We're going to begin reading
in Luke chapter 24 beginning with verse 25. And I want to read From 25 down
to the end of the chapter, I'd love to read the whole chapter,
but for the sake of time, we'll begin reading here. And then
if the Lord will help us, then. I want to do three things this
morning. I have three objectives and we'll
see those when we get to verse 44. Okay. Beginning in verse
25. Then he said unto them, and this
is our Lord Jesus Christ, he has died and has risen. Mary has gone to the tomb and
she has found that he's not there. And she has gone and she's told
the other disciples, hey, he's risen, he's not there. And other
disciples, they go down and they look in the tomb and he's not
there. And then there were two of the
disciples that are walking in the way. and the Lord sees them
and he comes up and joins them and they don't recognize him.
And this is where we're beginning right here in verse 25. Then
he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village
whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone
farther. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for
it is toward the evening, and the day is far spent. And he
went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat
at meet with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break it,
and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and
they knew him, And he vanished out of their sight. And then
they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us
while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us
the scriptures? And they arose at the same hour
and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together
and them that were with them saying, The Lord is risen indeed
and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were
done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread. And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst
of them and said unto them, peace be unto you. Look at verse 37,
but they were terrified. and a frightened, and supposed
that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, why are
you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he
had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while
they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them,
have you any meat? And they gave him a piece of
honey, broiled fish. And they gave him a piece of
broiled fish and a honeycomb. And he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. This morning, I have three simple
objectives. Just as we're reading here in
verse 44, I want to go to Moses. I want to go to the law. and
see if we can find Christ. And then I want to go to one
of the prophets that were written and see if we can find Christ. And then I want to go to one
of the Psalms. I want to go to a Psalm and simply
see, can we find Christ? Verse 44, he said unto them,
these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written
in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. And if we can do that, if the
Lord would help us this morning, look at verse 45. Then opened
he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.
If the Lord would help us this morning and open our understanding
to the scriptures, then we will see him. And then I want you
to look down at verse 52 and 53. If the Lord would open the
scriptures to us and show us himself, look at the effect that
it had on these disciples. They worshiped him. Verse 52,
they worshiped him. and return to Jerusalem with
great joy. And we're continually in the
temple praising and blessing God. Amen. That is the consequences. When the Lord is pleased to open
the scripture to his people and they see Christ, they worship
him. They praise him and they bless
him. Now let us turn now over to first
Samuel chapter one. We're turning to one of the prophets
first Samuel chapter one. This first Samuel chapter one
and chapter two. Uh, first of all, let me say
that chapter two is where Hannah prayed that wondrous and glorious
prayer. And how often I have gone to
1st Samuel chapter 2 to read Hannah's prayer. And oftentimes
I have gone back to chapter 1 to read, to get an understanding
and set the settings so that when I get to the prayer that
I have established the settings and I can just read that beautiful
and glorious prayer that she prayed. But for the sake of time, I'm
not going to read all of chapter one. I want to give you a summary
first of chapter one. OK, and then I want us to go
back and look for Christ in the scriptures. First of all, if
we were to look back into verses one, we'll find Elk Elkina. was a Ephraimite that had two
wives. The name of this man is Elkanah.
He had two wives. One of his wives' names was Peninnah
and the other was Hannah. Now, Peninnah had many children. Her womb was fruitful and she
bore children, but Hannah's womb was barren. And Peninnah often
mocked Hannah and caused her great grief. And Hannah would
cry, go unto the Lord, and she cried unto the Lord. And the
Lord was pleased to give Hannah a child. And so Hannah conceived
and bore a son, and the name of that son, his name was Samuel. Okay, now let us begin reading
in verse Samuel, begin reading in verse 21. And then I want to read from
verse 21 down to Hebrews chapter two, verse two. Okay. And then I want us to go back
and look at it beginning in verse 21, Samuel chapter one and the
man Alcana and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord,
the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up for. She said unto her husband, I
will not go up unto the child. And this is Samuel be weaned.
And then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord
and there abide forever. And Alcana her husband said unto
her, do what seemeth thee good, Terry, until thou have weaned
him. Only the Lord establish his word,
so the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned
him. Verse 24. And when she had weaned
him, she took him up with her with the three bollocks and one
ephah of flour and a bottle of wine and brought him into the
house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. And
they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said,
O Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood
by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed,
and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I ask of him.
Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth,
he shall be lent unto the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there.
Chapter two, verse one and two. and Hannah prayed and said, my
heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is
there any rock like unto our God. How many times have I read and
missed Christ in this passage. I want you to go back and look
again at verse 25. And they slew a bullock and brought
the child to Eli. When you first read this, Have
you done as I have so many times? Do you simply see them bringing
a bullock and bringing a bull and slaying it? Do we just see
a bull or when we read this verse 25 that precedes this glorious
prayer of Hannah, do we see Christ in him crucified? I have so often
in verse 25, they slew a Bullock in my mind. I simply see him
taking a ball and slaying it going through a motion of religion. I want you to turn and read with
me over Leviticus chapter one. I want us to look this morning
for just a second into the law. And what appears to be to us
in verse 25, they slew a bullock. A verse that so often we just
read right by without any real thought to. I want us to go over
and see what is happening in verse 25. Okay? Now, in Leviticus, I want to
read verses 1 through 5, and then we're going to go back and
make a few comments. Leviticus chapter 1 verse 1,
And the Lord called unto Moses and spake unto him out of the
tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering
unto the Lord, is that not what Elkina did for his family? He brought an offering unto the
Lord. and say, if any man bring an
offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle,
even of the herd and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt offering
of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer
it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand
upon the head of the burnt offering, and that it shall be accepted
for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock
before the Lord, and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the
blood and sprinkle the blood round about the altar that is
by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Do you see,
look back in verse two, Bring an offering before the
Lord. Before Hannah could ever come
before the Lord and pray that glorious prayer, there had to
be an offering before the Lord. Sinners must approach God by
the prescribed manner. A vile sinner cannot approach
God without an offering. And then look, secondly, at verse
three, if his offering be a burnt offering of the herd, let him
offer a male without blemish, an offering, a burnt sacrifice
without blemish. Does this not speak of our Lord
Jesus Christ? When Hannah, when she comes to
pray, her husband has brought a burnt offering and it is a
bull. It is a male bull and it is without
blemish. That is our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is how Hannah was able to pray. And then verse four, look
at this. He shall put his hand upon the
head of the burnt offering and it shall be accepted for him
to make atonement for him. I want us to stop here just a second.
And I want us to think about what's happening. They've brought
this bull, Elkanah, and he's brought it to the priest. And
Elkanah takes his hand and he puts it upon the head of the
bullock. The sins of Elkanah and Hannah
and that family are transferred to that bullet. Hannah was a sinner. And Alcaina
was a sinner. And Alcaina, the sinner, took
his hands and he put it on the head of that bullet. And by imputation,
that bullet became guilty. And then they took a knife. Alcaina
took a knife and he reached under and he cut the throat of that
bull. And the blood come out and the
bull died. That is imputation. Before Hannah prayed that prayer
unto the Lord, Before Hannah could pray that prayer before
the Lord, there had to be a substitute. There had to be a sin offering. Because without that substitute
and without that sin offering, Hannah could not pray of the
Lord's salvation. She could not approach God without
that substitute. Let's continue here. Turn back
to our text from this morning's reading, Hebrews chapter 10. Everything that Alcaina did. for his family there. He did
that according to the law. Now let us look at Hebrews chapter
10 and begin reading in verse 1. For the law having a shadow
of good things to come and not the very image of the things
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the newcomers therein too perfect. For then
would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins? But
in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again of sins every
year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sin." So you see, when
that bull was there, And they went to cut its throat. The blood of that bull could
not take away sins. But that bull is an image. It is a shadow of good things
to come. It is a shadow of our Lord Jesus
Christ, how our sins was put on Him. And He was taken and
was sacrificed. Now look down at verse 10. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from whenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by the one offering, he hath
perfected forever them. that are sanctified. Now, if
you remember back in our text, Luke chapter 24, can you not
see our Lord taking His disciples back into the Old Testament and
sitting there showing Him these things concerning Himself? And I encourage us this morning,
it's when we look open to Scripture, And we begin reading here in
the Old Testament. Every time, listen to me this
morning, I've learned this myself. Every time you come across sacrifice
and you see a believer sacrificing, stop. Stop right there and think
about what you're reading. You're not reading about the
blood of bulls and goats. Those things are but a shadow.
They are a shadow of good things to come. Now, now I want you
to turn with me over to job chapter one. And in this chapter, I want you to do is just as we
discussed here. I want you to look for the sacrifice. And having seen this sacrifice
in Job chapter one has helped me so much with this passage
of scripture. Now we're only going to be reading
and looking at the first eight verses. Job chapter one, beginning in
verse one, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was
Job. And that man was perfect and
upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil. Now let me
stop here just a minute. How many of you have difficulty
reading that first verse? Let me show you how I could more
easily read it. It would be wrong. but I could
easily more read it and understand it this way. There was a man
in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was a vile,
ruined sinner. I could identify with that. And
if I was reading Job, I could look at that and say, boy, there's
something here for me because I'm a vile, ruined sinner. But
when I read this, that man was perfect and upright. Boy, that don't sound like me.
So I have a difficulty. I've had difficulties for a long
time as I tried to read this, try to rationalize and understand
and figure out. But as we read this, I want you
to look for the sacrifice. There was a man in the land of
Oz whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and
upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil. And there
were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance
also was 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen and
500 she-asses and a very great household, so that this man was
the greatest of all the men of the east. And his sons went and
feasted in their houses every one his day and sent and called
for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it
was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that
Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning
and offered burnt offerings to the number of them all. For Job
said, it may be that my sons have sinned and has cursed God
in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Verse six. Now there was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before God
and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, from going to and fro in the earth and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord, The Lord God, Jehovah,
said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is
none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth
evil and askeweth good. Did you see the sacrifice? Look
back to verse five. And it was so when the days of
their feasting was gone about that Job sent and sanctified
them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings
according to the number of them all. What did Job do? He put his hands upon the head of
the offering. And all the sins of himself and
of his wife and of his children were imputed to that animal.
And that animal was slain and killed and sacrificed. And with
that sacrifice, all of their sins put away. Gone. Never to be remembered
again. And when God looked at Job, God
could say a perfect and upright man. Was Job a sinner? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? That's the heart cry from Job.
Job knew that he was a sinner. Job knew that he was a sinner. But God put away his sins. And how many times have I read
these first eight verses here? And I just read right through
the sacrifice. I'll just read right through
it. I'm, I'm like the Jews of old who go to the temple week
after week and year after year, and they sacrifice and they give
more sacrifice and they bring more sacrifices. And there in
Isaiah, the Lord said, I'm sick of your sacrifices. I turned one thing I want to
point out here in this verse, verse five. Not only did Job
offer burnt offerings, but he offered them according to their
number. This offering is a particular
offering. This offering is for a particular
people. It is like the offering of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that when he laid down his life, he laid
down his life according to the number of them all. according
to those whom the Father had given him in eternity in that
everlasting covenant. This offering that Job offered,
it was not given for all of the land of us. It was given for
Job's family. And so it is with our Lord that
when he laid down his life, he laid down his life for his children. Now, I want to read you scripture
in line with that. Exodus chapter 30, and don't
turn there. Verse 12, when thou takest, now
we're reading again the law. When thou takest the sum, and
that's the number, of the children of Israel after their number,
in other words, you count all the children of Israel, you count
them one by one, and then you take the sum of that number,
then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul. In other words, according to
the number, there is a specific payment due for a ransom for
their soul. unto the Lord when thou numberst
them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberst
them." You see, when God laid the sins of His people upon His
Son, it was a measured, it was measured according to their sins. It's not according to the whole
world, it's according to the sins of his people. Now, as I
said, I want to turn to the prophets and to the law, and now let's
turn to a psalm and see if we can see our Lord and Savior.
Psalm chapter 40. I love this psalm. And I want to read this morning,
first of all, verses one through 10. And then I want to come back
and make a few comments and then we'll be done. Psalm chapter
40, beginning in verse one. I'm still in Job. I'm sorry.
I turned to Job 40. I waited patiently for the Lord.
And he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up out
of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon
a rock and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear
and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust." That man is Jesus Christ. And respect
with not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, oh
Lord, my God, are thy wonderful works, which thou hast done and
thy thoughts, which are to us word. They cannot be reckoned
in the order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than that can be numbered. Sacrifice and
offering thou didst not desire. My ears have been open. I'm sorry. Let me read verse six again.
Sacrifice and offering that does not desire. My ears has fell
open, burnt offering and sin offering has fell not required. Do you see what we just read
there in verse six? Sacrifice and offering that it's
not desire. Mine ears hath thou opened, burnt
offerings and sin offering hast thou not required. But did we
not read over in Leviticus how that the bull, when the sheep
and the goat and the herd, they were required. Again, let me read for the law,
having a shadow of good things to come. and not the very image
of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers here into perfect. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting until his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." So you see, when we go to the
Old Testament and we read these burnt offerings and we read of
these sin offerings, the Lord takes no pleasure in those things.
But His Son his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in every one of
these pictures that we read, in every one of these patterns,
Old Testament patterns, let us look to Christ. Let us look not
to the religion, the Jewish religion, not look to the ceremonies, but
look for Christ as he is pictured in those ceremonies. Now, One
other thing I want to point out, if we look, if we go back in
our minds to Leviticus chapter one, verse three, you remember
it saying, let him offer a male without blemish. Let him offer. And this is the ball. This is
the offering out of the herd. Let him offer a male without
blemish. So there's two requirements,
okay? And I want us to see these right here in Psalm 40. It is
a male and it's without blemish. Now this would be pretty easy
for us to do, especially you, Dickie, you're a farm guy, all
right? You bring a bull and we're gonna check this bull out and
we're gonna make sure it doesn't have any blemishes. Okay, that
would be pretty easy for us to do. We look at its head, its
horns, they're not cracked, its eyes are clear, he doesn't have
ringworm, there's no gashes on him, his hood's not busted up. Okay, so we can look at this
bull or this sheep and we could take this yearling of the flock,
and we could look it over, and in our minds, we see this beautiful
little white sheep. They're so pretty when they're
little like that. And you look for these blemishes. Now, that's
pretty easy to do in religion, is to look for these blemishes.
But I want you to see the spotless Lamb of God beginning here in
Psalm 40, verse 8. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the lamb without blemish. That is the sacrifice without
blemish. I have preached righteousness
to the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. What does the law say? that you
should love your neighbor as yourself. This spotless lamb
preached righteousness to the great congregation. I've not
refrained my lips. You see, the law was written
in his heart and he loved his neighbor as himself. He could
not refrain his lips. He could not refrain his lips
because he loved the truth. He loved his God. He loved his
father. but he also loved his neighbor.
Because of his love to his father, he had to speak. And because
of his love, to his neighbor, he had to speak. This is the
spotless lamb of God. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. That is our
lamb. That's not that lamb with blood,
with wool, with horns, This is our father. This is our heavenly.
This is he who stood there in Luke chapter 24 and said, behold
my hands and my feet. This is the lamb of God that
we are to look through when we go to the old Testament scriptures
and read of Christ. Amen.