My subject today is one that
I think you'll find to be very interesting. I'm going to speak
to you on this subject, the key to the Scriptures. I hear people
so often say, I just don't understand the Scriptures, the Old Testament
Scriptures. That's what we're talking about,
the key to the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. Well,
I think I'll be able to help you today. So if you will, just
pull up a chair and sit and listen to this message on the key to
the Scriptures. Now, after our Lord was crucified
and arose from the grave, he appeared to his disciples, to
two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then a short time
later to all the apostles. He appeared to them after his
resurrection, And beginning at Moses, here in Luke 24, verse
27, beginning at Moses, that's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, the writings of Moses, beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, Samuel, Isaiah, Malachi, all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. And then in verse 44, he said
to them, now listen, these are the words that I spake unto you
while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses, that is those first
five books of the Bible, in the prophets, the major, minor prophets,
in the Psalms concerning me. All of these things that are
written in the Old Testament Scriptures must be fulfilled,
the things concerning me, he said. And then down in verse
46 he said this to them, Thus it is written in the Scriptures,
the Old Testament Scriptures, that the Messiah, the Christ,
should suffer and on the third day arise from the dead, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in
his name among all nations, not to the Jews only, but to the
Gentiles, all nations. And then verse 45, then opened
he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And that's exactly what I'm making
an effort to do this morning by this hire the Holy Spirit
to open your understanding so that you can understand the Scriptures,
the Old Testament Scriptures, and no more say, I can't understand
the Scriptures. Yes, you can if you can get hold
of this key. Now, he's talking about the Old
Testament Scriptures. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures, for the New Testament
at that time had not been written. You know, our Lord said to the
Pharisees in John 5, these leaders of the Jews, He said, you search
the Scriptures. And they did. They were scholars.
They were men who studied the Old Testament Scriptures, the
laws of Moses. He said, you search the Scriptures.
For in the Scriptures you think you have life. But they are they
which testify of me. So here I find one key here in
everything our Lord is saying, that Christ Jesus Himself, our
crucified, risen, exalted Redeemer, Christ Himself, is the key to
understanding the Scriptures. He is the key. The Bible, you
see, is two separate parts. There's Old Testament and New
Testament, but both have one single message. how that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save his people, to redeem a
people by the sacrifice of himself. It has one single message, Old
and New Testament. The Bible has 66 books written
by 40 different men over a period of 1,900 years, inspired by God. Now, the Scriptures were written.
God used men to write the Scriptures. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the Scriptures. And
God used 40 men over a period of 1900 years to write the Old
and New Testament. And all Scripture is God-breathed,
inspired of God. And all Scripture has one central
theme, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Someone said one time,
the Old Testament Scriptures declare that someone's coming,
The Lamb of God is coming into this world. He's coming. He's going to be of the seed
of woman. He's going to be a priest like Melchizedek. He's going
to be a prophet like Moses. He's going to be a king like
David. He's going to be the desire of all nations, the brazen serpent
lifted up, the smitten rock, the Passover Lamb. The Old Testament,
all the way through, declares someone's coming. He's called
the Christ. He's called the Messiah. And
the four Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what's
their message? He has come. He's here. Behold,
John the Baptist said, the Lamb of God. Behold Him in the manger. Behold Him on the streets of
Galilee. Behold Him by the sea of Galilee. Behold Him on the
cross. Behold Him in the tomb. Behold
Him risen. Behold the Lamb of God. He has
come. He said to that crowd in the
synagogue at Nazareth, recorded in Luke 4. Today, this day, this
scripture is fulfilled in your ears, the scripture regarding
the coming Messiah. And then what about the epistles?
There are 21 epistles, Romans through Jude, and the message
of those epistles is this, He's coming back. The Messiah, the
Christ, He said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." And the
angels that stood on top of the mountain when he was taken up
into heaven while the disciples watched him go, these angels
said to those disciples, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go." The key to the Scriptures, Old Testament
and New, the key to the Word of God is the person and redemptive
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, to help you see this, to
help you see this, as a person reads the Old Testament Scriptures,
as he makes his way through the Old Testament from Genesis to
Malachi, There are three great highways that he will travel
upon. This is the Old Testament Scriptures
now. Genesis to Malachi. There are
three great highways. As you go through that Scripture,
you'll travel on one. It is the highway of promises. Promises and prophecies. God's many promises throughout
the Old Testament. Many promises and prophecies
that God gave to the nation Israel. Many prophecies of deliverance,
salvation, redemption, the kingdom of God. So you'll go through
the promises and the prophecies. And the second highway that you'll
travel upon is the highway of ceremonies. There are many ceremonies,
feast days, holy days, sacrifices, atonement, blood shedding, priesthood. Tabernacle, holy of holies, holy
place. You'll go through this road of
ceremonies and sacrifices. And then the third highway that
you'll travel upon going through the Old Testament Scriptures
is you'll meet men and women, faithful men and women, godly
men and women, just full of longing and desire for fellowship with
God, to know God, To be redeemed. To have their sins forgiven.
To have everlasting life. And they cried to God for a revelation
of Himself. And that's the highway you'll
travel. Promises. Prophecies. Ceremonies. Sacrifices. And you'll meet people like Abraham.
And Isaac. And Jacob. Moses. David. Who cried, God be merciful. According
to your loving kindness. Blot out my transgressions. Wash
me from my iniquities. Purge me from my sin? Yes. Well,
let's look at these highways, see if it helps us, and find
the key, which is Christ. Now, here's the first. We come
to the promises and prophecies, and we meet the promises immediately,
immediately in Genesis chapter 3, right after our first parents
sinned and fell and died in trespasses and sin. And God promised right
then the woman's seed. God said to the serpent who tempted
Adam and to whose voice Adam listened, God said to that serpent,
I'm going to put enmity between you and your seed and the woman
and her seed. And you'll bruise his heel, but
the woman's seed will destroy your power. The woman's seed
One man born of woman will destroy your power and restore men to
life. That's a promise. And you meet
that in the first part of Genesis, the seed of woman. Well, who
is this? You're not a seed of woman. I'm not a seed of woman.
Woman doesn't have a seed. When he said seed of woman, he's
talking about somebody being born of a woman without the help
of a man. That's right, virgin born. That's
the promise, that you meet Christ in the first promise in the Old
Testament. I'll put enmity between thee
and the woman, her seed and your seed, and he'll conquer you and
bruise your head and destroy your power. And that's what Isaiah
said in Isaiah 7, 14. Behold, the Lord himself will
give you a sign. A virgin shall bear a son, and
you'll call his name Emmanuel, the Mighty One. The mighty God,
almighty God, God with us. So that's the promise. And Christ
is the fulfillment. All right. Move to Genesis 15.
This is in the early part of Genesis, writing to Moses. And
this is what our Lord taught his disciples concerning himself.
God called Abraham out of his land. He's 75 years old. He began
the Jewish nation with Abraham. Abraham was the first Jew. First
Israelite, first circumcised man was Abraham, 75 years old,
no children, married to Satan. And God promised him that from
his loins, from his loins, his seed, not the woman's seed now. We've been talking about the
woman's seed. That's the virgin-born Son of God. But this is Abraham's
seed. From his seed, who was Isaac.
From your seed, through an unbroken line, that'll go through Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, tribe of Judah, root of Jesse, son of David. I promise that through you and
your seed will come forth the Messiah, and He'll be a blessing
to all nations. Your seed will number as the
stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore." Well, who is
that seed? Well, Galatians 3 tells us who it is. To Abraham and
to his seed was the promise made. Not to seeds as many, but to
seed one, which is Christ. Jesus Christ is born a Jew. He's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. He was born of the root of Jesse.
He was born of the house of David. And do you know why Mary, his
mother, and Joseph, his foster father, were in Bethlehem at
this time? Do you know what they were doing
there? They were Jews. And both of them were of the
house and lineage of David. And they were in Bethlehem to
pay their taxes. And the Old Testament Scriptures
prophesied that the Christ whose goings forth have been from of
old will be born in Bethlehem. And this nation will be a blessing
to all nations." That's what he said to Abraham, your seed,
I will raise up of your seed a blessing to all nations. And
he repeated that promise to Isaac, Genesis 26. He said, Isaac, in
thy seed shall all nations be blessed. He repeated that promise
to Jacob in Genesis 28, in thy seed all families of the earth
shall be blessed. And Jacob blessing his sons in
Genesis 49, before Jacob died, down in Egypt, blessing his sons,
each one, he had something to say about each son. And he came
to Judah, came to Judah, and he said, Judah, The scepter shall
not depart from you, your tribe, Judah, till Shiloh comes." Shiloh. And to him shall the gathering
of the people be. And to David in II Samuel 7,
the Lord said, I'll establish your throne forever. Now, you
take your Bible in Matthew, the early chapters of Luke, and trace
the house and lineage of our Messiah, and you'll trace it
right back to Abraham. And there's an unbroken line
through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Jesse and David right
on down to the birth of the Son of God. And then Isaiah. This is the prophet Isaiah. And
he talks more about the promised Messiah than most of the prophets.
But here in Isaiah 7, 14, let me read that promise again. The Lord himself will give you
a sign. an undeniable sign, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son. You call his name, listen to
this now, Immanuel. What does Immanuel mean? Well,
in the next chapter, Isaiah 8, verse 10, Immanuel is God with
us. That's true. Our Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is born of a woman. But that person born
of that woman is also God Almighty. Now listen to me. In Galatians
4, Paul said, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that are born
under the law. Christ is God. Great is the mystery
of godliness, Paul wrote in 1 Timothy. God was manifest in the flesh. And you're familiar with John
chapter 1, verse 1. It says, In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And down in verse 14 it says,
And the Word was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was made flesh. And the Word was with God, and
the Word dwelt among us. And the Word was God, and we
beheld His glory. Jesus of Nazareth is God Almighty. He says here in Isaiah 9 6 now
listen to this. Here's another promise Promise
we're traveling that highway now and every promise is fulfilled
in Christ He's the key If you can't see him, you can't understand
the scriptures Isaiah 9 6 listen for unto us a child is born Unto
us a son is given But preachers, that's saying the same thing.
A child is born, a son is given. Oh, no. A child is born, a new
child, formed in the womb of a mother. But this Son, He was
given. He came from heaven and inhabited
that body. The Son is given. This is the
Son of God. This is the only begotten Son
of God. This is the Son of His love. This is the Son in which
He said, I'm well pleased. The Son of God. dwelt in the
body of that child that was born. And look at the next line, and
the government will be on his shoulders. What government is
that? That's the government of God's
kingdom. It's called the kingdom of his dear son. And his name,
listen to what his name will be. Wonderful? Do you know that's
what the Lord said his name was when he talked to Manoah and
his wife after the sacrifice? They said, what is your name?
He said, Wonderful, wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. That's our Lord. And then in Isaiah 53, I'm going
to preach on this next Sunday. But the Messiah shall not only
be a glorious king, but he's one who will suffer for sins.
He's despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Oh, the many promises. and prophecies
of the Old Testament in all 39 books. The key to understand
those promising prophecies is to see Christ Jesus the Lord. All right, the second highway
is the highway of ceremonies and sacrifices. Again, we'll
go back to the beginning, back to Genesis. Let's go back to
Genesis 4 now. We started in Genesis 3 and saw
the seed of woman. Genesis 4, there were two boys.
Two young men is what they were, Abel and Cain. And they came
to worship God. And they both built an altar.
And Abel slew a lamb and offered a blood sacrifice to God. And God had respect to his offering.
But Cain, he brought the fruit of the ground. And to his offering,
God had no respect. And the truth is immediately
established. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. Noah offered a blood sacrifice
when he stepped off the ark. Abraham offered a ram as a sacrifice
instead of his son Isaac. Down in Egypt, Israel slew a
Passover lamb. God said, I'm coming through
at midnight to destroy the firstborn in every home. You slay a lamb
and roast it with fire and eat the body, but put the blood on
the door. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you." That's the message all the way through the Old Testament.
Listen to Leviticus 17, 11. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. I've given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement
for your soul. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. Moses built a tabernacle. Solomon
built a temple into which daily blood sacrifices were offered,
one after another, and a yearly atonement was offered. Oh, the
many sacrifices all the way through the Old Testament. Well, what
do they mean? Paul said in Hebrews, it's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. All the blood on Jewish
altars slain cannot wash away one sin or cleanse one stain.
God said that. He said, I never had any pleasure
in these sacrifices. blood offerings, the blood of
an animal cannot put away the sin of a man. So what does it
mean, all these blood sacrifices? Well, it's fulfilled right here
in Hebrews. Paul tells us, wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, when Christ came into the world, he
said, these sacrifices and offerings of animals never gave God any
pleasure or any satisfaction, but a body hast thou prepared
me." So by the will of God, we're sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. You see, every priest,
every priest, there were many of them, Christ is one, they
stood daily, they never sat down, their work was never done, offering
the same sacrifices over and over, which could never take
away sin. But this man, And you'll run into that, those three words,
all the way through Hebrews. But this man, the God-man, after
he offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down, his work
finished at the right hand of God, expecting till his enemies
become his footstool. And by one offering, one atonement,
one sacrifice, he perfected forever them that have sanctified. That's
what all these sacrifices are pointing to, the death of the
Lamb of God. Every lamb, every bullock, every
ram, every goat that died in the Old Testament was a picture
of Christ who died for our sin. All right, we've walked on the
promises road and the prophecy road and the ceremony road and
the sacrifice road. Now let's listen to these people.
Old Testament men and women, Old Testament men and women,
listen to their testimonies. conscious of their sins, convicted
of their sinful nature and inability to please the Holy God, knowing
they're dying creatures, there's life after death. These men and
women desired, yearned, longed for forgiveness, for salvation,
for fellowship with God. Jacob said, Lord, O Lord, I have
longed for Thy salvation. Job cried, O that I might, O
that I might know where to find him. David wrote, As the thirsty
deer panteth for the water brook, so my soul panteth for thee,
O God. David summed up the need of these
people, the desire of these people, and the longing of these people
in Psalm 51. He said, Have mercy on me, O
God. Blot out my transgressions. wash me from my iniquities, cleanse
me from my sin, create in me a clean heart, restore unto me
the joy of thy salvation, purge me with hyssop." How's he going
to do this? How can he be cleanest born of
a woman? How can God be just and justify her? I'll tell you
how. The woman at the well described
it. She said, in desperation, the Messiah is coming, The Messiah's
coming, and He'll tell us all things, how God can be just and
justify. He'll reveal it. He'll tell us.
And Christ said to her, I'm He. I'm He. I speak to thee, I'm
He. I'm the Messiah. I'm the Christ.
I'm the fulfillment of all sacrifices and promises and prophecies.
The Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. This is it. This is the record. God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. So you take all the promises
and prophecies of the Old Testament and put these three words after
it, I'm He. You take all the types and shadows
and sacrifices of the Old Testament and write these three words,
I am He, the Fulfillment. That's the name He gave to Moses. God did, I am. Moses said, what's
your name? The burning bush, you know, God
was speaking. He said, what's your name? The
Lord said, I am, that I am. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I am he. And if you believe not, that
I am he. I am the high priest. I am the
sin offering. I am the atonement. I am the
fulfillment of all scriptures. I am the way. The truth and the
life. You see, Adam lost three things in that garden. He lost
his life. He died in sin. He lost the truth. He believed the lies of Satan.
He believed Satan. He didn't believe God. He believed
Satan. He lost his life. He lost the truth and he lost
the way God put him out. In Christ, all three are restored. I am the way to God. I am the
truth of God. And I am the life. But he says
that all the way through the New Testament. I am. I am the
good shepherd. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall go in and out and find pasture, and
he shall be saved. I am the light of the world.
I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection. Yes, sir,
in Him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and we're complete in Him. God hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. So you take that Old Testament
and you read those promises and prophecies and you'll see that
they're fulfilled in Christ. And you watch all of those sacrifices,
and the slaying of lambs, and the atonements, and the high
priest going into the Holy of Holies, and that's Christ, who
went not into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven
itself, not with the blood of an animal, but with His own blood,
and obtained eternal redemption for us. And if you've got a longing
heart to know God, He says, come unto Me. Come unto Me. All you that labor in the heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. And you take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, and you'll find rest unto your soul. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, come to the water." He's speaking of the Holy Spirit.
And out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now I
hope this message will be a blessing to you, and I hope that it'll
be used of God to open the Scriptures, to give you a key to understanding
the Old Testament Scriptures. For Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of the Scriptures. They are they which testify of
me. All the prophets, to Him give all the prophets witness
that through His blood, through His perfect righteousness, we
have eternal life. So you write to us if you want
this message, and send two dollars, and we'll mail it to you. And
there'll be another message on the other side that I'll bring
next week from Isaiah 53. Next week I'm going back to the
Old Testament, back to chapter 53 of Isaiah, and talk to you
about substitution. And that's the story of the Word
of God, substitution and satisfaction. So if you want the tape, you
write to us, and we'll send it to you. Until next week, At this
same time, may God bless you, everyone.