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The Coming of Jesus Christ, What It Meant 9:1-7
Wednesday Night Bible Lecture by Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D., of Christ Church, London
Reported for The Golden Age by M. I. H.—Copyright Applied for.
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CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON.
DIVISIONS
The Coining of Jesus Christ Meant:
I. The Fulfillment of Prophecy.
1. The place of His birth. —Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2.
2. The manner of His birth —a virgin.
Isa. 7:14. *
3. His name. Isa. 9:6.
4. His life and treatment. —(See the
lectures.)
11. The End of the Old Testament Ordi-
nances, Ceremonies, and Ritual.
111. The Completion of Redemption.
IV. The Revelation of a New Nature of
God.—Sinai vs. Calvary.
V. The Gift of the New Dynamic for Ser-
vice.
VI. The Christian Church.
VII. A New Hope After Death.
i
TEXT: “And the Angel said unto them, be
not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all the People.”
—luke 2:10.
The Lecture.
E shall now study briefly, what the
coming of Jesus Christ meant to
this world, the reason why we
have this special subject at this
season of the year. We are
now facing the Christmas festivi
ties. All over Christendom eyes
are being focused upon next
Wednesday, December 25th, as the
W
birthday of our Lord. Hence, it is appropriate
that we give ourselves at this time to study
concerning the meaning of our Lord’s advent.
Now, let me say, before we come to the con
sideration of this subject, that I have no regard
whatever for the sacredness that is usually at
tached to the 25th day of December. I have
no more regard for that day than any other
day of the 365.
In the first place, no one knows the date
when our Lord was born. It is all guess work.
We may think we know, but when we come to
prove the day on which He was born, we find
that we are lacking in the evidence that will
establish that claim.
Then, again, if we could tell the actual day
when our Lord was born, there is absolutely no
Scriptural command for us to observe that day,
any more than any other. We are told to keep
the first day of the week, which is the day
of resurrection. But we are not told to keep
the day on which our Lord was born. If it
had been intended that we should observe this
day, the 25th of December, as the birthday of
Jesus, as a special and sacred occasion, we
would have been told in the Scriptures in such
clear and unmistakable way as that we should
not have any doubt about it at all.
Now, then, I want to say further, that while
it is impossible for us to fix a date, and while
there is no command in the Scriptures for us to
observe a day, if we could fix it, at the same
The Golden Age for January 23, 1913.
time, it is perfectly right and proper to do so,
inasmuch as it is a custom, and I think, a good
custom, that one day in 365 should be set apart
as a day to celebrate the coming of Jesus to
this world; a day in which to think and medi
tate concerning this the one great gift God
made to the world. And so we find no difficul
ty whatever in our hearts and minds in falling
in line with the custom of the Christian world,
in this celebration on the 25th of December. If
it was not on that day it certainly was on some
day. It does not make any difference to us
whether this date is right or wrong, we know
that Jesus Christ came into the world, and
that His coming was the most significant
thing that ever transpired in the history of the
world.
We will study the coming of Jesus Christ
briefly from the standpoint of the world at
large, and see if we can understand something
of what the coming of Jesus meant to the world
at large..
First of all, His coming has given to the
world the fulfillment of prophecy. The great
est prophecy ever made the world was the
prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus
Christ. From the standpoint of the world, that
prophecy, and its fulfillment, in every detail
is the greatest thing that the world has ever
witnessed. Is that true? Is it true, that the
coming of Jesus Christ, as He came, was a ful
filment of prophecy? Our answer is, Yes; and
a fulfillment moreover, in the minutest detail.
In the first place, it was a fulfillment of the
prophecy concerning the place of His birth.
Micah 5:2. “But thou, Bethlehem, Ephratah,
though thou be little .... yet out of thee shall
come forth unto me, He that is to be ruler in
Israel.”
This to me is a most wonderful prophecy.
Here, Micah prophesies that Jesus should come
from the little despised city of Bethlehem. No
body paid any attention to that prophecy. The
Jewish people seemed to pass it over entirely,
and were not expecting Him to come from Beth
lehem. And yet, when He came, He came ex
actly as He was prophecied, even from the very
town.
It also foretold the manner of His birth. Isa.
7:14. “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give
you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel. ’ ’
Is not that a wonderful thing? Stop and
think of it! Here, a prophecy is made, entirely
out of keeping with anything that had preceded
it in the way of teaching—a new prophecy, ab
solutely new, and on an absolutely new line.
Isaiah prophesies that He shall be born of a
virgin mother; and you know how accurately
that prophecy was fulfilled, He came exactly
that way.
Take the next! The prophecy concerning
His name. “His name shall be called wonder
ful, counsellor, the mighty God, the everlast
ing father, the Prince of Peace.”
His Life and Treatment.
When we consider His life and treatment, as
recorded in the Gospels, and see how the dif
ferent prophets of the Old Testament prophe
cied concerning this , we are amazed to find how
accurately they have been fulfilled.
His entry into Jerusalem. —Zechariah 9:9.
Despised and rejected.—lsaiah 53:3.
Sold for 30 pieces of silver. —Zechariah 11:12.
Potter’s field bought.—Zechariah 11:13.
Spit upon and scourged.—lsaiah 50:6:
Gall and vinegar to drink. —Psa. 69:21.
Taunted with non-deliverance by God. —Psa.
22 -8
Mocked. —Psa. 22:7.
Feet and hands pierced.—Psa. 22:16.
Opened not His mouth. —Isa. 53:7.
Not a bone broken. —Exodus 12:46.
Grave with the wicked. —Isa. 53:9. j
Bruised of God. —Isa. 53:10.
I am here to tell you that nothing has ever
helped me more than a study of these prophe
cies in this way.
Can you imagine how any man could take
his Old Testament, and give himself to an hon
est study of it, especially the prophetic part of
it, and then come over into the New Testament
and study the four gospels and the description
of Jesus, His birth, His life, His death, and
then honestly compare the teaching of the Old
with the teaching of the New, and come
out of that kind of study a skep
tic? I can not! I will go further.
I don’t believe it is possible for any honest,
fair-minded man or woman to thus study the
Old Testament, and the New, and not at least
believe in Jesus as the promised One of God,
yea, as God of very God.
I remember some years ago talking with a
man, a very intelligent man, a lawyer, on the
question of our Lord’s immaculate conception.
That seemed to be the one thing that he hesi
tated upon more than anything else. He said,
“If I could just believe that one thing, I could
believe all the rest that is said about Him. But
I can not.”
I said to him finally. You are a great stu
dent ; you love to study; and you love to study
knotty problems; let me ask you to do this.
Go back into the Old Testament, begin at the
very beginning of it, study it as prophecy,
not history, study all the lines of prophecy in
the Old Testament; remember that all these
prophecies in one way or another point to the
coming of Jesus Christ and when you have fin
ished the study with that one thing in view,
to establish Jesus Christ, then come over into
the Gospels, and study them to see whether or
not they answer in their description of Jesus —
His birth, His life, His death and resurrec
tion. See whether or not He answers the de
scription you have read of Him in the Old
Testament prophecies. I did not see that
lawyer any more for more than twelve months,
but I knew that he would study it. I met him
again in a watering place, and when we were
together alone, he said to me, “Do you remem
ber a thing you said to me over a year ago?”
I replied: “Yes, I do, and I wonder whether
you have done it, and what is your final con
clusion?” He said, “I tell you one thing.
You know me that I am an honest man, and
would not do anything I did not enter into
wholeheartedly.” I said, “I know you well
enough to know that!” “Well,” said he, “I
have just joined the Church and am very
happy.” “Then you have accepted Jesus
Christ in His immaculate conception,” I ask
ed. “Yes,” he said, “and in every other con
ception, and, moreover, I do not believe that
a man can be skeptical about Jesus, who will
honestly study the prophecies of the Old Tes
tament.”
You will see when you begin to study the
prophecies of the Old Testament with refer
ence to Jesus, that they are of two kinds. One
relates to His first advent, and the other to His
second advent.
Let me go a step further! This is not all
that the coming of Jesus meant to the world.
The coming of Jesus to this world was a filling
up of all the Old Testament rites, ceremonies,
ordinances and rituals. You know something
of what these meant. How the sacrifices en
tered into it all, and how all of it pointed to
the coming of Jesus Christ, and to the final
sacrifice which He was to make, and did make
for sin. Now, His coming fulfilled all these
things in the Old Testament regime; they were
simply means of worship, calling attention to
the coming of the Messiah.
(Continued on Page 14.)