How Would You Preach Christ from the Old Testament? #2

Fred R. Coulter—January 21, 2012

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How do you preach about Jesus Christ from the Old Testament, because that's what Paul said that he told Timothy that he could learn from. Let's think about this for a little bit. Let's ask some questions, which is this. Today most people are told that the Old Testament is no longer valid for us today. We don't need the Old Testament. Jesus came and did away with the Law.

Jesus said He didn't come to do that. He didn't come to do away with the Law (Matt. 5:17). How did the apostles preach Jesus Christ? That's quite a thing when you begin to analyze that.

How did they teach Jesus Christ from the Old Testament? We covered some Scriptures last time in the book of Isaiah, but this time we're going to start a little differently. Let's come to the New Testament to the book of Acts, second chapter and let's just look at a couple of verses here and see how they were preaching Christ. This is Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost. Of course, that's the day that they received the Holy Spirit. That's when the Holy Spirit inspired them to speak in other languages. People were saying, 'Well, these guys are drunk. It's only the third hour in the morning.' And Peter said, 'No, that's not true.'

Acts 2:16, notice how he started speaking: "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." They were preaching from the prophets. Remember, after Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to the apostles and opened their minds to the Scriptures concerning Him—in where? The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms! That's how they started preaching. There was no New Testament.

Today we have the Old and the New Testament all combined. So then he quotes Joel, v 17: "'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and even upon My servants and upon My handmaids will I pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapors of smoke'" (vs 17-19).

This was a type of what happened. What happened when Jesus died, when He was on the cross? It was dark, from noon until about 3 p.m. There was an earthquake. There were other signs preceding this that is noted by Josephus and other historians in the heavens.

Verse 20: "The sun shall be turned into darkness... [that's what happened] ...the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord…. [This is not the coming of Christ, but He had come in the flesh—isn't that true? Yes! So it does have some fulfillment there. Many of the prophecies have one or more fulfillments as we saw last week.] …And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (vs 20-21).

Then he starts talking about Jesus, Who was raised from the dead. He said, 'You have crucified Him and killed Him.' Verse 24: "But God has raised Him up, having loosed the throes of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it."

How long did Jesus appear to the disciples after He was resurrected? Forty days—right? He taught them those things. He also said that they were to be witnesses of what He preached and witnesses of His resurrection.

So then, because a lot of people would have questions because the One Who was the Messiah was going to be a descendant of David. A lot of people thought that God was going to raise David. Peter clears that up here, v 25: "For David speaks concerning Him, 'I foresaw the Lord before Me continually; for He is at My right hand, so that I may not be moved. Therefore, My heart rejoiced and My tongue was glad; moreover, My flesh also shall rest in hope'" (vs 25-26). Where is he quoting this from? From Psa. 16! So, here he's preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

Now then, he quotes directly, v 27: "'For You will not leave My soul... [those were the words of Christ, quoted from Psa. 16] ...in the grave, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You did make Me to know the ways of life; you will fill Me with joy with Your countenance.'…. [he quoted that from Psa. 16. Christ was being preached.] …Men and brethren, let me speak to you freely concerning the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day" (vs 27-29)—right next to the temple area were the tombs of the kings.

Verse 30: "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him in an oath that from the fruit of his loins, as concerning the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne; He foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in the grave, nor did His flesh see corruption" (vs 30-31). How's that for a witness to those people?

Now remember, all of those who were there were Jews. It's important to understand because today people say, in rejecting the Old Testament—of course, they're not correct in it—you don't want to Judaize. Well, they don't know what Judaizing is. That's why we've got the book about Judaism that explains about it (Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men?).

Here we have 3,000 repent and are baptized on that day. Now come over here to Acts 3, and let's see something very interesting concerning what they did in raising the man who had been sick for so long, talking about Christ and His resurrection.

Acts 3:18: "But what God had before announced by the mouth of all His prophets... [that's where they were preaching from] ...that Christ should suffer, He has accordingly fulfilled. Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (vs 18-19).

Then he says, v 21: "Whom the heaven must indeed receive until the times of restoration of all things... For Moses..." (vs 21-22). What do we have?

• we have the Prophets
• we have the Psalms
• we have Moses and that's the Law

Right here in these two chapters where they do the preaching, chapters two and three, what do we have? We have them preaching and teaching Christ from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms.

Verse 22: "'For Moses truly said to the fathers, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you from among your brethren, like me; Him shall you hear in all things that He shall say to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people"'" (vs 22-23).

Notice how he summarizes it here. I'm sure he spoke a lot of other words. What does this also tell us? This tells us that they knew the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms! They understood what they were to do and to preach.

Verse 24: "Now indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed, as many as prophesied, also proclaimed these days. You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God Himself appointed to our fathers, saying to Abraham... [going clear back to Abraham] ...'And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed'" (vs 24-25).

Here's the key that you find throughout the book of Acts and the New Testament, v 26: "Unto you first... [unto the Jews] ...has God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning each of you from your wickedness." That's how they preached. Isn't that amazing?

We also find over here in Acts 7:1: "And the high priest said [to Stephen] 'Now then, are these things so?' And he [Stephen] said, 'Men, brethren and fathers, listen.… [He's before the Sanhedrin. He didn't know it was going to be his last witness and testimony, because they stoned him after that.] ... The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham... [notice where he starts] ....when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran'" (vs 1-2).

He gives a short history of all the children of Israel. Come to v 37: "This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up for you from among your brethren, like me; Him shall you hear.'" Then he explains some more, keeps going on.

He spoke about Moses quite a bit here; he jumps from Moses to Solomon, doing what? Preaching the Gospel! Verse 47: "But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made by hands, as the prophet says.... [now he's going to quote Isaiah]: ...'The heaven is My throne, and the earth is a footstool for My feet. What house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Have not My hands made all these things?'" (vs 47-50).

Here comes the punch line, the correction; of course, they didn't like it. He says, v 51: "O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so also do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of Whom you have become the betrayers and murderers; who received the Law by the disposition of angels, but have not kept it.' And when they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts, and they gnashed their teeth at him" (vs 52-54).

Then they all got up, had him drug outside. There was Saul, who was going to be called later as the Apostle Paul, and they stoned him to death. That's how they preached. Just mark this in your notes—we have a whole series on Hebrews—I'm not going to go there; I'm not going to turn to any of the book of Hebrews, but just make a note: Hebrews is the condensation of many sermons that the Apostle Paul preached wherever he went. That's why it is so organized and so put together the way that it is.

• It talks about the prophets
• It talks about the Sabbath
• It talks about Jesus being our High Priest
• Talks about Him living His life in the flesh and being tempted in every way like we are
• Talks about how that He cried out to God to save Him from death
• Then it talks about going all the through the book of Hebrews

The whole New Testament is built upon the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, if you would take out all the Scriptures in the New Testament that have been quoted from the Old Testament, you would take out one-third of the New Testament. This becomes important to understand—doesn't it?

Because if someone says, 'The Old Testament has been done away,' what have they automatically excluded in the New Testament? One-third of it! We covered quite a bit going back to the book of Isaiah, so let's go back to the prophet Isaiah and let's see where we left off and let's look at some of those. It's a little different place than it is in the King James Version.

There are prophecies in one of the book of the prophets. We have three major prophets:

• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Ezekiel

We have twelve what are called Minor Prophets, which in the proper canonization are considered one long book. We see that these also agree with each other. How many here have heard the Messiah by Handel? Here's where he starts it off.

Isaiah 40:1 "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God." What we're going to do as we go through this, let's examine how the prophecies then are fulfilled. Here we have several applications of the prophecies. Isaiah was given in the 800sB.C. This was before the first destruction of Jerusalem and 800-plus years before the second destruction of Jerusalem.

Notice what it says here. This is to Jerusalem in three different applications, v 2: "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto here that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins." This verse applies to the Jerusalem that now is, in what is called Israel, and the coming of Christ to end wars.

Look at how much Jerusalem has suffered from the hands of the Palestinians, with all the rockets and everything going in, and how many wars there have been against Jerusalem. As we saw in part 1:

• the Old Testament is written 'here a little, there a little'
• it's written for the present
• it's written for the future and different applications in the future

Verse 3: "A voice is calling out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" This verse applies to John the Baptist. That's what he said. I'll just summarize it here in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

There was an official delegation of the priests, the Levites, and the rulers who went down to John where he was baptizing. They all knew that John was the son of a priest and that he should have been working at the temple. They all knew that his mother, Elizabeth, gave birth to him when she was over 70-years-old. They all knew that he never was in any priest training.

When he was baptizing, they came down, official delegation said, 'Who are you? Are the Christ?' No! I'm not the Christ! 'Are you that Prophet?' No, I'm not that Prophet! That refers to Christ again. 'Well, tell us who you are.' What did he say? 'I'm a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord.'

We also find something else. So you see how fantastic God has inspired the Bible. The last chapter of Malachi, chapter four, He's says He's going to send Elijah 'before the great and coming terrible day of the Lord.' That's the return of Christ. Who did Jesus say John the Baptist was? He came in the spirit and power of Elijah—right? Yes!

What does this tell us here? Verse 2 says: "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished..." Not yet! But there's going to arise another one like John the Baptist who is going to say, vs 2 and 3. Here's how that's going to be accomplished.

Notice how this applies to the second coming of Christ. So you see, this is why we need the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament, because the New Testament tells us the way that the Scriptures are fulfilled. The Old Testament has some here, some there, some in another place.

Verse 4: "'Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low... [Hasn't happened yet—right? No, but you read the book of Revelation and the great earthquake's going to happen then.] ...and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.'" (vs 4-5).

What did Jesus say? Every eye is going to see Me return in power and the clouds—right? Yes! This applies to His second coming. Notice how many things are in the Prophets and how this helps us to understand the things in the way that they take place.

Verse 6: "A voice says, 'Cry!' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All flesh is grass, and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand forever'" (vs 6-8).

That can apply to what John the Baptist was preaching. What did he say when the religious leaders came out to be baptized? He didn't stand up there and say, 'Oh, look at all you good leaders coming down here to be baptized. How wonderful.' No, he saw them coming down and he said, 'You vipers, you snakes-in-the-grass!' Here he is with his long, and I think flaming red hair, because he wasn't having his haircut, wasn't having his beard trimmed. Here he is thirty-years-old. I also vision him with eyebrows, probably sweeping up to here and a very stern look.

Here they come down to him, imagine coming all the way from Jerusalem down where he's baptizing. 'Oh, we want to be baptized.' No! John the Baptist said, 'You vipers, you snakes-in-the-grass, you hypocrites. You bring forth fruits that are worthy of repentance.' This fortieth chapter is a fantastic chapter.

Verse 9: "Go up for yourself on the high mountain; O you that brings good tidings to Zion... [That is preaching the Gospel. What was the highest mountain? Where Jerusalem was! Where was Zion? You have Fort Antonio, you come south, the temple area, south to the hill of David which was Mount Zion! So, it's right there the temple area where David built his house.] ...bring good tidings... [What are good tidings? That's another name for the Gospel! Here it is right here in the Old Testament.] ...bring good tidings to Zion.…"

Remember what we read—to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. And all the first converts for more than ten years were all Jews. Were they Judaizing with the traditions of men? No, they were following the Scriptures! Were the apostles Judaizing? No! They were teaching from the Old Testament the Word of God and the teachings of Christ.

"…Lift up your voice with strength... [Didn't Peter give a strong sermon on the day of Pentecost? Yes, he did!] ...O you who tell good tidings to Jerusalem; lift up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'" (v 9). This refers to the preaching of Christ, the preaching of the apostles. It also can refer in a second fulfillment to the second coming of Christ—right? "…Behold your God."

Verse 10, we'll see that. "Behold, the Lord GOD will come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." Then it stops right there. Next verse we have two applications:

• to Israel
• to the Church

Israel was considered the flock of God, the Church. As Jesus told Peter, 'Feed My lambs,' that's the spiritual flock of God. Notice how this can be applied. Rather than things being done away, it's just so filled with so many things in here showing us all about God's plan. What this does not do, this does not give us the time setting. We must get that from the New Testament and from other prophecies to put it together.

Verse 11: "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those with young." That shows the ministry that is being carried out.

We will see how this is; this becomes very important because the apostles also tell us things concerning how the Church should be taken care of. John 21—this is after Jesus was resurrected, before He ascended to heaven the final time. The disciples were out there fishing. Jesus came along the Sea of Galilee and He set up something for them to eat. After they had eaten:

John 21:13: "Then Jesus came and took the bread, and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.... [Jesus fed them] ...This was now the third time that Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples after being raised from the dead. Therefore, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me more than these?' And he said to Him, 'Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs…. Shepherd My sheep'" (vs 13-16).

They all belong to Christ. The thing that's important to understand, when a person is baptized he or she then is spiritually placed into the body of Christ. We're all sheep. There are shepherds. The shepherds are to teach the sheep, pointing them to Christ always, because He's the Head. This is what Jesus is emphasizing here. It is a test for any teacher—

• Do you really, really love God the Father and Jesus Christ?
• Do you really feed the lambs?
• Or are you feeding yourself?

Verse 16: "He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.' He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.'…. [How are you to do it? Like it says back there in Isa. 40.] …He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep'" (vs 16-17). Why do you suppose that He asked him that three times? He wants to make a point to Peter, because what did Peter do to Christ, three times? Denied Him! So, He wanted to make sure that Peter understood.

Let's see how Paul also brought it out to the elders of the Church. He knew this would be the last time that he would see them, because he was going to Jerusalem. He was giving them some teachings, some warnings, a little summary of what he did when he was preaching to them. He reminded them how he preached the Gospel and what he did.

Acts 20:26: "Wherefore, I testify to you on this day that I am pure from the blood of all, For I have not held back from preaching to you all the counsel of God" (vs 26-27). What does this tell us? This tells us no politics in the Church—doesn't it? The Truth is what matters. The Truth is what we do.

Notice the warning that he gave, v 28: "Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers... [not bishops, not priests—overseers] ...to feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." That's a pretty strong charge—isn't it? That is a charge based upon the blood of Christ.

This is why the Church is in such trouble today. It's just down through the centuries gotten worse and worse and worse. God has always had his small remnant. God has always had those who would follow Him, mostly not recognized by the world, but nevertheless they are there.

Verse 29: "For I know this: that after my departure grievous wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock... [Boy, that's sure happened. Not sparing the flock, coming in as overlords, dictators, merchandizing, all of those things.] ...and from among your own selves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves" (vs 29-30). That's quite a warning!

Jesus said, 'Feed the flock.' Isaiah said that He would feed His flock. How's He going to feed His flock?

• with His Word
• with His Spirit
• with the Truth

Isaiah 40 gets into an entirely different subject. This tells about the power of God as Creator. There is no one that can challenge God. Every time they do they fall flat on their faces.

Dolores and I were watching one of these programs on space and black holes, and things like this. They were actually able, with the Hubbell telescope, eight or ten years ago they took a picture of a big star out someplace in the universe. They had three or four series of pictures taken of that same place down through the space of eight years. Then they came to the last picture and guess what they saw? No star! Because they had a big star, then they had a picture of an explosion, and then there was nothing. That is what is called the death of a star. That's where they figure that black holes are. You've heard of that? You can't see a black hole, because it's black.

Isaiah 40:21, after it says you can't compare any to God, He says: "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?…. [This leaves atheists with no excuse whatsoever—right? Yes, indeed!] …It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth..." (vs 21-22). Oh, the earth is round. They always have to bring this up in many of these programs where they have documentaries on the universe. It starts out, 'If the pope had his way, the earth would still be flat. Nevertheless, Galileo said it's round.' The Bible says it's round first.

"...and its people are like grasshoppers; It is He Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in'" (v 22). Isn't that something? They liken the way that the universe is held together. So, to describe it as a tent is very interesting. How do many of the galaxies look? They've got a big cluster of stars in the middle, then they have these arms that spiral out around it! When you look at it from the side, it looks like what is a flying disk. A lot of people when they talk about so-called flying saucers, that's what they look like, because it's probably an angel that they saw.

They also know that the whole universe is held together by energy they cannot see. You put all of these things together and what are we talking about here? What the New Testament teaches! Jesus Christ was the Creator God, the One Who made Adam and Eve, and subsequently through procreation all human beings! That's why He came to the earth, because only God is able to be the Savior and Redeemer of man, because He made him.

(go to the next track)

Isaiah 42—here's a direct prophecy of Christ, of His mission, of His behavior, what He was going to do. When you go through the book of Isaiah, you get different descriptions of Christ and what He was doing in different chapters. You get just it says where we covered last week, 'a little here, a little there, precept upon precept, line upon line.'

Isaiah 42:1: "Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; My Elect, in Whom My soul delights... [these are the words of the Father talking about Christ] ...I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles" Here in the Old Testament showing that it's going to go to all the people of the world. All the other nations are called Gentiles.

Verse 2: "He shall not cry out... [He's not going to have a movement where He's going to stand up there and be a political leader.] ...nor lift up... [go against the authorities] ...nor cause His voice to be heard in the street…. [As a rebel rouser. But isn't that what they accused Him of—right? Yes!] …A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; in Truth He shall bring forth justice. He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set justice in the earth...'" (vs 2-4).

We have here the ministry of Christ, vs 1-3, down to the first half of v 4. That has not yet happened. When will that happen? When Christ returns! This is why we need the New Testament to interpret the Old. Is there justice in the earth yet? No! It's all unjust! But He is going to set it when He returns as King. Now we can tie other Scriptures in with that.

"'...and the isles shall wait for His law'.... [that's just referring to the different people of the world] ...Thus says the LORD God, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading forth the earth and its offspring; He Who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. 'I the LORD have called You in righteousness... [this is again the Father speaking to the One Who would become Christ] ...and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people...'" (vs 4-6). What did Jesus say about His flesh and about His blood? That's for the New Covenant—right? For who? For the people! Which people? It says up here Gentiles and it also includes the Israelites and the Jews!

"...for a Light to the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes... [this talks about His healings; His preaching; the fact that He was the Anointed One.] ...to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison..." (vs 6-7). What's the worst prison to be in? The spiritual prison captured by Satan the devil and his demons! When He comes the second time He's going to literally bring people out of the prisons. I think of this every time I see the documentaries on WWII and bringing people out of the concentration camps, and so forth.

"...those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD; that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images" (vs 7-8). This tells us no idols. Stop and think about it. I got an e-mail here the other day. It says, 'You say you're dedicated to restoring original Christianity. Did not that begin with the Catholic Church?' So, I said, 'You need a little history. No! It began with Jesus Christ.' The Catholic Church didn't begin until 300 years after Christ with Constantine the pagan emperor starting the Church.

If you've been watching recently, there's an ad on television the Catholic Church has out there, 'Come home to the Catholic Church.' A lot of people are look at that and say, 'All right, have the priests and the pope repented of all their pedophiles?' I looked at that and say, 'Have they repented of their traditions which replace the laws of God?'

They say, 'We compiled the Bible.' Well, it was written by the apostles and originally compiled by them. When Jerome did the translation from the Hebrew and Greek into the Latin Vulgate, he mis-compiled the Bible. That's how everything got out of order. Though they had the Word of God, they had it confused. That's why this Bible, the Holy Bible in its Original Order, because we're dedicated to restoring original Christianity for today.

I mentioned to this person, I said, 'If you get one of the Bibles, you will see that there are documentaries and the commentaries about how we got the Old Testament and how we got the New Testament. You will see that Christianity began with Christ, not the Catholic Church.'

Verse 9: "Behold, the former things have come to pass…. [everything that has been said by the prophets] ...And new things I declare; before they happen, I tell you of them." Is this not a prophecy of the book of Revelation? This is fantastic when you start going through all of these things.

Let's come to Isaiah 43:1: "But now thus says the LORD Who created you, O Jacob... [Jacob then is all the twelve tribes of Israel] ...and He Who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are Mine.'" When is that going to happen? When Christ returns He's going to gather Israel. He's going to gather the children of Jacob together.

Verse 2: "When you pass through the waters... [that's on their way back to God to the area there in the Middle East] ...I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; nor shall the flame kindle on you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." (vs 2-3). This tells us that the Lord God of the Old Testament is the Savior of Israel, who then became Jesus Christ.

Then He reminded them: "…I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." That is, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. Look what happened to Egypt. You have to read that in the book of Exodus.

Verse 5: "Fear not; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give up;' and to the south, 'Do not keep back;' bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth… [That's when Christ returns and re-gathers Israel again. This is Jesus' second coming.] …Even everyone who is called by My name; for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.'…. [Here again it's talking about the reign of Christ.] …Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be brought together, and let the people be gathered; who among them can declare this and show us the former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, 'It is Truth'" (vs 5-9).

In other words, let's hear all of the prophets who were blind, who were deaf, people who wouldn't believe when the prophets said, 'You're going into captivity.' This is a general one that can apply to many different instances in the history of Israel when they received correction from God.

Verse 10: "'You are My witnesses,' says the LORD... [Is that not what Jesus said to the twelve apostles? 'You're My witnesses.' Yes, indeed!] ...and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me no God was formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and besides Me there is no savior'" (vs 10-11).

He's talking about His work as God compared to the false gods, compared to the idols. We won't go through all the verses here, but again we see how all of these things are applied. Different prophecies at different times, all talking about the work of God.

We have an advantage living in the time that we're living in, because now we can look back on history and see all the things that have taken place. We can look at the world the way that it is and we can know, unless Christ returns, it isn't going to be around here very much longer. As Jesus said, if He did not intervene 'there would be no flesh saved alive.' Look at the things that are there threatening all of humanity.

"'...and besides Me there is no savior. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shown, when there was no strange god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,' says the LORD, 'that I am God" (vs 11-12). This is talking about the Church all the way down through history. The Church of God has been the witness of Christ and the truth is all Christians have died and are in the grave waiting the resurrection. They have that.

Isaiah 46:9: "Remember the former things of old..." This is why we're to understand the Old Testament. We're to understand the things in history. It's a fantastic thing that we have the whole Bible to be able to do that, just like the series I did on Transhumanism. We know that they did this before the Flood, because Jesus said, 'As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.'

Some people would say, 'Well, no, you can't do that.' Then tell me what everyone before the Flood did at the time of the Flood, what did they do then that was worthy of destroying all human life, all animal life, all reptile life with a Flood, and start anew with all fresh animals, Noah and his sons and their wives? Tell me why it says that Noah was perfect in his generations? Why was that there?

Before transhumanism came on the scene again today, people reading those things wouldn't understand it. That's how we're able to understand, because if you just read Gen. 6 alone: 'The earth was corrupt, imagination of man was evil continually from his youth up and everyone corrupted God's way and God was grieved that He made man, and sorrowful.' Those are some pretty strong words, but you can't understand. Why would God do that?

Look what they're doing. Remember, I showed you the article that they have genetically manufactured a monkey with the genes from 6 different monkeys, spliced into each other, that is right into the egg, and then inserted, implanted into a surrogate mother and they had three monkeys that were born. Chimero, Roku and Hex. Hex, named after mythological Greek god.

See how all these things tie together? Without knowing the Word of God and without knowing the things of the past, without knowing the history of things that have taken place, that's why a book like The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop is so good. It tells you what happened there.

Hold your place, keep your place in Isaiah, let's come here to after the Flood. This tells us that every word in the Bible is important. This is why you need the book The Two Babylons.

Why is this noted this way? Genesis 10:8: "And Cush... [the son of Ham] ...begat Nimrod... [Why are the other things listed here concerning Nimrod? Because these are important things for us to know! We're to know the former things so we can know how it's coming at the end. Remember Jesus said, 'I am the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last.'] ...He began to be a mighty one in the earth." The histories we are able to get from these ancient sources show that he began to be a real tyrant and to take people away from God and form them into his own groups.

Verse 9: "He was a mighty hunter against the LORD…." Against can also mean in place of God! Why is that important? Because this is telling us that he is bringing back the same system they had before the Flood! This is why God had to scatter them and change their languages.

"…Therefore, it is said, 'Like Nimrod—the mighty hunter against the LORD'" (v 9). He was rebelling against God, bringing people to follow him, building cities, setting up idols, and he became the manifestation of God in the flesh. What are we going to have at the end? The same thing! You just read this, and if you don't have some of the histories from The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, you don't know what it's talking about.

This is why God says, Isaiah 46:9: "Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and there is none like Me." Who was Nimrod then? Great rebellion against God! Here is why the Bible is the greatest book in the history of mankind, especially in the end-time because it gives us all the information we need in summary form, so we can put it together to get a clear picture.

Verse 10: "Declaring the end from the beginning..." What does that mean? That's another whole sermon in itself.

• Does it not tell us about the rebellion of Satan?
• Does it not tell us about how God created the earth?
• Does it not tell us about how when the foundation of the world was made that the sons of God rejoiced? That had to be before the rebellion of Satan!
• Does it not tell us how Satan became Satan?

Yes, all of these things are here. Tells us about God, tells us about how He became Christ. Tells us about the New Testament church. And you come to the book of Revelation and what does Jesus say in the first chapter? He says, 'I'm Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.' That identifies Himself with Isaiah, with the creation. There is no book in all the world that does that. We can read other books and histories to tie these things together so we can get the details of those things, but here it is. This is fantastic.

Verse 10: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which were not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'" (v 10). No one's going to go against God, not even Nimrod, not even the scientists today, not even the politicians today. All of this adds to our faith in the end-time here. Then He talks about calling a bird of prey from the east, and so forth.

Verse 11: "…Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass..." Here's something that is true concerning the Word of God. Whatever God says—whether present time, future time—it is as good as done! Why? Because God cannot lie! We may not understand it. It may not happen in our lifetime.

Look at how many things that are in the Bible that we can understand today that they didn't understand in their day. Think what it was like with the apostles beginning their preaching. They didn't have the New Testament. They had yet to write it. So, they could come back and use the Old Testament and preach from it, tell about their witness of Christ. Christ inspired the words that He wanted them to write in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then He inspired the apostles to write what they wrote.

Here it is altogether in one book. And, of course, Satan is there to try and change it. Satan is there to try and get rid of it. Atheists are there who can't understand it. Religionists are there who can't understand it. But if they would just love God and keep His commandments, He would give them understanding as much as they needed.

Verse 11: "…Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." Whatever God has purposed, He's going to do it. These are here to give us faith, and isn't that what Paul wrote to Timothy? 'That you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.' Here it is, He says He's going to do it.

Verse 12: "Hearken to me, you stubborn-hearted who are far from righteousness; I bring near My righteousness... [in the person of Christ] ...It shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not be delayed..." (vs 12-13). That's beginning with repentance and baptism, and so forth and also the final salvation at the resurrection. It's going to happen, because we get old, wither and die. Our thoughts have ceased. Our spirit goes back to God. He takes that, re-constitutes us in the resurrection and the next thing we know, 'Oh, I'm awake! Hey, I don't feel tired today. Look, new hands, new feet—hair!' He says He's going to do it.

"...and My salvation shall not be delayed; and I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory" (v 13). The Israel He's talking about here is the Israel of God of the New Testament—the Church. There it is, the first resurrection. If anyone doubts that God is going to bring judgment upon Babylon the Great, He is! Isa. 47 talks about it. We won't get into that, because we're concentrating on the things that have to do with Christ.

Isaiah 48:11: "For My own sake, for My own sake I will do it; for why should My name be profaned?.… [He's talking about coming and returning. He's talking about converting Israel when He brings them back to the 'promised land.' All of those things precede this.] ...And I will not give My glory to another."

If they would just read this, they would understand that you cannot substitute pagan holidays for God's way. Are not His Sabbath and Holy Days to His glory? Yes! He created them! The Catholic Church and the Protestants follow right along. We can just take this pagan ceremony here and we can make it Christian. Get some 'holy' water, sprinkle the heathen, tell them it's a new name, it's a new god, but you just do the same thing you did before. No, He will not give His glory to another.

Verse 12: "Hearken to me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last.... [That tells us who Jesus was, straight to Rev. 1.] ...My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens. When I call they stand up together" (vs 12-13).

I read that and I think, boy, God calls out to the universe and all the stars respond. Attention! That's something! That just blows my mind! Yet, think of what Jesus did to become a man. Now we'll cover that as we come up to the Passover time. Then He says He's going to bring them out of Babylon.

Isaiah 49:1: "Listen, O isles, to Me; and hearken, you people from afar; the LORD has called Me from the womb; He has made mention of My name from My mother's belly." What did the angel tell Joseph to call Him? Jesus! Immanuel! God with us! It's a prophecy of His birth.

Verse 2: "And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword..." With His words He literally cut them asunder. You don't believe that, just put in your margin there or in your notes Matt. 23. What did He say to them?

• Was Jesus love? Yes, He was!
• How did He treat sin?
• How did He treat those who handled the Word of God and should have known better, but were rejecting Him and wanting to kill Him?
• What did He call them?

'Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, blind guides.' Now, people don't like to be talked to that way today. Was that in love to them? Yes! In hopes that they would repent!

Verse 2: "And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft. He has hidden Me in His quiver." That's just a way of saying, 'He's preparing me for war.' Now when's that going to happen? When He returns. 'And in righteousness does He judge and make war.'

Verse 3: "And said to Me, 'You are My servant, O Israel... [that's referring to Christ] ...in whom I will be glorified.'" In the appendices in the Bible we've got a short appendices there, how Jesus was educated. (Appendix G: Jesus Christ was Taught Directly by God the Father). We find from the New Testament that God the Father did it. He just wasn't born and haphazardly came into the world. He never attended a rabbinical school, because they said when they heard Him speak, 'How did He learn letters, having never been schooled?' What does that statement mean? It simply means this: All of the Pharisaic schools and all the rabbinic schools, they checked out each one and said, 'Did He attend your school?'

They did an investigation on this guy, the one Who was Jesus. Why would that be important for them to know? Because Jesus taught against their traditions, and they also needed to get the rabbi that taught Him these things that were against their traditions! They would eliminate him, too. So that's why they said, 'How does this Man have understanding having never been schooled?'

Here's how, Isaiah 50:4: "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned... [came from God the Father] ...to know to help the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as one being taught." Every morning God the Father woke up the infant Christ. Up to what age? I don't know, but when He got to the temple in Luke 2 when He was 12-years-old, here were all of the teachers of the law and everything, and He was sitting right there with them asking questions and answering. They marveled at His understanding. Got it from God the Father. Didn't Jesus say, 'I speak what the Father commanded Me'? Yes! 'I do as He taught Me.' Yes!

Verse 5: "The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards." Let's see how the Old Testament does it again. Here we have vs 4-5 about His infancy and His first coming, when He was young.

Verse 6: "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting…. [That was after He was arrested and with the false trials and everything.] …For the Lord GOD will help Me..." (vs 6-7). You read about the prayer that He prayed. You read about the Psalms that talk about the words of Christ. Now we'll cover that as we come down to the Passover time.

"...therefore, I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint... [that nothing would move Him] ...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. Behold, the Lord GOD will help Me; who is he who shall condemn Me? Lo, they all shall grow old like a garment; the moth shall eat them" (vs 7-9).

Then it talks about His preaching. This is why God gave us there in Isa. 28, 'a little here, a little there, line upon line, precept upon precept,' so that we can go put it together.

Verse 10: "Who among you fears the LORD, who obeys the voice of His servant... [His servant was Christ. His servants today are those who preach the Word of God, tell you to obey God.] ...who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God." Showing faith for the New Covenant.

Verse 11: "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves with firebrands; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled. This you shall have of My hand—you shall lie down in sorrow." This is all of those who come against God, all of those who come against Christ are going to meet a fiery end.

This is how they understood who Christ was, was all there in the Old Testament. All of these things are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus!

Scriptural References:

• Acts 2:16-21, 24-31
• Acts 3:18-26
• Acts 7:1-2, 37, 47-54
• Isaiah 40:1-3, 2, 4-11
• John 21:13-17
• Acts 20:26-30
• Isaiah 40:21-22
• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Isaiah 43:1-3, 5-12
• Isaiah 46:9
• Genesis 10:8-9
• Isaiah 46:9-13
• Isaiah 48:11-13
• Isaiah 49:1-3
• Isaiah 50:4-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 5:17
• Psalm 16
• John 1
• Malachi 4
• Genesis 6
• Isaiah 47
• Revelation 1
• Matthew 23
• Luke 2
• Isaiah 28

Also referenced:

Sermon Series:

• Hebrews
• Transhumanism

Books:

• Josephus
• Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal
• The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop

Appendix G (The Holy Bible in its Original Order, A Faithful Version): Jesus Christ was Taught Directly by God the Father

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 01-31-12
Formatted: bo—2-3-12

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