Thursday
11-19-15 Modesto, California
Scripture reading: Matt 1
- 4
S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer SOAP for
the soul.
S.
Matt 1:22-23 This will fulfill God's message through his prophets-
'Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a Son, and
he shall be called "Emmanuel" (meaning "God is with
us").'"
Matt 2:5-6 ...for this is what the prophet Micah wrote: 'O little town
of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a Governor
shall rise from you to rule my people Israel.'"
Matt 2:15
This fulfilled the
prophet's prediction, "I have called my Son from Egypt."
Matt 2:17-18 This brutal action of Herod's fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah,
"Screams of anguish come from Ramah, Weeping unrestrained; Rachel weeping
for her children, Uncomforted- For they are dead."
Matt 2:23
This fulfilled the
prediction of the prophets concerning the Messiah, "He shall be called a
Nazarene."
Matt 3:3 Isaiah the prophet had told about John's ministry
centuries before! He had written, "I hear a shout from the wilderness,
'Prepare a road for the Lord-straighten out the path where he will walk.'"
Matt 4:14-15 This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy: "The land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, beside the Lake, and the countryside beyond
the Jordan River, and Upper Galilee where so many foreigners live-there the
people who sat in darkness have seen a great Light; they sat in the land of
death, and the Light broke through upon them." TLB
O. Within these
first four chapters, Matthew takes careful aim at the fact that Jesus is the
promised Messiah, by showing that He fulfilled perfectly each of these seven Old Testament prophecies.
Three years later, immediately after His
resurrection on the long walk to Emmaus, Jesus, himself, took Cleopas and his
friend for a tour of the entire Old Testament probably showing them these and
dozens of other Messianic prophecies that were perfectly fulfilled in His
birth, life, death and resurrection.
A. With so much visible
evidence, why didn’t the Jewish leaders believe in Him? They knew well these OT scriptures. It was his scathing public revelation of
their sins that drove them to kill him. They
missed the good-news because they would
not accept the bad-news. The Gospel of Jesus is both good-news and bad-news. Until I can bring
myself to admit the bad-news of my
sins and my need of a Savior, I can never enjoy the good-news of his free forgiveness and cleansing.
Why is it that intelligent men choose to
believe the totally impossible “miracle” that perfect order and intricate
design can come about without a designer?
I believe it is, at least in part, that to believe in a designer
suggests a higher power and for some reason a higher power seems a threat to
them... for they... and we too, are all sinners.
P. Lord, I am not as
“well educated” as these atheists. Being
“well educated” for them means to have studied for years methods to exclude You
from their philosophies and theories. Your Word calls them “fools” for they say
in their heart “there is no God.” (Ps 14:1 and 53:1) It is not a matter of intelligence at
all. It is a matter of personal
choice. I have chosen to believe the bad news and admit my sinfulness so
that I can accept Your good news of
forgiveness and cleansing. Amen.
Ralph
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