In Hebrews chapter 11, the writer
mentions 16 different individuals from the Old Testament scriptures
that make up this great cloud of witnesses he speaks of. Look
in chapter 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are
encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. And he
mentions these 16 different men. And then, lastly, he mentions
the prophets. the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, all which
make up the Old Testament prophets. They were all writers of scripture,
and there were other prophets, Nathan, Gad, Elijah, Elisha,
Micah, just to name a few. A prophet means an inspired man. A prophet speaks with a thus
saith the Lord. God has inspired his speech. And if we preach the word, if
I preach the word, I preach with the same authority they did,
as long as I say what they did. Now, if I go out on my own, there's
no authority to it. But in preaching, we preach the
Word, and that's where the authority comes from. A prophet speaks
as an inspired man, inspired by God. Thus saith the Lord. In Hosea 12, verse 10, God said,
I have spoken, I have spoken by the mouth of the prophets. In Luke 170, we read he spake
by the mouth of the holy prophets since the world began. Abel spake
as God's prophet to Cain, and Cain murdered him over the message
he brought. Scripture itself It's called
in Roman 1626, the scriptures of the prophets, which you turn
with me to second Peter, chapter one. This is a very important
passage of scripture. Second, Peter, chapter one. Thought occurred to me when I
said this is a very important passage of scripture, what passage
of scripture, not very important. I don't know why I would make
a comment like that. Of course, it's important. It's the word
of God. of God's Word is important. Beginning in verse 16, Peter
is speaking of an experience he had called the Mount of Transfiguration. It's where the Lord appeared
to him and James and John on a mountain, and they saw the
Lord literally transfigured before them. The Scripture said His
face did shine as the sun, and His clothes were white as light.
They experienced this. They saw this with their own
eyes. Can you imagine being in on that? Let's pick up reading verse 16.
He says, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Now, he's talking
about the Mount of Transfiguration, where his face did shine as the
sun. His deity, I don't know what
this means, but his deity burst through his humanity. What a
mysterious, glorious thing. He said, we were eyewitnesses
of this. We saw his glory. For he received, verse 17, from
God the Father, honor and glory, when there came such a voice
to him from that excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased, and this voice which came from heaven we heard
when we were with him in the holy mountain. Do you remember
what took place? The Lord has transfigured before
them, and Moses and Elijah And the scripture says Peter answered.
I think it's interesting how Peter's always answering things
no one ever asked him about. But he answered. He had to say
something. And I can relate with him so much. How many times have
you got to say something? You don't know what else to do.
So he said, Lord, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three
tabernacles, one for Moses, one for you, and one for Elijah.
Now, before I go on, do you know what they were talking about
when Moses and Elijah were speaking with him? Luke 9, 31 says they
spake of the deceased. They spake of his death. That's
what they were talking about. They're talking about his death,
which he should accomplish. And when they, when Peter made this
statement, let's make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses,
one for Elijah, a voice came from heaven, the voice of God. And he said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. That's where his pleasure is,
in him. Hear ye him. And Peter and James and John
hit the dirt. They were scared to death. And
the scripture says the Lord came and touched them at that time. Now, he's talking about this
experience he had. He was an eyewitness to this. Now, let's go on reading. For
he received, verse 17, for he received from God the Father
honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the
excellent glory This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased
and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were
with him in the Holy Mount. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy. Now you take that experience.
I'd love to have that experience, but this is better. This is a more sure word. What
you have right now is better than that. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy, wherein do you do well that you take heed, as unto
a light that shineth in a dark place into the day dawn, and
the day star arrives in your hearts, knowing this first. You've got to begin here. If
we don't have this, we don't have anything. If we don't have
this, we do not have anything. Is the Bible God's Word or not?
Now, I can't prove to you it is, and I feel no need to prove
to you it is. I know it is. Somebody says,
I don't. Well, I do. I do. I know the
Bible's the Word of God. I have, that's something I know. And as soon as I say I know,
I start thinking, how do you know? Well, I know all the doubts start coming,
I realize that, but still, I know this is the word of God. Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private
interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. Now that's what a prophet is.
He speaks moved by God. The Lord said in Matthew chapter
15 verse 17, think not that I've come to destroy the law of the
prophets. I've not come to destroy, but to fulfill everything he
did. He did that the scriptures of
the prophets might be fulfilled. You read Isaiah 53. Everything
he did was just according to Isaiah 53, the substitutionary
death of Christ. Read Psalm 22, all the events.
Everything he did, he did that the scriptures of the prophets
might be fulfilled. And understand this. And this
is very important. The prophets all had one message. They didn't have two messages.
They all had the precise same message. Now, let me show you
that from the scriptures. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. Peter had been preaching. And
he said. In verse 43. This is his message to Cornelius. To him, give all the prophets
witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. To him, give all the prophets
witness. The prophets had one message,
him, the Lord Jesus Christ. What was their message? We know
we had the same message. Well, I will spend a few minutes
in Luke chapter 24. I love this passage of scripture.
Luke chapter 24. Now, this is after the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there were two men walking
together, talking about the events. They didn't really understand
what had happened. They had hoped that the Lord
was going to deliver Israel. And he died. And I guess they're
discouraged. Our hope is dead. And so let's
begin reading in verse 13 of Luke, chapter 24. And behold,
two of them, which then went the same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three or four farms. And
they talked together of all the things which had happened. They
were talking about the crucifixion of Christ and how unjust it was
and so on. And it came to pass that while
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. But their eyes were holding that
they should not know him. You know, the Lord can be with
you and you won't know it unless the Lord opens your eyes to it.
You can't see him, I can't see him, unless he opens our eyes.
We're completely dependent upon revelation. Right now, the only
way I can hear from him is if he opens my ears and opens my
heart to receive. And their eyes were open, that
they should not know him. Verse 17, And he said unto them,
What manner of communications are these that ye have one to
another, as ye walk and are sad? And the one of them, whose name
was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to
pass in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they
said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet,
mighty indeed, and word before God, and all the people. and
how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned
to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea,
and certain women, also of our company, made us astonished,
which were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body,
they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels,
which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulchre and found it even so, as the
women said. But him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets hath 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. O fools, he said, and slow of
heart to believe. That's me. Slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken. And then he said, I love the
way he says this, ought not Christ to have suffered? Was there not
a need to be? Was there not a necessity in
the suffering of Christ? Well, why was there a necessity
in the suffering of Christ? Why did he have to die? He says
there was a necessity. Why? Well, first of all, because
it was God's purpose. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. God purposed his sufferings. Therefore, he must suffer. Well,
why did he suffer? Because the sins of God's elect
became his. That's such a powerful thought
to me. My sin became his sin. You know, I hope I say that every
time I breathe somehow. My sin, the sin that grieves
me, the sin that I hate, the sin that I commit, the sin that
I'm so ashamed of, my sin became His sin. He bore it to where
He deserved the wrath of God. God's judgment came upon him
because he got exactly what he had coming. My sin became his
sin. He became obnoxious to God, and
God's wrath came down upon him. That's why he suffered. Why was
he raised from the dead? Because satisfaction was made. He put away the sins of everybody
he died for. My sin that became his, he put
it away. He paid the debt due against
sin. He satisfied the justice of God.
And the very justice of God demands his resurrection. Ought not Christ
to suffer? Sure. It's God's purpose. He
was made sin. God's love demands that he stand
as a representative for his people. If God loves you, Christ must
die for you. God can't love you and let you go to hell. That's
not going to happen. It couldn't happen. The justice,
the love of God ought not Christ to have suffered these things. And he began in all the prophets.
He expanded into them in all the scriptures. The things concerning
himself. You know, I don't know how long
this message lasted. But he went into all the perhaps
he went into Abel's land. He went into Abraham's sacrifice.
He went into all these Old Testament scriptures, verse 28. And they
drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made as though
he would have gone further. I think that's interesting. He
acted like he was just going to keep going, but he's going
to have them ask for his presence. He acted like he was going to
walk off, and he did it for this purpose. He's going to have them
say, stay with us. They constrain him, stay with
us and keep speaking to us. You know, that's a blessing when
the Lord, you feel like he's leaving. You say, Lord, don't
leave me. Stay with me. Oh, they wanted to hear what
he had to say. But they constrained him, verse
29, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with
them, and it came to pass, as he said, to 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 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? Isn't it wonderful when the Scriptures
open to you? I believe that's heaven on earth
when that takes place. When the Scriptures are open to you. They rose up the same hour, and
returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven 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 made known unto them in the breaking
of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. But they were terrified. And
affrighted and supposed that they'd seen a spirit. You know,
how many times did the Lord say, I'm going to be killed, be raised
from the dead? I mean, he told them this over
and over and over again before his death. They hear these witnesses
afterwards. Still, when he appears to them,
they're scared to death. They think they've seen a spirit.
They don't know what's going on. They were terrified. Verse
38, he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold, my hands and my feet,
that is, I myself, handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as ye 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 ye here
any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of 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 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. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. And he said unto
them, thus it's written, and thus it behooved. Once again,
it was necessary for Christ to suffer. Don't ever forget that.
It was necessary for Christ to suffer. God purposed it. The
sins of God's elect became His. He was made sin. He had to suffer. Sin can't be two places at once.
If it's not on me, but it's on Him, God's wrath can come down
upon Him. It was necessary. It behooved
Him. to suffer and to rise from the
third day. It was necessary for him to rise
because God's justice was satisfied because the salvation of the
elect was accomplished. It was necessary for him to rise
to the third day. Look in verse 47, that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning in Jerusalem, beginning with this bunch that
killed him. You know, John Bunyan wrote a, preached a message entitled,
The Jerusalem Sinner Saved. This is the worst of all sinners,
because they were the ones who killed the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he's the one they were sent to, and they were brought with
this message. And I think it's interesting you find these two
words together quite often in scriptures. Repentance and the
remission of sins. Repentance and the remission
of sins. That's our message. Now, these
two things go together. Repentance and the remission
of sins. A change of mind regarding concerning the remission of sin. We naturally, everybody knows
we need the forgiveness of sins. Do you need your sins forgiven?
I do. I need forgiveness. Let me repeat that. I need forgiveness. I need God to not deal with me
according to what I deserve. I need that. Now, we naturally
think If we do the right things, it's going to end up in forgiveness.
If I repent, if I'm sorry, if I start doing better, if I quit
committing that sin, if I do whatever it is, if I do something,
God will forgive me of my sins. In other words, forgiveness comes
as a result of me doing these certain things. But, beloved,
here's the gospel. Forgiveness does not end with
the forgiveness of sins. It begins. The gospel begins
right now, without me doing anything. Thy sins, which are many, are
forgiven thee. It's a declaration of the full,
complete forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake. It begins
there. It's nothing you do in order to get it. It's a declaration
of the complete forgiveness of sin. There's a change of mind
regarding forgiveness of sins. You're made to see that sins
are forgiven for Christ's sake because of what He did without
reference to anything you do. Now, that is the message of the
prophets, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name. He says your witnesses of these
things, the truth of the prophets. Now, how is the message of the
prophets to be delivered? Turn with me to Acts chapter
28. I've pointed this out recently, but it's something I've certainly
been thinking about. Acts chapter 28. Now, Paul is
in prison in Rome in verse 23. And when they had appointed him
a day, Acts 28, 23, there came many to him into his lodging,
to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading
them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of
the prophets, from morning till evening. Now here is what true
preaching is. Three things we read. Expounding,
testifying, and persuading. expanding out of the scriptures. That's where we got to begin
with the thus sayeth the Lord from the Word of God. Hold your
finger there and turn to the book of Nehemiah, chapter 8. Nehemiah, chapter 8. It's right after Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah. First and second Chronicles,
Ezra and Nehemiah. Verse 8, So they read in the book in the
law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to
understand the reading. Now that's what the expanding
of the scriptures is. That simple. Now, when someone
is truly preaching, That's what Paul was doing at this time.
It begins with an expounding of what God's word says. But
the next thing he mentions, not only is there an expounding of
what God's word says, you know, you can you can do that in just
kind of an academic way. You know, it means this means
that and nothing comes out of that. You know, this means this
scripture means this and just real academic. That's not preaching. The next thing he says, he says
there's testifying. testifying, not simply giving
the meaning, but you're preaching what you've experienced. That's
what you're giving testimony. As a matter of fact, this is
where we get the word martyr from. You believe this to the
point that by the grace of God, you're willing to die for this.
This is how important it is to you. You bear witness, you testify. Now you take, for instance, the
doctrine of grace. I'm preaching what I've experienced,
when I'm saying I'm a totally depraved sinner, completely dependent
upon the grace of God. This is not a theory, this is
real. I'm preaching what I've experienced. And because I've
experienced that, I need God to choose me, because I know
I won't choose Him unless He chooses me. I need this. I'm
preaching as a witness, testifying. I need Christ to die for my sins
and accomplish my salvation. I need His death. It won't do
me any good if he can die for me and I end up in hell anyway.
If he can die for me and I end up in hell anyway, I guarantee
you I'll end up in hell. I need him to accomplish my salvation.
I'm speaking of that as a witness. I need his grace to be invincible
and irresistible. That's the only kind that will
do me any good. We preach as a witness, bearing testimony
to what we're preaching. We preach what we've experienced.
Now, that's truly preaching. But what's the third word he
uses? He says we expound, we testify, and I love this third
word, we persuade. I want you to believe. And I want to persuade you to
believe. I want you to know the Lord. I want you to know His great
salvation. I don't just throw it out there
and say, well, there's the truth. They can do what they want with
it. No, I want you to believe. You know, Paul said in 2 Corinthians
521, we as ambassadors of Christ of God did beseech you by us.
There's a beseeching. We pray ye, be reconciled to
God. Don't destroy yourself. Look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him right now. God
commands you to. Now, that's what's going on in
true preaching. I'm persuading you. I want you
to believe the gospel. This is the word of God. This
is the gospel. This is how sinners are saved.
There's a persuading going on. Now, what came to my mind, and
this is why I want to close with. Would you turn with me to Ezekiel
chapter 37? Here we have an example of what
the prophets do. Ezekiel chapter 37. Verse 1, The hand of the Lord was upon
me, and carried me out in the Spirit
of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which
was full of bones. Now, evidently, there had been
a great battle. And the ones who lost, their
bodies just lay there. And there were their bones, bleached,
dry, and dead. A valley full of bones. Can you imagine how eerie that
would be, to be in a valley like that? The Spirit of the Lord
carried him there. And here he is in this valley, perhaps nobody's
been there a long time, filled with bones. Verse 2. And he caused
me to pass by them round about, and behold, there were very many
in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry." I don't know
how long they'd sit there. Perhaps the vultures had picked
away all the skin, the bugs and worms and so on had eaten all
the marrow out of the bones, and all you had was some white,
bleached bones, very, very dry. Verse 3, and he said unto me,
Son of man, can these bones live? And he gives a good answer. And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest. That's a good answer, isn't it?
Thou knowest. Again, he said unto me, prophesy
upon these bones. and say unto them, O ye dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord." It's impossible for dry bones to hear
the word of the Lord. He still says, O ye dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. And such is God's command. We
say to dead sinners, hear the word of the Lord. We say to dead
sinners, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says,
that sounds Arminian to me. I don't care what it sounds like.
It's what we're commanded to do. Hear ye dry bones, the word of
the Lord. Hear it. But they're dry and
dead. He still says to do it. We call
upon all men everywhere to repent and to believe the gospel. You're
called upon to believe on Christ right now. This is God's command
to you. Oh, ye dry bones. Hear the Word of the Lord. Verse 4, Again he said unto me,
prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones,
hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto
the bones, Behold, I will cause wet to enter into you, and you
shall live. You know, there's a lot of hint
of free will in that message, isn't there? God says, I will. and you shall. That's the word of the gospel.
I will. You know, I can look at dry,
dead bone sinners and know that if God speaks to you, you'll
hear. You can't resist it. You can't stop somebody to know
it. Yeah, you will. Yeah, you will.
If God puts his hand on your heart, you'll hear. You'll believe. He says, Behold, I will cause
breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay
sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover
you with skin, and put breath in you. And you shall live, and
you shall know that I am the Lord." Now, when somebody lives,
you know what they know? They know He's the Lord. I know that He is the Lord, the
Lord of glory, the controller of all things. If God gives you
life, you'll know that. Verse 7. So I prophesied as I
was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was
a noise. And behold, a shaking, and the
bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld,
lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin
covered them above. But there was no breath in them."
Now here he sees this army brought together, but they still didn't
have life. They've gone from dry bones to
looking like they're alive, but they still didn't have the breath
of life in them. So what's he do? Verse 8, And
when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them,
and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind. My marginal reading
says the breath. This is the spirit of God. Ask the Spirit of God. Prophesy
to the Spirit. Ask the Spirit of God. Say what
He's already said in His Word. Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy,
Son of Man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live." Now, the only way that you and I are going
to live is if God breathes on us by His Spirit and gives us
life. And this is what takes place
in the preaching of the gospel. This is what takes place in prophecy.
Prophesy, the message of the prophets. We've got dead, dry
bones. Can't live. Utterly helpless. God says, preach to him. We preach
to him and he gives life through that. Just like that man with
the withered hand. The Lord looked at him. He said,
stretch forth thy hand. It was all withered up. He couldn't.
But when God said to do it, he stretched forth his hand. When
God says to you, believe, you'll believe. No question in my mind
about that. So I prophesied, verse 10, as
he commanded me, and the breath came unto them, and they lived,
and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Now, that
is preaching. Then he said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they
say, our bones are dried. Our hope is lost. We're cut off
for our parts. Therefore, prophesy and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, and will cause you to come out of your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am
the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and
brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you,
and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then
shall you know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed
it, saith the Lord." Now, Ezekiel preaches to these dry bones,
and he says, Oh, you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Now,
he was doing some expounding, he was doing some testifying,
and he was doing some persuading. And you know what happened? They
lived. Such are the prophets. Now, the
Lord willing, I would like to bring a message out of each one
of the prophets. I did that about 15 years ago,
but I want to do it again, beginning in Isaiah, and just get a look
at what the message of the prophets actually is. May the Lord enable
us to... This is us, fools, and slow of
heart to believe all of the prophets have spoken. You know, the Lord
said that to these people, and I tell you what, When I hear
him say that, that fits me so well, fools and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Let me remind you
of this one thing about the prophets. Paul said, after the way which
they call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.
Now, believing what's written in the prophets is worship. There's no worship without it.
May the Lord enable us to worship him. Let's pray together.