Why We Believe - Jesus is the Messiah, Pt. 2

if you would open your bibles to the gospel according to luke chapter 24. you'll recognize that we were here last week but i'm going to read uh a little bit more this week of that same chapter luke chapter 24 luke 24 this is after the resurrection of the lord jesus as promised lord jesus meets these disciples who are confused and having a conversation luke 24 19 hear now the word of the living of the true god and he said to them what things and they said to him concerning jesus of nazareth a man who was a prophet mighty indeed and word before god and all the people and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem israel yes and besides all of this it is now the third day since those things these things happen moreover some women of our company amazed us they were at the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body they came back saying that they had seen even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said but him they did not see and he said to them o foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself so they drew near to the village to which they were going he acted as if he were going farther but they urged him strongly saying stay with us for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent so he went in to stay with them when he was at table with them he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight they said to each other did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures and they rose that same hour and returned to jerusalem and they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying the lord has risen indeed and he has appeared to simon then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread as they were talking about these things jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace to you but they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit and he said to them why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts see my hands and my feet that it is i myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that i have and when he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet and while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling he said to them have you anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate before them then he said to them these are my words that i spoke to you while i was still with you that everything written about me in the law of moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them thus it is written that the christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from jerusalem you are witnesses of these things and behold i am sending the promise of my father upon you but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high thus far as the reading of god's holy and inspired word let's pray together lord jesus we give you glory we thank you that you fulfilled all these promises lord we do stand in awe of who you are lord i know that i have so many limitations and i know that i'm not in myself worthy to be standing before your people delivering your word but i ask that by your spirit god you would teach that you would open our eyes to these truths help us to get a sense to have an understanding as they did you open their minds to understand the scriptures lord allow us to feel that understand that the lord this is a story that is divine told by god long before it happened help me lord to communicate your truth in a way that opens the eyes of the blind gives hearing to deaf people and lord blesses and emboldens your church we give you praise and we ask that you would allow us to forget the preacher and remember your word and what you've taught us let that abide in jesus name amen so it's man it's powerful in it luke 24 it is a powerful section of scripture i mean there's two parts to that earlier last week he did one part this week another part two parts of the end of this chapter that talked to us about this emphasis that this is god's story long before it actually took place and then it's fulfilled and then their mind is opened to understand oh my goodness it was there all along you see that's really the powerful thing about the old testament it really is i mean there are things that happen in the old testament that be honest if the new testament revelation wasn't there you would look at the old testament a little squinty eyed like well why this is some strange ritual going on here there are strange things happening there are odd things that just seem out of place in the text we talked about it last week right and we've got this monotheistic religion there is only one god and by the way that's unique in history to have monotheism there is only one eternal god self-attesting the only god nothing above him nothing below him he is not dependent upon anybody or anything he is the transcendent immaterial all-powerful all-knowing god that is unique in the history of religion amongst mankind what do you have human beings creating gods that look a lot like them mommy gods daddy gods baby gods gods fighting with each other killing one another and then resurrecting as some other thing later you've got all kinds of gods dependent upon the creation itself truly it is one ism versus twoism you've got all other religions oneist in other words they are part of this created order they're all somehow one with the created order they're a part of it somehow they've come out of it somehow dependent upon it somehow and then you've got the twoist worldview of the biblical revelation that says there is an eternal god creator dependent upon nothing and nobody and you've got creatures and creation right and you've got this unique revelation in history of monotheism there is only one god and you think about it judaism is monotheistic christianity is monotheistic strictly there is only one eternal god and then you have of course islam which is also monotheistic but it's a different kind of monotheism and it's only monotheistic because it borrowed from christianity and judaism so you see it is completely unique to have only one god and this story seems so strange because god gives this revelation it's spanning hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years of composition different authors different geographical locations a unified thread message a single master storyteller and one god and this is weird isaiah nine a son is coming a child is coming messiah is coming the one to come on david's throne is coming and yet he is el gibor the mighty god the father of eternity strange because yahweh is called the mighty god yet there is only one god god's coming as a man very peculiar things happening in even the fourth telling and foretelling of messiah and his kingdom it had to be strange to have instances in the old testament revelation where you've got the angel of the lord the messenger of the lord showing up now there's only one god but the messenger of the lord is showing up and they're giving worship to the messenger of the lord that's odd or the messenger of the lord the angel of the lord shows up with abraham and isaac on that mountain and he says you have not withheld your only son from me wait i thought abraham was offering isaac to yahweh here's the angel of the lord you haven't withheld him from me so you have these instances where jesus is showing up in the old testament there's only one god and yet with sodom and gomorrah yahweh on earth reigns down fire on sodom from yahweh in heaven what only one god only one god and yet we have jesus showing up in the old testament and it must have been something where the jews have this revelation they're receiving this revelation they're doing these things god says to do and there had to be moments be honest let's be real there had to be moments and they were probably like yeah this is weird but okay strange right i mean even we're going to talk about this today even the instance of abraham and isaac isaac you're going to have a son he's the son of the promise the messiah is going to come through this unique son your only son the son of your love all right now go and offer him as a sacrifice on this mountain i'm gonna go tell you about it's a three-day journey by foot go there and offer him as a sacrifice atheists love that story they love it it's one of my very favorite stories it shows that jesus is the messiah and atheists latch onto it like hey i got a chestnut argument here for you does god say you should not kill yes he does did god tell him to kill isaac his son yes boom like it's over swish right no no no that story actually is glorious and it's mine it shows that jesus is the messiah and i'm going to show you in a minute here's the point you have jesus and this is the emphasis i want you all to understand on this at the end of the gospel according to luke this is really throughout the new testament of course but at the end of the gospel according to luke the emphasis here is on the fact that jesus is explaining to them that this has been a story that has been about me the whole time it was about me here's the thing jesus doesn't drop into history as a novelty and they go well this is weird this is strange totally unexpected and none of this really is connected to the old thing it's all new it's all novelty no this is a story that god has been telling as the master storyteller the entire time and jesus emphasizes that old testament revelation is about me and did you ever even consider this unique part we go okay yeah the prophets we've got direct prophecy right to jesus we've got the when the where the who the why the what it's all there we've got the law of moses we've got the dress rehearsals the temple the priesthood we've got that and yeah that points to jesus but did you ever think that he says the psalms the psalms like they're this is crazy it's their hymnal right i mean they're in synagogue and they're singing these things like this is the hymnal of the jewish church this is what they sang right they sang together in church together that was their song book amazing grace you know we've got all kinds of songs today people you know they like uh what's that song hillsong sings about the waters oceans sinners you're not supposed to know that now i know who's going we got discipline next sunday now what's that like a 30 minute song it's got like one line the whole time um but you know what i'm saying like you know if that song kicked on the radio right now every single one of you a bunch of sinners would be like you'd be singing here because you know the song like the music starts and you're like i know this song it's not hard it's got one like one line to it but like the jews like they're singing these songs and the crazy thing is is that jesus comes in now after the resurrection and he's explaining to them everything you've been singing about you've been singing about me all your songs they're about me we talked last week about the crucifixion itself i mean that is portrayed in psalm 22 in such a bewildering way down to they pierce my hands and my feet dogs encompass me they wag their heads they say he trusts in our lord let him rescue him if he delights in him and then they cast lots for his garments and you've got his heart like wax melted within him he can count all of his bones his bones aren't broken i mean it's a it's incredible it's all there and jesus is saying my god my god why have you forsaken me and if they had just kept singing they would have literally sang the song about the events right in front of them and they were singing it their whole lives a message like today gabe's did psalm 72 today did you hear it by the way did you hear psalm 72 did you did you think about what that means psalm 72 they watch they were singing before christ psalm 72 like this one who's coming he's going to have dominion from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth all these tribes are going to bow down and worship this coming king we sing it after the cross 2 thousand years later as a present reality he shall have dominion from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth and you have a room full of christians today with all these different tribal backgrounds worshiping yahweh as king of the world in the desert today we sing it as something that is actively moving through history now because the king is already on his throne the psalms are about jesus the emphasis for the lord jesus about his messianic character is not that it's novelty just believe me it's that this entire story is about me when you're reading the law of moses when you're reading the prophets when you're reading the psalms you're reading god's story in history that's leading up to jesus he's the sum and substance about what it was all about when you're looking at very peculiar things in the law of moses things about the temple and the priests and the way they were to do rituals all the things they were supposed to do in terms of dietary restrictions and not combining different fibers it was supposed to be something that taught them through ritual truly spiritual things they were supposed to learn about jesus through these rituals all of it was a line coming to jesus and that's the emphasis in the new testament this was to fulfill what was written in the prophets this was to fulfill what was written in the prophets oh remember that verse that was about jesus the whole time it was about jesus that's the emphasis and what i said last week about this particular study why do you believe that jesus is the messiah listen this is so important you can't don't lose this jesus said i am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me that makes him absolutely unique and it's a bold claim there are no other religious expressions that will get you to god there are no other mediators that will get you to god no other prophets that will get you to god jesus is the only way to god that's a bold claim it's a bold claim because there are a lot of religions in the world a lot of religious rituals in the world a lot of divine books of origin that are revered by human beings and yet jesus says i'm the only way you will not have peace with god you will die in your sins apart from me you will die in your sins apart from me that's a bold claim and i mentioned last week that if you're going to come to jesus and you trust in jesus christ you're going to come to grips with the exclusive nature of jesus claims and the christian message that jesus is the only way to god that's it if you don't have christ you're going to die in your sins if you don't have christ the wrath of god abides in you that is the consistent message of this revelation and we need to know why we believe that it is not enough brothers and sisters please raise our standards as the people of god it is not enough to simply say i believe in jesus because i've had a really good experience line yourself up with the 50 different people who make exactly the same claim who have a different religious text a different prophet they revere and a different god they'll all say they've had an amazing experience so christians can't enter into this arena of the defense of the gospel making claims like i just believe or i believe because my parents are christian or i believe because i've had this wonderful amazing christian experience i mentioned that you can go down with us as we do evangelism in the temple and when you challenge the latter-day saints why do you believe they're going to say i prayed about it and i have a burning in my what bosom that's what they're going to say so we can't do that it won't do and that by the way is not how christians have defended the faith historically and it is not how jesus presented to us the truth of his messianic character and his ministry so i challenged you with why do you believe that jesus is the messiah i'm not going to rehash we did last week but i want to remind you that i created something a long time ago to help us remember this and communicate these truths the question comes is jesus the messiah my answer is most definitely m-o-s-t it's an easy way to remember at least some of these truths number one messianic prophecy i would consider this direct prophecy in other words nobody else can fulfill that it is just line it up here's the truth it goes straight to jesus when we talk about say isaiah 9 let's stick on that one six through seven well there is only one god so this one who's coming as a son and as a child to rule on david's throne is god himself that's very specific it can't be anybody else it's only god that's a direct prophecy in terms of who is the messiah what's his identity we talked about the where of the messiah where would he be coming from the text in micah 5 2 says from bethlehem his goings forth are from old yea even from everlasting we talk about the unique providence of god that joseph and mary aren't in bethlehem but god wields history and all things and so a census needs to be taken and so he has to go back to his original hometown and they go back to bethlehem where she gives birth to the messiah which was of course something that god had promised long before it actually took place the what of the messiah we talked about a few things this is not exhaustive if you want to do an exhaustive study we can do that okay but this is not exhaustive i talked about isaiah 53 last week there is no way to read isaiah 53 other than jesus it's jesus through and through it's christ it's him dying for the sins of god's people yahweh laying on him the sins of god's people the lord being pleased to crush him putting him to grief you've got the death of the messiah him being cut off in isaiah 53 and yet then somehow his life goes on you have isaiah 53 saying he will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities israel can cannot bear your sins israel is full of sin and injustice and rebellion they can't take the sins of anybody isaiah 53 you have psalm 22 that has this portrayal of the passion of the messiah long before it happens you have the promise of messiah that all the nations would return to worship the lord all the families of the earth the nations streaming to god's mountain isaiah chapter 2 to come and be saved to receive salvation the promise of the messiah here it is final word on this point was that he would have the obedience of the nations genesis 49 10 that this one who's coming would have the obedience of the nations and by the way that's exactly how paul started and ended his systematic explanation of the gospel exactly remembering what that promise of messiah was what is it to bring about the obedience of faith among the nations for the sake of his name now i told you the who is there the where is there the what is there and the when is there let's just do it quickly today i cannot even begin to unpack this but go to daniel chapter 9 so you at least have a finger there and you remember this particular promise now as you get to daniel chapter 9 just know this is a very very powerful and yet complicated section of scripture there are so many aspects to it that can be unpacked it really is a powerful thing i did do a sermon on this many years ago i think two weeks we spent on daniel chapter nine i'm just gonna give you the highlights today the important elements of daniel 9 but in order to do that i need to not assume that you understand when dana was written what was going on just i'll give you the punch for now the people of god are in exile in babylon because of their sin they sinned against god you had prophets before the exile into babylon who were telling them they were going into exile to babylon who were telling them they were going to be destroyed they needed to repent you have some serious denunciations happening long before it happened and then it happens and now they're in babylon you know the story about shadrach meshach and abednego like you know that story from veggietales right that's daniel um they're they're in babylon there's paganism there's they're they're now under the boot of the babylonian king and they're there because of their sin as the people of god and it was told to them this is going to happen to you and it was told to them how long it would happen to them but now daniel here is in a position where he is praying to god he's praying to god about this exile he's praying to god because now they've lost everything now i want you to consider this please here's the highlight you want to know the highlights here it is there is no temple get it it's been it's gone it's destroyed they're in exile they've they've lost it now like god sent people armies against them to disperse them to destroy them and they lost their temple so the first temple now get this it's gone there is no temple it doesn't exist it's not there anymore and they're in exile so daniel is pleading and he's praying and i want you to see this man i love this daniel chapter 9 verse 20 while i was speaking this is daniel and praying confessing my sin and the sin of my people to israel and presenting my plea before the lord my god for the holy hill of my god while i was speaking in prayer the man gabriel whom i had seen in the vision of the first came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice he made me understand speaking with me and saying oh daniel i have come now come out to give you insight and understanding at the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out and i have come to tell you it to you for you are greatly loved therefore consider the word and understand the vision now pause this is awesome uh who shows up to daniel gabriel anyone remember who shows up to mary gabriel how crazy is that that gabriel comes to give this to give this promise of the coming messiah he's gonna tell him like what's gonna happen and he's going to tell them how long it's going to take so gabriel is the one that tells daniel the timeline to messiah like how long it's going to take for him to get here and he tells him what's going to happen with the messiah is coming it is really powerful but gabriel's the one that comes to tell daniel all right it's going to be this long and here's what's going to happen and then we know now from the new testament that gabriel is the one that shows up to mary and like has this announcement like yeah right why like he's been waiting too he's the one that told daniel how long it's going to be what's going to happen and can you imagine like gabriel's like on standby like wait i can't wait for the moment i can't wait for the one i can't wait for them and then when he sees mary he's like whoa and she's like ah like you know if you know the story she gets a little freaked out he couldn't help himself he's been waiting a long time but gabriel is the one that tells mary but in the text here here's what he says again this is just highlights now i can't unpack all this but he says 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city here it is ready to finish the transgression to put an end to sin and to atone for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal both vision and profit profit and to anoint a most holy place i think some translators say to anoint the most holy i actually think it's in reference to jesus but be that as as it may he says this know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one a prince there shall be seven weeks then for 62 weeks it should be built again with squares and moat but in trouble time and after the 62 weeks an anointed one there's only one mentioned there an anointed one the prince shall be cut off die violent death and shall have nothing and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary its end shall come with a flood and to the end there shall be war desolations are decreed and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering and in the wing of abominations or come on who makes desolate now here's a quick punch now the promises here in this prophecy from gabriel to daniel come at a time where there is exile there's babylon and ready there is no what there is no temple temple's gone and the promise is is that this messiah is coming this anointed one is coming and he'll be cut off and have nothing and it says the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary but wait a minute there is no city and sanctuary so this promise about all these things are going to take place includes the promise that the this anointed one is cut off and then the second temple is going to be destroyed so just consider that for the moment in the terms of timing first what's going to happen according to gabriel and his promise to daniel finish the transgression make an end of sin atone for iniquity bring an everlasting righteousness seal both vision and profit and to anoint the most holy place that's a lot of stuff that's going to happen but here's the emphasis i want to make making an end of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness brothers and sisters did jesus accomplish that yes and it says that this one who this anointed one the prince who is coming he's going to be cut off and have nothing and then it says the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary so think about a timeline in your minds now for a moment in terms of jesus the messiah it says that he must bring in everlasting righteousness make an end of sin atoned for iniquity he would be cut off and then it says that the second temple is going to be destroyed well brothers and sisters did jesus die make an end of sin bring an everlasting righteousness was he cut off before the destruction of the second jewish temple yes now here's my question where's the second jewish temple where is it it's gone if you were here for the 10 years of matthew 24 you know that jesus when he was going to jerusalem to be cut off he tells them with the temple you see all these things there shall not be left one stone abstanding upon another all these things will happen in this generation he promised the destruction of the jewish temple before they all died and that of course is compatible with daniel's prophecy so here's my story i tell often if you didn't hear it i want you to hear it if you have heard it just enjoy it i went to a jewish synagogue many many years ago with a bunch of brothers uh because we saw a a um jewish scottsdale jewish news at a scottsdale grocery store and inside this newspaper i picked it up of course because i'm a true jew so shalom it's my newspaper so i open it up and it says this thing jews against jesus i think is what it was and they were going to hold a seminar and how we know that jesus isn't the messiah so i thought well i'd love to go to that so we showed up went to the synagogue we got to wear the yamaka it was awesome but unusual we were the only people in this entire synagogue with a bible nobody had a bible with them and the whole entire time everybody is looking back at us like looking at our bibles like like this it was awkward i'm like it's the torah you know so everyone's looking back at us ever look back at us and this guy who looked like modest yahoo um that's for the younger crowd um he went on for a long time about how we know jesus isn't the messiah and the amazing thing was he didn't touch any of these texts that christians have used historically to prove jesus is the messiah so when it was all finished everybody there who was jewish was looking back at us sort of like you get that did you hear that and so i thought well i'm going to go talk to him so i took a b-line right for the rabbi and of course everybody there knew we were the christians so they were just like waiting for this moment so i walk up to him and the whole place just seized on us i mean there was barely breathing room and everybody was just waiting for this rabbi to take down this punk kid i think i was probably 21 years old or something like that um that's what i think about 21 uh just kidding sorry okay um so i'm before this i'm before this rabbi and i said rabbi i want to thank you for letting us be here today i i really appreciate it i said i just want to know how come you didn't talk about any of the verses that christians historically both jewish and gentile uh christians have used to show jesus is mashiach he said why i touched on all of them young man i said you didn't touch on one that i would use he said well well like what i said well um how about daniel 9. he said what about daniel 9. i said well daniel 9 promises then end of sin atonement for iniquity everlasting righteousness the messiah is cut off and then the second jewish temple is destroyed and he sort of looks at me and i said rabbi when was the temple destroyed he said well well so everybody knows it was destroyed in 70 a.d i said right so if jesus isn't the messiah who is and so i had my bible he had it in his hand he looks down at daniel 9. he starts going there he's flipping pages and everybody around was just waiting just like breathing like waiting just waiting he's crushed this kid he's going to crush him and then he finally looks up at me and he says um do me a favor give me your email address i'll get back to you there is not a coherent answer from the text it says messiah is going to be cut off and then the second jewish temple is going to be destroyed brothers and sisters if jesus isn't the messiah there is no messiah there is no messiah that temple is gone the time is up it's over and by the way let me just make an announcement here too um i believe that any christians who were trying to help rebuild another jewish temple are ignoring a lot of text in scripture about how much of an abomination that would be remember this if the jewish people today rebuild another temple if they build a temple today and offer animal sacrifices they are spitting in the face of the atonement of jesus christ no christian should be supporting another jewish temple so that is the who the where the what the when and of course the why we can do more but i'll leave it there just read isaiah 53 as the why next point is jesus the messiah most definitely he is messianic prophecy the next is the original life of jesus i want you to consider in the life of jesus what do we know about jesus and his life and his character there are messianic prophets prophecies about the character of the messiah i mean him taking upon himself the sins of god's people means he has to be the sinless one he has to be unique he has to be the righteous one what do we know about the original life of jesus again not exhaustive jesus is sinless in john 8 46 there is this scene where jesus says the famous which of you accuses me of sin and of course there's silence now i want you to consider this for a moment in terms of thinking about your own life and the life of jesus by contrast i dare you to stand in front of your friends and your family and your enemies and say which of you accuses me of sin do it how long is it going to take the first person in line is your wife oh i got this i got this right let me let me help with this one right and then followed by your kids and then of course the enemies are there but jesus can stand up in front of his friends and his family and his enemies and he can say which of you accuses me of sin and there is no legitimate response i want you to consider this for a moment you've got friends and family of jesus that walked with him ate with him knew his life that died to seal their testimony that this is our great god and savior jesus christ you've got apostles who died gruesome gruesome martyr's deaths and would not deny the faith to say that this is the sinless son of god and he's worthy of my whole life and my worship now what would it take for a person to go to their death in a gruesome way and believe that this person is worthy to take away my sin they knew his life i could promise you this you walk around me long enough for a couple of months you're going to go yeah he's not so great right i see his flaws i see his weaknesses i see he's just a man and that's good but these people lived with jesus for years they knew his life and they said he's worthy of all your worship this is god in the flesh they knew the law of god these are jews they know god's law and they said this is the righteous one he is the law keeper i want his righteousness before god's throne not my own jesus is sinless jesus controls the creation itself in matthew 8 23-27 the bewildering aspect of what jesus does there when he calms the sea the disciples are saying like who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him jesus walks on water and he invites peter to walk out on the water with him jesus is unique in that jesus controls the very creation itself he is the god man and so yes jesus swept yes jesus had blood pouring out of his body yes jesus got tired yes jesus had pimples yes jesus was hungry yes jesus used the bathroom but he is the god man jesus commands the sea and the wind and the waves themselves jesus this was probably i think probably one of the most interesting aspects of like walking with jesus in this ministry to my mind these are the things i think about like that would be kind of weird at times um jesus knew their thoughts like in matthew 9 4 it says jesus knowing their thoughts and he would answer them knowing their thoughts and so jesus is the god man and so jesus of course uh his divinity is veiled as a man he lays aside certain prerogatives but you see throughout the new testament there are these divine attributes that are there and it says jesus knows their thoughts well yahweh is the god who knows our thoughts and searches the thoughts yahweh is that one who can do that but it says jesus knowing their thoughts which would have probably been awkward at times around the campfire like you're sitting there at the campfire look over jesus looking at you i think about things like this like that would have probably been like what am i thinking about okay jesus gave sight to the blind jesus gave hearing to deaf people he raised the dead jesus shows his command over creation itself now this is the unique aspect of this think about this and this is obviously a hard thing to grapple with it says in the old testament that god is the sovereign god he's the one that makes people blind deaf and dumb and here you have jesus in the new testament actually giving people sight and they're hearing and he's raising the dead it shows that he is in fact yahweh he is god himself and even when you have the apostles themselves doing these amazing signs and these miracles they're only able to do them because he by his own authority gave them the ability to do it right they're doing amazing things themselves but it's because he imparted to them the ability to do those things he was the source of it all and here's something unique by the way when i say original life of jesus this is original this is unique this is something that nobody else can do here's the question i'll lead with this who can forgive sins god alone god alone and by the way that's also one of the struggles the jews had with jesus and his original life is that jesus says in matthew chapter 9 your sins are forgiven you brothers and sisters the day i ever say that to you throw me out of this building no mere man has the right the authority the ability to say to you your sins are forgiven you as though i have the authority to forgive them only god does and the jews knew that and so when jesus says to them your sins are forgiven you they were like wait who can forgive sins except god and jesus even has ways to communicate that he has the power over the physical creation and the ability to forgive sins because he asks questions like well what's easier to do say take your bed and walk or your sins are which was easier i can do both take up your bed and walk so jesus shows he has the full authority and the power to forgive sins jesus forgives people their sins jesus here it is jesus had the ability to raise a little girl from the dead jesus had the ability to raise lazarus from the dead so he is the one that has the power of life within himself and yet jesus does something powerful it says that jesus said that nobody has power over him that he lays his life down of his own accord and he takes it up again jesus raised himself from the dead think about it when he's talking to the jews he says destroy this temple speaking of the temple of his body and he says in three days i will raise it up again so of course you know from scripture that it says god raised jesus from the dead it says the father raised jesus from the dead it says the spirit raised jesus from the dead but it says that jesus says i will raise it up again jesus was dead and he raised himself from the dead that is a unique person it is a unique life in history nobody has that ability to raise themselves from the dead except jesus who is god in the flesh jesus says something that you and i can't say we can't really say it in terms of human relationships nobody has power over me now you think about it in terms of as a christian you could say no god is in full control he's in full control he does what he wants to the world but in terms of like human relationships to say nobody has the power over me i do what i want i'll lay my life down of my own accord you can't say that you can't say that i cannot say that that's unique somebody who come in here right now don't freak out we have security everywhere there are more guns in this room right now than you know okay amen amen okay um but if somebody came into this room and we think about it all the time in terms of the fallen world you live in people can go into any place coming here going anywhere and you don't really have control you don't you can't you can't make the claim nobody has power over me no in terms of human relationship yeah i mean not everything is in our control on a human level and some people might be able to exert power over you but when jesus says it he means it nobody takes my life from me i lay it down of my own accord i'm in control of all this the unique original claims of the lord jesus the fact that jesus is god himself he says that he is the i am unless you believe ha me you'll die in your sins jesus said that he was before abraham was amy i am here's the here's the thing about that particular section of scripture when jesus says that they knew instantly what he was saying proof is they picked up stones to stone him they knew what he was saying that he is the pre-existent one he is god himself and here's a unique thing about jesus in his life jesus is the judge this is powerful because you know what you don't see in scripture prophets elevated to the status of the judge of all the earth in matthew 25 after jesus promises the destruction of jerusalem and all the things are going to happen in the great tribulation in in their day by the way matthew 25 jesus tells them that he will be on the throne judging and i want you to see it from his own words go to matthew 25 and we'll end on that point matthew 25. look what it says about jesus and his uniqueness in verse 31 it says when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious throne before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will place his sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world so jesus says he is the one who judges he separates people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he is the one that invites he is the one who judges he is the one that says depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels that is unique jesus has an original life he is the judge of all the earth so is jesus the messiah messianic prophecy the original life of jesus the next is the symbols fulfilled okay here we go i had to be selective in terms of like what do we talk about like i want to give you guys the ones that just give me goosebumps and are just incomprehensible and powerful and amazing but there are so many it's like you could spend just weeks and months on this and we will obviously over time as you go through the new testament you're going to talk about these things but in terms of the symbols fulfilled these are the ones that get me they are when i think about jesus as the messiah of course those direct prophecies are powerful it's amazing people have done statistical you know reads of this saying what are the chances of one person fulfilling eight prophecies you know that they have no control over it's astronomical it's impossible and jesus we've got dozens and dozens and all these different ways people have tried to do this but for me it's the symbolism it's the dress rehearsals it's the thing that they were doing long before jesus came that they weren't like a word like 70 weeks when this decree goes out start counting down get the clock down and all these ways this is stuff they're just told to do right do this thing okay all right you know i don't really know why but god says do and so i do so i picked a couple passover yom kippur kippurin yes the day of atonements abraham and then last one i'll save and i'll tell you when we get there so passover i want you to consider this passover is historic narrative it's not fanciful it's not mythology the people of god were there they were in bondage they were under the boot of the egyptians it was difficult to be in that kind of slavery i mean you have a tyrant ruling over your people and you're the people of god and like why is this happening to us and there had to be so many questions and then enter in moses and moses you know the story he says to pharaoh let my people go but god of course hardens his heart why to display his glory in this wicked tyrants and this is interesting because you think about the passover story i have to admit um i wasn't raised in a christian home and so i had no understanding of any of any of this stuff until i was a teenager i had never understood jesus and his work only thing i had was i saw the ten commandments and i saw the movie with jesus like that was my understanding of like this book and i remember distinctly you know you have like few memories of when you're a kid like some are vivid and some you just lost it well i remember the first time that i learned that you're gonna die was watching the ten commandments i was watching the ten commandments and it was the scene with the plagues it was one of the scenes of the plagues and it's where people were dying and i remember asking my mom what's happening to them and she said they're dying and i said why and she's like well everybody dies and i said what what and so i remember bawling my eyes out i'm gonna die and it was through the ten commandments so um it was learning about the passover and so it's a vivid memory i have of like people are gonna die but i remember how scared i was at these plagues and i remember thinking throughout my life about like it's kind of weird like frogs water turning to blood you know all these crazy things that are happening these plagues like why why is it just to it's just just sort of like a puff of chest and just send crazy things into egypt no when you understand the historical narrative and the fact that this took place in history you understand that the egyptians worshiped the gods over those things and so when god is sending those plagues into egypt he's sending plagues into egypt that represent the things that the egyptian gods are supposed to have power over so when frogs are filling egypt the egyptians are praying to the frog god please get the frogs up leaving the frogs out and he's not answering so what is god doing he's displaying that he's the god over the waters he's the god over these creatures and all of their gods could do nothing because the god of israel is the true god so the plagues that are entering into egypt are not just these you know sort of just random things throwing into egypt just to make them say like what is happening it was supposed to show them your gods are fake they're not real and now we have the final one what was it the firstborn now watch this this took place long before the time of jesus over a thousand years before the time of jesus all they know is they're in egypt here's the final play god says this i'm gonna take the first born and so he tells them to take a lamb now here's what's interesting about this story he tells me to take a lamb and he says don't break its bones okay don't break his bones passover don't break the bones of the lamb and then he says you're gonna take the blood of the lamb and you put it over your door and when i come i'm going to pass over that house on account of the blood of the lamb and then god of course is telling them that they're going to be freed from their bondage their slavery to enter into that promised land with god and so on passover they have a lamb no spot no blemish right no spot no blemish don't break the bones of the passover lamb okay i got it so no spot no blemish don't break its bones put the blood over the doorpost and god judgment passes over i'm freed from my slavery and then i enter into the promised land with god now this is all taking place long before the time of jesus and what does john the baptist say when he sees jesus he says behold what the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world and the amazing thing about jesus that they could not possibly have known they had no control over is that he is the lamb with no spot and blemish so people say like why the lamb no spot no blemish don't break its bones because it meant something god was putting flesh on a story long before it happened it was dress rehearsals for the big day people look at the text of the bible this is some weird stuff it's some weird ritual well that's because it hadn't happened yet so god was giving them a way to prepare for the big day but it was happening in history and they could not have possibly understood why don't we break its bones well it needs to be without spot and blemish because that needs to symbolize a sinless sacrifice but did you know that jesus came at a time in the time of the last supper what when was that by the way do you know when it was passover so when does all this take place in terms of the ministry of jesus passover because he's our true passover lamb he's the one that has no spot no blemish and beyond that do you remember that at the crucifixion we've got criminals with jesus and you have the sinless spotless lamb of god that lamb of god that was promised jesus passover our true passover shedding his blood and isn't it interesting that these gentile shoulder soldiers they come and they break the legs of the criminals they broke their legs so they would suffocate but they come to jesus and oh he's already dead don't break his legs so his bones were not broken and jesus sheds his blood as the spotless lamb of god passover and what's it all mean what was god telling us that when the true lamb who has no spot and blemish whose bones aren't broken when his blood is shed for you that blood covers your house the judgment of god passes over you you are released from your bondage to enter into that relationship of god the promised land to enter into his presence you see this happened in history but it was telling a story the whole time the passover was about jesus he's our true passover the day of atonement again weird stuff right you look at this you're like why do i want to read this people go why am i reading leviticus why does it matter because it was about jesus some of the stuff seems strange you've got of course the day of atonements you've got the priest gets up and what's he do he's a sinful priest so the first thing he's got to do is he's got to set up a sacrifice for himself and you've got to sacrifice for the priest why because he's not a perfect priest because he's a sinner himself and then you of course have these other two animals they count as sacrifices and symbols and what's the priest have to do one of those has to die and have its bloodshed because without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins and so one of those has to die and the other one is the scape goat where the priest goes and he confesses the sins of the people onto the animal indicating a transfer of their sin and shame and guilt onto the scapegoats and then they would lead that goat away from the people of god and you would watch that thing go off into the distance as far as the east is from the west you would watch it disappear from you symbolizing your sins transferred to the substitutes and those sins departing from you as far as the east is from the west and of course you've got all the symbolism of the priest going into the holiest place but yet there's a veil there that separates the people of god from god's presence and he would bring the blood of the animal into the holiest place but even the priest himself had to have bells on he couldn't stop working he was never sitting down because the work was never finished the sacrifice wasn't perfect they were waiting for a perfect sacrifice so he's constantly moving and there's bells going off and if the bell stopped oh they have a rope tied around his ankle to do what to drag his body out because something went wrong and of course you know the story of jesus when he dies what happened that day when he died and he cries out it is finished it is finished no more sacrifices necessary it's over what happened to the veil that day what happened as a matter of record it was ripped in two he went before us and when he offered himself he offered a once for all sacrifice it's over it's done no more all of that stuff was supposed to speak to them about a deeper spiritual reality between us and god all of this there was there the whole time now go to genesis 22. genesis 22 this is one of my very favorite things in the whole bible genesis 22 i think it's one of my favorite because when i was you know excuse my allergies here guys when i was a young believer i remember having a debate with an atheist um sort of on the street kind of a thing and i remember that this atheist brought this particular passage up as a challenge and i didn't really have a coherent answer that's good it's a good challenge actually really good are you ready for it i'll give it to you right now does god say you shall not murder yes what did god tell abraham to do with isaac kill him solve that problem that's a tough one innit you go oh man i don't know because god's god i guess he can violate his own law what no what bad answer right uh that's inconsistent what's what's happening and then i remember when i finally started reading genesis 22 and discovering what's there i thought this is the most amazing thing ever atheism is so stupid it's so stupid this is so powerful i want you to remember the background quickly abraham sarah you know the story when when god tells her you're going to have a son that's the son of the promise if the world's going to you know be blessed through this one like all the nations you know you're going to have to send us as numerous stars it's going to come through isaac you've got sarah going right like she laughs and god promises isaac now remember this now they are expecting that isaac is going to be the one that brings about descendants as numerous as the stars isaac's seed through him now remember that this is the son of the promise it's the one you promised me god it's the one you said you're gonna do all these things through and here's what happens genesis 22 after these things god tested abraham and said to him abraham and he said here i am he said take your son your only son isaac whom you love take your son your only son isaac whom you love and go to the land of moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which i shall tell you so abraham rose early in the morning saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with them and his son isaac and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which god had told him on the third day abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar then abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey i and the boy listen to this we'll go over there and worship and come again to you so quick thing in terms of abraham and what he's being told here god says go offer isaac a three-day journey it wasn't like abraham i want you to offer your son right over there do it now it was a three-day journey long time that's a lot of walk-in that's a lot of distance go to this very specific place to offer your only son the son of your love there and of course abraham gathers the wood but what does abraham say to his his companions he said me and my son are going to go worship and we are coming back so what we know as insight from the new testament is that abraham knew that god was even able to raise the dead whatever he was doing this is the son of the promise it's coming through him he must be ready to raise him from the dead because god said it's through him and so he expected fully with his companions to return with the boy now when i say boy he was actually a young adult at the time so this is not a little boy it's actually he was older so here's what the text says verse six and abraham took the word of the burnt offering and laid it on isaac his son so what do you have now in the story long before jesus isaac abraham's only son the son of his love carrying the wood to the place of the sacrifice and isaac said to his father abraham my father my father i skipped a piece there laid on isaac's son and he took in his hand the fire and the knife so they both went off both of them went together and isaac said to his father abraham my father and he said here i am my son he said behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering abraham said god will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering my son so they went both of them together so what do you have abraham's son his only son the son of his love carrying the wood to the place of this very specific place of sacrifice and the question of isaac his son the son of his love carrying the wood to the place of the sacrifice he says uh where's the lamb and what does abraham say god will provide for himself the lamb and it says this verse 9 when they came to the place of which god had told him abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound isaac his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood then abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son but the angel of the lord called to him from heaven and said abraham abraham and he said here i am he said do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him for now i know that you fear god seeing you have not withheld your son your only son from me and abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him was a what ram not a lamb a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son so abraham called the name of that place the lord will provide as it is said to this day on the mount of the lord it shall be provided so the angel of the lord calls from heaven and says you've not withheld your only son from me and then there's a ram caught in the thickets but what are they waiting for a lamb and so what does abraham name that place this is the place the lord will provide it the what the lamb do you know where they were that three-day journey was taking them to the place of jesus sacrifice that was the place where the lamb of god was provided that's where god's son his only son the son of his love carried the wood to the place of the sacrifice that's where the lamb of god died for the sins of god's people that is the mount that the lord did provided do you see all of this the whole time took place with real flesh and blood real breathing people it took place as dress rehearsals for the big day all of this is about jesus the whole story but there's something unique here that is so powerful when you think about the overarching story of what god was going to do where does the story begin this is the last thought where does the story of jesus begin where some people say well maybe it begins in the prophets like when the messianic prophecy begins no no no no the whole story of jesus begins in the book of genesis in the first three chapters the first three chapters i want you to think about the scene i'll set it for you a moment god creates from nothing and then bang you have creatures and things in the sea and water and mountains and stars you have glorious creation and then god puts his image in the garden and he tells adam that he is to keep the garden he has to tend it he's called to cultivate god's garden and to spread that garden throughout the world by taking dominion adam the image of god was supposed to honor god love god keep his garden cultivate it and grow it and take dominion over the earth subdue it and then sin enters into the world and what happens sin death enters into creation and so god says something that day genesis 3 he says that the seed of the woman the woman will crush the head of the serpent the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent but then god says there's going to be something that is symbolic in creation in terms of the very sign of the fall it says that there is going to be thorns as a sign a visible sign of the curse and the fall itself and so adam was supposed to keep god's garden take dominion subdue the earth grow guards got god's garden across the world and he sinned against god and there was sin and there was death and there was going to be a crushing of the head of the serpent and there was the sign of thorns and then we think about the crucifixion of jesus who is jesus according to the new testament he is what adam was supposed to be he is the perfect adam there is one atom the fallen one and what adam the perfect one and jesus goes to golgotha the text says golgotha it is the place of the skull you can see pictures of it today go online and find it not now later go look at pictures of golgotha it looks like a skull so from the distance where you saw jesus crucified you saw him crucified with his crucifix going through a skull and john says that there was a garden there at golgotha so where did sin enter into the world a garden where was sin defeated a garden and jesus the perfect adam is dying at the place of the skull you were watching from a distance death being conquered with a visible representation of a skull but there's more one of the signs of the fall itself was thorns and isn't it amazing it wasn't the disciples of jesus who fixed a crown of thorns it was roman soldiers who did it to mock the king they fastened together a crown of thorns to mock to mock this would-be messiah and jesus died for the sins of his people wearing the very sign of the fall itself do you see but i think it goes further though because where death is defeated at golgotha where he wears the very sign itself of the fall with thorns when jesus rose again from the dead where did he rise he rose in a garden tomb and you know the story because you know i love it when jesus was raised and the women come and they're freaking out where's jesus jesus is first mistaken as what a gardener he was doing what adam was supposed to do with god's garden cultivate god's garden so he can take dominion and spread it around the world what did we read today in our psalm psalm 72 what's it say he shall have what dominion from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth we could go on forever but i'm already over time so i'll just leave with this the t the transformation of his people in the world we did some of this already first the apostles they died gruesome martyr's deaths to seal their testimony that he is who he claimed to be they were totally transformed by the savior what would it take for you to be flayed that's where they cut the skin off your body while you're alive and not deny jesus what would it take for you to be speared to death and not deny jesus would it take for you to be burned in an oven alive and not deny jesus they knew jesus and they said you could take my life it's okay because i have no fear of death because i know the one who has power over death but also the promise of the messiah in his kingdom was that he was going to god was going to remove a heart of stone and give a heart of flesh he was going to put his law within people and by his spirit caused them to observe his statutes there are a lot of christians in this room today and many more thousands that are going to watch this and so many different stories that we can share about how god saved us in jesus he changed our hearts he changed our minds all of a sudden now you've got somebody who was once an addict or uh evil or an abuser whatever the case may be wherever you came from and now all of a sudden you love the god of israel you want to obey his law you want to establish his standards of justice all around you what take what happens in a person that all of a sudden they go from loving this false god or their old life and these false pursuits of pleasure to loving jesus and loving god's law one of my favorite things about being a chaplain many years ago is when i saw these people who were drug addicts and two days before had a needle in their arms they were found od in a circle k bathroom was when they came to jesus they'd be in my office a week later or two days later crying what's wrong pastor jeff i just don't know what's wrong with me like i i've turned to jesus i trust him now i love him and i just i hate the thoughts that are in my mind now i i hate my old life and i have a thought come in and i'm like why am i thinking that i don't want that anymore and i'm like yay yay that's the presence of god you see what god does he indwells people and he causes them to hate the old life to love jesus now there's a new war that happens if there was no war i'm suspicious but god creates now a war within his people where they love his law they long for him they want to pursue him and they hate the old life and the old pursuits the transformation of the people of god and the world itself god promises to establish justice and peace and his law in the world and that is happening today it is happening all over the world today as christians go into communities and people are converted and they believe in jesus all of a sudden they go yeah we want god's standards here we love god's law and it starts to happen so is jesus the messiah no most definitely what am i doing here okay is jesus the messiah most definitely amen let's pray father thank you for your word thank you for your truth lord jesus we trust you we thank you lord for your keeping of all your promises we believe you're the messiah we confess you as lord and we trust you as savior as the way the truth and the life there is no salvation apart from you it's in your name we pray amen

Channel: Apologia Studios

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Keywords: jeff durbin, apologia studios, apologia church, jeff durbin sermon, jeff durbin sermons, best sermon on youtube, shocking youth sermon, paul washer sermons, t.d. jakes sermon, paula white sermon, is jesus the messiah, messiah debate, proof jesus is the messiah, michael brown vs rabbi, michael brown debate, messianic prophecy, messianic prophecy debate, r.c. sproul sermon, jeff durbin debate

Id: MJdh9iuJGDU

Length: 74min 25sec (4465 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 21 2020