Jesus Christ, the Messiah

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

The Bible affirms that Jesus is the Messiah through prophecies like Isaiah 61, fulfilled in His ministry. The concept of Jesus as the Messiah is rooted in prophecies found in the Old Testament, particularly in Isaiah 61:1-3, where it is stated that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him to preach good tidings. This passage is recognized as a Messianic prophecy that Jesus Himself claimed was fulfilled in Him during His ministry. As the God-man, Jesus embodies the promises and prophecies of salvation, performing miracles, preaching to the meek, and healing the broken-hearted, thus validating His identity as the Messiah who brings good news and freedom to sinners.

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

Jesus explicitly claimed to fulfill Old Testament prophecies, affirming His identity and divine mission. Jesus indicated His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies during His ministry, particularly noted when He read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue of Nazareth. He concluded His reading by declaring, 'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,' highlighting that every promise and prophecy about salvation and redemption throughout the Old Testament is embodied in Him. His life, works, and teachings corroborate the prophetic words, serving as a divine confirmation that He is indeed the promised Messiah.

Q: Why is Jesus' coming important for Christians?

Jesus' coming is vital as He brings salvation, healing, and freedom from sin. The arrival of Jesus is significant for Christians because it represents the culmination of God's redemptive plan for humanity. His ministry, characterized by preaching good news to the poor and healing the broken-hearted, fulfills God's promises of forgiveness and grace. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus offers liberation from the bondage of sin and the law, providing believers with the assurance of salvation and eternal life. His role as the Messiah emphasizes the hope and restoration available to all who believe and seek Him.

Q: What does it mean that Jesus was anointed by God?

Being anointed by God signifies Jesus' divine appointment as Prophet, Priest, and King. In His ministry, Jesus' anointing by God is a significant theological point. It means that He was ordained for specific roles crucial to His mission: as Prophet, proclaiming God's word; as Priest, offering Himself as the sacrifice for sin; and as King, reigning over His people. This anointing signifies the authority granted to Him by God to fulfill the covenant of redemption. The Scriptures indicate that this anointing is unique, for it was given to Him without measure, indicating the fullness of the Holy Spirit at work through Him as He accomplishes God's purposes on earth.

Q: How does Jesus provide freedom to the captives?

Jesus provides freedom to captives through His sacrifice and the gospel's proclamation. Jesus' ministry includes the powerful proclamation of liberty to the captives, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. This freedom is not merely physical but spiritual, addressing the deeper captivity of sin and the law. By His death on the cross, He takes upon Himself the full weight of God's justice, thus discharging the debts owed by sinners. Because of this, those who believe in Him experience true liberation from the tyranny of sin, as the gospel is proclaimed to all who are lost, showing that through faith in Christ, they are set free and welcomed into God's everlasting covenant.

Before I bring the message today,
I'd like to make an announcement. Now, I do not usually announce
where I'll be preaching on these broadcasts because these tapes
are used at a later date on other stations. But I'll be speaking
tonight and tomorrow night and Tuesday night in Cottageville,
West Virginia. at the Millsite Baptist Church.
These folks have been friends of mine for many years and I'll
be speaking there tonight. Now the evening service on Sunday
evening tonight is 6.30 p.m. and then we'll be meeting Monday
night and Tuesday night at 7 p.m. So I invite you to come to those
services if you live in that area around Cottageville, West
Virginia. I'll be there tonight 6.30 tomorrow
night and Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Millsite Baptist Church.
And the pastor of the church is Brother Doug Weaver. And I'll
be preaching there three nights. So we invite you to those services.
I want you to open your Bibles with me today to the book of
Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 61. I'm going
to be speaking from verses 1, 2, and 3. you'll get so much
more from this message if you'll take the Bible and open it and
read it along with me. And let me try, as the Spirit
of God gives us some understanding, to explain to you what our Lord
is saying here in Isaiah 61, verses 1, 2, and 3. Now, the
title of the message is Jesus Christ the Messiah, Jesus Christ
the Messiah. Now let me give you a little
background here. Our Lord came to the earth in
the likeness of our flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
Paul said, in the form of a servant. And our Lord was born of a virgin
in Bethlehem. He was born of a virgin in order
that he might not partake of Adam's sin. He was a man-child
human being, human nature, just like yours, just like mine, and
yet without sin. He said, A body hast thou prepared
me. He actually, the Lord of glory,
actually came into this world. Paul wrote in I Timothy chapter
3, Great is the mystery, and it is a mystery, the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. Jesus Christ actually came to
this earth and inhabited the body of a man. He dwelt in human
flesh on this earth, born of a woman, born under the law. Now, he grew up in a little town
called Nazareth. That's right. He was a man. He
grew up as a child. He increased in wisdom and stature
and favor with God and men. yet he was God in human flesh.
I can't explain that, but he was a man, and yet he's God,
the God-man. And he was tempted, tested, tried
in all points as we are, yet without sin. He lived on this
earth, worked in a carpenter shop. They called him the carpenter. And he grew up in Nazareth until
he was 30 years old. And he left Nazareth when he
was 30 years old and began to preach the gospel of his grace,
the gospel of his mercy to sinners. And he began to perform miracles. And word spread rapidly everywhere
of his words. No man spake like this man. Of
his miracles, like Nicodemus said, we know that you came from
God because no man could do the things you do except God be with
him. and of his mighty deeds, mighty deeds. And after being
away from... Now the Word came back to Nazareth
about these things that he was saying and these things that
he was doing in other parts of the country, other parts of the
world. And so he came back to Nazareth
and he returned as his custom was, the Scripture said, when
he returned back to his hometown. He went to the synagogue on the
Sabbath day. On Saturday, seventh day of the
week, which is the Sabbath day, when the Jews met to worship,
our Lord was in the synagogue. That was his custom. You see,
he was made of a woman, made under the law. He was circumcised
when he was eight days old. He was a Jewish son of a Jewish
woman, and his foster father was a Jew, and he was subject
to all the laws of the Jewish religion. And so on the Sabbath
day, he went to the synagogue where all the people had gathered.
Now, remember, they'd heard all about. They knew him. They said,
do we not know his mother and his brothers and sisters? And
is not this the carpenter? How can he say he came down from
heaven when we know he was raised right here in Nazareth? And so
when he came to the synagogue, as his custom was, evidently
he read. Our God is brilliant. Even as
a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he's 12 years old, he was
in the temple talking with the leaders of religion, the doctors
and lawyers, and answering their questions. And so evidently he
must have been one who read in the synagogue. So they delivered
him a book. It was the book of Isaiah in
the Old Testament, Isaiah the prophet. They gave him this book
to read on this particular day. And everybody was there, I'm
sure, because of the fame of him that had come back to their
ears. And so when he stood up to read,
he selected this passage. Now, that's what I told you to
turn to, Isaiah 61, verse 1 through 3. This is the passage of Scripture
which our Lord read that Sabbath morning in the synagogue when
he returned to Nazareth where he was brought up. And he read. You look at it there in your
Bible. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach good news to the meek. He hath sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive. the opening of prison to them
that abound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and
the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the Spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified."
Now, it says when he read that over in Luke 4, when it was given
an account of this day in the synagogue, when he read that
scripture, he closed the book and gave it back to the man in
charge. And he sat down, and all the
eyes of them that were in the synagogue were just faceted on
him, waiting to see what he's going to say. Now, this scripture
that he read, and they recognized that it's a Messianic prophecy. It has to do with the Messiah.
And they knew that much, and they waited to see what he'd
have to say about this. He chose this. He selected. Nobody
selected it for him. He chose this passage of Scripture,
and he read it to him. And when he sat down, every eye
in the synagogue was fastened on him. And this is what he said.
This day, this day, this moment, after
all these years and decades and centuries and millenniums, This
day, after all the time since this scripture was written, this
day, right now, is this scripture fulfilled, fulfilled, come to
pass in your ears, in your ears. You see, in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in this person, Jesus of Nazareth, this God-man, Almighty God, has
fulfilled every promise, every prophecy, every picture, every
pattern of the entire Old Testament. Everything that has to do with
salvation, with redemption, with our relationship with God, promised,
prophesied, pictured in the Old Testament, is this day fulfilled
in this man, Jesus Christ. He is salvation. He is redemption. He is God. He is eternal life. Everything is fulfilled in Him,
and that's what He's saying. This day is this Scripture and
all Scripture, every promise, every prophecy, every pattern,
every picture, every type of the entire Old Testament from
Genesis to Malachi. This day, this moment, is it
all fulfilled right here before you in your ears. Now, look with me at this text
again that he read, Isaiah 61, 1 through 3, and let's see what
God has fulfilled in Christ. What does this mean? First of
all, this is what he said. Here's the man, the God-man. He says, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
their God of their God, and as God, He does not need any additional
power, glory, or spirit. He has the spirit. He is the
spirit. Yet, as a man, He is a man in
every sense of the word. Had to be, to be identified with
us. As the children of partakers
of flesh and blood, even the one who redeemed them must partake
of flesh and blood, and must be to some extent limited. He limited Himself. And so as
a man in human flesh, he must have the Spirit of God, like
he prayed in John 17, Father, glorify me. God needs no more
glory. God has all glory. But yet this
is God, and yet he's a man. Do you understand what I'm saying?
He's our representative, and as our representative, he's got
to be subject to all these things. So he says, God has put his Spirit
upon me. You know, when he was baptized
in the River Jordan of John, it says the Spirit of God descended
upon him in the form of a dove. And John bare witness. He said,
The Lord said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descend, that's
the Son of God, that's the Messiah. And then God giveth the Spirit
without measure to him. God doesn't... We have the Holy
Spirit, oh my, in measure. in what a small measure compared
to the vastness and power and omnipotence of the Spirit of
God. What brief measure, small measure
we do have. But the Lord Jesus Christ, even
Christ the man, God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him,
but without measure. And he says here, the Spirit
of God is upon me. The Spirit of God is upon me.
And then notice the next line, because he hath anointed me,
the Lord hath anointed me. You see, God ordained and appointed
the Lord Jesus Christ to be our surety, the surety of the everlasting
covenant. He is the shepherd of the sheep.
He is the surety of the covenant. He is the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He is our mediator. He is our
advocate. He has been appointed, ordained,
anointed of God to serve in that capacity. Prophet, priest, and
king. God, the Lord God anointed me. See, no man takes this honor
upon himself. Even the priest of the Old Testament,
Aaron, sons of Levi, they didn't volunteer for this office. God
chose them. The one God chose became the
high priest. And even so, Paul said, Jesus
Christ took not this honor upon himself, but the Lord God appointed
me, anointed me. God set him forth to be our high
priest, to be our sin offering, to be our mediator, to be our
mercy seat. God sent him into the world to
represent us, the second Adam, to represent us in life and death
and resurrection. God has appointed him. That means
because God has appointed him, he's the only high priest. He's
the one mediator. He's the only prophet, priest,
and king. And he has a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess he is Lord. The Spirit of God, he says,
is upon me because the Lord God anointed me. bright and joyful
is the morn. Unto us a child is born from
the highest realm of heaven. Unto us his son is given. On his shoulders he shall bear
power and majesty and he shall wear on his vesture and on his
thigh names most glorious, names most high, wonderful counselor. He the incarnate deity, rock
of ages, never-to-cease, king of kings, prince of peace, come
and worship at his feet. Yield to him the glory meat from
the manger to the throne. Glory due to God alone. Spirit of God is upon me, he
said, because the Lord God anointed me and appointed me and ordained
me and sent me to do what? All right, look at the next line.
The Spirit of God is upon me. The Lord God hath anointed me,
appointed me to do what? To preach good tidings to the
meek. To preach, to proclaim good news,
to declare good news to the meek. My friend, true preaching is
a proclamation. True preaching is a declaration. True preaching is a is the means
of setting forth the gospel, the good news of the grace of
God. True preaching declares there's forgiveness for the transgressor. There's grace for the guilty.
There's mercy for the miserable. There is salvation for sinners. You see, true preaching, listen
to me, he says, The Lord God anointed me to preach, to proclaim,
to declare good tidings, good news to the meek. True preaching
is not persuading men to do something for God. That's not true preaching. True preaching is the proclamation
of what God has done for men. You see, if you keep giving me
something to do for God, when God is independent, God needs
nothing. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. He said, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
The gold and silver that hasn't been mine belongs to me. God
owns all things. We can't add anything to Him.
So if you're constantly badgering me with what I ought to do for
God, you're giving me an impossible task. That's not good news. But
Christ said, He sent me to preach, to proclaim good news. Good news. It's good news, you see. There
is forgiveness. There is mercy. There is grace.
There is life. There is hope. Good news. And
it's a proclamation and a declaration of what God has done for us.
Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost, the meek,
the poor. Christ died for the ungodly.
He came to save sinners. He sent me to preach good news. to the meek, to the poor, to
the humble, to the lowly. I tell you this, the first steps
a man takes toward heaven is when he finds out he's a sinner. That's exactly right, because
Christ came to save sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous.
He came to call sinners to repentance. And when a person finds out they're
lost, there's a good possibility they'll be found. When a man
finds out he's a sinner, there's a good possibility he'll be saved.
When a man finds out he is nothing and has nothing and knows nothing
and deserves nothing, there's a good possibility God will proclaim
to him good news. There's grace for the guilty.
There's mercy for the miserable. I was preaching on this station
several years ago. There was a young man, lives
down on the West Virginia, Virginia line, state line. And he turned
on the television one Sunday morning and was going to listen
to some music. He told me later, and he said,
suddenly you came on the screen. He said, the first thing you
said, he said, you pointed your finger at me, and the first thing
you said was this. There's a lot of difference between
you and me, but one thing we have in common. You're a sinner,
and I'm a sinner. And that young man said, I got
so angry, I just turned the television off. And he said, I'm not a sinner.
He said, I just backed up and sat down in my chair, and I said,
I'm not a sinner. And he said, the longer I sat
there and thought about it, I finally decided maybe I am a sinner. So he went over and turned it
on, and God spoke to his heart and brought him to know the Savior,
brought him to love the gospel. God sent me. Christ said he came
to preach the gospel to the meek, to the poor, to the lost, to
sinners. Look at the next line. And the
Lord God sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." What's this
broken-hearted? Well, I know everybody listening
to me at one time or other has experienced some kind of... experienced
some sadness and sorrow over events that transpired in your
life, and your heart's been broken. We use that term. That just broke
my heart. Well, that's not what this is
talking about here. The broken heart here, the one
Christ came to heal, is the one that's broken over sin because
of sin against God. My heart is broken because of
my sin. You see, that's what it means
when it says in Psalm 34, 18, the Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart. You see, that's not physically
speaking or it's not speaking of some flesh event or some relationship
with someone, son or daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife,
who's broken your heart. God deals with the broken heart
over sin. The sacrifices of God are broken
heart and a contrite spirit the Lord will not despise. So Christ
said here, I came to preach good news to the poor, the gospel,
and I came to bind up and to heal the broken-hearted, the
person whose heart is broken over sin. You see, salvation
is a heart work. Repentance is a heart work. Faith
is a heart work. And if you read Psalm 51, you'll
find David's heart is broken there because he sinned against
God. He's brought reproach upon his
Lord, and he's praying for God's forgiveness and mercy and loving
kindness. Notice the next statement. He
said, to proclaim liberty to the captive, freedom to those
held captive. How? Who? You say, we're not
held captive. We live in a free country. We
have democracy. This is talking about he came
to set free those that are captives of the law, the law of sin and
death, who are captives to the justice and judgment of God.
That's what we're, we're captives of the law. We've broken the
law, therefore the law has a claim on us. The law has captured us
and will hold us till that dead is discharged, till that dead
is paid. The justice of God has a hold
of us. The justice of God says you've
broken the law and the law so that sinners will die. So we're
captives. We're held captive by the law
of sin and death and we're held captive by the justice of God.
But Christ came to set the captive free, and he says in the next
line, to open the prison to them that abound. Open the prison
to them that abound. You see, Jesus Christ came to
this world and fulfilled that law as our representative, as
our substitute. And God, because of what Christ
has done for us, imputes to us, charges to our account, perfect
righteousness. Christ went to the cross, and
there the justice and judgment and wrath of God for our sins
were laid on Him. So He set us free. He says, I
came, He has sent me to proclaim freedom, liberty, free from the
law, oh, happy condition. Jesus has died and there's remission,
cursed by the law, slain by the captive of justice, but Christ
had redeemed us once for all. And He did set us free. He didn't
try to. He didn't do half of it. He didn't
leave much for us to do. He set the captive free by His
obedience and by His death. In September of 1862, President
Lincoln issued an Emancipation Proclamation. He declared all
slaves to be free. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't
an invitation. It wasn't a request. It was an
order. It was a proclamation. They are
free as of January 1863. And I'll tell you this, when
my Lord came down here, the Spirit of God upon Him, sent by the
Father, anointed to be our prophet, priest, and king, He set the
captive free. And then He sent me to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. What is the acceptable year of
the Lord? Well, that's the year of Jubilee. The Old Testament
Jews had a year of Jubilee, which was the 50th year. They numbered
seven Sabbath years. Every seventh year was a Sabbath.
And seven of them in one year made the 50th. And on that year
of Jubilee, every man sold into slavery was free. All property
lost, stolen, or sold was restored. All debts were counseled. A year
of rest proclaimed. And Christ said, this is the
year of jubilee. God sent me to proclaim the acceptable
year of jubilee. Every slave of sin who believes
on me is free. All our souls lost in Adam are
restored. All our property and possessions
sold down the river by sin restored. All our debts are paid. All sin
debts canceled this day, and we enter into His rest forevermore. The Spirit of God is upon me,
He said. This day, this is all fulfilled. Preach good news to heal the
brokenhearted, to set at liberty the captive, to open prison to
them that are bound, and to proclaim the year of jubilee. free in
Christ. Jesus Christ the Messiah. If you want this tape, this message
on a cassette tape, write to me. Send two dollars. The address
will be given to you on the screen. We'll mail the tape to you. And
on this tape will be another message I'll be bringing next
Sunday. Until next week, may God bless you.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

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

Why is Jesus' coming important for Christians?

What does it mean that Jesus was anointed by God?

How does Jesus provide freedom to the captives?

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Jesus Christ, the Messiah

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

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

Why is Jesus' coming important for Christians?

What does it mean that Jesus was anointed by God?

How does Jesus provide freedom to the captives?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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