Participants: Pr. Louis Torres
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000712
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01:00 Welcome back.
01:01 How many of you have enjoyed the seminar so far? 01:04 It's been a great blessing 01:05 and man, in our last time together how near is the end? 01:10 This was fascinating wasn't it going through 01:12 all of those signs in Matthew 24. 01:15 Man, but the greatest sign is that, you know, 01:17 when you see these things have been look up 01:19 because Jesus is coming, that's the best thing, isn't it. 01:23 Well, tonight we are going to continue 01:24 on with the Passion of the Christ, 01:28 this is going to be just-- 01:29 I think it's one of the most heart warming, 01:32 you're gonna go very excited, I know that. 01:34 As you look at this prophecy tonight, 01:36 you're going to be excited by-- and excited about Jesus. 01:40 But let's just ask His presence to be here as we study again. 01:45 Let's bow our heads. 01:46 Father in Heaven, tonight we are thankful 01:48 that You had a passion for this planet. 01:51 You came down, down and down 01:53 and became a little child and grew up, 01:55 You were in all points tempted like as we are. 01:58 And we're just thankful for God that would do that, 02:00 that's not aloof and far away but that comes near. 02:03 We ask You to come near right now, 02:06 near to our speaker, near to each person here, 02:09 near to each person watching. 02:11 And we thank You 02:12 and we come in the all powerful name of Christ, amen. 02:17 Well, we've been learning that theme song. 02:18 Let's stand together and sing it. 02:21 Marvelous message we bring. Let's sing it together. 02:34 Marvelous message we bring 02:38 Glorious carol we sing 02:41 Wonderful word of the King 02:45 Jesus is coming again Let's hear you. 02:49 Coming again, coming again 02:56 Maybe morning, maybe noon 03:00 Maybe evening but will be soon 03:04 Coming again, coming again 03:11 Oh, what a wonderful day that will be 03:18 Jesus is coming again 03:27 Amen. You can be seated. 03:29 You know I've been just blessed by all the different musicians 03:34 who've been able to come and share ministry in music. 03:37 And tonight we are going to hear something on the keyboard 03:41 and Anthea Hii, she is from the mission college 03:45 came with Louis Torres, our evangelist. 03:48 She is a concert pianist 03:50 and I know that you're going to enjoy this number 03:53 as she uplifts Jesus in a medley of songs. 03:57 I think you'll recognize them. 09:54 Amen. 10:08 After listening to music like that, 10:11 it's hard to get up and preach a sermon. 10:14 It was a sermon in itself, wasn't it? 10:16 Just beautiful. 10:18 Thank you, Anthea, 10:20 and thank the Lord for giving you the talent. 10:24 Shall we pray together? 10:26 Our Father, as we open thy word again, 10:28 we ask that Your spirit 10:29 will guide direct us as You promise. 10:31 Help me to share 10:33 that which will be a blessing to Your people here. 10:37 In the glory to Your name, 10:38 is my pray in Jesus name with thanksgiving, amen. 10:43 Several years ago, 10:49 there were two attorneys 10:50 who were traveling across Colorado. 10:56 And they got into a discussion. 11:03 One of them was an infidel, 11:08 a skeptic whose name was Robert Ingersoll. 11:13 The other one, his name was Lew Wallace. 11:18 Young attorneys, and Robert said, 11:23 "Hey, Lew, let's talk." 11:25 Lew said, "Talk about what?" 11:27 "Let's talk about the great themes of life." 11:30 "Well, like what?" 11:31 "Well, let's talk about is there a God?" 11:34 "I don't know." 11:35 "Is there a life after death?" "I don't know." 11:38 "What about Jesus? Who was He? 11:40 Was He really a Son of God or was He just a man?" 11:44 Well, they got into this deep discussion 11:47 it wasn't long before they both discovered 11:49 that they really did not know much about the subject anyway. 11:55 Lew Wallace, however, being the Christian felt bad 12:02 that he did not have an appropriate answer 12:05 to his friend. 12:07 And so after he became the governor of New Mexico, 12:16 Lew Wallace who later became General Wallace 12:19 and governor of New Mexico 12:22 wrote the book entitled "Ben-Hur." 12:28 How many of you have heard about the book 12:31 or have seen the film "Ben-Hur?" 12:33 Can I see your hands? 12:35 He wrote it as an answer to his skeptic friend 12:38 as to who Lew Wallace believed Jesus was. 12:47 The question then is who was Jesus and what was He all about. 12:55 The subject of Christ is something 12:57 that has surfaced in our recent days, 13:02 many are talking about Jesus, 13:04 who He is, what He was, et cetera. 13:07 The latest fling is that which is the Da Vinci Code. 13:11 How many of you acquainted with the Da Vinci Code, 13:13 you heard about it, et cetera? 13:15 A lot of curiosity concerning Christ 13:19 and unfortunately most people have 13:22 a lot of lack of knowledge concerning it 13:24 and so consequently they make statements 13:27 that really are not supported by the scriptures 13:31 and of course people who do not know the scriptures 13:34 do not realize that there are a lot of misconceptions 13:38 that supposedly come from the Bible, 13:40 but actually it doesn't. 13:42 For example, I had a lady one time 13:44 who came to me and said, "Pastor, 13:46 where in the Bible do you find the text 13:49 that says a whistling woman and a crowing hen 13:53 is an abomination to the Lord?" 14:03 I looked at her and I said, "Nowhere, madam." 14:09 It doesn't exist. 14:11 But people have notions, they think 14:14 that the Bible says this, the Bible says that, 14:16 they hear this and they hear that 14:18 but in reality they really don't know, what? 14:21 They don't know the scriptures. 14:23 And so tonight I think it's important for us 14:27 to study the scriptures, what do you say? 14:30 There are all sorts of human interpretations, 14:33 but I think as we look at the scriptures tonight, 14:36 we may find the answer through the scriptures. 14:39 First of all I want you to know 14:41 that the Bible is written with the intent of revealing 14:43 who Jesus is and there are several things 14:45 that we should consider tonight. 14:47 Number one, Jesus the greatest character of all the ages. 14:52 What does the Bible say and of course, 14:55 what does human experience say about Jesus Christ? 14:59 Let's consider tonight, 15:01 our beginning in that wonderful book, 15:03 the Book of Revelation 1:1. 15:06 You remember that it starts 15:09 with the words "The Revelation" of whom? 15:13 "Of Jesus Christ." 15:14 Notice that it begins with the word 15:16 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" 15:19 because the intent of the Bible 15:21 and the Book of Revelation 15:23 is to reveal who Jesus really is, 15:25 that's why the word the Revelation of Christ. 15:28 Some people think that the word revelation 15:30 had some mystical meaning. 15:32 No, it doesn't have any mystical meaning, 15:34 on the contrast, the opposite, 15:36 the word revelation simply means reveal, means what? 15:41 Reveal, that's all it means and it is given to us to unveil, 15:45 to make clear, to unwrap as it were, 15:49 the mysteries that people have about 15:52 or the ideas that people have about who Jesus really is. 15:56 The Bible was written about Jesus 16:00 and that's why in the Book of Revelation 1:8, 16:06 He claims Himself to be the, what? 16:08 The Alpha and the what? 16:10 The Omega, the beginning and what? 16:13 The end, which is, which was, and which is to what? 16:18 To come the Almighty. 16:20 So notice that Jesus claims Himself 16:23 to be the Alpha and the Omega. 16:25 And for those of you who may not be aware Alpha 16:28 is the first letter of the Greek alphabet 16:30 and Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. 16:33 But He says more than that. 16:35 He says I am the beginning and what? 16:37 The end. 16:39 Now you may not have caught what that signifies 16:43 but tonight I hope you do as we consider that. 16:45 Notice it says, I am the what? 16:47 The beginning and what else? 16:49 The end. 16:50 Now the entire Bible then is about Jesus. 16:55 How much of the Bible? The entire Bible. 16:58 Now that may surprise you. 16:59 It may surprise you 17:00 because you hear a lot of preachers say 17:02 that the Old Testament was about the Father 17:04 and the New Testament was about the Son. 17:08 How many of you have heard that? 17:09 Any of you? 17:10 Yes, but in reality the entire Bible is to reveal Jesus. 17:16 And of course if it reveals Jesus, 17:18 Jesus said He that hath seen Me hath seen whom? 17:22 The Father. 17:23 So the purpose of the scriptures is to ultimately reveal 17:26 who the Father is but it reveals 17:28 who the Father is through the Son 17:29 and the reason for that is that 17:31 the Bible says no man has seen the Father. 17:34 So in order for you to get a clear picture 17:36 as to what the Father and who the Father is, 17:38 we have to have something 17:39 that we can touch and feel and understand. 17:41 What do you say? 17:43 And so God then sent His Son to be with us. 17:47 Now when Jesus was on earth one other things He tried to do 17:51 is try to convince the people in His day 17:53 that He was who He claimed to be. 17:55 And so He tried to do that also by prophecy. 18:00 By what? Prophecy. 18:04 Now consider this, look at what Jesus says 18:06 in the Book of John 14:29. 18:09 If you have your Bibles John 14:29 18:11 notice it says "And now I have," what? 18:15 "Told you before it," what? 18:16 Come to pass, "that when it does come to pass, you may believe." 18:21 Remember I quoted that earlier today, remember that. 18:25 So the reason for the prophecy is to enable us to believe. 18:31 Now, one time I was in Switzerland 18:35 studying with a young man 18:37 and I site visited with him, he immediately said to me, 18:41 look, "I am a New Testament Christian." 18:43 I said I'm glad to hear that. 18:45 He said that, "I don't believe 18:47 that the Old Testament is for us any longer." 18:49 I said, "Whoa, why do you believe that?" 18:52 "Well, because I've been told 18:53 that the Old Testament was for the Jews 18:55 and the New Testament is for the Christians." 18:57 I said well, that's interesting. 19:00 Would you turn with me in the Bible? 19:01 I asked him and see what Jesus says about that. 19:05 Oh, he said, "Well, if Jesus said that, 19:07 I would be interested in finding out." 19:08 I said, well, then let's turn to the Bible 19:10 and see what Jesus says about the Old Testament. 19:13 So we turned to the Book of Luke Chapter 24. 19:18 Notice Luke Chapter 24. 19:20 Luke 24 is written about 19:24 the after the resurrection experience. 19:26 In other words, Jesus resurrects and in Luke 24:1 it says 19:32 now upon the first day of the week, 19:33 very early in the morning, 19:35 the ladies went with the ointment 19:36 to find Jesus and they found Him not, you remember that. 19:40 And then it speaks about the two men on the way to Emmaus 19:43 and Jesus shows up and walks with them, 19:47 they don't know who He is 19:48 and finally when He arrives at their home, 19:51 they ask Him to pray, He prays and as He prays, 19:53 they recognized Him and He disappears 19:56 and they run back to Jerusalem 19:58 to tell the good news that the Lord-- 20:00 they have seen the Lord. 20:01 You remember that all right. 20:03 But notice then, on the way, on the what? 20:07 On the way they're disturbed, they're upset 20:11 because they believe that Jesus was the Messiah, 20:15 but He's been killed 20:17 and they don't know that He's resurrected 20:19 and so they're really upset 20:21 and when Jesus appears and walks with them, 20:24 they're so upset they don' t recognize who He is, 20:27 they think He's a stranger. 20:29 And so Jesus says then what to them? 20:31 After they tell Him, 20:33 Jesus what's going on why are you so upset? 20:35 Well, because we thought that it would be He. 20:42 Then He said unto them, what's the next two words? 20:45 "O fools," and what? 20:48 "Slow to here-- "and slow of heart" 20:50 pardon me, "to believe" all that the, what? 20:53 "The prophets have spoken, 20:54 Ought not Christ to have suffered 20:56 these things," and to what? 20:59 "Enter into his glory?" 21:01 Notice then what the next portion says, notice. 21:07 And beginning, where? At Moses and where else? 21:11 And all the prophets, he expounded unto them 21:14 and how much of the scriptures? 21:16 All the scriptures the things concerning what? 21:20 Himself. 21:21 So I asked that young man, "What did Jesus call people 21:24 who don't believe in the Old Testament?" 21:27 O fools. 21:29 And I said to him then "Do you want to be one?" 21:33 "Oh, no" he said. 21:37 Now, folks, Jesus said himself o fools, 21:42 and slow of heart to believe all that the, what? 21:47 That the prophets have said concerning Him 21:49 and so then He begins where? 21:51 Now notice where He begins Moses, now why do it says Moses? 21:56 In the German language, 22:00 the books that they have of Moses 22:03 they called First Moses, Second Moses, 22:05 Third Moses, Fourth Moses, Fifth Moses. 22:08 Did you know that? Yeah. 22:10 If you go to Germany and you say the Book of Deuteronomy, 22:13 they don't know what that is. 22:15 But if you say the Fifth Book of Moses 22:18 or the Fourth Book of Moses or the Third Book of Moses, 22:21 yeah, they know what book you're talking about. 22:23 Okay? 22:24 So the Books of Moses are the first five books 22:26 of the Bible beginning with Genesis, okay? 22:31 And so where did Jesus began to talk about Himself? 22:36 In the Books of Moses. 22:37 Think about it, friends, think about it. 22:40 And think about how many people are doing 22:43 away with Jesus by doing away with the Old Testament. 22:46 Because without the Old Testament, 22:48 you cannot determine who the Messiah is. 22:52 What did I say? Without the what? 22:55 The Old Testament, you cannot determine who the Messiah is. 23:00 And the reason why God gave prophecies 23:03 in the Old Testament of Jesus was to make sure 23:06 that no one could counterfeit who the Messiah would be. 23:13 Now you may say how is that? 23:15 Because God predicted many things concerning the Messiah 23:19 that only the Messiah could satisfy. 23:21 Only who? The Messiah could satisfy. 23:25 So even though there might have been 23:27 many messiahs that would come up and by the way, 23:30 Barabbas claimed himself to be a messiah. 23:36 He revolted against the Romans, 23:37 he was caught with some of his friends 23:39 and of course that's why two of his friends 23:42 were nailed to the cross, one on one side, 23:43 one on the other side of Christ. 23:46 Barabbas was set free because the people of that day 23:49 unfortunately chose Barabbas rather than choosing Jesus. 23:56 But if you had known the scriptures, 23:58 if they had believed the scriptures, 23:59 they would have never chosen Barabbas, 24:01 they would have chosen the true Messiah, why? 24:03 Because there are definite evidences, 24:08 prophetic statements that only Jesus would satisfy. 24:12 Now Jesus is found in all the Bible, 24:14 I already told you that 24:15 and the fact that he says that he began in Moses, 24:19 we then should be able to find Christ in Moses. 24:21 What do you say? 24:22 But where do you find Christ in Moses? 24:25 Well, let's look at Genesis 1:1. 24:28 Genesis 1:1 begins with the words, 24:30 what are the words there? In the what? 24:32 In the beginning. In the beginning what? 24:35 God created the heavens and the earth, okay. 24:37 Now notice it says in the beginning, 24:40 remember those words. 24:41 Now turn with me to the Bible in the New Testament 24:44 in the Book of John, Book of John Chapter 1. 24:48 Notice what it says in the Book of John Chapter 1. 24:50 How does it start? In the beginning. 24:53 Now let me ask you a question, is that the same word? 24:56 In the what? In the beginning? 24:58 Notice, what did it say? In the beginning, you see that. 25:04 So in what beginning? 25:08 The beginning of the world, okay. 25:11 In the -- In John it says, "In the beginning was the Word, 25:16 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 25:21 Now notice it says "The same was in the beginning with God." 25:24 Now remember it says in the beginning God created, 25:28 notice the next words, All things were... 25:32 what's another word for made? Created. 25:33 "All things were created by Him," by who? 25:37 Who's the Him? God. 25:38 Was the Word. 25:40 The whole subject here is dealing with who the Word is. 25:45 Is that true? 25:47 Yes or no? Yes. 25:48 So "In the beginning was the Word, 25:51 the Word was with God, the Word was God. 25:53 The same was in the beginning with God. 25:55 All things were made by the Word 26:00 and without the Word was not anything made that was made." 26:05 Okay. 26:06 Who was this word? Well, and the Word became what? 26:11 "And dwelt among us, and we beheld the glory 26:14 of the only begotten of the Father." 26:16 Think of this, how many of you remember John 3:16? 26:20 For God so loved the world, that He what? 26:23 Gave His what? Only begotten. 26:25 So well, who is the only begotten then? 26:29 The word or Jesus. 26:32 So who was in the beginning in creation? 26:35 Jesus. 26:37 And that comes as a shock to many Christians, 26:41 it comes as shock to many Christians. 26:43 How many of you have seen the film "The Passion?" 26:48 In the film of The Passion, 26:50 the Australian tried to focus 26:53 on the physical sufferings of the Christ 26:56 and made them very graphic 26:58 to the point that people wept 27:00 as they saw the suffering of Christ. 27:05 And not to the diminish from what He was attempting to do, 27:09 however, sadly 27:13 the sufferings of Christ was not-- 27:19 the physical suffering of Christ was not 27:20 what the Bible thought to heightened. 27:22 Because a lot of people believed that Jesus was a mere man 27:26 who just appeared on planet earth at that time. 27:30 And as a man God chose him to pay the penalty for us. 27:38 And so the focus then is on the physical pain of Christ. 27:42 But let me explain this to you. 27:45 If you now understand that Christ was the Creator 27:49 and by the way in Colossians 1:17 27:53 and on you'll find that it says "Christ is the Creator." 27:55 In the Book of Hebrews it says 27:57 "that Christ is Creator," Hebrew 1. 27:59 And so the scripture reveals 28:00 then that Christ was the agent of creation, 28:03 he was what? 28:04 He was the agent of the creation, 28:05 in fact, if you look at Genesis 1:26, 28:09 it says "And God said let us make man in our image." 28:15 Which perfectly harmonizes the John 1:1. 28:18 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. 28:22 Obviously, that was more than one present at creation, 28:25 what do you say? 28:26 Can you see that yes or no? 28:28 And so it says then that this Word 28:32 later on who was the Creator became what, 28:35 flesh and dwelt among us. Now think of it. 28:39 Now, we understand it was not just a mere human being 28:41 that was suffering from us 28:43 it was the divine being who was suffering from us. 28:47 It was the what? 28:49 A divine being who is suffering for us. 28:52 And what brought to Him the greatest pain 28:54 was not the physical suffering because if the only thing that, 28:58 that the whole passion of Christ was the physical suffering 29:02 then my friends, I have to tell you that, 29:05 that there are other people who have suffered worse 29:07 than being crucified on the cross. 29:11 I have heard of people who actually have been 29:13 torn apart chunk by chunk 29:16 with a pair of pincers or pliers. 29:18 The skin taken up bit by bit, 29:20 bit by bit until finally the all the flesh 29:23 from head to toe were removed. 29:29 In other words, friends, what I'm telling you is this, 29:32 that Christ suffered superhuman agony. 29:38 And the super human agony 29:40 that He suffered was that He felt 29:43 that the sins of the world 29:45 were separating Him from His Father 29:47 and that broke His heart. 29:52 And when you understand that it was the divine being 29:55 who came and took my place and your place, 29:59 it should create in us a greater gratitude 30:03 for what God has done for us. 30:04 What do you say? 30:06 If just a mere of suffering of Christ 30:08 brought pain and agony to your heart 30:11 think then how much higher the sacrifice was. 30:17 It was a divine being taking the risk 30:20 of being separated from heaven forever 30:25 to save you and to save me. 30:28 I would say hallelujah to that. What do you say? 30:30 Praise God. 30:31 And listen, we find then that the Jesus is in the first verse, 30:37 the first chapter, the first book of the Bible. 30:40 Do you see that? 30:41 He is where, in the beginning? 30:43 What do you say? 30:45 What do you say? Amen. 30:46 All right, He is on the first chapter 30:48 the first verse of first book of the Old Testament. 30:51 Well, that's interesting, 30:53 what, what was this Jesus notice let's rephrase it. 30:58 "In the beginning was" who? 31:00 "Jesus, and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God." 31:05 In other words it's saying that 31:07 just as the father so is the son. 31:09 The son has to, the godly attribute 31:12 is just like the father has the godly attributes, okay. 31:15 So now we find that Jesus is there 31:17 but what about the New Testament. 31:20 You will be surprised to discover 31:22 that Jesus is in the first verse, 31:23 the first chapter, the first book of New Testament. 31:25 Look at the book of Matthew 1:1, 31:28 notice what it says. 31:30 "The book of the generation of" whom? 31:33 "Of Jesus Christ." 31:34 So He is in the first verse, of first chapter, 31:36 the first book of the New Testament. 31:39 And guess what He is also the last verse, 31:44 the last chapter, 31:45 the last book of the New Testament. 31:48 Notice what it says, in the Book of Revelation. 31:50 This is the last verse, verse 21. 31:53 "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 31:55 be with you all" How much? "Amen." 31:57 "Amen." Okay. 31:59 And notice then, 32:01 we find Jesus in the first verse, 32:03 the first book, 32:04 the first chapter of the Old Testament. 32:06 We find them in the first verse, the first book, 32:09 the first chapter of the New Testament 32:11 and we find them in the last verse, 32:14 of the last book, 32:15 in the last chapter of the New Testament. 32:17 Can you understand now why it says, 32:19 "I'm the beginning and the end." 32:26 I'm the first and the last. 32:30 I'm the Alpha and the Omega. 32:35 Isn't that wonderful? 32:37 But listen, we just begun. 32:43 Jesus says Moses wrote of Me. 32:49 And the question is, where did Moses write of Him? 32:51 First of all, we already see 32:53 that he wrote in the first chapter there. 32:55 But when the Lord was speaking to Abraham 32:59 the Lord said to Abraham "And in thy seed 33:03 shall all the nations of the earth be" what? 33:06 "Be blessed." 33:07 Now, notice it says "And in thy" what, "seed." 33:11 Genesis 22:18. 33:14 I want you to understand that the Lord speaking to Moses 33:18 was not speaking about Isaac nor about Jacob 33:22 nor about the Jews. 33:24 By the way I should tell you I have Jewish relatives 33:29 but in spite of the fact that I have Jewish relatives 33:32 I know from the Bible that God was not speaking 33:35 about the seed as of Isaac and Jacob. 33:38 I want you to see a New Testament commentary 33:41 on this passage in the Book of Galatians 3:16. 33:45 Notice what Paul writes it says 33:48 "Now to Abraham and" to what? 33:51 "To his seed were the promises made." 33:53 Now notice it says "He saith not, and to" what? 33:57 "Seeds or as of many" a plural 34:00 because Abraham had more than one child, 34:02 do you know that? 34:03 How many of you know that? 34:05 And he's still fighting today isn't true. 34:07 Yes and so not in seeds but in seed 34:13 "And to thy seed which is" what? "Christ." 34:16 There is an apostolic commentary on the Book of Genesis. 34:22 God was not speaking about Isaac, 34:24 God was speaking about whom? 34:27 Christ. 34:28 Let me ask you a question, 34:29 has the world and all nations been blessed because of Christ? 34:34 What's the answer? Yes. Yes. 34:39 Moses indeed wrote about Christ. 34:44 Now, I should now help you to understand several things 34:49 there are prophecies in the Old Testament 34:51 as I mentioned before that help us to pinpoint 34:55 and to identify who the Messiah is. 34:58 In fact there are 48 prophecies, how many? 35:01 Forty eight prophecies that point to the Messiah. 35:04 Now, I want to show you several prophecies 35:07 and when you leave tonight you should receive 35:11 an outline of all the prophecies 35:14 because I don't have enough time tonight to give you 35:16 all the 48 prophecies and their fulfillment 35:18 but you can read them when you go home. 35:20 How many of you would like a copy of that? 35:21 Okay, don't forget to pick them up. 35:24 Now, let's go through some of them 35:26 and you will see the amazing thing about prophecy and Christ. 35:33 First of all, Christ was the one 35:37 who inspired the Bible through the Holy Spirit. 35:41 And the prophecy is given about Him 35:44 were predicted some of 1,000 years before He came 35:47 some 500 years before He came. 35:49 Many wonderful prophecies that came. 35:54 Now, let's look at some of them for example, 35:57 look at the Book of Psalms. 36:01 In the Book of Psalms 36:04 you'll find several statements. 36:09 Notice first of all it speaks about His betrayal. 36:13 It speaks about what? His betrayal. 36:16 Notice it says "Yea, mine own" what? 36:19 "Familiar friend in whom I trusted 36:22 which did eat of my bread, 36:24 hath lifted up his heel against" whom? "Against me." 36:27 Now notice it says my own familiar what? Friend. 36:31 My own familiar friend, 36:33 that was predicted a thousand years before Christ. 36:36 The Bible reveals then 36:37 that somebody would betray the Messiah 36:40 but that somebody was a friend, a what? A friend. 36:44 Now let's go to the New Testament 36:45 and see the fulfillment. 36:47 You remember Judas came to Christ by night 36:49 and he brought with him 36:51 a group of people to arrest Christ. 36:53 You will find that in Matthew 26:48-50. 36:56 "And forthwith he came to Jesus 36:59 and said Hail, master and kissed him 37:02 and Jesus said unto him" what's the next word? 37:05 "Friend wherefore art though come?" 37:09 Did a friend betray the Messiah yes or no? 37:12 Yes. 37:13 If a friend had not betrayed the Messiah 37:15 then he could not have been the Messiah. 37:17 It had to be a friend that betrayed Him. 37:21 Now, let's notice then some other prophecies 37:25 in the Old Testament concerning the betrayal, 37:28 I mean concerning Christ and the actual betrayal 37:32 and the actual price paid for Him. 37:34 In the Book of Zachariah 11:12, 37:38 it is predicted here the price, the what, 37:44 the price for his betrayal. 37:45 Notice it says "And I said unto me, 37:48 If you think good, give me my price and if not forbear. 37:52 So they weighed" how much what was it? 37:55 "Thirty pieces of silver." 37:58 So in other words if the Messiah was to be betrayed 38:02 how much would have to paid for Him? 38:04 Thirty pieces of silver not thirty pieces of copper, 38:07 not thirty pieces of gold, not twenty nine, 38:10 not twenty eight, not thirty one but how many? 38:13 Thirty, all right. 38:14 Now the amazing thing is that again 38:16 Zachariah was written about 500 years before Christ. 38:19 How long? 500 years. 38:22 Now we go over to the New Testament, 38:24 and discover the fulfillment of that particular prophecy. 38:28 And notice the detail, notice what the scripture says. 38:33 In Matthew 26:14-16 38:37 "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, 38:40 went unto the chief priest 38:42 And said unto them, What will you" what? 38:44 Give me. "What will you give me? 38:46 And I will" what, "I will deliver him." 38:50 And what do they do? 38:52 They agreed with him for how much, 38:55 thirty pieces of what of silver 38:57 and from that time he saw opportunity to betray Him. 39:01 Think of the amazing think, how much? 39:03 Thirty pieces of silver, 39:06 exactly like have predicted 500 years before 39:09 is exactly what took place. 39:11 What has Judas asked for twenty pieces of silver? 39:17 And by the way, do you know that the thirty pieces of silver 39:19 was a price of a slave? 39:22 Judas betrayed his Lord for the price of a slave. 39:27 Listen, let's continue as time goes quickly. 39:31 Somebody said time does not shout it 39:33 just has a way of running out. 39:34 And so let's look at it. 39:36 Zachariah 11:13 39:37 what would happen to those thirty pieces of silver? 39:39 Again, "And the Lord said unto me, 39:42 cast it unto" what? The potter. 39:43 "The potter, a goodly price that I was priced at of them. 39:47 And I took the thirty pieces of silver, 39:49 and cast unto the potter" where? 39:52 "In the house of" what? "Of the Lord." 39:54 So, the thirty pieces of silver must be used for the potter 39:57 but they must first be cast where? 39:59 In the house of the Lord. 40:01 Let's find out if that actually took place. 40:04 Notice again in the fulfillment in Matthew 27, 40:09 notice it says "He cast down" how much? 40:12 "The thirty pieces of silver in the temple 40:15 and departed and hanged himself 40:17 and they took counsel, and bought with them the" what? 40:20 "A potter's field, to bury strangers in." 40:23 Amazing, what do you say? 40:26 What do you say folks? Amen. 40:28 Doesn't that give you confidence in the Word of God, 40:31 doesn't it? Just think of it. 40:34 Just think of it. 40:35 Precisely as God has foretold it happened. Why? 40:40 Because you and I needed to have the certainty 40:43 as to who we should place our faith in. 40:47 You see if people will accept 40:51 the prophecies about the Messiah, 40:53 they could have never accepted Jim Jones. 40:56 They could have never accepted Koresh, David Koresh. 41:00 They could never have accepted anyone 41:03 who claimed to be the Christ 41:04 because according to the scriptures 41:06 the Messiah had several prophecies 41:10 that He had to satisfy in order to be the true Messiah. 41:16 And we already have seen several prophecies 41:19 but look Psalms 22:18, 41:23 when Jesus was crucified 41:25 what would they do with His clothing. 41:27 A 1,000 prior it says 41:29 "They part my garments among them, 41:31 and cast lots upon my" what? 41:34 So they divide "the garments and cast" what, 41:38 "lots for my vesture" a 1,000 years before. 41:41 Now notice the fulfillment. 41:42 Notice, John 19:23, notice what it says. 41:46 "Then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus," 41:51 notice it says "They took his garments 41:52 and made four parts to every soldier a part 41:57 and also His coat now the coat was without seam, 42:00 woven from top throughout." 42:02 And the scripture says 42:03 "They then cast lots for His vesture." 42:07 Okay, notice it says, "They said among themselves 42:11 let us not rent it but cast lots for it who it shall be 42:14 that the scriptures might be fulfilled which saith, 42:17 "They parted my raiment among them 42:19 and for my vesture they did cast lots. 42:23 These things therefore the soldiers" right. 42:27 So now notice a friend betrayed them, 42:31 the price thirty pieces of silver 42:34 it had to be cast in the temple correct in the house of the Lord 42:38 then it had to be used for the potter's field 42:40 and then of course it says that they took His garments and what 42:44 and cast lots for them. 42:47 Has the Bible been true so far? 42:50 Yes or no? Yes. 42:51 Okay, now notice then, in Psalms 22, 42:55 the very words of the Messiah have been foretold. 43:00 Notice in Psalms 22:1, 43:03 "My God, my God why hast" what? 43:06 "thou forsaken me? 43:08 Why art thou so far from helping me, 43:10 and from the words of my roaring?" Right. 43:14 The very words of the Messiah would have to say 43:16 and according to the scriptures we discover 43:18 that these are the very words of Christ 43:20 on the cross of Cavalry. 43:22 As Jesus hung on the cross 43:26 and He began to feel His father separating from Him 43:29 because He was been treated as the sin bearer 43:34 He could not bear it. 43:36 And the scripture says 43:37 "That the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 43:41 saying, Eli, Eli lama sabachathani? 43:46 That is to say, My God, My God, 43:49 why hast thou forsaken me?" 43:52 So you can see then that the very words of Christ 43:55 would have to be fulfilled. 43:57 Look at Psalms 34 43:59 and there we see in Psalms 34 44:01 another prophecy about His bones. 44:04 Notice it says "He keepeth all his bones 44:06 not one of them is" what? "Broken." 44:08 The custom in those days was that when people were crucified 44:13 they were hoping of course that the people die on the cross 44:15 but often times many of them did not die on the cross 44:18 but to ensure their death before they took him of the cross 44:21 they actually came and hit them in the legs 44:24 with something hard enough to break their legs 44:28 and then they took them of the cross 44:30 and threw them over, over the side 44:31 into the city dump for them to die. 44:35 That way it will ensure 44:36 that they could never escape but die of exposure. 44:40 Bones were broken, but when they came to Jesus 44:43 what do they find? 44:44 "They found that Jesus was already dead 44:47 and they break not his legs "for these things were done 44:49 that the scripture should be fulfilled 44:51 a bone of him shall not be" what? 44:53 Broken. "Shall not be broken." 44:55 Isn't it the amazing friends? 44:56 Doesn't that strengthen your faith 44:59 from the word of God and his veracity? 45:01 What do you say? Amen. 45:02 But listen, there is a-- 45:05 something more interesting here to consider. 45:09 When we think of all these prophecies 45:12 we have to ask ourselves the question, 45:15 the question that Jesus asked. 45:18 "Saying what think ye of Christ? 45:21 Whose son is he?" 45:24 And that's the question you and I should ask tonight, 45:27 what do you think of Christ? 45:29 Whose son is He? 45:31 Is He just the son of man, the son of Mary, 45:34 the son of Joseph or is He really divine? 45:38 Was He really the Son of God? 45:41 Did He come from heaven? 45:43 Did He come to die for you, and for me? 45:46 What think ye of Christ? 45:48 And I think the answer to that would change the entire life 45:52 and course of your being. 45:59 The question then, 46:02 Jesus Christ is He God or is He man? 46:09 Was it just a man dying for you 46:12 or was it God manifested in the flesh 46:17 as it says in the scriptures? 46:20 I suppose if we were to ask people in His day 46:25 if we could bring people to the witness stand 46:28 and ask people who saw Him, 46:31 who touched Him, who felt Him, who heard Him 46:33 what is it that you think of Christ 46:36 who do you think He is? 46:38 I suppose we would get an insight 46:40 as to what the people in His day believed He was. 46:44 If we were to for example, 46:45 bring the John the Baptist on the witness stand 46:47 and say "John, who do you think Christ is?" 46:51 You remember what John the Baptist said about Christ, 46:55 look let me skip this here for a moment 47:00 and I will come back to it. 47:07 John said what? Behold what? 47:11 The Lamb of God. 47:14 If we were then to ask Peter, 47:17 "Peter, what was your impression, 47:19 who do you say that He is? 47:22 Peter response to that question. 47:25 Do you remember how he said 47:28 concerning the Messiah and his faith in Christ? 47:32 John, I'm sorry "In the beginning was the Word 47:35 and the Word was with God." 47:36 Now Peter, actually said thou art that what? 47:40 The Christ, the Son of the living God. 47:44 And if we continue asking testimonies of others, 47:47 Nicodemus who came to Christ by night, 47:49 what was his testimony? 47:51 "We know thou art" a what? 47:53 A teacher who has come from" where? "From God." 47:56 And if we were then to ask Pilate, 48:00 viley Pilate the one who was the judge of Christ 48:03 who seven times declared Him to be innocent. 48:06 In fact seven times he said I find no fault in Him. 48:13 Pilate, what do you say of Christ? 48:16 I find how much? No fault in Him. 48:19 That's quite a statement. 48:21 The thief on the cross do you remember 48:23 at the last hour when all had forsaken Christ 48:26 when it seemed like no one believed Him 48:29 in that dark hour there was somebody 48:32 who did believe in Him 48:34 and as the thief noticed Christ, 48:39 thief came and if you were to ask that thief on the cross, 48:47 "What is you impression of Him? 48:49 What do you say of Christ?" Lord. 48:53 He call Him what? 48:54 "Lord! Remember me 48:56 when Thou cometh in Thy Kingdom." 49:02 As Christ hung on the cross 49:06 darkness came around the cross, 49:09 and lightening, 49:12 and finally Jesus said those words 49:17 my God, my God and finally 49:19 the last words that He, declared was it is finished. 49:26 And then all of a sudden He died. 49:31 Everyone was spell bound, 49:33 there was silence and the silence was broken 49:36 by the witness of a centurion. 49:39 And if you were ask that centurion 49:42 what do you say of Christ? 49:44 What was your impression? 49:45 Remember he exclaimed "This was" who? 49:50 "The Son of God." 49:55 The resurrection then came and there was one disciple 49:59 that did not believe. 50:01 Do you remember his name? 50:03 Thomas, some people call him doubting Thomas. 50:09 Because Thomas said I will not believe except 50:11 I could put my fingers in His hands 50:14 and in His side and finally, Jesus did appear to Thomas 50:19 and if you were to bring Thomas in the witness stand 50:21 and ask Thomas "What was you impression?" 50:24 What do you think? 50:25 Do you remember Thomas's words 50:28 "My God and what? "And my Lord." 50:33 Thomas no longer doubts Him, 50:36 finally understood that the one who He walked with, 50:39 the one who He talked with, 50:41 the one who He was able to witness the miracles 50:46 in all that He did finally after all of that 50:50 he finally was convinced that this was not just a guru, 50:54 not just some man who had supernatural abilities 50:59 and the disciples were thinking boy 51:01 "If I could just tap into that mental power, 51:03 I also can do the same thing." 51:05 No, Thomas finally was convinced 51:09 that he was dealing with not just mere man 51:11 he was dealing with whom? With God. 51:14 And he exclaimed "My God" and what else "my Lord." 51:20 Let me share with you nine points 51:22 why I believe that Christ was divine. 51:25 First of all, Christ could read human hearts. 51:27 He could what? 51:29 He could read human hearts. 51:30 Number two, Christ could foretell the future. 51:34 Was He able to foretell the future yes or no? 51:36 Yes. 51:37 And did He ever make a mistake about the future? 51:40 No. 51:41 Number three, He had creative power. 51:43 He fed thousands of people from a piece of bread. 51:46 In fact, He resurrected Lazarus from the dead. 51:50 After the man had been dead for four days 51:52 He allowed the man be dead for four days 51:54 so that the man would begin to decompose 51:57 and the reason for that is that prior to this, 51:59 He had actually resurrected people 52:01 but He always made the statement 52:03 "She is asleep, he is asleep, he is okay." 52:06 So even though He performed miracles they would say, 52:10 don't you remember He said "She was asleep" 52:12 so He really didn't resurrect her. 52:14 So now Jesus allows his friend to be dead for four days 52:18 to decompose so that when they perform the miracle 52:21 there would be no question that He had divine power. 52:24 And so Jesus had creative power. 52:28 He brought Lazarus back to life as well. 52:30 And so He could resurrect people, 52:34 could give life and He had life unborrowed as well. 52:37 He had power to forgive. 52:39 Remember when the woman was brought to Him 52:42 and they wanted to stone her and finally Jesus sat down 52:47 and began to write the sins of those who were accusing her 52:50 and they began to flee away. 52:52 And finally they asked, He asked the question 52:55 "where are the accusers?" 52:56 And she said "No one accuses me." 52:59 And He said "go and sin no more." 53:01 Another time a man was brought down in the bed, 53:04 do you remember that? 53:05 They tore up the roof and the man was sick 53:08 and they expected Jesus to heal the man 53:10 but the Lord said "Son thy sins be" What? 53:14 "Forgiven thee." 53:15 He had power to forgive sins. 53:17 Number five-- six, He could receive worship, 53:20 many came to worship Him and He never forbade them. 53:22 Angels did forbid people to worship. 53:24 When John knelt down before the angel to worship 53:27 the angel said "Don't you do it, 53:29 because I'm one of your fellow servants, worship God." 53:33 So Jesus received worship. 53:34 Number seven, He had life inherent unborrowed. 53:38 Number eight, He could transform human hearts. 53:41 Number nine, He had power of infallibility 53:44 it never made a mistake. 53:46 My friends, what think you of Christ? 53:50 Whose son is He? 53:53 Is He who the Bible says He is? 54:00 Is He a divine being? Is He Lord? 54:06 Is He God and the most important question is He your Savior? 54:17 The Bible speaks about Christ being the rock, 54:20 do you remember that? 54:22 In fact Jesus himself said that 54:24 as a stone was rejected by the builders, 54:29 He said that, "That particular stone 54:32 if you fall on it you will be broken 54:35 but if it falls on you it will ground you to powder." 54:38 Well, Jesus was using the analogy of Daniel Chapter 2 54:41 where the stone comes out without hand 54:43 and smash the image and ground it to power, you see. 54:46 But that stone was Himself. 54:48 And so the point was this you have an option, 54:51 you either fall on the rock and then broken 54:54 or if the rock falls on you it completely destroys you. 54:59 Up in the Canada there is a place called the Great Divide. 55:01 How many of you have the heard of the Great Divide? 55:03 Any of you? 55:05 Well, people actually take tour, 55:09 excursions up to see this Great Divide, 55:11 well, just the name sounds like something great, correct? 55:15 And so people pay money, take the train 55:17 and go up there to this Great Divide 55:20 and when they get up there 55:21 they discover what the Great Divide is. 55:22 It's just a little spring of water 55:24 that comes out of the ground and heads toward to a rock 55:27 and when they hit the rocks 55:28 some of the water turns to the right 55:29 and some of it turns to the left. 55:31 That's the great divide. 55:35 The amazing thing is this. 55:37 That that rock determines the destiny. 55:40 That rock what? 55:42 Determines the destiny 55:44 and so Christ determines your destiny. 55:50 The question is this friends, 55:54 who is Christ to you? 55:56 Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? 56:02 Have you seen Him as the Lord of your life? 56:09 Will you accept Him tonight? 56:11 How many here have accepted Christ 56:13 as your Savior already? Can I see your hands? 56:16 Wonderful, heaven rejoices over that. 56:19 What do you say? Amen. 56:21 And perhaps, there's somebody here 56:23 who has not yet accepted Christ. 56:26 Why not make Him Lord of your life tonight? 56:31 Why not say "Lord, I didn't understand all of this 56:35 but tonight I can seek plainly that You are the divine Savior." 56:40 Listen, we need that kind of Savior, 56:43 we need a divine being 56:44 who could change our human hearts. 56:46 I thank God that He changed my heart. 56:49 I can add my testimony to the testimony of others. 56:53 And oh, friend, if you make Him your Savior, 56:55 He will change your heart also. 56:57 Let us pray together, shall we? 57:00 Our father, here we stand tonight with that question, 57:05 what thinking he has, whose Son is he. 57:09 Oh Lord I pray, that along with all 57:12 who raised their hands 57:13 and those have not can make Him their Savior tonight. 57:16 In Jesus name. |
Revised 2014-12-17