Sermon #1526                                    Miscellaneous Sermons

 

Title:       How Do You Know That Jesus Is The Christ?

Text:       Psalm 40:6-8

Reading: David Burge – Auditorium: Matthew 1:1-25

Subject:  Biblical Evidences that Jesus is the Messiah

Date:       Sunday Evening—December 22, 2002

Introduction:

 

All around the world this week men and women and boys and girls are celebrating the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was born into this world two thousand years ago. Everywhere people are talking and singing about the birth of the Christ child. It is most fitting that the world should pause once a year to remember the birth of One upon whom so many build their hopes.

 

All believers rest the hopes of their immortal souls upon him. He is the Foundation upon which we have built our hopes of eternal life. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah, promised by God in all the Old Testament prophets.

 

Peter's confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16), is the foundation of the entire Christian world, the church of God, and the gospel of God. If Jesus of Nazareth is not the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, then...

 

1.     He is not the Son of God.

2.     His obedience to God is of no benefit to us.

3.     His birth is of no greater importance than the birth of any other great and noble man.

4.     His death upon the cross has no saving virtue.

5.     And we are yet in our sins.

 

Our faith says, "We believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (John 6:69). But are you really sure? There have been many others who have claimed to be Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Perhaps it would be good for us at this season of the year to ask of Jesus what John the Baptist asked of him - "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:3) This is the question I want to address in this message—HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST?

 

Suppose you were witnessing to a Jew and he said to you, "Show me from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Jesus you worship is the Messiah." Could you do it? That is exactly what I want to do in this message. I want to show you from the Scriptures of Old Testament that...

 

Proposition: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, who was crucified at Jerusalem two thousand years ago, is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

My text is Psalm 40:6-8.

 

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

 

It would be impossible to honestly apply these words to anyone but the Messiah. Indeed, the Jewish commentators from ancient times have said that this Psalm is a messianic prophecy. And, of course, the Apostle declares in the Book of Hebrews that this prophecy is fulfilled in the Person and work of Jesus of Nazareth.

 

"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will,O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." --Heb 10:5-10

 

Divisions: In those three verses of Psalm 40, the Prophet David tells us four things which will identify the true Messiah of Israel. And these four things find their fulfilment only in Jesus Christ our Lord. Here David tells us that when the Christ, the Messiah comes...

 

1.      The Sacrifices and Ceremonies of Legal Worship Will Cease.

2.      He Will Be Jehovah's Voluntary Servant.

3.      The Body of Scripture Prophecy Will Be Fulfilled.

4.      He Will Perfectly Accomplish The Will Of God.

 

I want you to follow me carefully through the Scriptures as I show you that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The types, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures weave a garment that is tailor made to fit only one man. That man is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. And that man is our Savior, Jesus.

 

I.       First, David tells us that WHEN THE MESSIAH HAS COME ALL THE SACRIFICES AND CEREMONIES OF LEGAL WORSHIP WOULD CEASE.—"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire."

 

The sacrifices, ceremonies and laws of the Mosaic economy were never intended to be a means of salvation. God never had pleasure and satisfaction in them. They could not remove sin, satisfy justice, or make men righteous before God.

 

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." -- Heb 10:1-4

 

The sacrifices and ceremonies of the law were only useful as types and shadows of Christ, to show the nature and necessity of his redemptive work. Once they were fulfilled they must cease to be, because they have no other service.

 

The law given by Moses was designed by God to identify and expose sin, to deter men from deeds of iniquity, and to show the necessity of a Substitute. Once the law has served its purpose and been fulfilled by Christ, it has no other use, and ceases to have power over men.

 

 "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." -- Rom 10:4

 

A.   THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES CONSTANTLY REMINDED THE JEWS THAT GOD HAD NO REGARD FOR THEIR SACRIFICES AND CEREMONIES, EXCEPT AS THEY TYPIFIED CHRIST AND WERE OBSERVED BY FAITH IN HIM.

 

"And Samuel said, [Hath the LORD as great delight] in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." -- 1 Sam 15:22

 

"Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" -- Ps 50:7-13

 

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delight- est not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." -- Ps 51:16-17

 

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them." -- Isa 1:11-14

 

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." -- Dan 9:27

 

These five passages from the Old Testament, read without comment demonstrate clearly that the sacrifices and ceremonies of legal worship were never intended to be perpetual. They were only temporary pictures of Christ.

 

B.    EVEN THE MOSAIC COVENANT, AS SET FORTH IN WHAT WE COMMONLY CALL THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, WAS ONLY DESIGNED TO BE A TEMPORARY COVENANT (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:7-13).

 

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." -- Jer 31:31-34

 

"For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." -- Heb 8:7-13

 

The law of God, as a covenant, a rule of life, and the revelation of God's righteous requirements from men was designed to lead us to Christ, by whom it is fulfilled (Gal. 3:24-25).

 

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." -- Gal 3:24-25

 

C. AND WHEN CHRIST CAME, THE SACRIFICES AND CEREMONIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT DID CEASE TO BE OBSERVED.

 

David, at least a thousand years before Christ came, intimated that when he came he would accomplish that which no sacrifice, ceremony, or law could accomplish (redemption - justification - righteousness - and forgiveness). The laws, sacrifices, and ceremonies of Israel were only scaffolding, temporarily necessary for the building of his kingdom, but now removed.

 

1.     All the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies ceased to have virtue when Christ died.

2.     And all ceased to exist when God destroyed both Jerusalem and Judaism in 70 A.D.

     The Priesthood Ceased!       The Temple Ceased!

     The Sacrifices Ceased!         The Nation Ceased!

 

The Rent Veil

 

Here is the first evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah. When he finished his work the sacrifices and ceremonies of legal worship ceased. To demonstrate it, the veil of the temple was ripped apart (Matt. 27:51).

 

"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent." -- Mat 27:51

 

NOTE: Though the Jews look for a future Messiah and deny that Jesus is the Christ, their hopes are as foolish as they are vain - How could this prophecy be fulfilled again?

 

II.    Secondly, David shows us that THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, MUST BE A MAN WHO IS JEHOVAH'S VOLUNTARY SERVANT.—"Mine ears hast thou opened."

 

"Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever." -- Exo 21:1-6

 

The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and performed his work as the voluntary Servant of his Father (Isa. 42:1-4; 50:5-7; Heb. 10:5-7; John 10:16-18; Luke 12:50). I must be brief here. But this is so important. Be sure you get it.

 

A.   HE WHO IS JEHOVAH'S VOLUNTARY SERVANT IS JEHOVAH'S EQUAL!

 

All angels, men, creatures, devils, and events must serve God, because he is the Creator of all things. All rational beings are morally obligated to serve God, because we live upon his bounty. But Christ came to serve the Father voluntarily. He owed nothing and had nothing to gain, for he is himself Jehovah. That Man who is the Christ is himself God (Ps. 45:6-7).

 

"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." -- Ps 45:6-7

 

B.    JEHOVAH'S SERVANT CAME INTO THE WORLD WITH A SPECIFIC MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH (Matt. 1:21).

 

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." -- Mat 1:21

 

Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, Messiah was promised, looked for, and trusted as that One who would come to restore his fallen people to the everlasting favor of God, by putting away their sins (Isa. 61:1-3; Lk. 4:18).

 

"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 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 unto 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 might be glorified." -- Isa 61:1-3

 

"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 broken- hearted,to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"  -- Luke 4:18

 

C.   EITHER JESUS OF NAZARETH HAS EFFECTUALLY REDEEMED AND SAVED GOD'S ELECT, OR HE IS NOT THE CHRIST.

 

The Christ of Arminian, freewill religion is a false Christ. We know he is because, Messiah's eternal glory and exaltation is dependent and conditioned upon the success of his redemptive, saving work (Ps. 2:7-8; 65:4; 110:3).

 

"I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." -- Ps 2:7-8

 

"Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." -- Ps 65:4

 

"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth." -- Ps 110:3

 

"He shall not fail!" -- Isa 42:4

 

"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." -- John 6:37-40

 

"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." -- John 10:16

 

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." -- Heb 10:10

 

Here is the second proof of our Savior's Messiahship: He is...

1.     Jehovah's Voluntary Servant!

2.     Our Vicarious Substitute!

3.     And the Victorious Savior!

 

III. Thirdly, the Prophet David assured us that WHEN THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH, HAS COME THE VOLUME OF SCRIPTURE PROPHECY WOULD BE FULFILLED.—"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me."

 

"The volume of the book" may refer to the book of God's secret, eternal decrees (Rev. 5:1; 10:2). But it certainly refers to the written revelation of God contained in the Old Testament Scriptures.

 

The writings of the Old Testament prophets abound in predictions of the Messiah, the Christ. God promised Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." When Jacob blessed the tribe of Judah, he spoke of Shiloh to whom the gathering of the people would be. Moses spoke of that Prophet whom the Lord God would raise up, whom the people of God would hear. In the Psalms and the prophets Messiah is given a variety of titles:

·        The Anointed of the Lord

·        The King

·        David's Lord

·        The Child Born

·        The Son Given

·        The Mighty God

·        The Everlasting Father

·        The Prince of Peace

·        God's Servant Whom he Upholds

·        Messiah The Prince

·        God's Elect in Whom He Delights

·        The Branch

·        The Lord Our Righteousness

·        The Messenger of the Covenant

 

All these names and titles belong to the Messiah. But are they all fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth? If they are, then he is the Christ. If they are not, we must look for another. The prophecies of the Old Testament give us eight specific things which must characterize the Messiah. By these eight things, the Christ is identified. And these eight things can be, with honesty, applied to no man in history, past or future, except Jesus of Nazareth, who is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

A.   THE TIME OF MESSIAH'S COMING WAS CLEARLY MARKED OUT IN PROPHECY.

 

God told no one the day and hour when Christ would come. But he did identify the time in history. Those looking forward to the coming of Christ could not predict it. But those looking back cannot mistake it. Christ has come!

 

THE COMING OF MESSIAH MUST FIT INTO THIS TIME FRAME:

 

1.     Before the destruction of civil government in Judah.

 

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." -- Gen 49:10

 

2.     While the temple was still standing in Jerusalem.

 

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts." -- Hag 2:6-9

 

3.     About the middle of Daniel's 70th week, which would be 453-457 years after the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem began - 33 A.D. The year that Christ died (Dan. 9:24-27). 37 years later, 70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed.

 

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." -- Dan 9:24-27

 

The Messiah had to come into the world during the time that Jesus of Nazareth lived upon the earth. He could not have come at any other time.

 

B.    THE PLACE WHERE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN WAS PLAINLY FORETOLD.

 

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 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." -- Micah 5:2

 

C.   THE FAMILY FROM WHICH MESSIAH MUST COME WAS THE HOUSE OF DAVID.

 

"The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." - Ps 132:11

 

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:" -- Isa 11:1

 

The Jews debated about many things. But they never questioned the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.

 

D.   THE MIRACLES PERFORMED BY THE LORD JESUS DECLARE HIM TO BE THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, THE SON OF DAVID (Isa. 29:18; 35:5-6; 42:6-7).

 

"And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." -- Isa 29:18

 

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." -- Isa 35:5-6

 

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. -- Isa 42:6-7

 

     Illustration: John the Baptist (Matt. 11:2-4).

                         "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on us!"

 

E.    THE MESSIAH MUST BE ONE WHO COMES AS A KING DISTINGUISHED BY HIS HUMILIATION, MEEKNESS, AND LOWLINESS (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1-9).

 

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." -- Zec 9:9

 

"And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strowed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." -- Mat 21:1-9

 

F.    IT WAS PROPHESIED THAT THE MESSIAH MUST SUFFER AND DIE BY THE HANDS OF WICKED MEN.—"Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself" (Dan. 9:26; Isa. 53:1-12).

 

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." -- Dan 9:26

 

NOTE: Our Lord's tormenters used the very words and performed the very deeds he had predicted by his prophets - (See Ps. 22).

 

NOTE: Those words which describe the betrayal, shame, crucifixion, and death of Christ could find fulfilment only in the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

 

G.   THE SCRIPTURES DECLARED PLAINLY THAT MESSIAH WOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD BEFORE HIS BODY HAD BEGUN TO DECAY.

 

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." -- Ps 16:9-11

 

"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." -- Isa 53:10-12

 

H.   AND THE PROPHETS PLAINLY ASSERTED THAT MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, WOULD SET UP HIS KINGDOM AMONG THE GENTILES BY THE OUTPOURING OF HIS SPIRIT UPON THEM (Isa. 49:5-6; Joel 2:28-32; Gal. 3:13-14).

 

"And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his ser- vant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore 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." -- Isa 49:5-6

 

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the ter- rible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call." -- Joel 2:28-32

 

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." -- Gal 3:13-14

 

Here are the evidences by which we know and are sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God:

 

1.     He put an end to the sacrifices and ceremonies of legal worship by fulfilling them.

2.     He came into the world as Jehovah's voluntary Servant.

3.     He fulfilled the volume of Old Testament prophecy to the letter.

 

But I have saved the best until the last. Here is the greatest, most blessed assurance we have. By this, above all else, we know that Jesus our Savior is the Christ.

 

IV.David tells us that THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH, WHOEVER HE IS, WILL PERFECTLY ACCOMPLISH THE WILL OF GOD.–"I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."

 

When the Lord Jesus came into this world he came with delight to do his Father's will. He delighted in that of which God approves. He delighted in that which God had appointed. And the law of God was in his heart, so that both inwardly and outwardly, he was perfectly holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin - He knew no sin!

 

We know that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God, because...

 

A.   He Perfectly Performed All the Precepts of God's Revealed Will In The Law - Brought in an everlasting righteousness.

B.    He Freely Yielded Himself To All The Performances Of God's Providential Will - "Not my will, thy will be done!"

C.   He Made Complete Satisfaction and Propitiation To God's Justice, Satisfying The Penalty Of The Law.

D.   And In Doing These Things He Accomplished The Complete Salvation Of God's Elect (Heb. 10:5-14).

 

"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." -- Heb 10:11-14

 

Christ came to do the Father's will. He came to save his people. And he has done it. We know that Jesus is the Christ, because God accepted his work (Rom. 8:32-34).

 

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." -- Rom 8:32-34

 

Application: Lam. 1:12 - It is Everything To Me!

 

How do you know that Jesus is the Christ? I answer, I know that Jesus is the Christ because...

 

1.     He has fulfilled all that God said the Messiah would do:

 

(a.)            Put and end to legal sacrifices and ceremonies.

(b.)           Came as a voluntary Savior.

(c.)           Accomplished all the prophecies.

(d.)           Performed the will of God.

 

2.     He has been revealed in me by the power of His Spirit in saving grace.

 

3.     His blood, applied to my heart, has purged my conscience of guilt.

 

4.     I prove his Divinity, Messiahship, and Saving Power by faith - I trust him (John 6:69).

 

"And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." -- John 6:69