The Son Shall Make You Free

Q: What does the Bible say about the Messiah?

The Bible proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament. The Bible outlines Jesus as the Messiah through prophetic scripture, highlighting His roles as the prophet, priest, and king. In Isaiah 61, it is proclaimed that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him, as He is anointed to preach good news, bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty. Jesus fulfilled these prophecies by declaring Himself in the synagogue, stating, 'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears'. His identification with the roles stipulated in the law and the prophets confirms that He is the awaited Messiah, designed to bring freedom and healing to humanity.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy?

Jesus’ life and ministry fulfill the prophecies regarding the Messiah found in the Old Testament. Jesus is affirmed as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies through His lineage, actions, and declarations. He is made of the seed of David both by genealogy and by His human nature, establishing His rightful claim to the messianic title. Additionally, through His teachings and miracles, He demonstrated the authority that was prophesied about the coming Redeemer. The prophecies like those in Isaiah 61 were fulfilled in Him, as acknowledged by His own proclamation in the synagogue. This convergence of scriptural promises with His existence forms a solid foundation for His messiahship, proving His divine identity and mission.

Q: Why is the concept of salvation through Christ important for Christians?

Salvation through Christ is vital for Christians as it represents the complete redemption of sin and reconciliation to God. The concept of salvation through Christ stands central in the Christian faith, as it encompasses the grace and mercy extended by God through the sacrificial work of Jesus. Salvation refers to deliverance from sin, bondage, and the curse of the law, and it is only attainable through faith in Christ who has satisfied divine justice. He is identified as the great high priest and the ultimate sacrifice, providing peace that surpasses understanding. As discussed in Isaiah, the Messianic role includes not only liberation from physical and spiritual captivity but also the bestowal of blessings such as joy and beauty for ashes. This assurance of salvation reinforces the Christian belief in eternal life and the relationship that believers have with God through faith in Jesus.

Q: What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

To be 'poor in spirit' means recognizing our spiritual need and dependence on God for salvation. Being 'poor in spirit' acknowledges a state of spiritual neediness and an understanding of one's own sinfulness. It reflects a humility before God, recognizing that we bring nothing of our own merit to earn His favor. This is emphasized in Christ's teaching that the poor in spirit are blessed, as theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In this state, a person is open to receive the grace and mercy that God offers, and it leads to a deeper relationship with Him. The biblical portrayal suggests that those who mourn their sin and seek healing from Christ find true comfort and reconciliation, reinforcing the message of the Gospel.

Q: Why is the role of Christ as our High Priest significant?

Christ’s role as High Priest is significant because He mediates between God and humanity through His perfect sacrifice. The role of Christ as our High Priest is pivotal in Reformed theology because it provides the means by which believers can be reconciled to God. According to Hebrews, Jesus not only assumed this role but does so perfectly, making Him the one mediator who fully represents humanity before the Father. His sacrifice was once and for all, surpassing the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, and thus securing eternal redemption for those who believe. As High Priest, He intercedes on behalf of the saints, ensuring that their prayers and needs are presented to God. This dual role of being both the ultimate sacrifice and an intercessor emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ's work, establishing a deep assurance in the hearts of believers.

Now, the title of my message
today is, The Son Shall Make You Free. And I'm going to be
speaking from Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, three verses, verses
1, 2, and 3. And I'd like for you to take
your Bibles and follow along as I preach. The Lord Jesus had
come to Nazareth, where he was brought up, where he lived and
where he worked as a carpenter. and where Mary and Joseph and
the family still live. Some of the people said, we know
him, we know his mother, we know his brothers and sisters. But
he came back to Nazareth and his fame had spread abroad everywhere,
Capernaum and other cities where his mighty works had been performed. But our Lord went to the synagogue
on the Sabbath day. When he came back to his hometown,
he went to the synagogue. The scripture says, as his custom
was. For he was a Jew. He was the
seed of Abraham. He was the house of David. Remember,
he was born in Bethlehem, city of David. He's our Messiah. He's our Savior. And he was brought
up under the law, the law of circumcision, the law of the
Passover, the law of the Sabbath, and the law of the first fruits
and all these other feasts that he observed. And he did this,
he said, to fulfill all righteousness on our behalf. for our salvation. Well, he came to the synagogue
and the scripture says they delivered unto him the writings of Isaiah
the prophet. And our Lord stood up to read.
Back then they stood up to read and they sat down to preach.
But our Lord stood up to read and he deliberately, this is
Jesus Christ our Lord, in the synagogue on the Sabbath day
with a large group of people there. Place was packed. They
came to hear him, they said, do the things here you did in
the other cities. Let's see some of your wonders
and miracles. But anyway, they were all there.
And our Lord turned in Isaiah's prophecy, in Isaiah's book. He
turned to a particular passage of Scripture in Isaiah 61, 61. This is a Messianic prophecy.
This prophecy is known and was known to all those Jewish leaders
as a prophecy relating to the Messiah, whom they expected,
of whom the scriptures had written, and whom they talked about, the
Messiah. You remember the woman at the
well said, the Messiah's coming, that Christ is coming. He has
all the answers. He'll tell us all things. When
the Messiah comes, he'll tell us everything. We're looking
for the Messiah. And they were too. They said they were. Well,
Christ picked out this Messianic prophecy and He said, listen,
it's in Isaiah 61. You find it there, Isaiah 61,
verse 1, 2, and 3. He stood to read, The Spirit
of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord God hath anointed me
to preach good news to the poor, gospel to the poor, The Lord
God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He has sent me
to proclaim liberty, freedom to the captives, the opening
of prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God,
and to comfort all that mourn." And he closed the book. And he
sat down, and all eyes in the synagogue were upon him. And
he said to them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears. This scripture was written hundreds
and hundreds of years ago about the Messiah. But you've just
heard it, and it's fulfilled in your ears. For I am the Messiah. I am the woman's seed. I am the
kinsman redeemer. I am the desire of all nations.
I am the Lord, our righteousness, of whom Jeremiah spoke. I am
the branch. I am the root of Jesse. I am
the seed of David. I am the lion of the tribe of
Judah. I am that prophet of whom Moses wrote. I am the messenger
of the covenant of whom Malachi spoke." He said all of these
promises and prophecies. This is what he's saying. All
of these promises and prophecies and pictures and types of the
Old Testament concerning the Messiah and concerning salvation
is fulfilled this very day in your ears. The God-man, the Messiah,
is here. That's what Timothy wrote. Timothy
wrote in 1st ... Paul wrote to Timothy, writing
the letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3. He said, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh,
seen of the angels, that is, announced by the angels, vindicated
by the Spirit, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, crucified on the cross, buried in the tomb, and risen
and received up in glory. Christ said, I'm He. Isaiah wrote
in Isaiah 7, 14, Behold, the Lord himself will give you a
sign. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. God is with us. Christ said, I'm He. I am the
Messiah. Micah wrote, Thou Bethlehem. We've been reading this the past
few weeks. Thou Bethlehem. little among
the thousands, yet out of thee he'll come forth unto me." Now,
this prophecy is written years before Christ came. He'll come
forth unto me who will be the ruler in Israel, the king in
Israel, whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting,
from everlasting God Almighty in human flesh. Christ said,
I'm he. One day the Messiah, our Lord
Jesus Christ, was speaking to some of these religious leaders,
some of these men who were sitting right there in that congregation
in that Sabbath morning in that synagogue. He'd been talking
to some of these men. They'd been asking him all sorts
of questions, all sorts of questions. And he answered their questions
and put them to silence. And when they had nothing else
to say, one of them said to him, said, He said, which is the greatest
law? Which is the greatest commandment?
And our Lord said, all the commandments are fulfilled in two. Love God
with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. And he
couldn't answer. He couldn't say anything. Now
they were all silent. So our Lord put a question to them.
He said to them, now what think ye of the Messiah? This is what
I've been talking about here, the Messiah, the Christ who is
to come. What do you think of the Messiah? What do you think
of the Christ? Whose son is he? Whose son is
he? And they quickly replied. They
could answer that, because that's in the Scripture. They replied,
the Messiah will come as the son of David. He'll be born in
the town of David. The Messiah will come from the
seed of David, from the tribe of Judah, from the loins of Jesse. Well, our Lord said to them,
Now, in speaking of the Messiah, you say he's the seed of David,
son of David. In speaking of the Messiah, David
said, David said, that Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David
called the Messiah Lord. Now, you say the Messiah is the
son of David. How can the Messiah, the Christ,
the glorious Redeemer, be David's son? And at the same time, David's
Lord. Tell me how he can be David's
son and David's Lord. And the Scripture says that no
man was able to answer that question. Well, that's a question for you.
It's a question for me. The Messiah is a son of David,
and the Messiah is David's God and David's Lord. Well, Paul
answered that for us. Over in Romans chapter 1, Paul
answered that. This is what he said. Paul, a
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to
the gospel of God, which he spoke by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
This is no new gospel now. This is the ancient gospel. This
is the gospel of Moses and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
fathers. But he said it's concerning his
son, Jesus Christ. Now watch this. "...who was made
of the seed of David, who was made of the seed of David. He
was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word was made flesh. God, in the fullness of time,
God sent His Son into the world made of a woman. So in His human
nature and as a man, Jesus Christ was made of the seed of David. He was David's son. You can take
Matthew's genealogy of Christ and Luke's genealogy of Christ
and trace Christ and lineage right on back to David and right
on back to Abraham. He was made of the seed of David,
but he was declared to be the Son of God. So he's David's son
according to the flesh, but he's David's Lord and master according
to what he is and what he has always been. with power, perfection,
holiness, and raised from the dead, made what he wasn't, a
man, and declared to be what he is, God Almighty. Well, when
the Samaritan woman, you remember the Samaritan woman's conversation
with our Lord? The Lord Jesus talked to this
Samaritan woman in John 4, and when she fully realized her sinfulness,
it took a while, And when she fully realized her inability,
her lost state, and when she fully realized her futility at
worship, she finally said, when the Messiah comes, when the Christ
comes, he'll have all the answers. He'll tell us. The Messiah will. And that's when the Lord Jesus
said to her, I that speak to thee am he. I that speak to thee
am the Messiah." And my friends, this is what our Lord is saying
to that synagogue crowd on the Sabbath day. When he read that
Messianic prophecy, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to give liberty
to the captives, to bind up the brokenhearted, to comfort those
that mourn. I am, this scripture is fulfilled
in your ears, I am the Messiah. This day, all this Scripture
is fulfilled. Who is the Messiah? Jesus, the
son of Mary. Call His name Jesus, He'll save
His people from their sins. Call His name Emmanuel. Who is
the Messiah? Emmanuel, God with us. What's
His name? Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What did
the Messiah come to do? Let's read the Scripture. The
Scripture our Lord read, the Scripture the Messiah Himself,
on that Sabbath morning, in that synagogue at Nazareth, chose
to read, and to identify Himself to all those people, and to identify
what His work, what He came to do. What did He come to do? We
know now who He is. Made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were born under the law. Alright,
He says this, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Now, the
Spirit of the Lord God had been upon many men before. The Spirit
of the Lord God, I believe, now is upon every man whom He calls
and sends to speak for Him. I believe the Spirit of God is
upon me when I preach the gospel. But the Spirit of God, what Christ
is saying here, the Spirit of God is upon Christ Jesus, the
Messiah, without measure, as it's never been upon any man.
When he was baptized and came up out of the water, the Spirit
of God descended upon him in the form of a dove and dwelt
upon him without measure. He was perfect in holiness and
perfect in power. And the Spirit of God came upon
him, and the Lord God sent him empowered with his perfect spirit. To do what? He hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. Now, in the Old Testament
Scriptures, there are three offices among the rulers of Israel. There's the prophet. Moses was
the prophet. There's the priest. Abram was
the priest. There's the king. Saul, David,
Solomonâ€”those were the kings. And no man had three offices.
No man assumed these other offices. If he's a king, he wasn't a priest.
If he's a prophet, he wasn't a king. He wasn't a priest. But
our Lord Jesus Christ is all those offices. He is the prophet. He came to preach the gospel.
That's what he said, I came to preach the gospel to the poor.
This is my beloved son, the father said, hear him. He's the priest. Avon was the priest. Christ,
he's the type of Christ. Christ is our great high priest. And his blood is the sacrifice,
not the blood of an animal. He is our king. David was a king,
a type of Christ, but Christ is the king who reigns over his
people. He has sent me as the prophet,
the priest and the king, to preach the gospel, the good news to
the poor, not just to the poor in possessions, but the poor
in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of God.
And Arthur Pink gave the best definition of the poor in spirit. Christ came, sent by God, empowered
by the spirit, that prophet, that priest, that king, to preach
the gospel to the poor. What is spiritual poverty? Arthur Pink says it's those who
have nothing spiritually, who know nothing spiritually, who
can do nothing spiritually, and he came to supply them with all
they need. preach the gospel to the world.
David often, David was one of the richest men who lived in
his day, one of the most powerful men, one of the most talented
men. But before God, he always pleaded
this, I'm poor and needy. I'm poor and needy. According
to thy lovingkindness, O God, have mercy upon me. And our Lord
came to preach the gospel to those people who are poor in
spirit. And then he said, he sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to bind up the brokenhearted. What's
this brokenheartedness? Well, I suppose everyone listening
to me has had some great sorrow to visit you at some time in
your life, and you know what it means to be, what we say,
heartbroken. But our Lord's not talking about
that kind of broken heart. Our Lord is speaking not here
of the loss of a loved one or the disappointments of earth.
Our Lord is talking about those who are brokenhearted over sin,
whose hearts are smitten and contrite because of sin, who
are humbled by the Spirit of God over our sinful natures. My sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. We were humbled over our sinful
natures, our sinful words, our sinful ways before a holy God. Isaiah saw the Lord, and he said,
Lord, I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell among a people of unclean
lips. I'm undone. I'm cut off, brokenhearted
over sin. The publican came into the temple. He wouldn't go down to the front.
He stood in the back, wouldn't lift his eyes to heaven, smote
upon his breast. He said, God, oh God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. He smote on his breast, had a
broken heart. David said in Psalm 130, Lord,
out of the depths have I cried unto thee. Lord, hear my voice. Lord, if thou should mark iniquity,
who would stand? Oh, brokenhearted over sin. And our Lord said, I've come
to bind them up. I've come to heal them. I've
come to give peace to the troubled spirit and the broken heart.
Then notice what he said. I've come to proclaim liberty
to the captives, the opening of prison to them who abound."
Well, now, this is interesting. Who is this? I know who the poor
in spirit, I know who the brokenhearted. Now, who are those who abound
and in prison? Well, there's an interesting
dialogue that our Lord had with some of these religious Pharisees
over in John 8. Listen to it. Our Lord in John
chapter 8 verse 32 said to these men, these religious Pharisees,
He said, you should know the truth and the truth will make
you free. You know the truth and the truth
will make you free. And they answered back in their
pride. They said, we're Abraham's seed. Don't you understand that? We've
never been in bondage to any man. We're not in bondage. We've never been in bondage.
Why are you talking about being free?" The Lord replied, "'He
that committed sin is a servant of sin.'" Anybody listening to
my voice, including this preacher who's talking, who's ever sinned,
who does sin in word, thought, or deed, is a servant of sin. The reason we sin is because
we're in bondage to sin. We're in bondage to a fallen
nature. We're born in sin. In sin, our
mother conceived us. We're strained from the womb.
We come from the womb, speak it lies. We exaggerate. There's no way in this world
we can go one hour without sin in some way. We don't love our
neighbors ourselves. We don't love God with all our
heart, mind, soul, and strength. We're in bondage to sin, to sinful
nature. to a fallen will. And as a result
of that sin, we're under the curse of the law. We're in bondage
to the law. The law demands perfection. We
haven't produced it, so we're in bondage. And we're in a body
that's dying. Can't stop it. Our body's decaying,
it's corrupting, it's getting old, it's withering, it's dying.
You can't stop it. You're in bondage. Sin, the curse
of sin, the state of sin, the nature of sin. That's what Paul
said over there in Romans chapter 7. He said, I find when I would
do good, evil is present with me. You know what he's talking
about. So he that commits sin is a servant of sin. So how are
we going to get out of this bondage? How are we going to get out of
this captivity to the sinful nature? The next verse, our Lord
said, John 8, 36, if the Son shall make you free, you'll be
free indeed. I've come to set free the prisoners
of sin. I've come to set the captive
free. I've come to deliver men from
the curse of the law, from the bondage of the law. Sin shall
not have dominion over you. Christ shall reign. He's come
to set the captive free. Know what that means? I know
what that means. The liberty of Christ. The Spirit
of God is upon me. He sent me to preach the gospel,
the good news of the gospel. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He sent me to set the captive
free. And he sent me, listen, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. Over in Leviticus 25, there's
one of the most interesting, beautiful types of Christ called
the year of jubilee. in Leviticus 25. I don't have
the time on the program to read it all, but you read it. Leviticus
25, verses 8 through 10. One of the types of our Lord
Jesus Christ and His redeeming work is the year of Jubilee. Every 50th year in Israel, number
seven years of Sabbaths, seven years and one year, 50 years,
every 50 years, there was a call, the trumpet sounded, and there
was the year of the Jubilee. What does that mean? Every slave
was set free. All property that had been lost
or sold or taken over by somebody else was restored to its original
owner. All debts, no matter how much
a man owed or to whom he owed it, all debts were paid in full. And there was declared a year
of rest and peace and no work. It's called the acceptable year
of the Lord, the year of Jubilee. And because God has accepted
us in the Beloved, that's right, Ephesians says we're accepted
in the Beloved, then this slave has been set free. This servant
of sin has been delivered. This bondage, this will that
was in bondage is now free. What I lost in Adam is restored. He's restored my soul and all
my debts of sin are paid in full. And I have peace and rest, and
no more labor in the torrent of sin. There's therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. He hath made Him to
be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now then, listen. He hath sent
me to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. And my friends, is
God just to punish sin? Can God be holy and not punish
sin? The death of Christ proves that
God will punish sin. So there's coming a day of vengeance,
a day of redemption, the day of resurrection, the day when
the people of God will go to forever be with the Lord and
the rest of the earth is going to be judged. In Acts 17 31 says,
God commandeth all men everywhere to repent for he hath appointed
a day, a day of vengeance, a day in which he's going to judge
this world and he's going to judge it in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained. whom He sent, of whom we've been
reading. And judgment will be based upon
your relationship with Him. Judgment will be upon all who
have not His righteousness to sanctify Him and His blood to
justify Him. The judgment will be upon all
those who have not His blood to atone. There's one Mediator,
the man Christ Jesus. There's one righteousness, and
that's the Lord our righteousness. There's one high priest. Seeing
we have such a high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, let us
come to God. There's one sacrifice for sin. He put away sin with
the sacrifice of himself. And there's one way of salvation.
He that hath the Son hath life. So Christ came to proclaim there's
a day coming when men shall be judged. And the basis of that
judgment will be our relationship to Christ. He that believeth
on the Son of God shall not come into condemnation, but is passed
from death unto life. But he that believeth not on
the Son shall be judged and cast into eternal condemnation. Then he says about the church,
he will give them beauty for ashes, his beauty, his glory
in place of their ashes of sin. He will give them oil of joy
for morning. Weeping may endure for the night,
but joy comes in the morning. He'll give them the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord." All right, if you
want this tape, write for it, send $2, we'll mail it to you.
Until next week at this same time, may God bless you, everyone.

The Son Shall Make You Free

What does the Bible say about the Messiah?

How do we know Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy?

Why is the concept of salvation through Christ important for Christians?

What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

Why is the role of Christ as our High Priest significant?

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About Henry Mahan

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The Son Shall Make You Free

What does the Bible say about the Messiah?

How do we know Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy?

Why is the concept of salvation through Christ important for Christians?

What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

Why is the role of Christ as our High Priest significant?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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