Turn with me tonight to Luke
chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, and we will
begin our reading in verse 36. And as they thus spake, that
is the disciples of the Lord Jesus, as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, peace
be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see. For spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he
had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while
they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them,
have you here any meat? They gave him a piece of a broad
fish and of a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto
them, thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things. Tonight, I want us to especially
think upon the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 44 and
then the comment that is made in verse 45. These are the words
which I spoke. These are the words of Christ
in verse 44 to his disciples. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you. That is, before he had been
crucified. He now appeared unto them on
the day of his resurrection. And of course, they were fearful. They were terrified because they
believed that they were seeing a spirit. And therefore he said
unto them, look at my hands, look at my feet. A spirit doesn't
have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Do you have any
meat here? And he showed that he could eat.
The resurrected body of our Lord and the resurrected body that
you and I will have doesn't need food. We shall be like the angels. They don't need physical food.
They live, but yet we have that ability to live. And one day
we will sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb. And that's
going to be a feast, isn't it? To be there with Christ, our
Lord. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you before my crucifixion, before
I was in the tomb for three days. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled. I believe in John's gospel, he
said, the scripture cannot be broken. The scripture, God's
word, all things which were written in the word of God concerning
me must be fulfilled. God is a God of truth. And God's
word is going to be fulfilled. Whatever we find here in the
word of God, we may not understand it. We may not be able to explain
it, but we know this, it's true. It's true because it is God's
word. All things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and
in the Psalms concerning me. Remember he said, search the
scriptures to the Jews. Search the scriptures for in
them you think you have eternal life. They thought by having the scriptures,
by reading the scriptures, by committing the scriptures to
memory, that they had eternal life. But eternal life is not
in the written word, it's in the living word. Search the scriptures
for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they
which testify of me, the scriptures, that which was written in the
law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms. In other words,
all the Old Testament of our Bibles. In them, you think you
have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me and
you will not come to me that you might have life. Man by nature
will not come to Christ. In the day of God's power, when
God works a work of grace in the heart of His people, that's
when men turn to Christ. That's when men come to Christ. But notice the next verse, verse
45. a follow-up. These are not the
words of Christ. These are the words written by
Luke, inspired as he was by the Holy Spirit. Then, then Christ
opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. You know, salvation, the truth
comes by revelation. God must open a person's understanding
to understand the Scriptures. Because men are born into this
world in a state of spiritual death, no man can understand
the Scriptures apart from God the Holy Spirit. God is chosen
by what Paul called the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. He said that the Greeks seek
after wisdom, the Jews require a sign, but we preach Christ
and Him crucified and to them which are called Christ the power
and wisdom of God. He opened their understanding.
Now what I want to to do tonight, I want us to concentrate on his
words. All things concerning him must
be fulfilled, all things which were written in the law of Moses
and the prophets and the Psalms. Now that's his word to his disciples. That's his words. All things
concerning me, we might paraphrase that, He said, all things concerning
me which are written in the law and in the prophets and in the
Psalms must be fulfilled. You notice he tells them in verse
44, these are the words which I spake unto you before he was crucified. He spoke
these words unto these eleven disciples that he's talking to
here. But they didn't understand. They
didn't understand what he was saying. It wasn't that his words
were long words. You needed a dictionary to look
up the meaning. It's that man doesn't have spiritual
understanding apart from the Spirit of God giving him that
understanding. And these are the words that
he said, I, I spake unto you while I was yet with you. One
illustration or one example, I should say, is found in Matthew
16 in verse 21. We read from that time forth,
after Peter had made that, that wonderful confession, thou art
the Christ. You know, our Lord said, whom
do men say that I am? And Peter said, well, some say
this, some say the other. But whom do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of God. And our Lord said, blessed art
thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood did not reveal
that unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven and upon this
rock. He certainly was not talking
about upon Peter, even though that name means a little stone. The church is not built upon
Peter as the foundation. Christ is the foundation and
that confession that he is the Christ, the son of the living
God. And no sooner had Peter made
that confession and the Lord commended him in the sense, the
Lord revealed that unto thee, Peter. The Lord revealed that
unto thee. The Lord said to them, from that
time forth, from that point, from that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must, he must go unto
Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests
and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Well, his disciples, they didn't
understand that at all. And Peter at that time even took
him aside and said, not so, not so, Lord. That's not going to
happen. And the Lord rebuked him, didn't
he? Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savest not the things
that be of God. Now we say that this time, this
time after his death, after his resurrection, as he appears unto
them, this time, He opened their understandings that they might
understand the scriptures. Now they understood because he
opened their understandings that all things concerning him which
were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms
must be fulfilled. Tonight, We're going to look
at scriptures from the law, from the prophets, and from the Psalms
that spoke of him. And these are all scriptures
which he used, he had used beforehand with his disciples, but they
didn't understand them. But now they could understand
the scriptures because he opens up their understandings. The Lord quoted scripture out
of the law of Moses concerning himself. Turn with me back to
Numbers chapter 21. Now this is part of the law of
Moses, isn't it? The first five books of the Bible,
the Pentateuch. Here in Numbers chapter 21, Beginning with verse five, we
read Numbers 21 in verse five, and the people spake against
God and against Moses, wherefore have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul
loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, set
it upon a pole, And it shall come to pass that every one that
is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Three things
I want to point out to us from those verses. First of all, God's
remedy for man's problem was to make a serpent. Now the serpent
is what was causing them trouble. The fiery serpents that God sent
among them were poisonous, and anyone, everyone, I should say,
who was bitten by one of those serpents was sure to die. But
what does God do? He tells Moses, make a serpent. And that reminds us that how
did sin come into this world? By man. By man, right? And how is the remedy that God
has provided for sin accomplished? By a man. By man. The God-man, yes, but still,
by a man. You make a serpent that looks
just like the serpents which are biting the people which is
causing all the problem. That's the first thing. The second
thing is God's remedy had to be set upon a pole, put it on
a pole. In other words, it has to be
lifted up. And third, God's remedy had to
be looked upon to receive the healing. Everyone that looks
upon the serpent is healed. No doubt that God sent messengers,
had Moses send messengers throughout the whole camp. And what was
their message? It had to be very simple, didn't
it? Very plain, very clear. Look! Have you ever thought about
just looking? What? How difficult is it just
to look? If I asked you to look at this
guitar over here, everyone in this building with these physical
eyes, we could look. Without any struggle, without
any pain, without a whole lot of exertion, we could look. Now turn with me to John chapter
3. That's all the message was, just look, look. Look to the serpent put up on
the pole, the fiery serpent, and be healed. In John chapter
3, in our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus, now remember
we're looking at something that was written in the law concerning
Christ that must be fulfilled. In chapter 3 of John, our Lord
was speaking with Nicodemus, beginning in verse 11. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, testify that
we have seen, and you receive not our witness. If I have told
you earthly things and you believe not, this man our Lord was speaking
to was a master in Israel. He wasn't just any Israelite. He was a master, a teacher, a
rabbi, a member of the Sanhedrin. There were 70 men that made up
the Sanhedrin that ruled in things, religious matters, among the
nation of Israel. He was somebody. If they'd had
a book of who's who, his name would have been listed in it.
Who's who. and the religion of the Jews.
Nicodemus, his name would have been there. Read on. I've told you earthly
things and you believe not. How shall you believe if I tell
you of heavenly things? And this is one of those heavenly
things right here. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is
in heaven. You see, God is a trinity of
persons, but the trinity cannot be divided. There are three persons,
but there's one essence. And while He was here upon the
earth, He had taken into union with His deity as the Son of
God. He was in heaven. He was in heaven. He's one with the Father and
God, the Holy Spirit. as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. That's what we read about it,
wasn't it? Even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. We see the same three things
here, as we saw in numbers. Number one, the serpent caused
death, and God's remedy was a serpent of brass. It was man who brought
sin, death, and alienation from God into this world. So God's
remedy, his only remedy, came in the likeness of sinful flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ had no
sin, did no sin, knew no sin. The scripture's very clear. He's
a holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Son of
God. But he looked like every other
man. There wasn't, I know the artist
especially during the medieval days, dark ages as they were
called, they painted pictures which they shouldn't have done
to begin with, pictures of Christ. They always painted a halo, a
bright light around his head. There was nothing like that.
He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Just as that serpent on
that pole, the serpents which were biting and killing the people
looked like that serpent. Of course, there was a big difference,
wasn't there? One serpent was made out of brass.
There's a big difference. He was a man, yes, but the God
man. He had no sin of his own. And
that had to be so. He could not have atoned for
the sins of others if he had sin of his own. That's so clear. For since by man came death,
this is what the Apostle Paul writes, for since by man came
death, how did death come into this world? How did sin come
into this world? How did alienation from God come
into this world? By man, by the first man, Adam,
by his disobedience. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. And secondly, the
serpent had to be set upon a pole so the Son of Man must be lifted
up. He couldn't die a natural death.
He had no sin to cause death. First of all, he couldn't die
in his sleep. The Lord Jesus Christ had to be lifted
up. He had to suffer the death that
he suffered. to pay for the sins of his people. God's justice had to be satisfied
by his substitutionary, his vicarious sufferings. And number three,
God's remedy must be looked to for one to be healed. Men must
look to Christ, must trust in Christ. In Isaiah 45, God said, look
unto me. Look unto me, and be ye saved. You want to be saved? Look to
Christ. Look to Him. There's nowhere
else, no one else. Look to Him. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. You say, well, does that mean
me, all the ends of the earth? Sure, that includes you. That's
the reason we have no problem. Yes, we believe in God's sovereign
grace with all our heart that God has chosen a people from
before the foundation of the world to be saved, that they're
going to be saved, that Christ has died for them, God the Holy
Spirit is going to call them out. But we have no problem preaching
the gospel to everyone. Believe, look, and be saved. Look unto me. all ye ends of
the earth, for I'm God! And there's none else. You know,
there are many other passages out of the Law of Moses that
the Lord Jesus Christ used besides this particular one. I was thinking
about the history of the manna, the bread that God fed the Israelites
with for 40 years. The Lord Jesus confessed, I am
the bread of life. I am the bread of life. He that
cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. He that cometh unto me shall
never hunger. Have you ever heard of anyone
who came to Christ, who trusted in Christ, and later repented
and said, I wish I had never believed in Christ? I wish I
had never looked to Christ? Of course you never have and
you never will. What you will hear probably is
someone say, I wish I had looked before I did. I wish I'd been
saved before I was. But you'll never hear anyone
say they repent, they wish they'd never looked at him, they never
believed in him. Why? Because as the course goes
sweeter as the days go by. Jesus becomes sweeter as the
days go by. All right, here's second, the
Lord quoted scripture out of the prophets concerning himself. So first of all, he quoted scripture
out of the law of Moses concerning himself, likewise out of the
prophets. I want you to turn back to Zechariah. Zechariah, I believe that's the
second to the last book in the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter
number 13. There's a prophet. Zechariah chapter 13 in verse
7. Here the prophet said, Awake,
O sword, against my shepherd and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little
ones. Who, think about this, who is
God's shepherd of the sheep? Who is that? Who is the man that is God's
fellow, equal with the Father? Who is that man? Who is the shepherd
who was smitten Who is that? Who were the sheep
which were scattered? That's what that prophecy says. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Who is that man? And who are the sheep that were
scattered? Well, look with me in Mark chapter 14. Of course,
you know who the shepherd is. He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. In Mark 14, verses 26 and 27,
we read, When they had sung a hymn, this
is the night before our Lord was crucified, after he had instituted
the Lord's table, the Lord's supper, they had sung a hymn. They went out into the Mount
of Olives and Jesus saith unto them, all you shall be offended
because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite
the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. The Lord quoted
scripture out of the prophets concerning himself. Also in John
18 in verse 8, when they came to arrest him that night in the
garden, he said, I've told you that I am. Remember he said,
whom seek ye? Jesus, I am. And what happened? They all went
back. Just by the Lord Jesus Christ
confessing himself to be Jehovah, I am. They all fell back. There's no way those soldiers
and men could have taken the Lord by force. He just confessed
who he was, and they all fell back. And he asked them again,
whom seek ye? Jesus. I have told you that I
am. Now listen, if therefore you
seek me, let these go their way. The sheep. The disciples, they
were scattered. They went every way, leaving him that night. And if you will, look in Luke
22. Luke chapter 22, verse 37. For I say unto you, Luke chapter
22 and verse 37, for I say unto you that this that is written
must yet be accomplished in me. And he was reckoned among the
transgressors for the things concerning me have an end. If
these things must take place, the Lord said, because it was
written concerning me, he was reckoned among the transgressors. Now, where was that written?
Where was that written? Oh, that wonderful 53rd chapter
of Isaiah, right? It speaks of the suffering Savior.
The end of that chapter goes like this. Therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled
with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death,
and he was numbered with the transgressors. And he bared the
sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Now, the
Psalms, the Psalms. The Lord quoted scripture out
of the Psalms concerning himself. In John 15 and verse 25, the Lord said this, John 15 and
verse 25, But this cometh to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. Now,
you have to recognize that many times when we read the law, it's
speaking of all the Old Testament, of all the law of Moses, the
prophets, and the Psalms. And our Lord here uses a word,
he says, from the law, What we recognize is from the Psalms. They hated me without a cause. Do you want to look at that?
Let's go back to Psalm 69. Psalm 69, and this is a Psalm
that speaks to us of Christ. Let me just say this as we look
at this song. Everything that a sinner is going
to experience in hell, separation from God, that sinking, sinking
experience because there's no stability. Our Lord experienced
everything on the cross. Separation from God, the wrath
of God poured out upon him, and you see that in this psalm. Save
me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire. Have you
ever just sat on the beach and watched the waves come in? And just stop and think that
your sins, my sins, were like those waves that just kept coming
in, covering the Lord Jesus Christ. The waters are coming to my soul. I sink in deep mire where there's
no standing. I'm coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I'm weary of my crying. My throat
is dried. My eyes fail. while I wait for
my God. Here it is, they that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. They
that would destroy me being mine enemies wrongfully are mighty.
Now notice this, then I restored that which I took not away. What was it he restored? God's
glory. as a man. The first man failed
to do that. Our Lord said, I finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. I restored that which I took
not away. The Lord, let me close with this,
the Lord opening the understandings of the apostles to understand
the scriptures along with the coming of the Holy Spirit explains
the change in their preaching from the day of Pentecost on
the change in their preaching. Now they understood the scriptures
and their message was the message of the scriptures, Christ and
him crucified. That's the reason the apostle
Paul could write to the church at Corinth and say, I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Peter said, this is the stone
which was set at nought of you builders on the day of Pentecost. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, you leaders, you religious rulers
of Israel, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Wow, what a difference, right?
After the Lord opened their understandings to understand the Scriptures
and say that the Scriptures, all the Scriptures, the law,
the prophets, the Psalms, all spoke of Him. And then, of course, God the
Holy Spirit coming upon them as He did. I pray the Lord would bless this
study to all of us here tonight.