mic 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." 3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; Bethlehem is the place of our Lord’s birth, but it is not the physical place or the birth itself that is the focus of the scripture from Micah, but rather it is the re-gathering of Israel from the nations – that future Day which the coming of ‘the fullness of the time’ makes possible through the One who is ‘from everlasting’, the Seed of Abraham, born within its walls. c). And the focus is not the birth of Christ per se, but rather the birth of the 144 thousand Jewish evangelists depicted in Revelation Chapter 12 to which the virgin birth, through Mary was to be a sign. Those who will be the firstfruit of the whole nation that will be born in a day – Re 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And there is a direct connection between Bethlehem and David the king that we see in – Lu 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, This connection through Joseph takes us back to 2 Samuel 7 and the future Kingdom of the greater Son of David as God had promised. The reference to Bethlehem then has more to do with lineage and promise, than with location. 4). Then following the Lord’s birth there is an encounter that takes place in the Temple on the day of the Lord’s circumcision - Lu 2:25 ¶ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." 33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising [again] of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 "(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." This is so much more than just a confirmation of the Lord’s deity, it is a prophetic pronouncement, not only of the promised salvation of Israel that will result in their glory, but also of the light that would be brought to the Gentiles, anticipating the formation of the Church, looking to the Day when both these entities will occupy the position of a firstborn son. a). V34 is particularly interesting – It is exactly because of Christ that Israel fell to the lowest point in their history of unbelief at his crucifixion – Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" And it will be through Christ, who is ‘the resurrection and the life’, that Israel will rise again to walk in the fullness of God’s purpose for them at the head of the nations during the Millennial Kingdom at His second advent. b). And according to God’s own commentary, Christ is given for a sign – a sign that shows both death and resurrection leading to regality – a sign which would be spoken against - A sign that is pointing to a future day. 5). And then there is Anna - Lu 2:36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. In Simeon and Anna, we see a single-minded devotion. Simeon, waiting for the Consolation of Israel so that he could depart this world ‘in peace’. And Anna, after the death of her husband, choosing not to marry again but rather choosing to serve God day and night ‘with fastings and prayers’ as she looked for ‘redemption in Jerusalem’. Something it appears that others were also looking for. In these two then, we can find a type for the watching and waiting Christian of today. a). But note that neither Simeon nor Anna saw the fulfillment of that for which they waited. They saw the baby Jesus only – yet in the presence of this baby, ‘when the fullness of the time had come’, was the absolute assurance of everything God had promised concerning the Consolation of Israel and redemption in Jerusalem yet future and it is this future fulfillment that is Simeon and Anna’s focus – there is no suggestion that what they waited for was to be fulfilled in their lifetime, but the birth of Christ made it certain. 6). Simeon and Anna offer a sharp contrast to Herod whose focus, on learning of the birth of Christ, remained entirely on self-preservation - Mt 2:1 ¶ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him………..16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." Herod had a knowledge of the Scriptures, but despite this, his focus was not on God’s promises for the future, but self-preservation in the present. a). There is another predetermined moment in human history when God will send forth His Son a second time. When everything set in motion at His first advent will be brought to completion and the promise to Abraham, of which He is the embodiment, will be fulfilled – Heb 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And as we wait for this moment to come, it is interesting to note that the spiritual condition of the ‘Church’ immediately prior to the Lord’s second advent is exactly the same as the spiritual condition of Israel immediately prior to ‘the fullness of the time.’ b). And just as Israel had a precise timeframe for the Lord’s first advent – 483 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, so we have a precise timeframe for the Lord’s second advent – 2 days, 2000 years from His first advent. c). And just as Israel had the precise timeframe but not the exact day or hour so we have the precise timeframe but no exact day nor hour either– Mt 24:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 1Th 5:1 ¶ But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. The Lord’s first advent came as a thief in the night for the majority of Israel as their religious leaders had failed to prepare the people for it. And the Lord’s second advent will come as a thief in the night for the majority of Christians alive at the time also, because they will not have been properly prepared for it either. d). Then if we continue in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5, we find something pertinent to this thought – 1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, So, what do we see here? Those Christians who won’t experience the Lord’s second coming as a thief in the night are those who are properly preparing themselves for that Day, whenever it should come – those who are not asleep but are watching and sober – those who are continually putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation – those then whose focus is on the salvation yet to be revealed, the salvation of the soul – those whose future hope directs their present action; those who will continue in patient endurance during the trials and tribulations of life, knowing that they must be prepared every moment, without ever knowing how much time they have left, but having the certainty that their hope will not be disappointed – Heb 12:1 ¶ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. What we see from Thessalonians and Hebrews, as in all the other places in Scripture, is that our focus is to be the same as God’s focus – on the Kingdom which is to come – and of course, on what is necessary on our part to participate in the Kingdom as a joint heir with Christ, as the seed of Abraham. e). We must regard all of this neither lightly nor casually but with a determination that cannot be shaken – Heb 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. We will continue next time – If the Lord is willing.