I'd like to begin this morning
in the book of Romans. Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, we'll read
the first six verses. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which
he had promised before by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the
Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace
and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations
for his name, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ."
I've titled this message from three words that we find here
in the third verse of this chapter concerning his son. Now, we're
told by Paul that the gospel has to do with only one person,
And that person is, of course, God's Son, the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords, our Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told that this
gospel concerning Christ and His finished work on behalf of
His elect was promised by God, by His prophets, and that it
was promised in the Holy Scriptures. which is the reason why Christ
exhorted the Jews in John 5.39, search the Scriptures, for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of Me. Now when God promises something,
you can be sure that it is as good as done. It shall come to
pass. And there are many Scriptures
that speaks of God's promise to His people. One of those promises
We have found in 1 John 2.25 where we read, "...and this is
the promise, that He hath promised us even eternal life." And that
eternal life is only found in God's Son. Peter told those men
this on the day of Pentecost. Turn over one book to the book
of Acts, chapter 2. that eternal life that we find
is found in God's Son. Starting in Acts 2, verse 32,
we read Peter speaking, This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof
we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, And having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he has shown forth this which ye now see and
hear. For this David is not ascended
up into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Set thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus,
whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the brethren, Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins. and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call." What an encouragement
we find here. God promises His promises are
to them that are afar off, which is a perfect description of us
before we came to faith in Christ. We were far from any hope, far
from any holiness, far from righteousness, far from Christ. But we're now
made nigh, as Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 2, verse 13. But now,
in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes afar off, Our maiden
eye. How? By the blood of Christ. And when Christ told those Jews
to search the Scriptures, He told them that the Scriptures
testify of Me, He said. Testify means to bear witness
to, to serve as evidence, to make known, to affirm or show. Now here Christ Himself instructs
men and women where they can find all that they need to know
about Him and His finished work. in the Scriptures. So, this is
what I'd like to do for a few minutes this morning, is search
the Scriptures and see for ourselves what God has to do or has to
say concerning His Son. Concerning the pictures and types
of Christ that we find in the Holy Scriptures and the places
where the promise of His coming is told. And we will look at
only a few, because if we were to look at them all, we'd be
here literally for days. The first promise that we read
in Holy Scripture concerning the work of Christ is found in
Genesis 3, verses 14 and 15. And it says, And the Lord said
unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, And between thy seed and her seed, and it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Speaking,
of course, of Christ. Now, unlike his elect with whom
God is long-suffering, there was no delay in the pronouncement
of judgment upon this serpent. It was immediate. God is only
long-suffering. We need to understand this. God
is only long-suffering with His people. With everyone else, judgment
many times is swift and sure, as was the case here. Another
instance we find concerning God's Son is found in that familiar
text in Genesis 22. This is, of course, the account
of Abraham and his willingness to offer his son for a burnt
offering as God had commanded him. I think that this is the
first place in Scripture that Christ is typified as a lamb. And I saw something here as I
did this study that I had never seen before. Carefully notice
the wording here. Abraham told Isaac that God will
provide himself a lamb. A lamb for a burnt offering.
But the offering that God provided in this particular case was not
a lamb, but rather a full-grown ram, old enough to have horns,
by which it was caught in the thicket, unable to free himself. And it's worth noting that the
formal instructions given to Moses in Numbers 28 concerning
the manner of the burnt offering were given about 400 years after,
I should say, this account in Genesis 22 of God instructing
Abraham to offer up Isaac. Yet, Abraham knew exactly what
God meant when he told him to offer his son for a burnt offering. He said, offering therefore a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell
thee of. Now burnt offerings have been
taking place for a long time previous to this account in Genesis
22. Some believe that the offering
that Abel brought was a burnt offering, that God had instructed
Adam about burnt offerings and he had taught his sons. The first
recorded account we have of a burnt offering is found in Genesis
8, verse 20, where we read, "...And Noah built an ark unto the Lord,
and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and
offered burnt offerings upon the altar." Now this was about
900 years before the instructions given in Numbers 28. And in Numbers
28, the Lord gave Moses specific instructions concerning what
animals were to be offered for burnt offerings. So sometime
between Noah and the account in Numbers 28, the types of animals
that were to be offered for burnt offerings were narrowed down
to three. These animals included bullocks,
rams, and lambs. And several times in that chapter
in Numbers 28, where lambs are mentioned, they are specified
to be of the first year, no older than one year, a young helpless
lamb. And obviously, a lamb of one
year would not have horns, whereby it would be caught in the thicket,
as we read in that account in Genesis 22. Therefore, the lamb
spoken of by Abraham can only be the Lamb of God Himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who Isaiah tells us was brought as a lamb
to the slaughter. The fulfillment of Abraham's
declaration of God providing Himself a lamb did not take place
at that time, because it was not a lamb, but rather a full-grown
ram that Abraham offered. That prophecy of Abraham was
only fulfilled once, when Christ was slain at Calvary. And as
our pastor told us many times, When it says that God will provide
Himself a Lamb, it means both that He will supply the Lamb
who was to be slain, and also that He Himself will be that
Lamb that must be sacrificed for our transgressions. The Man
who is God, the Man who is referred to throughout the book of Revelation,
is the Lamb of God. Now this word Lamb is found exactly
100 times in Scripture. 28 of those times we find in
the book of Revelation where Christ is repeatedly referred
to as the Lamb. Now another instance we find
in the scriptures concerning God's Son is a picture or type
of Christ that we see in the office of the high priest. The
account of the Aaronic priesthood being formally established is
found in the book of Leviticus chapters 8-10, but the first
mention of a priest is in Genesis chapter 14 where we read of Melchizedek
meeting Abraham after the slaughter of the kings. It says in verse
18 of that chapter, Melchizedek is called the priest of the Most
High God. Now no mention of Melchizedek
is found again until we read of him in Psalm 110, verse 4,
where, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, it says, Thou art a priest
forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 5. We'll read the first ten verses.
This is describing Christ and how He is a type of Melchizedek
and how Melchizedek was a type of Christ. Hebrews chapter 5,
verse 1. Now every high priest taken from
among man is ordained for man in things pertaining to God,
that he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. who
can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself is compassed with infirmity. And by reason
hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer
for sins. And no man taketh this honor
upon himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not
himself, to be made in high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. And he saith also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though he were a son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him. Call of God and high priest after
the order of Melchizedek." Now these verses reiterate the things
spoken of in various places that I've already mentioned. One is
how the high priest didn't take that office to himself, but it
was appointed unto him by Almighty God. So it was with our Lord
Jesus Christ. He was appointed by God the Father
to be a priest forever. And like those earthly priests
of whom it is said they can have compassion on the ignorant and
them that are out of the way because they are subject to the
same infirmity, so our great high priest can relate to our
conditions because it tells us that He was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. Now, this same Melchizedek is
described in Hebrews chapter 7 as the King of Righteousness,
and after that, the King of Salem, which is King of Peace. Without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but being made like unto the Son
of God, abide a priest continually." And then the writer goes on in
Hebrews chapter 7 to explain that the Levitical priesthood
was not perfect. Because if it had been, the writer
asks in verse 11 then, What further need were there that another
priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek and not
after the order of Aaron, that order which was established,
as I've already mentioned, in Leviticus 8 through 10. Then
we are given a further explanation of the shortcomings of the Levitical
priesthood. In chapter 7 of Hebrews, and
also in chapter 8, where we are told in verse 6 that Christ,
our High Priest, hath obtained a more excellent ministry by
how much more He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established on better promises. And one of those promises is
found in verse 12 of chapter 8. Many times in the history
of Israel, when they disobeyed God's command, Judgment fell
on them swiftly, and it fell on them hard. But the promise
of that better covenant that we find in verse 12 of chapter
8 of Hebrews, promises to God's elect people, for I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more. That same promise, that same
exact promise, is repeated in chapter 10 verse 17 of Hebrews. And that promise is only possible
because we have a better high priest than the nation of Israel
ever had. One whose blood, unlike the blood
of the sacrifices under the old Aaronic priesthood, can actually
take away sins forever. When we're told, by his own blood,
he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. And because his blood is so effectual,
he, unlike the priests of old, had to only make one offering
for sin. Chapter 9, verse 28 of Hebrews
states that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And
our great high priest didn't just enter into the Holy of Holies
as the priest of old, the one made with human hands, but we're
told in the same chapter of Hebrews, in verse 24, that our Lord hath
entered into heaven itself. now to appear in the presence
of God for us. And not just in the presence
of God, as are the angels of God. No, He has a much greater
presence than that. Because we read that this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. And as he is seated there in
that place of honor, he serves as our advocate. 1 John 2.1,
that verse we're so familiar with, "...and if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,
eternally pleading His blood for the remission of sins, reminding
the Father that we are but dust." Another picture that we have
concerning God's Son that is found in Scripture is the picture
that we see in Samson. Now, before Samson was born,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and to his wife. And
this angel of the Lord was none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
We know this because Manoah said to his wife in verse 22 of chapter
13 of Judges, after that angel had ascended back into heaven,
Manoah told his wife, we shall surely die because we have seen
God. They saw Christ Himself. But
they did not die, they were given a son who they named Samson. Now Samson, during his lifetime,
dealt with the enemies of Israel, the Philistines, in many different
ways. Using 300 foxes we read that he captured, he burned up
their cornfields, their vineyards, and their olive groves. We're
told that he slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass.
and were told that he took the doors of the gates of the city
and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put
them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of
a hill that is before Hebron." He was definitely a thorn in
the side of the Philistines. And verse 4 of Judges 14 tells
us that at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel. And
the men of Judah reminded Samson While he was doing all these
things, in verse 11 of chapter 15, they said, Knowest thou not
that the Philistines are rulers over us? And as the Philistines
had dominion over Israel, so sin had dominion over us. We were in bondage to sin. But Paul told the Romans in chapter
6, verse 14, that sin shall not have dominion over you, for you
are not under the law, but under grace. under grace, thanks to
that better covenant that Christ brought in. And eventually, you
know the story of Samson. The Philistines were able, temporarily,
to overcome Samson, blind him, and to bind him. And thinking
that they had finally won the battle over him, they had a great
gathering to celebrate. And they called for Samson to
be brought forth so that he could make a sport, as they said. so
that they could mock Him and jeer at His sufferings, which
is exactly what was done to our Lord before He was crucified.
The soldiers, we read, made sport of Him. Beginning in Matthew
15, 17, it says, And they clothed Him with purple, and plaited
a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and saluted Him,
Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote Him on the head
with a reed, and it spit upon Him, and bowing their knees,
worshipped him. And as the Philistines thought
that they had finally overcome this hated enemy, Samson, so
did Satan and the princes of this world think that they had
finally rid themselves of this man called Jesus. We read in
Judges 16.27 that all the lords of the Philistines were there
at this celebration where Samson was put on display to be mocked which is also a picture of the
leaders of the Jews who were gathered to see this man that
they so despised, this man called Jesus, to watch him be put to
death. But neither Satan at the time
of Christ's crucifixion, nor the Philistines understood that
their ultimate defeat was about to take place. As Samson destroyed
the lords of the Philistines and broke their hold that they
had over Israel, So our Lord, by His death, overcame our enemies'
sin and death. We're told in 1 Corinthians 2.8
that the princes of this world did not have insight into the
wisdom of God, because we're told if they had, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. Now God said concerning
His Son, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." God
the Father never made that statement about any other man, even though
we read of some who were described by God as perfect. Let me read
a few of those Scriptures. In Acts 13.22 we read, "...and
when He had removed him, speaking of Saul, He raised up unto him
David to be their king, to whom he also gave testimony and said,
I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart,
which shall fulfill all my will. When God was speaking with Satan
about Job, he asked, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that
there is none like him in the earth, a perfect man and upright,
one that feareth God and escheweth evil? God said this man was perfect. In 1 Kings we read of Asa the
king that his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. And we're told in Genesis 6-9
that Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. Hezekiah,
when told by the prophet Isaiah that he would die, prayed to
the Lord and said, I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember now how
that I have walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And speaking
of the nation of Israel, in 1 Chronicles 29.9 it says, Then the people
rejoiced, for they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they
offered willingly to the Lord. Yet God never made this proclamation
about any of these men that He was well pleased with any of
them, even though they were described as perfect. And our God made
many other proclamations concerning His Son. Through His angel He
told Mary, He shall be great and shall be called the Son of
the Highest. In Isaiah 7.14 it tells of His
miraculous birth in that it says, A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son and shall call his name Immanuel. And I'm sure that as
men read that prophecy through the years, they were quite perplexed
because we know that it is physically impossible for a virgin to conceive
a child. But it was as Christ told his
disciples in Matthew that with God, all things are possible. Now, there are many promises
made concerning God's Son in that great chapter of Isaiah
53. We're told, among other things,
that after making his soul an offering for sin, he shall see
his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. He was promised to Abraham in
Genesis 17, 19, where God told Abraham, that I will establish
with Isaac an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
That better seed spoken of here is Christ, who brought in that
better covenant that we read of in the book of Hebrews. Now
in Deuteronomy 18, 18, God promises concerning His Son, I will raise
up a prophet from among the brethren, like unto thee, and I will put
my word in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him." Now this was confirmed by Peter in Acts
chapter 3, that this was indeed speaking of Christ. It says,
and that same Jesus was sent to bless you in turning away
every one of you from His iniquities. Now, the entire chapter of Psalm
22 speaks concerning God's Son and the sacrifices that He made
as He made sin for us. We won't read that entire chapter
just for sake of time, but suffice it to say that it's a clear description
of the death that Christ endured on our behalf. That death that
we read of in the four Gospels. Now turn with me to Psalm 89
for a minute. Psalm 89. We find here another promise
that God made concerning His Son. Starting in verse 23, we
read, And I will beat down his foes
before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me,
Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also,
I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the
earth. My mercy will I keep for him
forever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed
also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of
heaven. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter that thing that is gone out of my lips. His seed
shall endure forever in His throne as a Son before me." Psalm 118.22
declares, "...the stone which the builders refused is become
the head of the corner." Now, our Lord declared in three of
the four Gospels that that text was indeed speaking of Him. And God made a promise concerning
His Son through the mouth of Simeon in Luke 2.32 when He said
that Christ would be a light to lighten the Gentiles and a
glory to Thy people Israel." And in the very next verse, it
tells us that Joseph and Mary marveled at those things that
were spoken by Simeon. And I feel like one of the reasons
they marveled was because God, up to this point, had nothing
but contempt for the Gentile nations. But God also made that
same promise in Isaiah 42, 6, where it says, speaking of Christ,
I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold
thine hand, and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light to the Gentiles." And a very similar
promise is found in Isaiah 49, 6. And that promise was, of course,
fulfilled when Christ came to earth in human flesh. In Isaiah
35, verses 5 and 6, we read this. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then
shall the lame man leap as in heart, and the tongue of the
dumb sing." These verses can only be speaking of God's Son.
The reason I say that is I can find no place in the Old Testament
where any of the prophets did any of these things. We read,
of course, of Elijah raising the widow's dead son, and some
of the prophets healed various sicknesses. But nowhere in the
Scriptures of the Old Testament do we read that they healed the
blind, gave hearing to the deaf, gave speech to the dumb, or strength
to the lame. Now, there are many other places
in the Old Testament that speak of the coming Messiah, but as
I said at the start, We simply do not have time to look at them
all, but suffice it to say that this book concerns itself with
one person and one person only, and that person, of course, being
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as Paul told the Romans
in chapter one that we read, everything we find in these pages
is concerning His Son. All the other folks we read of
are merely types and figures pointing to the coming Savior.
This is confirmed by Peter in Acts 10, verse 43, when he declared,
to Him give all the prophets witness. So let us rejoice in
the fact that we've been given faith to believe on this One
spoken of throughout the Scriptures. and that His name, by faith in
His name, gives us eternal salvation. And for any listening today over
the streaming or sitting here today that have not been given
faith in Christ, I would encourage you to search the Scriptures,
to find those things spoken of by God concerning His Son, because
that is the only place that you will obtain life. and everything
else is death. In Christ, we're told, we indeed
have life. I would encourage you, if you're
able, to plead for mercy. And if you're able to do that,
it's a good sign that God has begun a good work in you. I hope
the Lord has blessed that to your heart. Jimmy, come lead
us in a song, please.