I'm making every effort in these
days to preach in such a way that people can, at least in
their heads, understand what I'm trying to say. And tonight's message, I trust,
will be no exception. Paul didn't say that he declared
unto them the whole counsel of God, because there's no human
being who knows the whole counsel of God. He said, I'm not shunned
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. I know that the
secret things belong to God, but the things that are revealed
belong to us, to his children. And there are some things that
God has revealed that are plain and simple. And I believe tonight's
message is is one of those revelations. Now the promises of the Old Testament,
I'm talking about Genesis through Malachi, the promises of the
Old Testament and the prophecies of the Old Testament and the
patterns and the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament and the
whole history of the Jewish nation is especially marked by one thing,
by one thing. And that is the coming of the
Christ. All the way from Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all the way to Malachi. All of
these promises and prophecies and patterns, these types and
ceremonies. And the history of the whole
Jewish nation is marked by one thing, especially and expressly. And that is the coming of the
Christ. Now turn to John 7, just a moment. And all of these Jews
understood that. even the scribes and Pharisees
and Sadducees. He was preaching here in John
7, verse 25. Then said some of them of Jerusalem,
Is not this he whom they seek to kill? John 7, 25. Talking
about Christ Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. But lo, he speaks boldly,
and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that
this is the very Christ Do they believe this is the Christ?
Is that the reason they're not bothering Him? Now watch this. How be it we know this man, whence
he is? We know he's the carpenter, he's
from Nazareth, he's the son of Mary. But when Christ cometh,
now here's the key, and here's what the whole Old Testament's
about. When Christ comes, when Christ comes, when Christ comes,
when the Christ cometh, no man knows whence he is. That was
their idea. But now that's not true. If we'll
follow the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament, if they
had read their own scriptures, they would have known who He
is. All right, let me show you another now. The coming of the
Messiah, John 1, verse 41. John 1, 41. This is what the
whole Old Testament scriptures, this is what the whole Old Testament
is about. The coming of the Christ, the
coming of the Messiah. Moses said God will raise up
from among you a prophet. They look for the priest after
the order of Melchizedek. They look for the king. John
1.41. Well, let's read verse 40. One of the two which heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first
findeth his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found
the Messiah. We have found the Messiah. We
found the Christ. Which is being interpreted, the
Christ. Now turn to John 4. When our
Lord spoke to this woman at the well, this Samaritan woman, he
talked to her, he crossed her path and created an interest
in the living water, in the things of God. He presented a problem
to her, the fact of sin, the problem of sin. And then she
began to defend her religious position. She began to talk her
religious position to him. And he corrected that. And then
she said in verse 25, look at this, the woman sat on a hill.
Now this is a woman, a very ordinary woman. She's not a priestess,
and she's not a prophetess, and she's not even a popular person. She's just an ordinary woman
who'd been married five times, was living with a man who was
not her husband. She was just an ordinary person from among
the people of Samaria. Not well thought of, or well
liked, or anything like that. Just a common, ordinary, everyday
woman, but she knew this. Now you listen to what she said.
I know that the Messiah is coming. That's one thing she knew. She
knew it from what? From the Old Testament scriptures,
from the teaching of her Bible teachers, from her parents, or
from whomever. But know what she did. What she
didn't know, she didn't know this, Messiah's coming, which
is called the Christ. And when He comes, He'll tell
us all things. Now, she knew that. The Christ
is coming. See, we didn't have the New Testament thing. It wasn't
even written. This woman was talking about
what she knew from the Scriptures. This is what it's all about.
The Messiah's coming, the Christ is coming, and when He comes,
He'll tell us all things. Now, this is what I believe.
I believe that all of these promises and prophecies, everything written
by Moses, by David, by Jeremiah, Isaiah, by all the writers of
the Old Testament, Malachi, Micah, Zechariah, Zephaniah, whomever,
all of these promises concerning the Christ, the Messiah, the
Redeemer, the King, the Prophet, the Priest, are fulfilled in
the birth and the life and the death and the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. It's all fulfilled in one person.
Now, that's what the angel said. Turn to Matthew 1, verse 20. The angel that came from God
said this. It's all fulfilled in this person,
Jesus of Nazareth. In Matthew 1, I'm going to use
a lot of Scripture. If you don't want to turn to
it, just jot down the references and read it later, but I think
I can read it so you can understand what I'm reading. In Matthew
1 verse 19, Joseph, her husband, they found out Mary was with
child, being a just man and not willing to make her a public
example, was minded to put her away privately. But when he thought
on these things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thy son of David, he was from the house
and lineage of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, that is, Savior, for he shall save his people from their
sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah when he said, Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God
with us. All right? This is what the Lord Jesus said
in Luke 4. Turn over to Luke 4. In Luke
chapter 4, verse 21. Luke 4, 21. Now, He came back to Nazareth
as His custom was. He went into the synagogue on
the Sabbath day and stood up to read. They delivered unto
Him the writings. They didn't have a New Testament
now. They delivered unto Him the Old Testament writings of
Isaiah. And this is a scripture he read in Isaiah 61, well it's
Luke 4, verse 18 of Luke 4, we're quoting Isaiah, it's quoted right
here. He said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Now this
is a Messianic prophecy, and they right well knew it. This
crowd he's preaching to weren't ignorant as we are. They knew
this was a Messianic prophecy he turned to. And he said, the
Spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book and gave
it to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that
were in the synagogue were fastened on him. He had read a Messianic
prophecy. And then he spoke and said, this
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. That's the sum
and substance of everything I'm going to say tonight. It's all
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what Philip said. Turn
to Acts chapter 8, if you will for a moment. Acts the 8th chapter.
In the 8th chapter of Acts, verse 29, or verse 32, Acts 8, 32. Philip was sent by the Holy Spirit
over into the desert on the way from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, and
there he encountered a man who had been to Jerusalem to worship,
a very famous man, the treasurer of the whole country of Ethiopia.
And he had some spiritual desires and some spiritual interests,
and he had gone to Jerusalem to worship on the special days. And he was coming back, going
home to Ethiopia, and he was reading Isaiah chapter 53. And
verse 32 says, Acts 8, the place of the scripture which he read
was this, he is led, or was led, as a sheep to the slaughter.
And like a lamb done before her shearers, he opened not his mouth.
That's Isaiah 53. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. Who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered
Philip and said, I ask you, I pray you, of whom does the prophet
speak? Does he speak of himself or does
he speak of some other man? And Philip opened his mouth and
began at that scripture and preached unto him Jesus Christ. There
it is, Isaiah 53. This is what Peter said, Philip
began right there and preached Christ. Now turn to Acts 2. Now
this is what Peter said on Pentecost when he preached there to those
Jews at Pentecost, Acts 2.29. He read an Old Testament prophecy
concerning the Lord, the Christ, the prophecy written by David.
And he said in verse 29, in interpreting that prophecy, he said, verse
29, Men and brethren, Acts 2, let me freely speak unto you
of the patriarch David. He's dead and he's buried. and his sepulchre is with us
unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God
had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on
his throne, David, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, or the grave,
neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
wherefore we are all witnesses," verse 36 now, Therefore, let
all the house of Israel know that God hath made this same
Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord and Christ." That's what Peter
said to that crowd at Pentecost. He said, Jesus of Nazareth is
the fulfillment of David's prophecy concerning the Christ. This is
what Paul preached in Acts 17. Turn to Acts 17. Now, if you
can get a hold of this, if it's possible for you to understand that everything in the Scriptures
points to redemption in Christ and by Christ and through Christ.
That before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ. That He was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. That God never, as Bob and I
were talking today, God doesn't react. God acts. God doesn't wait for something
to happen and then jump in and pose a remedy. The remedy is
before the disease. The cure is before the cause,
the Savior is before the sinner, because even the fall was in
the will of God. Had to be. And Christ was the
Lamb slain before the world began, the way of redemption. The new
covenant was devised before the covenant of works. The covenant
of grace is older than the covenant of works. And God provided a
Redeemer. Now, so when Adam fell, We're
going to see in just a moment, God revealed the Redeemer to
Adam. And He revealed the Redeemer to Abraham and to Noah. Enoch spoke of Christ. I could
show you that in Jude, in the book of Jude. Moses, our Lord,
they said, we have Moses. He said, Moses wrote of me. If
you'd have believed Moses, you'd have believed me. Abraham saw
my day and was glad. Now look at Acts 17. This is
what Paul preached, Acts 17, verse 2. And Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto them in three Sabbath days. He reasoned with
them out of the Old Testament. You see me changing that word
scriptures to Old Testament? Because that's what it is. The
Old Testament. Opening and alleging that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and
that this Jesus whom I preach to you is Christ. That's what
Paul preached. He went in the synagogue and
took the Old Testament scriptures and see, so that's what he preached.
That the Christ must suffer, the Christ must be buried, the
Christ must rise again, and Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Turn
one more page to Acts 18, verse 27. Acts 18, 27. To most people, the Old Testament's
a book of proverbs or good sayings or history of the Jewish nation
or a love book like the Song of Solomon or some mighty acts
of men of faith. Brethren, you haven't read your
Bible rightly, if that's your opinion of it, because the Old
Testament I'm going to show you tonight is the message of Christ,
redemption by Christ, Christ in picture. And when Paul was
disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting
the disciples to receive him in that place, who, when he was
come, helped them much which had believed through grace. For
he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by
the Old Testament that Jesus was the Christ. That was called
ministry. So if I can, let me tell you
this, if I can tonight, with the Holy Spirit, as Jay prayed
a moment ago, opening our hearts and revealing the Word to us,
if you can see Christ, He that seeth the Son and believeth on
Him hath everlasting life. You can't believe. Now, we say
seeing is believing. In a sense, that's true. And
I'm not talking about with these eyes. I'm talking about with
the eyes of understanding or the eyes of faith. If you can
see, In the Scriptures, Christ in the Scriptures, Christ revealed
in the Scriptures, if you can see how that Jesus Christ is
all, everything's in Him, God's vested everything in Him, He's
the fulfillment of all this Scripture, you can see that and comprehend
it to some measure and believe it, you'll enter into rest and
a confidence like you've never experienced. All right, the very
first prophecy, let's turn to Genesis 3, 15. The very first
prophecy was that the Christ would be born of a woman. That's
the very first prophecy, I mean, and promise. In Genesis 3.15,
the very first thing said about this Christ, this Messiah, this
Champion, this Conqueror, this Emancipator. Call Him by all
the glorious, wonderful names, because He deserves them all.
was that he'd be born of a woman. That's how he's coming into the
world. He's not coming into the world riding a white horse with
the armies of heaven following him. That's what the Jew thought. Their Messiah was coming triumphantly
and victoriously and conquer the Roman Empire and set up the
Jewish kingdom again and sit on the throne of his father David.
But that's not how God says he's coming. And if they'd read the
scriptures, they would have known. The way he's coming into this
world is not in a chariot of fire or descending from heaven
as he shall come the second time, when every eye shall see him.
When he came the first time, no eye saw him, except the one,
the midwife that delivered him. When he came, the first promise
and prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, that Christ says
he's coming from the womb of a woman. just like every other
little baby born into this world. Now you look at Genesis 3, 15.
God talked to the serpent, to the woman. He said, I'm going
to put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and
her seed, the seed of woman. I've said this again and again.
We may have new visitors here tonight. Everybody here knows
that no human being is of the seed of woman. We're the seed
of man. A woman doesn't have a seed.
The only way a woman can have a seed is to give birth to a
child without a man, which is exactly what God is saying here. He is going to come through a
woman. A woman is going to bear a seed herself, and it shall
bruise thy head. Thou shalt bruise his heel. God
is speaking to evil, to Satan. He said this seed of woman is
going to conquer you. Now I think maybe, perhaps, that
when we talk about Christ, that Christ being born of a woman
and Satan bruising his heel, the heel is the lowest part of
man and to bruise the heel is not fatal, just painful, suffering,
to bruise the heel. But to bruise the head is to
destroy the power. That's where the government and
power is. And so this conflict between
evil and Christ, between Satan and Christ, Christ is going to
be bruised his heel, his human body, but Satan is going to be
conquered and destroyed, his head crushed beneath the conqueror's
power. Alright, when Eve bared her first
son, now look at chapter 4, verse 1. Now Eve, she understood something. When God said, He said, a woman
is going to bear a man, a son, and He is going to, the Messiah,
the Christ, the conqueror is coming from a woman. A woman's
womb. So Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived in bare canes.
First person. And she said, I've gotten a man. And Cecil, what she's saying
is this. This is all of the writers agree.
This is what she said. And some of the other translations
say, I've gotten the man. Here he is. Here's the Messiah.
Here's the Christ. I've gotten the man with the
help of the Lord. But what she didn't know is that that this
Messiah was to be virgin-born, born of a virgin, not of a married
woman, nor with the aid of a man. She said, I've gotten the man
with the help of the Lord, but her husband conceived that, or
begat that son. But that's a virgin. Turn to
Luke 1, Isaiah 7, Isaiah 7, 14. Here's what Eve didn't know. Of course, she was anxious. She wanted the fruits of sin
to be put away. She wanted what Adam and Herod
brought upon mankind to be taken care of. She wanted the Messiah.
The very first person on this earth, Charlie, looked for the
Messiah. Adam and Eve looked for the Messiah. And Eve thought
she had Him. He didn't come until 4,000 years later, but she thought
she had the Messiah. But what she didn't know is the Messiah
would be born of a virgin. He must be. You see, the Messiah
couldn't be conceived or begotten by Adam or he'd bear Adam's sin,
Adam's nature. That's what's got me in the mess
I'm in. And the mess you're in is that our father was Adam.
If I'd been virgin-born, I wouldn't die. I wouldn't have any sins.
I wouldn't have any disease. I wouldn't have any ugliness.
I'd be without sin. I'd follow myself sooner or later,
but I wouldn't have Adam's sin. And Christ, Isaiah 7, verse 14,
listen, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel. That's God with us. So that's
the first prophecy about the coming of the Christ. And over
here in Luke 1, you have it fulfilled. Turn to Luke 1 in Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 1. What I'm trying
to do, you say, brother man, you're going over this, this
is so simple. Well, brethren, do we believe it? The gospel
is nothing simple about a virgin bringing forth a son. It's profound. There's nothing simple about
God appearing in human flesh. It's profound. But it's simple
to us. It's simple truth. And all truth, fact, is simple.
It's either so or it's not so. There's nothing complex or profound
about truth. Usually error is profound and
complex, but there's nothing confusing about the truth. God
either came through the virgin's womb in a human body or He didn't.
Luke 1 verse 26, And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent
from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin. The
woman had never known a man. She was engaged to a man whose
name was Joseph of the house of David. Don't ever forget that.
The virgin's name was Mary. She said to her, Hail, thou art
highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou over women. Uh-uh. Among women. Not over
anybody. Among women. And she told him
about bearing a son. In verse 34, Mary said, How can
this be? I don't know a man. And here's
what the angel said. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, the power of the highest shall overshadow thee, and therefore
also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. All right, I'm going to hurry
quickly, but the next prophecy was that he would be the seed
of Abraham. Now, the first prophecy, he's
the seed of woman. This Messiah, this Christ, this
one who would come, conquer evil, destroy Satan, judge the prince
of this world, be a seed of woman. Secondly, we narrow it down.
According to the Old Testament scriptures, he'd be the seed
of Abraham. Now you know several Scriptures how God appeared to
Abraham and said, I'll bless thee and thy seed and thy name
shall be called great and in thee shall all nations be blessed.
Turn to Galatians 3. Galatians 3. Here it is. Here's what we're talking about,
verse 16. In other words, Christ would
be a Jew. That's what I'm saying. Christ would be a Jew. The Christ,
the Messiah, would come through the Jewish nation. That's narrowing
it down. In other words, he'd be born
of a woman. Not just any woman, but a Jewish woman from Abraham. All right? He says here in Galatians
3, 16, "...and to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, to thy seed
which is Christ." Your seed, Abraham. The next prophecy was
that he would be of the tribe of Judah. You see, the seed of
woman, the seed of Abraham, and there were 12 tribes of Israel,
12 sons of Jacob. But there's one son, and his
tribe is going to produce the Messiah. Turn to Genesis 49,
10. Genesis chapter 49, verse 10. Genesis 49, verse 10. Now here's
Jacob blessing the 12 sons. And he comes to Judah and he
says, verse 10 of Genesis 49, this is before Jacob died, he
said, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, the crown, the scepter,
the reigning, ruling authority, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shallow, king of peace, until he comes. and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be." Judah. All right, it comes
on down, turn to Isaiah 11. You see, we've got the Messiah,
the Christ is coming, seed of woman, virgin born, seed of Abraham,
a Jew, from the tribe of Judah and from the family of Jesse,
a particular family. In Isaiah 11, now Jesse was David's
father. David was one of the sons of
Jesse. And here it says in Isaiah 11, verse 1, "...and there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall
grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest
upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit
of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of
the Lord." And it goes on, verse 4, "...with righteousness shall
he judge the poor," and so forth. This is the Messiah. Turn to Psalm 132, and he's to
be of the seed of David. And there's just so many dozens
and dozens and dozens of scriptures I could read showing how that
he would sit on the throne of his father David, he would be
the seed of David. And you see, both Mary and Joseph
were of the family of David. That's the reason when they were
taxed, they went to the city of Bethlehem. If it had been
of any other family, they would have gone to another city. In
Psalm 132, verse 11, the Lord has sworn in truth unto David.
He will not turn from it. Of the fruit of David's body
will I set upon thy throne. Let's turn to Jeremiah. And you
could just find this all the way through the Scripture. In
Jeremiah 2. Jeremiah chapter 2. The verse
they are talking about the Christ now. Jeremiah chapter 2. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. We're talking about the Christ
being of the seed of David. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, this is Jeremiah speaking in prophecy, that I will raise
under David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper
and execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days, Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his
name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness, David's
son, David's son. One day our Lord asked those
Pharisees, these men read the Scriptures, and of course it's
like someone prayed tonight, either Cecil or J1, That this
is all confusing and a mystery unless God opens our eyes, enlightens
our minds. I know that. God must reveal
the Scriptures. And our Lord said to him one
day, what think ye of Christ? The Christ. Now, they didn't
believe he was the Christ. He wasn't saying, what think
ye of me, of myself? He said, what do you think of
the Christ? Whose son is he? And every one of those Jews spoke
up and said, the son of David. And our Lord said, then why did
David call him Lord? Why did David call? If he's only
the son of David, if he's not God Almighty, if he's only the
son of David, he's only a descendant of David, he's only a natural
man who's come to restore the Jewish economy and kingdom, why
did David call him Lord? And they couldn't answer those
things. All right? And now we've got this thing down. The Messiah,
the Christ, is to be the seed of woman, the seed of Abraham
through Isaac, and Isaac shalt thy seed be called. the tribe
of Judah, the family of Jesse, and the household of David, and
then over here in the book of Micah, turn to Micah, it tells
where he's to be born. It tells where he's to be born.
It says in Micah chapter 5, and you know, Herod asked the wise
men, or asked those religious leaders, where is he to be born?
They said in Bethlehem. And here in Micah 5, But thou
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is
to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting. Who is the Ancient of Days, the
Rock of Ages, the Eternal God. out of Bethlehem shall come forth
the one whose goings forth have been from everlasting." He's
going to be born in Bethlehem of a virgin who came from the
family of the household of David and the family of Jesse and the
tribe of Judah and the seed of Abraham. A woman. And then the lowliness of his
birth is mentioned. Turn to Zechariah while we're
overhearing these small prophets. Zechariah 9, verse 9. He's not going to sit in a palace
or a castle, wear satin and silk and a crown. He's going to be
a poor man. It says in Zechariah 9, verse
9, Rejoice greatly, O daughters of Zion! Shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes unto
you! He's just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an ace,
upon a coat, the foal of an ace. That's the way he came into Jerusalem. It says in Isaiah 53, he grows
up as a tender plant, a root out of dry ground, despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. That's
Christ. That's the Christ. That's who Jesus is. All right,
his death is foretold. Turn to Psalm 22. This is one
of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible that I never can
understand how anyone can read the book of Psalms and read Psalm
22 and not be remarkably affected by the words of this Psalm. Psalm
22, my God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me? Now
this is hundreds of years before Christ died. Written by the hand
of David as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Why are you
so far from helping me? From the words of my roaring.
He was forsaken of God. He bore our sins. The Father
turned his back upon him. Why hast thou forsaken me? My
God, I cry in the daytime. You hear me not in the night
season. I am not silent. You remember when the sun didn't
shine and darkness was over the land? Christ was on that cross
in the bright sunshine and in the darkness. Verse 4, Our fathers
trusted in thee, they trusted and thou didst deliver them.
Verse 6, I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, despised of
the people. All that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out their lips and
shake their heads. He trusted on God that he would
deliver him. Let him deliver him. That's exactly, Ed, what
took place around that cross. That's exactly what they said.
Let's see if God will have him now. Verse 9, Thou art he that took
me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when
I was on my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Look at verse
16. Dogs have compassed me about.
The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They have pierced
my hands and my face. David's hands and feet were never
pierced. Never. This is a Messianic psalm. I
can tell all my bones. He was stretched on that cross,
the weight pulling down. You could count every rib, every
bone. And they look and stare upon me, and they part my garments
among them and cast lots for my robe. That's what I'm saying. I don't
say anybody can read that. and not see what happened to
Calvary. I just can't to save my life. It's right there in
front of us. All right, here's burial. Turn
to Isaiah. I won't read all these other
scriptures. I've got our time slipping away. Isaiah 53. And this is, you know, when the
eunuch was riding in the chariot and Philip stopped and talked
to him, he began at this scripture and preached Christ. And he preached
it so clearly from this scripture, that man was baptized on the
spot. He confessed Christ. He saw Christ
the Messiah. He saw Jesus as the Messiah.
And right there confessed Christ. But now look at verse, if you
will, at verse 9. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death. Though he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth." Now, he was crucified
between two thieves, the wicked. But what is this rich in his
death? Do you know anything about that? The Christ. Now, this is
the Christ. Well, let's turn to Matthew 27 without straining
a point and see if we can find what this is talking about. He
made his grave with the wicked. We know what that is. He hung
between two thieves. But what about this with the
rich in his death? While you're looking at Matthew
27, look at verse 9. You remember Judas betrayed him
for 30 pieces of silver? This then was fulfilled, Matthew
27, 9, by Jeremiah the prophet saying they took the 30 pieces
of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the
children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's
field, as the Lord appointed." You can read that in Zechariah
11, 13, about the 30 pieces of silver. But Matthew 27, verse
57, let's see what we can come up with on this, the rich and
his debt. Matthew 27, verse 57, When the
evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named
Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. And he went
to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate commanded
the body of Jesus to be delivered to the rich man called Joseph
of Arimathea. And Joseph took it, the body,
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own grave. All right, here's resurrection.
prophesied by the prophet Jonah. Our Lord said, as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so shall the
Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. Isaiah 49.6, here is his gospel preached to all
nations, Isaiah 49.6. And he said, it is a light thing
that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
to restore the the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee
for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation
unto the end of the earth." That's all. A man wrote me or called
me from Canova, West Virginia, and asked me to, several weeks
ago, to write him concerning a scripture regarding, thou shalt
call a nation whom thou knowest not, and nations it knew not,
they shall run to thee. That's the Gentile. Christ is
the Savior of all nations. He died for the sins, not of
the Jewish nation only, but for the sins of the world. Now turn
to Hebrews 9. I'm going to quit here. I've
gone too long. But I think I've sufficiently shown you from the
Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. But now, one other illustration
before I close. And here's what one man wrote.
He said, the Old Testament testifies of Jesus Christ, the Savior of
sinners. As the seed of woman, he has
destroyed the power of the serpent. In him the day has come that
Abraham foresaw." And I'll tell you something else Abraham saw.
He saw that the seed that was to redeem would come through
him. That was Isaac, miraculously
born. You see, Isaac was miraculously
born after Abraham was 100 years old and his wife was 90. That's
a picture of the miraculous birth of Christ, of the Virgin. But
God showed Abraham also that this seed must be sacrificed,
because he took Isaac on top of that mountain and would have
slain him. And that's when Abraham saw the day of Christ, that the
seed would be slain and raised up. In him the day has come that
Abraham foresaw, in him the line of Judah, the seed of David,
Appears as king of kings and lord of lords whose reign is
universal not only over the living on this earth But over all things
all power and all creatures indeed the whole universe His untold
sufferings have secured the full redemption of his people. I His
righteousness is sufficient and His priesthood is eternal. He's
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. He has redeemed us to God,
reconciled us to God, made us kings and priests. At His name
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
of Nazareth is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ
indeed has come in the flesh. If any man confess that Jesus
Christ has not come in the flesh, he's an antichrist. That's what
John said. And his flesh is the tabernacle of Jehovah in whom
the ancient prophecies fulfilled, behold your God. I'm not going to read about the
tabernacle. You can read about the tabernacle, but what I want
to show you is this before I close. If you go back to the Old Testament,
clear back to the Garden of Eden, blood was shed in the Garden
of Eden. Before Adam and Eve ever left that garden, God slew
a lamb. I believe it was before they
left. Anyway, God slew an animal, shed its blood, and covered Adam
and Eve's nakedness. And my dear friends, that's the
picture of Christ, who died, shed His blood to cover our guilt
and shame and nakedness in the sight of God. And then Isaac
was taken on that mountain, and Abraham bound him and put him
on the altar, and would have taken his life, and God said,
Touched not the lad, and there was a ram over there caught by
his horns in the thicket, and Abraham picked it up, moved Isaac
off the altar, put the ram on, and slew the ram in his place."
That's Christ dying for us. Substitution. The Passover lamb. Israel was in bondage in Egypt,
slaves, and God would deliver them. He said, take a lamb, put
it up for four days, the first thing of the flock, without spot
or blemish. That's Christ, the firstborn of all creatures, the
firstborn from the dead, the first begotten of the Father.
Put Him up so many days to make sure He's perfect. Christ lived
33 years on this earth and revealed His perfect life without sin,
no sin in Him. And then slay that lamb, eat
its flesh, put its blood on the door, and when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And the Scripture says our Passover
is Christ. It's as plain as anything in
the world. And just as Israel was delivered from Egypt when
God saw the blood, it's a picture of Christ. And then the scapegoat,
you know how that the priest would take a goat and put his
hands on the goat and confess sin. And then one man would take
that goat and lead it out away from the camp. And he'd go way
out in the desert, miles and miles and miles and miles. And
then he'd come back, leave that goat out there. He'd never come
back. And that's a picture of Christ who bore our sins away,
never to be remembered anymore. The manna, the bread from heaven.
Christ said, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. You eat
of that bread and die. I'm the bread from heaven. Eat
and live. The water from the rock, that
rock is Christ. I read that to you. The brazen
serpent lifted up. Moses lifted up the serpent.
You can see in that picture so clearly our Lord revealed. The
people had murmured and sinned, and God sent fiery serpents among
them, and they bit the people. And that was the cause of death.
And God said, Moses, make a serpent in the likeness, a brazen serpent,
a brash serpent, in the likeness of the serpents that have bitten
the people. Christ came in the likeness of our flesh. Raise
it up on a pole, and whosoever shall look lives. And our Lord said, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man,
in the likeness of sinful flesh, be lifted up, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now, Israel
wasn't saved by looking to that brass, because later on Hezekiah,
was it Hezekiah? They had found that serpent,
and that bunch was worshiping that serpent. That's what they
do if they found the ark. That's what they do if they found
the cross. That's what they do if they found the manger. That's
what they do if they found any religious relic. People bow down
before it. They do it every time. And so
they were worshiping this brazen serpent and the king Hezekiah
took it and ground it into piter. He said it's not anything but
a worthless piece of brass. That's what he said. Boy, wouldn't
you like to have that serpent? Why? As the God said, it's just
a worthless piece of brass. You can rub it and kiss it and
worship it and go to hell.