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By Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

Christmas. What a wonderful time of year. Yes, I realize it has become highly secularized, and that many people only care about the time off, partying, and getting stuff. I also know that many Christmas traditions have their roots in paganism; so some Christians have abandoned it altogether, while others celebrate it no differently than the world does. We have personally found a balance as a family, and a thorough reading of Romans chapter fourteen will help us not to be so judgmental of each other. Live by Col 3:17, and don’t fret over the rest. I believe rather than cursing the darkness, we should shine the light.

I think it’s great that during this season you can walk into grocery stores and malls and hear wonderful Christian music proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Joy to the World”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Come, All Ye Faithful”, “Angels We Have Heard On High”, are some of the many great Christian songs people hear for a whole month! Some people will even go to church who never would go the rest of the year! Preachers need to make especially sure they present the Gospel clearly on Christmas! Also, people who normally wouldn’t give anyone anything, will give loved ones gifts; and families will often get together for this one season a year.

That’s one reason I believe satan wants to do away with it. I mean, you can try to get rid of nativity scenes, and call it “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”, but most people know it’s about King Jesus coming to this earth. They may not believe He is The Savior, and they may not honor Him as they should, but they know what it’s about. As I said earlier, people are listening to and singing the Gospel, whether they realize it or not. Jesus is at the heart of it all.

What’s so special about Jesus? Weren’t there lots of babies born in Israel two thousand years ago? Why do we focus on Him so much? Quite simply, Jesus is The Savior of the world (Jn 4:42, 1Jn 4:14). Without Jesus, there is no salvation (Jn 3:36, Acts 4:12, 1Jn 2:23, 5:11-12). There are not many ways to God; there is only one, Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6). Jesus was God with us (Mt 1:23), our Emmanuel. He is God manifest in the flesh, and that’s why He alone can be our Savior (Jn 1:1-4, Acts 20:28, 1Tim 3:16, 1Jn 5:7).

You see, any natural born man is a sinner by birth, and so is excluded from being the Christ (Greek), or Messiah (Hebrew), which means The Anointed One of God (Rom 5:12). That’s why Jesus had to be born of a virgin. The Holy Spirit placed God’s Seed in Mary and she conceived, which avoided the imputed sin problem that came upon all other men (Lk 1:30-35). There may have been some great leaders, teachers, and religious thinkers throughout history, but not one of them can save a single soul. Even if they died for you, it wouldn’t help. Only Jesus is qualified to give eternal life: only Jesus can save you from your sin.

Well, so the Bible says. What makes the Bible right? Fulfilled prophecy, my friend. There is no other book that even comes close to being as accurate as The Bible is concerning fulfilled prophecy. Yes, men are the ones who put pen to paper, but God is the Author of The Bible (2Tim 3:16, 2Pt 1:19-21). Many prophecies in The Word were written several hundred, and even over a thousand years before they were fulfilled. Imagine trying to predict what town the president of the U.S. in the year 2806 will be born, how he will be born, what his name will be, that he will live in a specific foreign nation for a while, and what his purpose in life is. Can you say “impossible!” Your assuming there is even going to be a U.S. in 800 years! But The Bible did much more than that (Mk 10:27). It has hundreds of fulfilled prophecies in it’s pages! We’ll talk more about that next week, Lord willing! Until then, rejoice in the Lord, and Merry Christmas!

Is Jesus The Messiah? Part 2

By Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

Last week we asked the question “Is Jesus The Messiah?”; and we began to answer that question. We saw that Messiah means Christ, or The Anointed One of God. I didn’t mention last week that the name Jesus means “God saves”, so when you say Jesus Christ, you are actually saying “God’s Anointed One Who saves” (Christ is not Jesus‘ last name). We also looked at many verses in The Bible that show Jesus is our only salvation. If you claim to be a Christian, but believe all roads lead to heaven; or believe as long as someone is sincere that this is all that matters, you are confused. In love, I would recommend that those of you who want to call yourselves a Christ-ian, would actually adhere to the teachings of The Bible, instead of how you “feel” about something.

We finished up last time talking about fulfilled prophecy, and why we can trust that The Bible is absolutely God’s inspired Word. Some may think I’m a narrow-minded, unenlightened caveman (no offense to any cavemen out there) for believing in that archaic, fairytale of a Book; but let me share a few things with you that may surprise, or even shock you.

For starters, we must know that it is undisputable fact that no part of the Old Testament was written after the birth of Christ. So when you read a prophecy in the OT about Jesus, know that it was penned at least a few hundred years before Jesus. Next, The Bible’s own standard of authenticity is fulfilled prophecy, and it abides by that standard (Dt 18:21-22). No other book in the world even comes close to being as prophetically accurate as God’s Word.

You better buckle up for what I have to tell you next. Are you ready? No less than 2,000; yes, two thousand specific prophecies have been fulfilled in the OT alone! That is absolutely supernatural! That is God! No, I have not seen God physically, but I see His awesome wisdom in His Bible; I see His awesome power in the beauty of creation; I see His awesome love for me on Calvary’s cross. Think about this. You can’t see the wind: but You can see the effects of it, and You know it’s real (Jn 2:7-8). There are over three hundred prophecies given about the Messiah in the OT, in which 451 details are given about His life. Jesus fulfilled most of these perfectly during His first coming; the rest are set to be fulfilled at His second coming (oh yes, my friend, you need to be ready for The Lord’s return) Heb 9:28, Titus 2:13.

What are the odds? One former skeptic concluded that the odds of 48 OT prophecies coming to pass in any one individual, were the same as trying to find a specific atom in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, billion universes the size of ours! Another study done by a mathematician, determined the odds of just four very specific OT prophecies coming to pass was equivalent to completely covering every square inch of Texas in silver dollars, stacked several feet deep, and finding a single marked silver dollar in them! Any sane, professional gambler would never bet against those kinds of odds; but are you betting against them? Are you like those in 2Tim 2:25 that oppose themselves? Don’t let Psalm 32:9 describe you. Don’t let Hebrews chapter three be your story.

There are many great books on the truth of The Bible from authors such as C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, and many others. I also like “Skeptics Answered” by D. James Kennedy, and used some information from it for this article. There are also numerous websites that list fulfilled prophecies about Jesus, messiahrevealed.org being one of them. These are good helps, but ultimately you just need to sit down with The Bible, read it, and believe it. It’s more than trustworthy, it is The Truth (Jn 17:17). Have a blessed 2007 in Christ; and until next, rejoice in The Lord!

Is Jesus The Messiah? Part 3

By Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

Last week we started to talk about fulfilled prophecy really being what sets The Bible apart from every other book. We saw in Dt 18:21-22 that The Bible’s own standard of authenticity is fulfilled prophecy, and that it lives up to that standard. For instance, we saw that over two thousand prophecies have been fulfilled in the Old Testament alone; and that there are over three hundred prophecies about The Messiah, which give about 451 details about His life. Amazingly, Jesus Christ fulfilled most of those prophecies to the letter in His first coming, and the rest are set to be fulfilled at His prophesied second coming. We observed that the odds of even a few of these prophecies coming to pass are mathematically impossible; but hundreds, and even thousands? Don’t forget that with God, all things are possible (Lk 18:27).

If I was a gambling man, I would put my money on God’s Word every time; and if all of those Biblical prophecies in the past were accurately fulfilled, what makes you think the ones about the future aren’t going to happen? That’s like betting money that the sun will come up in the west tomorrow; it just doesn’t make sense. Why? Because the sun has proven itself; It has a track record. It has been coming up in the east (from our perspective, of course), and setting in the west for thousands of years. The Scriptures have a track record too, my friend. They have proven themselves over and over to be God’s infallible Word; and they are even more reliable than the sun (Mk13:31, Acts 2:20, Heb 11:3).

It’s sad to me how many people reject God’s Word without even reading it. They have lot’s of uneducated, ignorant opinions; but haven’t even bothered to really read The Bible through and study it. How do I know this is the case? Because I used to be one of those people! Boy, I sure had my opinions about God and The Bible; unfortunately, they weren’t based on any actual knowledge I had (Ps 14:1, Prv 28:26). I didn’t know diddlee squat. Now I’m no genius or scholar, but I’m smart enough to know the truth when it smacks me in the face! If there are any skeptics, atheist, or agnostics reading this, I encourage you to read The Bible from cover to cover; no preconceived ideas, but with an open heart and mind. Eliminate all excuses, and set out this year to prove The Bible wrong. It would be the best decision of your life (Isa 1:18).

So is Jesus the Messiah, The Savior of the world? Without a doubt, He is. Remember last week I pointed out that all of the Old Testament was written before Jesus was born, so anything The New Testament says happened after these things were prophesied. I know some question if Jesus of Nazareth really even existed, but there is no basis for that belief. Besides the twenty seven books of the New Testament, nineteen pagan writers and three Jewish writers testify that he was a real person, and affirm many of the historical facts of His life; two of whom were Tacitus and Josephus.

Just a few fulfilled prophecies about Jesus are: He would be born of a virgin, Isa 7:14, Mt 1:18; He would be called “Emmanuel” 1sa 7:14, Mt 1:23; He would be born in Bethlehem, Mic 5:2, Mt 2:1; He would be called out of Egypt, Hos 11:1, Mt 2:15; He would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey, Zech 9:9, Mt 21:5; He would be sold for thirty pieces of silver, Zech 11:12, Mt 26:15, Lk 22:5; thirty pieces of silver given for potter’s field, Zech 11:12, Mt 27:9-10; silver thrown in temple, Zech 11:13, Mt 27:5; He was silent before His accusers, Isa 53:7, Mt 27:14; His body would be pierced, Ps 22:16, Jn 20:25,27; He would die with criminals, Isa 53:12, Mt 27:38; He would be resurrected, Ps 16:10, 49:15, Mk 16:6.

Like I said, these are just a few. I could go on and on, but I believe this is sufficient enough to prove that Jesus Christ is who He says He is. I pray this has intrigued some of you to diligently search The Word of God for yourself, and come to the knowledge of The Truth (Acts 17:11, 1Tim 2:3-4). Until next time, rejoice in the Lord! (Phip 4:4)