I don't know whether I'll ever
bring a message of greater importance than the one that I plan to bring
to you today. The title of the message is,
Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Now, I want you to turn to the
book of Acts chapter 2, and I want you to look at Peter's sermon
on the day of Pentecost. Now, I'm not going to read the
whole sermon. I'm just going to read the last verse, verse
36, one of the last verses. It says in Acts 2.36, Peter's
speaking here, and he says, Therefore, therefore, here's the summary,
here's the conclusion of my message. Therefore, since all that has
been done and said, this is the conclusion. Therefore, let all
the house of Israel know assuredly, without doubt, that God hath
made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Let everybody know this assuredly,
without doubt, that God hath made that same Jesus of Nazareth
whom you crucified, both Lord, Almighty God, Sovereign with
complete authority, and Christ, and Christ." Now listen to me.
The people of the Lord throughout the Old Testament knew positively,
without doubt, three things. Three things. Now they knew these
three things. Number one, they knew beyond
doubt that God is holy. I didn't say God was holy. I
said God is holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up, and his glory filled the temple. And around
his throne were the seraphims, and they cried, Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of hosts. Psalm 99 said, Exalt the Lord
our God and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord our God is
He calls himself the Holy God. The first time that word is used
in the Bible is when God spoke to Moses on top of the mountain,
and he said, Take off your shoes, you're on holy ground. All right,
secondly, these people knew that God is holy. Secondly, they knew
that they all were sinners. Isaiah said, when he saw the
Lord, I'm undone. You know what that word means?
I'm cut off. I'm cut off. I'm without hope. I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Listen to David. My sins
are ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. David wrote in Psalm 14, the
Lord God looked down from heaven to see if there was one that
did do good. And he found that they're all
together. gone aside, that there's none good, no, not one, there's
none righteous, no, not one, that man at his best faith is
altogether vanity." Isaiah wrote, from the sole of the feet to
the top of the head, there's no soundness in it. Our whole
head, that's our thoughts, our minds, our whole head is sick,
our whole heart, that's our affections, our whole heart is pain. Job
said, I hate myself. I just hate myself, I abhor myself,
I repent in sackcloth and ashes. Job said we drink iniquity like
the water. Isaiah said even our righteousness
is a filthy rag in God's sight. So these people knew God is holy
and these people knew that they were sinners. They mourned and
grieved over the fact that they were sinners. And David said
God is justified and clear when he damns me, when he judges me.
The third thing they knew is this, they knew beyond a shadow
of a doubt, according to God's prophecies, according to God's
promises, according to God's word, that he would someday,
that he would someday send to this earth, to the people of
God, a Messiah. Now they knew that. They called
him the prophet, they called him the redeemer, they called
him the branch, they called him many names. But he was called
throughout the Bible the Christ, the Christ. And in Acts chapter
10, verse 43, the writer of the book of Acts said this, to him
give all the prophets witness. Now the people of the Old Testament,
the people of God, knew three things. That's not hard to learn,
not hard to remember. They knew God is holy. We better
learn that too. Secondly, they knew that they
were sinners. We need to learn that too. Thirdly,
they knew that God would someday send the Messiah, that he would
send the Redeemer, that he would send the Christ. He's promised
throughout the Old Testament. That's what the Old Testament's
all about. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. The four Gospels say someone
has come. He has come. And the Epistles
say someone's coming again. Now, do not be misled into thinking
that these people in the Old Testament, though their knowledge
of the Messiah was limited, their knowledge was limited. I know
that, limited to prophecies and promises and pictures. But don't
you be misled into thinking they didn't know what God was going
to do, that they didn't know what God was going to do in and
through this Christ. They expected this Christ. They
expected this Messiah. They looked for this deliverer.
They looked for this redeemer. Job said, I know. that my Redeemer
live in, and he's going to stand on this earth, and the worms
destroy this body, and I'm going to be buried in the ground and
go back to dust. I'm going to rise, and I'm going
to see my Redeemer with these eyes, not another with these
eyes. I'm going to be redeemed, restored,
and resurrected by that Christ. Now, they knew some things. Let
me show you some of the things they knew. First of all, they
knew that this Christ This Christ, this Messiah, would come from
the Lord. Now they knew that. Moses wrote
in Deuteronomy 18, 15, The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee
a prophet like unto me. Him you shall hear. Unto him
shall your heart come. Now they knew he was coming from
the Lord. The Lord will raise him up from among the brethren
like unto me. Secondly, they knew he would
be born of a woman. They knew he wouldn't come down
here on a white horse. They knew he wouldn't just appear
in the clouds. They knew he was coming through
the womb of a woman, because God said he'll be the seed of
woman. In fact, Eve, when her first child was born, if you
read and check with the Hebrew language, you'll find that when
Eve looked upon that boy King, her firstborn, you know what
she said? I've gotten that man from the Lord. She thought the
Messiah had been born. That first child that came forth
from her womb, she thought it was the Messiah. Because God,
after Adam and Eve had fallen into darkness and death and disease
and sin, God said, I'm going to bruise the serpent's head.
The serpent's the one that tested them and tempted them and tried
them. And God dealt with the serpent, and they were witnesses. They heard what he said. And
God said to the serpent, I'm going to bruise your head and
destroy your power with the seed of that woman. And when that
woman gave birth to that first man's child, she said, I've gotten
that Redeemer. But she was wrong. She was right
in this. He'd come from a woman. Because
Isaiah said, Behold, the Lord himself will give you a sign.
A virgin shall bring forth a child. Call his name Jesus. Call his
name Emmanuel. God with us. Isaiah 9, 6 said,
Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the
government will be upon his shoulders, and he'll be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. They knew that God had sent him. Secondly, they
knew he'd be born of a woman. Thirdly, they knew he would be
a man and stand on this earth. That's what Job said. He said,
My Redeemer is going to stand on this earth. And then they
knew he would be Abraham's seed. They finally knew that. He would
come through Abraham because God told Abraham, In thy seed,
and you'll find in Galatians that this seed is not just Isaac,
this seed is Christ. It'll be through Isaac, but this
seed is Christ. And he said to Abraham, In thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Our Lord
Jesus had a people, has a people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue unto heaven. All nations are blessed through
Abraham's seed. And then they knew he would be
of the tribe of Judah. When Jacob was dying and he called
in his 12 sons and was blessing each one individually, he came
to Judah. That's the kingly tribe, Judah. And he said this, Judah, the
scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh, that's the
one, the king of peace, the prince of peace, till Shiloh comes.
And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. That's way
back in Genesis 49. That's way back in the first
book in the Bible. When this man Jacob was dying
down in Egypt and called his boys around him and blessed those
12 boys and prophesied of their future, he talked about the coming
Christ, the coming Messiah. And he said he's coming through
Abraham's seed and he's coming through Judah. And he did. He was born in Judah. They knew
he would be born of the house of David through the family of
Jesse, the tribe of Judah down in Bethlehem. In Micah 5, 2 it
says, But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the
thousands. This is written back hundreds
of years before our Lord Jesus Christ was born. Talking about
the Messiah, this Christ, this Christ. And it said he'll be
born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem, out of thee shall
he come forth unto me, that is to be the ruler in Israel, whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. We're
talking about the Messiah, the Christ, the Redeemer, the God-man,
the one sent from God, the woman-seed, the body inhabited by God, whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. He's going
to make his appearance under that star in a little town, little
among the thousands, a little insignificant town, in a little
insignificant stable, in a small manger, God would become a man
and dwell among us. They knew, they knew that he
was going to be born in Bethlehem, and then they knew that the Christ
would perfect by his right and obedience and a righteousness
before God for his people. That's right. Listen to Jeremiah.
Listen to this now. Jeremiah 23, 5. And Jeremiah
is writing about the branch. He's writing about Jehovah Sidkenu,
Jehovah Nisa, Jehovah Rapha. He's talking about the Lord,
the Lord Jehovah, our righteousness. And he says, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord. that I will raise up, didn't
I tell you they knew God would raise him up and send him, that
I will raise up unto David from the house of David, the throne
of David, a righteous branch. In his days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely and his name shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah our righteousness. My
friend, there, these people knew something. They weren't dumb. They didn't see the full realization,
the full revelation of his coming, of his redemptive work on Calvary,
but they knew he'd be a man. They knew he'd come from God.
They knew he'd stand on this earth. They knew he'd have a
perfect life and a perfect righteousness. And then they knew this. They
knew that he would also be for a sin offering. And he would
bring a perfect atonement before the Lord from the time Abel offered
that blood sacrifice. These men of Old Testament days
knew that nobody could approach the Lord God without a sacrifice,
without a slain lamb, without the blood. God said, I've given
you the blood upon the altar, then make an atonement for your
soul. Now, I know today we're going around burning candles
and throwing water in people's face and And doing little signs
like this and all this, but I still tell you, the life of the flesh
is in the blood. I have given it to you upon the
altar to make an atonement for your soul. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And that's where you must find
yourself, under the blood of Christ. And you can go down in
your aisles, and you can shed tears, and you can beat on mourners'
benches, and you can throw water around, and you can burn candles,
and you can march around in silly-looking little uniforms, and you can
make all these signs like this. But I'm telling you this, we
are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
and Sabbath days and tithings and all the rituals and ceremonies,
but with a precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without
spot or blemish who barely was foreordained before the foundation
of the world but was revealed by the Father in these last days.
When I see the blood I'll pass over you." And these fellows
knew that. They knew that. One time Abraham was instructed
by God to take his son Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah and
offer him there as a sacrifice. And he didn't tell Isaac about
it. And he didn't tell the men with him about it, the servants.
But they journeyed the three days and came to Mount Moriah.
And Abraham and the boy Isaac got ready to go up on the mountain.
Now Abraham knew he was going up there to worship God. He was
going up there for a sacrifice. He was going up there to approach
God. And Isaac knew they were going up there to worship God.
And these men, so Abraham turned to the men and said, you fellas
stay here. The lad and I are going up there and worship God.
And then we're coming back. So they started up the hill.
Abraham Isaac was a pretty good-sized boy and he hand him the wood
and He carried the fire on a stick, you know a torch or something
They didn't have safety matches in but he's carrying the fire
and they got to walking up that hill and Isaac turned to his
father And he said father and he said here am I son? He said
now here's the fire and here's the wood and you said was going
to worship God the father. Where's the lamb? We can't come
before God without blood And that's when Abraham said, My
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
And our Lord Jesus, talking about that very hour where he said,
Abraham saw my day. Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
He saw it, and he was glad. And Isaiah talked about it. He
said he was wounded by our transgression. He was bruised by our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and by his
strife we are healed. They knew something. They knew
that the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, would be a sin
offering, an atonement, a lamb. And that's when John saw the
Lord Jesus. He said, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. A bloodless religion is
a salvationless religion. It's a hopeless religion. It's
a helpless religion. It's the blood that makes us
atonement for the soul. They knew that he'd be a prophet
like Moses. They knew he'd be a priest after
the order of Melchizedek. They knew he'd be a king with
authority like David. And let me tell you something.
Let me tell you something. All the way from Genesis to Malachi,
through the promises and prophecies and tithes and chattels, these
men knew God would send a Messiah. And they knew that he'd be a
Redeemer, and they called him the Christ. Now, if you start
in the New Testament, you'll find these different things occurring.
When John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ, of the Lord Jesus,
when he appeared and he preached Mightily, mightily preached.
And people went out to hear him from everywhere. And the priests
and the Pharisees came running out there, and they said to John,
are you the Christ? Are you the Christ? Are you the
Christ? And John said, I'm not the Christ.
Well, they said, who are you? Are you Elijah? No, I'm not Elijah. I am the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, the Christ.
All right, then the woman at the well, when our Lord Jesus
was talking to her, I'm saying these people expected a Redeemer,
a Christ, a Messiah. And when our Lord Jesus talked
to the woman at the well, He said, you don't know what you
worship. She said, our fathers worshiped in this mountain and
your fathers worshiped in Jerusalem. He said, you don't know what
you worship. They that worship God worship Him in spirit and
truth. God is a spirit. She said, well, when the Christ,
when the Messiah comes who is called the Christ, He'll tell
us. He'll tell us everything. And
that's when Jesus of Nazareth looked at her and he said, you
better learn this. I am he. That's when the whole
Old Testament was fulfilled in those three words. I am he. Someone's coming. Every prophecy
says it. Every promise declares it. Every
picture declares it. Someone's coming. And our Lord
Jesus looked at that woman. And he said, I'm He. I'm He. John was in prison, John the
Baptist, and he inquired of Jesus. He sent two men over there, and
he said, Are you the Christ? Are you He that should come,
or do we look for another? Are you the Christ? And then
the Jews, asking John 10, they asked the Master, they said,
If you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you,
but you didn't believe me. The works that I do bear witness
of me, but you didn't believe me because you're not of my sheep.
And then when he said, when he stood there on the temple steps
that last great day of the Feast of the Tabernacles, and he cried,
If any man thirst, let him come to me, and out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water, many people said, Is not this
the Christ? Is not this the Christ of a truth?
This is the Christ! Yes, he is. Jesus is the Christ. If I could get anything across
to you this morning, it would be this one point, and that would
be the unity of the Scriptures. The Bible, my friend, is not
just a book of poetry and proverbs and quaint sayings. It's not
just a book full of history and love and all these different
things. It's not just a place when you get in trouble, you
can turn the page so and so, or you get depressed, you can
turn the page so and so, or you get down in the mouth, you turn
to so and so, or to find airplanes, you turn over here, and to find
submarines, you turn over there. Whoever invented the stupidity
of that stuff ought to be banned from the public. Where do you
find helicopters in the Bible? Where do you find Hitler in the
Bible? Who cares? You can find yourself on every
page. Christ died for the ungodly.
When we were sinners, Christ died. Find yourself your sinner.
Find God, he's holy. Find Christ, he's the Messiah,
he's the Redeemer. If I could get across to you
one thing, it'd be this, the unity of the scriptures in reference
to redemption through the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah. And that's what Peter is declaring
on Pentecost when he goes back over the whole history of the
Jewish nation. He said, therefore, let me tell
you folks something. Let all the house of Israel know. God has promised a Messiah, the
Christ. God has prophesied of the coming
Christ, the prophet, the priest, and the king. Let all the house
of Israel know that this same Jesus who was born of Mary in
Bethlehem's manger and walked on this earth 33 and a half years
and went about doing good, this same Jesus who was despised and
rejected of men, this same Jesus This same Jesus in whom you found
no good, this same Jesus whom you rejected and resisted and
nailed to a cross, this same Jesus, God hath made him whom
you crucified to be Lord and Christ. That's what Simeon declared
when he took up the child Jesus in his arms in Luke 22, 26. It
says there was a man called Simeon who dwelt in Jerusalem. And it
was revealed to him, listen to this, Luke 2, 26, it was revealed
to him by the Holy Ghost that he would not die till he had
seen the Lord's Christ. Now Abraham looked for him, Moses
wrote of him, Isaiah prophesied of him, Jeremiah talked about
him, but finally it came down to a man called Simeon. In the
temple at Jerusalem, the Holy Ghost said to him, you won't
die till you see the Lord's Christ, the Christ, and he's waiting.
And Maverin Joseph brought that infant Jesus of Nazareth into
the temple, and Simeon took him up in his arms. This man whom
God anointed with special understanding, and he said, Lord, now let your
servant depart in peace. Mine eyes had seen thy salvation. And this is what John is saying
in John 20, 31. Listen, these things are written. This whole
book is written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. the Son of God, and that believing
you might have life through his name. He is the Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth. That's what Scripture says. He's
not just an example, or a martyr, or a reformer, or a sweet little
Jesus boy, or a poor little infant. He's the Son of God. He's the
Christ. That prophet Moses talked about,
that priest, Melchizedek pictured, that wonderful counselor, mighty
God Isaiah spoke about. Listen to 1 John 4. Now this
is so important. 1 John 4, 1-3, Beloved, I'm reading
from the Amplified now, Beloved, put not faith in every spirit,
but prove and test the spirits or preachers to discover whether
they come from God. You listening? For many false
preachers are gone out into the world. By this ye shall know
and recognize the Spirit of God. You hear that? Try the Spirit. By this you shall know and recognize
the Spirit of God. Every Spirit, every preacher
that acknowledges and confesses the fact that Jesus Christ, the
Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, Jesus, his name of
humiliation, humanity, Christ, the anointed, the Messiah, actually
has become a man and has come into the flesh, that Spirit is
of God. Now listen, and every spirit,
every preacher that does not acknowledge and confess that
Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is not of God and is
the spirit of the Antichrist. Now you read that in your own
Bible. Let me give it to you again, 1 John 4, 1 through 3,
the whole test of whether or not God is speaking through a
man or a man speaking for God, or whether he's an Antichrist.
Does he preach and believe that the Christ, the Messiah, the
Redeemer, of whom God prophesied and pictured and promised in
the Old Testament, is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, who is
verily the Son of God from heaven, God in human flesh? Yes, he is. God became a man and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Though he was equal
with God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, he took
upon himself the form of a servant and became a man. 1 John 5.20,
listen, listen to the word, 1 John 5.20. And we have seen and known
positively that the Son of God has actually come to this world
and has given us an understanding and insight progressively to
recognize and come to know more clearly Him who is true, and
we're in Him who is true, and in His Son, Jesus the Christ,
Jesus the Messiah, this is the true God, this is life eternal. Saul of Tarsus was on his road
to Damascus. He believed the Messiah was coming,
he believed the Christ was coming. He believed the Lord was going
to send the Deliverer, but he didn't believe Jesus of Nazareth
was that Christ. And he sought to wipe his name
off the earth. And God struck him down on the road to Damascus.
And a bright light shined from heaven, and a voice said, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who are you, Lord?
And that voice from heaven said, I'm Jesus. I'm Jesus, whom thou
persecutest. And he went forth to declare
to the whole earth from that moment on, Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ. Now, you believe that. John 20,
verse 31. and 1 John 4, 1 through 3, and
1 John 5, 20. You read those scriptures.