April 20
Josh 21:1-22:20 | PS 89:1-13 | Prov 13:15-16 | Luke 20:1-26
You can trust that all of God's promises, all of the Bible's prophecies will come true as revealed in Scripture without exception. The Bible provides a wealth of proof behind this statement. We read in Joshua 21:43-45, "So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true." Our Messiah, Jesus, will come again, but at His first coming alone, He fulfilled around 300 prophecies involving every aspect of his birth, life, death, resurrection, including the timing, the locations, His lineage, and how these events would unfold. Yet, we read in the 12th century AD from a very respected Rabbi, Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon (better known as Maimonides), in reference to Daniel's prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27, "Daniel has elucidated to us the knowledge of the end times. However, since they are secret, the wise (rabbis) have barred the calculation of the days of the Messiah's coming so that the untutored populace will not be led astray when they see that the End Times have already come but there is no sign of the Messiah." The truth is God had and has faithfully fulfilled every promise He made, including the timing of the coming of Messiah, but Jesus did not fit the picture that the religious leaders had conjured up, so, they trusted their own intellect over God's perfect promises and missed Jesus at His first coming and led countless generations that followed to also miss it..
Jesus had already performed countless miracles which could not be disputed in the very presence of the religious leaders, but they were unwilling to budge from their prideful stance, and we see one of the confrontations in Luke 20:2-4, "They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” Instead of honestly discussing the question, they debated on how not to discredit themselves before the populace. Due to their blind pride and ignorance, Jesus stated in 20:6, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I do these things." After giving a Parable concerning His rejection by the teachers of religious law, He stated in 20:17-18, "The stone that the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone. Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on." Jesus was that "chief cornerstone".
Our hope rests in the Person of Jesus Christ. All God's promises can be trusted. Though it might have been difficult to piece together in real time by the authorities and even His disciples, with the Scriptures in our hands and with the historical narrative now clearly presented, there can be no doubt that Jesus is indeed God. That He is indeed our Messiah. That He indeed suffered and died on the cross releasing us from the bondage of sin. That on the third day that He rose again showing that even death has been conquered. Now, for us, who are living real time in His story, a choice must be made. Since God has faithfully fulfilled every single promise made (of which there are approximately 8000 promises in Scripture), He will indeed fulfill every single one that points to the future. Yes, heaven is the home of those who place their hope and trust in the finished work of the Messiah. Yes, heaven will be better than our wildest imaginations. Yes, Jesus will come again exactly as prophesied. With such a tremendous wealth of fulfilled promises what else could anyone possibly need? Please, don't waste another moment: whether it be pride or ignorance, we never know when we will breathe our last, and at that moment, just as it is written and promised in Scripture based on our choice due to our exerting our own free will each of our eternal destinations will be fulfilled, exactly as foretold and promised.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: