The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ

(Sabbath Before Passover 2022)

Fred R. Coulter—April 9, 2022

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services, the Sabbath before Passover! This year Passover falls on a Friday, which means that we take the Passover ceremony Thursday after sunset.

Then the regular Sabbath is the first day of Unleavened Bread. The next day is the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. When we get to the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the seventh day is on Friday and we have the Sabbath backed up to it. So we have:

• Passover
• the first Holy Day on the Sabbath
• then the last day of Unleavened Bread
• then the Sabbath after Unleavened Bread

What we need to do is recognize and understand—and I'm sure we all do—God has fantastic and awesome plan for all of mankind. But the plan of God for us today—for those who are in the Church of the Firstborn—is extra special! The only thing to exceed that is the blessing of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

Then the patriarchs before them coming down through the line of Adam and Seth. Then we know what's going to happen when Jesus returns.

Then there will be a thousand years of the Kingdom of God on earth, mass conversions, mass numbers of those during the thousand years who will enter into the Kingdom of God.

After that we have the Great White Throne Judgment where everyone who never had an opportunity for salvation will receive their first opportunity in the 100-year period.

After that we have the incorrigible wicked, and their punishment is eternal death—be dead forever! Just before that, we have the judgment against Satan and his removal in to the blackest darkness with all the demons forever!

All of this is in the Bible and there are a lot of Scriptures to back it up, as you know. That's why we have the book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by the Sabbath and Holy Days.

What we're going to do today is look at some key prophecies concerning Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. He is called the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!The sin of the world goes clear back to Adam and Eve!

So, ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is going to cover all human sin: past, present and future! The future hasn't come, so they haven't been covered, yet. The past has already occurred, and if they weren't called, then they have to wait for the Great White Throne Judgment.

Let's begin in 2-Tim. 3, and here Paul reveals something very important for us to understand. He's writing to Timothy the young evangelist:

2-Timothy 3:15: "And that from a child you have known the Holy Writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus."

This is something that is hardly every touched by the Protestants. Yet, there are 356 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. So, we're going to examine some of those today.

Verse 16: "All Scripture is God-breathed…"—meaning Spirit breathed! God is the One Who directed it, which we will see in just a minute.

"…and is profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work" (vs 16-17).

So, spiritually speaking, all the Scripture—Old and New Testaments—starting with the Old Testament first, because that's foundation for the New. Now we see something very similar that Peter wrote in 2-Pet. 1.

Let's understand that we need to let the Bible interpret the Bible, and use the Word of God to understand the Word of God. We progress from the simple to the complicated. Too many times people like to go to the complicated to try and understand the complicated things, such as the difficult Scriptures of the Apostle Paul. You can't understand them unless you understand about what we're going to cover today, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A lot of people profess it and claim it. A lot of people ask that their lives be covered with the blood of Jesus Christ, but many times that's so short lived that there is hardly any covering.

How many people do exactly what Jesus said to do concerning the Passover. Think about that!

• look at what the Catholic Church does with the Sacrifice of the Mass
• look at what the Protestants do with what they call The Lord's Supper
• look what the Seventh Day Adventists do with what they call The Lord's Supper, the first Sabbath of every quarter

All of those are instructions of men, not of God! Here's why, and we need to realize:

2-Peter 1:19: "We also possess the confirmed prophetic Word…"

That's the Old Testament! Everyone of the fulfilled prophecies were confirmed by Christ's life:

• what He did
• how He did it
• the way it came about

"…to which you do well to pay attention, as to a light shining in a dark place…" (v 19).

Just like this world, spiritually speaking, is in darkness, and it's going to get darker! Remember the prophecy that says, 'darkness shall cover the earth, and men will be blinded from the Truth!' You need to pay attention!

"…until the day dawns… [the return of Christ] …and the morning star arises in your hearts" (v 19)—the resurrection!

• we will shine like the stars, as Daniel said
• our faces will shine like the sun, as Jesus said

Think about that; think about how glorious is going to be!

But also remember that it can't happen without the sacrifice of Christ!

It can't be given to us unless we are faithful, obedient and keep the commandments of God, and those of Christ, and all the instructions in the Bible.

He wants us to understand, v 20: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture… [any speaking of what became Scripture] …originated as anyone's own private interpretation."

You can't say that Peter said this, but Mark said this, and Luke said that, John said this and Isaiah said that. No! it all fits together in one giant sphere! The most fantastic book in the world; the one that is published the most, but the least understood. That's an amazing thing!

No private interpretation, so you can't say. 'I think, I believe, it seems to me… No! you have to go by what the Scriptures say!

Verse 21: "Because prophecy was not brought at any time by human will, but the Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." If God moves them by the Holy Spirit, they will write the Truth!

Let's see the first prophecy of the Messiah (Gen. 3. It's good for us to go back and review that and understand that everything in the Bible has it's beginning in the book of Genesis!

We know that we're made in the image of God after His likeness, after His image. We know that God made the Sabbath for all mankind. We know that He created Adam first and then took a rib and formed Eve. He put them in the Garden of Eden and told them to dress it and keep it.

We also know that they had free moral agency. When there's free moral agency, you have to know what that person is going to choose, so we have God letting the serpent—Satan—loose in the garden. We know what happened with that. They believed Satan and his lie that they would be able to make their own judgments like God as to what is right and wrong.

When is says 'become like God' it doesn't mean that they would become like God as God is. That meant to have the ability to decide for themselves what was right and wrong.

So, they chose to eat of the fruit and their eyes were opened to evil, and God gave the judgment upon all three of them. We know what that is.

Everything was changed. That sin changed the environment on the earth down to this very day, and because of God's judgment against Adam.

Let's see how human nature works when it performs something that it should not do. God said, 'Why did you do this?'

Genesis 3:11: And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you that you should not eat?' And the man said, 'The woman…'" (vs 11-12). No my fault, she did it!

Isn't that the way that human nature always acts? Yes!

"'…whom You gave to be with me…'" (v 12). It's God's fault, not my fault; but he did choose to eat it? Did he have a chance to stop Eve and not eat it? Yes, but he didn't do that!

"'…she gave me of the tree, and I ate.' And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate'" (vs 12-13). Not my fault, Lord!

Here comes the judgment; v 14: "And the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel'" (vs 14-15).

What does that mean? Here's the first prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ and overcoming Satan the devil! Remember what Jesus said on the Passover night: Satan has been judged! What we know is that he hasn't yet been removed; but he has been judged by the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! This is also a prophecy of the crucifixion!

Verse 16: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception—in sorrow shall you bring forth children. Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.' And to Adam He said, 'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife…'" (vs 16-17)—instead of Me!

Where's another place where this happened? With Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, and Ishmael came of that! How long term has that been? Since that day to this day!

That's why God emphasizes in the Bible, always all the way through, obey My voice! IF you obey My voice!

When people sin, God says that 'they did not obey My voice.' Why? Because God spoke all the commandments, inspired everything to be written that there is; all comes from God!

"…'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree—of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it!"—the ground is cursed for your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life'" (v 17).

• sorrow to the woman
• sorrow to the man

That's just the way it is in the world today!

You know the account of Cain and Abel. Abel did what God said and was counted as righteous. Cain did what he wanted to do; he didn't bring an offering to God according to the instructions of God.

Let's understand something: Some people will say that the Law was not enacted until 3500 years after Adam and Eve. Not so!

Look at what God told Cain, because Cain was mad that God didn't take his offering. Well, you don't bring any old sloppy thing to God and expect Him to praise you for it.

Genesis 4:7: "If you do well… [Cain wasn't doing well] …shall you not be accepted?…."

• if you do what is right and good
• if you do what God has said
• if you obey His voice

Isn't that true in the New Testament? Yes, indeed!

"…But if you do not do well, sin lies at the door…." (v 7). Think about that!

• What is sin? The transgression of the Law!
• Was the Law in force from the beginning? Absolutely!

You can't have sin if you don't have Law! Where there's no Law there is no sin!

You know what happened then, and we find that the world became so filled with wickedness, just like it is becoming today. When it says that Satan has deceived the whole world, we need to understand that he has a lot of people working for him to carry out all of his activities of making sure that the deception of the whole world is going to be complete! We're living in the days when that is beginning to happen!

But this is before the Flood. Think about the Flood! It covered the whole earth, and 15 cubits—a cubit is a foot and a half—23 feet above the highest mountain. The highest mountain today is Mt. Everest. We don't know what it was back then, because of changes in the earth.

But nevertheless, think of it! It did happen! Evidence is everywhere on the earth right in front of everyone; if they will just believe God they will see it!

Here's why God had to do it, and we will see that this ties in with the days of Unleavened Bread. What is it that God wants us to do because of this very thing?

We've covered Gen. 6:5 many times, but let's look at it for what it's really telling us. We can read it and not have a meaningful understanding of it when everything is nice, fine, good and there are not any great problems. But look at it today. Look at the wickedness and lawlessness of men and women, governments and everything that man is doing.

It's just like Jesus said, 'As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of Son of man.' Here's what He said it was:

Genesis 6:5: "And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every imagination…"

A lot of people will say—because they can do a good deed—'I'm a good person.' But you never reveal what is really in your mind, your private thought in your mind. But God can know them, and that's the whole purpose of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, so that there can be the conversion and changing of the heart and the mind. That wasn't offered before the Flood!

"…every imagination of the of the thoughts of his heart… [everything that he was thinking about; every human being on earth] …was only evil continually" (v 7).

Isn't that what we see today? Yes, indeed! It was so bad:

Verse 6: "And the LORD repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."

That tells you that God is directly involved with the earth, the people and with things that go on. Look at how people become. They become so locked into their sins that they will not repent!

Can you think of a time that that happened? Right in the face of two angels during the days of Lot! Think about what it is for us today.

How is God going to solve the problem of all of this sin and wickedness? That's what His plan is all about, and it starts with the Passover and individuals! But first, God had to prepare the way. We're going to see what God and Christ did in order to redeem mankind—men and women—from their sins. That's something! Let's see what God had to do first! Then we will see what we have to do after that.

Let's see what Jesus said of Himself. We know that He is the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. So, here in John 10 we find something concerning His coming sacrifice and what it was the God did. This is very interesting; there's an awful lot here. It tells about true shepherds, and the true Shepherd Jesus. It tells about the false shepherds, that they do not come to serve the sheep.

John 10:7: "Therefore, Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, I am the Door of the sheep.'" Tie that in with:

John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life…'"

The only way you come to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. The only way that that starts to happen is the Father draws you. Think about that! In relationship to all the people on the earth, and how few people there are that love God and keep His commandments and understand that God is working in their lives and want to do the things that please Him.

Verse 9: "I am the door. If anyone enters through Me… [not through a Church, organization or men; but through Jesus Christ] …he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy…." (vs 9-10).

Why? Because he's an agent of Satan the devil! And oh can some of them speak smooth words!

"…I have come so that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (vs 10-11).

We're going to see what Jesus had to do in order to open the way of salvation for those whom He would call, and what the New Testament calls the first resurrection!

Verse 12: "But the one who is a hireling, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep, and flees. And the wolf seizes the sheep and scatters them. Now, the hireling flees because he is a hireling and has no concern for the sheep" (vs 12-13).

Think about that! Look at what happened in the Church. How many of those who were ordained as ministers and elders when the going got tough, POOF! they disappeared!

Verse 14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine… [God knows you because you have the Spirit of God] …and am known of those who are Mine." You know Jesus Christ because:

• you pray to Him every day
• you keep His words
• you believe His teachings

Verse 15: "Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." That's quite a thing!

Verse 16: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd."

This is a way of saying that God will open your mind to the Truth, and if you obey, He'll open some more. If you obey, He'll open some more. If you confess your sins, He'll some more! That's how God works.

Verse 17: "On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself…. [we'll see what He had to do] …I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father" (vs 17-18). That's quite a thing!

What did Jesus have to do to lay down His life? We need to understand Who Jesus was before He became a human being! Yet, there are some people who do not believe these verses in John 1. How can they ever speak for God? They're the hirelings! John tells us Who Jesus was; He's called the Word! The Greek is 'Logos.'

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God.:

The New Testament shows that Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament and the One Who is the Father in the New Testament was the Most High! So, in the New Testament we have God the Father and Jesus Christ.

• What is the sacred name of the Father? The Father!
• What is the sacred name of Jesus? Jesus!
• Isn't that what the angel told Mary to name Him? Yes!

Sidebar on sacred names: remember the Day of Pentecost? This is New Testament, you agree that Acts 2 is N.T.? What happened there? There were men there from almost every country surrounding everything in the Middle East. They all spoke different languages, but they also probably knew Hebrew.

What did it say happened? The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and all that were there of 120, and they all began to speak in other languages! How did that happen? God inspired it!

They all said that 'we hear them speaking the wonderful works of God in our own language.' What does that tell you? Sacred names are not needed in the N.T. Whatever the name of God the Father and the name of Jesus Christ is in the language of the person who has the Bible, that is what God honors.

He wants your heart and your mind, not just to pronounce a word of a so-called 'scared name.' God didn't inspire any of the writers of the N.T. to use sacred names. Do you think you're closer to God because you use a sacred name? I tell  you, no you're not! You have to yield to God.

So, here is the One Who is God! Verse 14 tells us what God had to do to solve the problem of sin to bring salvation to those who would repent.

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh…"

How did that happen? Luke 1 tells us how He became flesh. We will see in Philip. 2 what God had to in order to be born of the virgin Mary as a baby. God had to do that.

"…and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth" (v 14).

Let's see what He had to do. This is important, because Jesus said in John 10:

I lay down My life for the sheep! No one takes it from me. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive it back. This commandment I have from God the Father!

(break 40:11)

Let's see what Jesus had to do. Remember that nothing is impossible for God! There are some things that He won't do, though it could be possible that He could do it. But it's not according to His will, so He doesn't do it.

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

That's telling us something very important. How are we to think as converted Christians? We re to grow in grace and knowledge and understanding! We will cover this during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

• we do the things that Jesus said
• we learn to think with the Scriptures
• we learn to look at our lives and problems through the lens of the Word of God

Having the Spirit of God in us as a begettal from the Father, He helps us to do so with His Word! We have the Holy Spirit in us because we're converted, and we read the Bible and combine with our reading and the Holy Spirit the spiritual things that are behind the words that are written; we understand the Word of God. Let's see what Jesus did to make this possible:

Verse 6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God…"

Why? Because He was God! John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God"—and He became flesh!

Philippians 2:6 "…did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…" (vs 6-7).

I do not know how God did that, but He had to be brought down to a small pinpoint of life to be begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary. But He was still God! An amazing thing! He gave up all the power, all the glory and majesty to save His creation!

Think about that! Some people complain because what they have had to give up. Really? What did you have to give up compared to what Jesus voluntarily relinquished to God the Father so that He becomes a human being?

"…and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant…" (v 7)—a slave! He didn't come as some high mucky-muck!

Look at how He came into the world! Only Mary and Elizabeth knew what happened! All the rest of the world didn't know!

• none of the priests
• none of the high officials
• none of the great men

When Jesus was born the angels sang glory to God in the highest, and the two shepherds out there in the field watching their sheep heard it. They were told to go into Bethlehem and you will find a babe in a manger. The angels told them that this is the Christ! He didn't tell the world, did He? No! Amazing!

Think about how many people do grand and glorious things because they're so wrapped up in their own lives that they've got to have marvelous banquets and great feasts and things like this. Banners, bands, parades and all of this.

Jesus came, was born wrapped up and laid in a manger; no place to live, homeless! How about that!

Verse 8: "And being found in the manner of man…"

Everything that men and women have to do: eat, sleep, process of getting rid of toxins and waste and all of that. He humbled Himself!

• How much have we humbled ourselves? We might go to a certain point, but:
• How much have we humbled ourselves?

Look at what Jesus gave up to save His creation, to save all of mankind! That's all wrapped up in the Passover!

This is why it's so important that the Passover is what God wants us to do, and He wants us to do it the way that Jesus commanded and that is recorded in the New Testament!That's what God wants! He doesn't want men coming along and saying:

This is a good idea; let's do it this way! Oh let's add that to it. We really don't need this foot-washing; that's really a humiliating thing to put people through.

Nonsense!

"…He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (v 8).

What does that mean? Let's look at it and we will find out. We're going to see quite a few things in the book of Isaiah. It's an interesting book, and just like God told Isaiah, it's a little here, a little there, it's precept upon precept, and line upon line!

For those who are God's people they will understand. But the world can't because God doesn't put everything in chronological and sequential order.He does a little here, does a little there, does a little over there, and we have to search the Scriptures and put it all together! Here's one of the tremendous Scriptures in the Bible:

Isaiah 53:1: "Who has believed our report? And to whom is ) the arm of the LORD revealed?"

• What has God revealed to you out of His Word?
• Are you thankful for it?
• Do you praise God because He opened your mind to do it?
• Do you understand it?
• Do you love it?
• Do you keep it?
• Do you obey it?

Verse 2: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant…"

Very little is told about His growing up. We come from His birth to age 12. What happened after they went to Egypt and then came back to Nazareth? How did Jesus grow up? He had brothers and sisters. We're not told any of that.

"…and as a root out of a dry ground… [because it was a wicked and adulterous generation] …He has no form nor comeliness that we should look upon Him… [not handsome] …nor beauty that we should desire Him" (v 1-2).

Here's what His life was like; remember that it took a long time for some of the disciples to really believe. Look how long it took Thomas, one of the original apostles. It wasn't until the death and resurrection—and one week after when Christ appeared the second time that Thomas was there—that he believed! What do we really believe?

Verse 3: "He is [#1]despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…

• He knew what was in man
• He knew the sin was there
• He knew the evil thoughts

"…and we hid as it were our faces from Him [there were those who didn't want anything to do with Him] …[#2]He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our infirmities…" (vs 3-4).

Think about that! What He went through with the crucifixion, scourging and all of the abuse that He took on that! He took on our infirmities, representing the infirmities of all people from the time of Adam and Eve.

"…and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (v 4).

Ah, He deserved that because He said that He was King of the Jews.

Not true! Why did He do that? Because:

• only He could become the perfect sacrifice
• only His blood could pay for the sins of all the world

Nothing else could do it! You couldn't devise a religious system with animal sacrifices or other kinds of rituals to do. He was the Author and Maker of all mankind! He was the One Who, with the judgment on Adam and Eve, brought the human nature, which Paul calls the law of sin and death within human beings!

Because of that and Satan the devil, we all sin grievously before God! But God is willing to forgive if we repent! It takes the shed blood of Jesus Christ to pay for those sins. Nothing else can do it—period!

Verse 5: "But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him… [so we can have peace with God] …and with His stripes we ourselves are healed." There are two healings:

• physically when we're sick
• healing of the mind when we're converted

Verse 7: "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet, He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."

That's quite a thing! I want you to, this coming week, go through and read all the things had to go through. Remember, as Paul wrote, all of these things are in the Old Testament to make us wise unto salvation!

Verse 8: "By oppression and judgment He was taken away…"

Talk about the elite today who are never judged for their sins! Look what they did to Jesus Who never sinned! They all knew it! But because He did come and politically join the Jewish elite—the priests, Sadducees, Pharisees and elders—they connived to have Him killed! Scourged! Crucified!

"…and with His generation who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken" (v 8).

That's an amazing thing to understand! So, when you read about the scourging of Jesus, you read about Him being nailed to that crossbar that hung on a tree, He did that for our transgressions! The transgressions of the whole world!

Now, the whole world hasn't been forgiven, yet, because now is not their time. Now is the time for the firstfruits! So, we need to examine our lives and see what we are doing.

Verse 9: "And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth." That's an amazing thing to understand, isn't it? Yes!

Verse 10: "Yet, the LORD willed…" It was the will of God, the Father and of Christ, because Christ willing laid down His life, and He knew what was going to happen!

"…to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin. He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days…" (v 10)—because of the resurrection!

There are people, who are supposed to be ministers of the Gospel, who do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, and they do not believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and that He was God manifested in the flesh!

"…and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand" (v 10).

That's why you need the book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days! That will open your mind as nothing else will!

Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of His soul…. [His whole body] …He shall be fully satisfied…."

When Jesus said that 'it is finished' when He was on the cross, that sacrifice was perfected!

"…By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many…" (v 11).

Jesus was raised from the dead, then began the Church so that we can have the Gospel preached:

• the Gospel of the Kingdom of God
• the Gospel of the Grace of God

both together so that we can be saved from our sins!

"…and He shall bear their iniquities" (v 11)—sins!

When Jesus said that He laid His life down, look at what He knew was already there that He inspired to be written in Isa. 53. Now let's see what it is in Isa. 50. Here's what He knew what was going to happen:

Isaiah 50:6: "I gave My back to the smiters… [scourged, ripped apart] …and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair… [they jerked the hair—His beard—right off His face] …I did not hide My face from shame and spitting"—and didn't say a word!

Verse 7: "For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore, I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint…"

We need to look at this verse and take an example from it. We're going to face some difficult times! But we've got to have our mind set "…like a flint…"

• that we believe
• that we know
• that we understand the Truth
• that we are not going to give quarter to anyone

It will probably cost us our lives!

• Did it cost Jesus His life? Yes!
• Was He resurrected from the dead? Yes!
• Does He live forever? Yes!

That's what's going to happen to us!

But you have to have this kind of mindset!

"…I have set My face like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together; who is My adversary? Let him come near Me" (vs 7-8). Then Satan came, but he lost!

Verse 9: "Behold, the Lord GOD will help Me; who is he who shall condemn Me?…. [no one did\ …Lo, they all shall grow old like a garment; the moth shall eat them…. [this shows the way out of all these troubles]: …Who among you fears the LORD, who obeys the voice of His servant… [Do they really obey the voice of Jesus] …who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God." (vs 9-10).

A lot of people believe that grace has done away with the Law. NO! It hasn't done away with it! They are so locked into today! There are so many people that believe the false things of Protestantism. Do you know what's going to happen to them? Protestantism is going to fall for the one-world religion 'hook, line and sinker,' with the exception of the few who may repent!

Isa. 52 talks about how Jesus looked when He was hanging on the cross.

Isaiah 52:14: "Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured—even His form beyond that of the sons of men."

Notice for what purpose. When it says that He emptied Himself, He gave up and laid His life down; this is what He laid His life down to:

Verse 15: "So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths because of Him; for they will see that which was not told to them; yea, what they had not heard, shall they consider."

There will be a time when their minds will be opened! What a thing to understand!

Now let's see some of the inspired words that God gave to King David to write about what His thoughts would be while He was hanging on the cross and dying. He had to be alone! He had to bear the sin of all the world alone!

When we come to God and ask God to help us because of the difficulties that we go through, look at what He went through so that He could understand what we go through. But what we go through is just a miniscule thing compared to what He went through.

Psalm 22:1—words of Jesus: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me…"

That's what He said while He was on the cross: 'Eli, Eli lama sabachthani'!

"…and why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?" (v 1).

I don't think any of us can relate to it in a way that we can really understand the kind of suffering that Jesus went through to bring salvation and forgiveness of sin. But here's part of it:

Verse 6: "But I am a worm, and no man…" Think about that!

Sometimes you get depressed and you think about how terrible and awful it is. Well, it was Christ. He said that He was a worm. What's a worm?

"…a [#3]reproach of men and despised by the people…. [those who should have known] …All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, 'He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him!'" (vs 6-8).

Didn't they say, 'If You're the Christ, come down off the cross.' And the two thieves said, 'Yeah, and save us, too.'

Verse 9: "For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts…. [quite a thing] …I was cast upon You from birth; You are My God from My mother's womb. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help" (vs 9-11).

There's no way to help! You're nailed on that cross and looking down at yourself and you're seeing what your body is going through, and all of the elite mucky-mucks out there jeering at you, 'Come on down if You're the Savior.'

Verse 12: "Many bulls have encircled around Me… [Satan all the demons circling around the cross] …strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me. They opened wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and a roaring lion" (vs 12-13).

Doesn't it talk about Satan as a roaring lion? Yes! They were all delighted and happy to see that Jesus was on the cross dying. They probably didn't have any belief in the fact that He could really be resurrected.

Verse 14: "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint… [talk about pain and agony] …My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels." He could just feel His life going away!

Verse 15: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet; and You have brought Me into the dust of death. I can count all My bones…" (vs 15-17).

He could look down and see right while He was hanging on the cross; then one of the soldiers took a spear and thrust it up through the right side and pierced His heart so that every drop of blood would come out!

That's the sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us! So, when we take the Passover, let's understand what God did!

Verse 18: "They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture. But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth; yea, and from the wild ox's horns. You have answered Me" (vs 18-21).

Now it changes right here between vs 21 & 22, because of the resurrection. See what He went through. When we come for the Passover, this is what we have to know and understand.

Psalm 69:1—so we can see how He felt: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come in upon my soul!…. [just like water flowing out if Him] …I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would cut me off are mighty being wrongfully my enemies. Should I restore what I did not take away? O God, You know my foolishness…" (vs 1-5).

He took upon Himself all the foolishness of the world!

"…and My sins… [the sins of the world] …are not hidden from You. Do not let those who wait on You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of Me; let not the ones who seek You be ashamed because of Me, O God of Israel" (vs 5-6).

All of these were prophesied ahead of time! Jesus knew all of these when He divested Himself to become that pinpoint of life, to be born of the virgin Mary and grow up to be a man, and be the Messiah, the Savior, and to preach the Word of God to train the apostles! Look at how much has come of that down to our age today. That is an amazing, astonishing thing! Look at what we have with the whole Word of God!

Verse 19: "You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor; my enemies are all before You. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave Me gall for My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink" (vs 19-21).

All of those were the prophecies about His crucifixion.

• What was Jesus' reaction?
• What did God do?
• What did Christ do?
• What was His attitude in all of this?
• What did Jesus say?

Luke 23:34: "Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'….'"

Because of Satan the devil and all the demons—all the forces of evil—were against Jesus Christ to pour upon Him all the sins that they have caused in humanity from Adam and Eve until the last person, all on Jesus Christ. And He says: "…'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'…."

I want you to think about that, pray and study about that, between now and Passover. When we come to the Passover:

• we're asking God to continue to forgive us
• we're asking God to help us
• we're asking God to strengthen us
• we're asking God to open our mind to the Truth of His love and goodness through Jesus Christ
• we're asking God to help us be converted
  • our very mind changed with His Holy Spirit
  • our very thoughts
  • our very emotions

All wrapped up in God's Way, so that we can withstand the days that are ahead!

We thank You, O Lord God for the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Scriptural References:

• 2 Timothy 3:15-17
• 2 Peter 1:19-21
• Genesis 3:11-17
• Genesis 4:7
• Genesis 6:5-6
• John 10:7
• John 14:6
• John 10:9-18
• John 1:1, 14
• Philippians 2:5-6
• John 1:1
• Philippians 2:6-8
• Isaiah 53:1-5, 7-11
• Isaiah 50:6-10
• Isaiah 52:14-15
• Psalm 22:1, 6-21
• Psalm 69:1-6, 19
• Luke 23:34

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Acts 2
• Luke 1

Also referenced: Book:
God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by the Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/13/22

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