Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 8 Study # 3
May 14, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: Philip's understanding of "Jesus" was that He was the One of whom Moses wrote and of whom the prophets wrote, and He was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph: Author-John used this to establish Jesus as the prophesied "Christ" so that no one has any excuse for rejecting the Scriptures as the words of God.
Introduction: In our study last week we focused upon the reasons for men to "begin" to be disciples of Jesus, but later refuse to pursue that course. The basic reason is this: created men often find themselves subjected to circumstances that they
hate, under what they
know is the sovereign oversight of their Creator, and they turn that hatred toward that Creator in the arrogant unreasoning selfishness of their own hearts and minds and, like brute beasts, walk away from the calling to be a disciple. What an unpleasant picture of just how deeply the depravity of Sin has infected humanity!
This morning we are going to turn our attention to a concept that Author-John introduced by his record of Jesus' "finding" of Philip and giving him the command, "Follow Me". That concept is contained in the words of Philip after he had "found" Nathanael: "We have found Him of whom Moses, in the Law, wrote and [of whom] the prophets [also wrote]: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
This concept is both simple and extremely profound: prophecy and fulfillment.
- I. J. Baron Payne Counted 191 Prophecies In The Old Testament That Directly Referred To Christ.
- A. It is most probable that this is a serious undercount.
- B. But it sets up a minimum of 191 reasons to obey Jesus' "Follow Me" command.
- II. The Underpinnings Of "Prophecy And Fulfillment".
- A. The extreme complexity of the sum total of all of creation makes accurate prophecy most fundamentally impossible for anyone who is not omniscient.
- B. The extreme complexity of the fact that the creation is a reality that operates by the principle of "Cause And Effect", when related to the vast numbers of creatures taking actions that set "effects" into motion. [For the sake of a nail, a shoe is lost...].
- C. The inescapable reality that "logical reasoning" is imposed upon rational creatures by their Creator and that they will be judged by that Creator according to the standard of that reasoning [Luke 19:12-27].
- D. The establishment of the logic of prophecy and fulfillment as the biblical apologetic by Isaiah.
- 1. Isaiah 41:21-23.
- 2. Isaiah 44:7.
- 3. Isaiah 45:20-21.
- 4. Isaiah 46:9-10.
- III. The Validation From Luke 24:27.
- IV. The Irrationality Of John 7:42 and 52.
- V. Matthew's Mantra: (1:22; 2:5; 2:15; 2:17; 2:23; 3:3; 4:14; 8:17; 11:13; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9).
