The Plan Revealed

SERMON: 2014-12-21--ac14147--the-plan-revealed SOURCE DURATION: 00:37:59.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.98 APPROVED: false REASON: The candidates transition from theological exposition (candidates 17-20) into a formal benediction/prayer (candidates 21-25). Since prayer and benedictions are considered part of the sermon content according to the instructions, and there is no subsequent non-sermon material provided, candidate 25 is selected as the final segment of the sermon. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: none ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: no ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: none Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- As I said a few moments ago what I'd like for us to try to do this morning is take a look at how the Apostle Paul would have used the Old Testament scriptures to try to persuade Jewish believers to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You would think would you not that when the Jewish people had looked forward to the coming Messiah literally for hundreds of years they would eagerly embrace the message that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the long promised Messiah and of course some people did. The Gospels make that clear, the Book of Acts make that clear. Equally clear in both the Gospels and the Book of Acts is the fact that many, many refused to believe in fact became extremely antagonistic to the message of the Gospel and it's very important for us to understand that from a Jewish perspective there was a two-fold reason for that. The first the Messiah was very different from what they had been led to expect. Their idea of the Messiah and this is well known to all of us I would think is that he would be an updated version of King David, one who would rally the troops, drive out the hated Romans and establish the kingdom of God in Israel and when it became obvious that Jesus really had no interest in that they in turn had no interest in him. The Messiah was not what they expected but there was a second reason and that's one that we don't think of quite so readily and that is this they were offended by the message of the cross. They were offended by the message of the cross. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 23 puts it this way he says we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Why was the message of the cross foolishness to Gentiles? Because Gentiles prided themselves in strength and the weakness of the cross was not something that they were prepared to embrace but notice to the Jews it wasn't foolishness it was a stumbling block and the Greek word for stumbling block there is the word scandalon and you don't have to be a linguist to realize what English word comes from there right? What's the word? Scandal. The cross was a scandal to the Jews. Now stick with me on this because it's really important to understand that. Why was the cross a scandal? It was a scandal because to be hung on the cross meant that you were cursed by God. The Messiah was going to be blessed by God not cursed by God. That's why when Jesus hung on the cross they said if you're really the Messiah come down from the cross then we can believe that God favors you. See they didn't understand that the Messiah would come twice. The first time and we'll talk about this a little bit later to deal with sin. The second time to deal with judgment and salvation. The ultimate vindication of the Lord Jesus was not in this life but rather by his resurrection from the dead. So for Jewish believers to come to Christ those two objections had to be addressed and that is why Paul here and elsewhere goes about reasoning with them from the scriptures explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. When they read the Old Testament scriptures all they saw was the glory hallelujah. They totally skipped over all the suffering and the dying and the resurrection of Christ from the dead. It was all there but there was a veil over their eyes as Paul says writing to the Corinthians that kept them from seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ when Moses was read. Now I just show you how important this is. This is exactly the same thing the Lord Jesus does after his resurrection in Luke chapter 24. Some of you may remember the story. Two disciples on the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Remember that story? They were in hot conversation because they couldn't figure out why Jesus had died and they didn't know what to do with the tales they had heard of late that the grave was empty. So they were in animated conversation when Jesus joins them. That would kind of be a freakish thing I think. Here you are walking along and hey where'd you come from? You know teleport me in whatever. But do you remember what the scripture says Jesus did in that conversation with them? He says first of all how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? Now listen to verse 27 and beginning with Moses and all the prophets he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. It was St. Augustine many years ago who was the author of the famous quote the new is in the old concealed and the old is in the new revealed. Every page of the Old Testament if you have eyes to see it breathes with the reality of who Jesus is and what Jesus has come to do. So how then would Paul go about expositing three Sabbaths in a row in the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica that the Christ had to suffer and die and be raised from the dead? Well I believe he would go about it this way. Number one he would start by pointing out the direct promises of God in the Old Testament leading towards the coming of the Messiah. Now here's a very interesting thing Paul says in 2nd Timothy 1 9 concerning the grace of salvation. This grace was given us in Christ. Listen to this carefully. In Christ when? Before the beginning of time and he says the same thing in Ephesians 1 4. He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Now we don't have time to talk about that a lot but I take that to mean this. Long before we ever fell into sin indeed before the world was even created God had already planned our salvation. Blows my mind. Raises all kinds of questions about you know why did God let the world fall into sin other than that he wanted to demonstrate his amazing grace in the person of Christ even before the creation of the world. But this is what we know that once the world plunged itself into sin it wasn't God's fault he allowed it to happen for reasons we can't now talk about but no sooner had the world plunged itself into sin. God came along and he started to reveal his program of salvation who knows the first passage in scripture that promises redemption do you remember it? You'll know it as soon as I quoted for you. Genesis 3 15 I will put enmity God speaking to the serpent I will put enmity between you and the woman between your offspring and hers he will crush your head and you will strike his heel. This is known in theological circles as the proto evangelion. It's Latin the Greek is very similar proto evangelion. Proto means first. Evangelion means what? Gospel. This is the first proclamation of the gospel in scripture. It's God coming along to Adam and Eve and he is declaring to them look the battle of the ages is Satan versus humanity and it's the seed of the serpent versus the seed of the woman in that battle the seed of the woman is going to be bruised but the head of the serpent is going to be crushed. At the end of the day God's people will triumph. That's your first Old Testament promise that there is going to come a Messiah who is going to redeem the sons and the daughters of Adam and Eve and from there on of course the Old Testament is filled with promises I'll quote just a few of them. Numbers 24 17 the prophet Balaam called by Balak to bring curses on Israel he is a prophet and he says I see him but not now I behold him but not near a star will come out of Jacob a scepter will rise out of Israel and then he goes on to say that this star is going to beat the snot out of the Moabites who's King Balaam has just hired Balaam to pronounce judgment on Israel and there can be very little doubt that this was one of the passages in the Old Testament that was inspirational for the wise men to come looking for baby Jesus many many years later. Well there's a lot more passages like that you know this one from Isaiah 11 a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse from his roots a branch will bear fruit the spirit of the Lord will rest on him the spirit of wisdom and of understanding the spirit of counsel and of power the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord he will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide what he hears with his ears a shoot out of the stump of Jesse. Who's Jesse? Jesse is the father of David and throughout the Old Testament there is an emphasis that a son of David would arise to sit on his throne. Why was it a stump? Because the line was discontinued after judgment on the house of Judah and so with the exile and with captivity the promises of God looked like they were all out of naught but you see there was life in the stump and the prophet Isaiah with the eyes of God looking into the future says there's life in that stump and one day a shoot will come out of that stump and the spirit of the Lord will be upon him and we know from the New Testament of course that that's fulfilled in the person of Jesus and one of the reasons Matthew and Luke in the Gospels spend so much time on the genealogy of Jesus is that every believing Israelite knew that for the Messiah to be authentic he had to be of the offspring of King David and that of course is also why he had to be born in Bethlehem because Micah chapter 5 verse to you Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are small among the clans of Judah out of you will come one for me who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old from ancient times I find it fascinating that when the wise men come to Jerusalem looking for baby Jesus and they consult the religious leaders of their day this verse at least they know and when they ask him where is the Christ child to be born they know the answer is Bethlehem they don't believe it they don't believe that Jesus is the one but they at least have that much right in the reading of the Old Testament they didn't have much else right but that one they really knew some so so so Paul and Silas would begin by going through the Old Testament in this fashion showing the promises of God there is a Messiah who is coming and guess who fits it to a tee his name is Jesus there are some who say there are dozens upon dozens if not hundreds of direct Old Testament illusions that have been fulfilled only in the person of Jesus that's where he'd start but he wouldn't stop there of course because then he'd go on and he would point out to the law of Moses particularly what he would do is he would point out the ceremonial law of Moses because as you know under the terms of the Old Covenant God gave very specific instructions to Israel about how it was that they were to relate to him he gave them instructions about all the sacrifices they had to make he gave them instructions about the feast days they had to observe he gave them instructions about festive days and he gave them instructions about practical everyday rules as to how they were supposed to live their lives and the purpose of all of those rules can be summarized by four statements four things that God was trying to teach Israel through the ceremonial law in the Old Testament number one God is incredibly holy that is to say he dwells in unapproachable glory he is brighter than a thousand suns and he cannot stand in his presence any sin number two these ceremonial laws are intended to teach the sinfulness of man we are unholy we have fallen into sin we don't put God first we put ourselves first God is angry on account of sin number three sin has to be atoned for the justice of God has to be satisfied else God and man cannot live in proximity and number four if you're gonna hang around with God you gotta be like him because if you're not like him you're gonna fry in the fire of his judgment so in the law you have you have the foreshadowing of everything that Jesus Christ has come to do the law particularly the ceremonial law is an expression of how Jesus has come to deal with the issues of sin he's come to deal with a separation between God and man and he has come to bridge the gap so that it is actually safe for God in us to be together and that is why Paul in Colossians chapter 2 verse 17 puts it this way he says concerning the ceremonial law Sabbaths and feast days and all the other kind of thing these are a shadow of the things that were to come the reality however belongs to Christ and what it means by that is that these Old Testament sacrifices these Old Testament feast days which by the way foreshadow the resurrection as well as the death of Jesus we don't have time to talk about this all of these could only remind you of your sinfulness it could only remind you of the holiness of God couldn't really change you didn't make you holy it just reminded you of how far short you fell and how somebody had to pay the price it's Jesus who absorbed it all into himself so that not only our sins could be forgiven but our character can be changed so that one day we can actually stand in the presence of God without a blemish without a spot without a wrinkle without anything that God might have against us because of the saving power of Jesus who is the Christ that's the gospel and that's why the book of Hebrews puts it this way then by one sacrifice as opposed to the ongoing sacrifices of the Old Testament by one sacrifice the Lord Jesus has made perfect forever those who are being made holy did you know that if you're in Christ today you are perfect from God's point of view do you know that if you're in Christ today you are as holy as you're ever going to be because he sees you through the eyes of Christ so what does Paul do he goes through the Old Testament and he says listen let me point out to you what you've been studying and what you've been practicing all along all these sacrifices all this blood that was shed it all pointed towards Jesus these feasts that talk about the first fruits of a new harvest they point forward to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and you need to believe in Jesus if you're going to have life that was his message so he points to the promises he points to the Old Testament law because remember both Moses and the prophets speak of the Christ if you have eyes to see and then of course thirdly he would go on and he would point to the writings of the prophets now the writings the prophets where people God raised up to speak his word to Israel usually in times of spiritual decline and if you read through the prophetic books in the Old Testament and you have the major prophets like Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel and then you have a lot of the the minor prophets that we hardly ever know how to find in the Old Testament because they're hidden in there somewhere but they all share a common twofold message and that message is this number one if you don't repent God's gonna judge you and he's gonna judge you the nations and number two if you do repent God is gonna come to you and he's going to restore you to glory beyond anything that you have ever imagined and every so often both of these elements are combined together in one passage and here's a good example Isaiah 127 and 28 listen to this Zion will be redeemed with justice her penitent ones that is those who feel sorry for their sin with righteousness but rebels and sinners will both be broken and those who forsake the Lord will perish and that's a summary of what you find in all of the prophets and if we had more time this morning I'd walk you through some of those passages that you and I don't like to look at because they're passages that breathe with fire and with judgment and we say to ourselves Oh God couldn't yes he could and if you don't believe it look at Jesus on the cross if that's what God does to his own son then imagine what he's going to do to a world who rejects his own son and who wants to stand in their own righteousness don't ever let anybody fool you that the love of God outweighs the justice of God because you see the love of God is the reverse side of the justice of God or vice versa the justice of God is the reverse side of his love but the prophets always end on a positive note and they always with the eye of faith they look forward to the day of restoration when God brings in his new kingdom let me just quote you one passage from the book of Zephaniah this is the last chapter single daughter of Zion shout aloud to Israel be glad and rejoice with all your heart Oh daughter of Jerusalem remember this is after the Lord is spoken words of judgment and condemnation and has invited them back to himself the Lord has taken away your punishment he has turned back your enemy the Lord the king of Israel is with you never again will you fear any harm on that day they will say to Jerusalem do not fear Oh Zion do not let your hands hang limp the Lord your God is with you he is mighty to save we sang about that earlier this morning he will take great delight in you he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing the sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you at that time I love this passage that's my interpolation that's not in there at that time I will deal with all who oppressed you I will gather the lame and gather those who have been scattered I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame at that time I will gather you at that time I will bring you home I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes that's one of many you know Isaiah talks about the day when when the wolf will lie down with a lamb and the kid will play with the poisonous snake and there will not be any hurt or harm in all God's holy mountain and the Apostle Paul says if you read the prophets and you read them through the eyes of faith then you will see that both aspects of that message have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus all those judgments that God pronounces upon rebellious and unrepentant people that judgment has been born by Christ on the cross I say it again if you don't believe that God hates sin or that he is going to judge sinners then look at the cross and what Jesus went through in terms of being abandoned and forsaken by God that is the prophetic word that is absolutely true don't let anybody ever deceive you so scripture but in Jesus remember Jesus died he was raised from the dead exalted into heaven sits at the right hand of God the Father name above every name glory beyond compare that's the other side of the gospel message you believe in Jesus you believe that your sins have been forgiven you repent of your sins then the promise is that God is for you he is not against you and of God before me who can be against me Paul says later on in the book of Romans and the promise is that God will come to you and to me and he will bring salvation because of our connection with Jesus it's a lot more that I want to say about that we're gonna skip ahead to four practical lessons from this if we can just gonna move forward here to this Christ will sacrifice ones I refer to this earlier to take away the sins of many people he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him see this is this is where the Old Testament Saints missed it they couldn't see the gap between the first coming and the second coming and they had to have their vision expanded that first Jesus had to deal with the issue of sin and then when he comes again he is going to deal with the issue of salvation when he rescues not only individuals but when he saves the whole wide world so what do we learn from all of this just very quickly in closing four quick lessons number one God has a plan God has a plan Paul puts it this way God accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will long before the world was created father son and Holy Spirit sat down together and they said this is what we're gonna do we're gonna create people we're gonna create a universe they're gonna fall into sin they're really going to mess up badly but we're gonna show them that our love is greater than they can imagine and we're going to offer them a way of salvation everything that God has done from then till this day follows his plan and guess what nobody but nobody is gonna frustrate his plan when history ends he will have exactly what he has promised and determined he will have none of the council of hell will make the plans of God vain and neither your stubbornness your sin or my stubbornness or my sin is gonna make one iota of difference in terms of what it is that God's after do you understand that I know for some of us that's a real surprise that God is bigger than than we are but honestly he is God has a plan number two throughout the course of history he has revealed that plan to those who are humble and I don't know if you've noticed it in this passage but as the passage goes on there are some Jews who believe but there's a lot of Gentiles who believe why only a few Jews because they are proud they are arrogant they think they know it all the Gentile believers have already come to faith in the God of Israel because they're God fearers which is a term for Gentile converts to Judaism and they're just hungry for more of what God has to offer and the profound principle there is this God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble people often ask me the question why does God do this in somebody else's life and why won't he do it in my life and there's a lot of different answers to that question but one of the first places always to start is to ask yourself the question am I humble before God and if God reveals to me my sin will I deal with it if God speaks to me about something that he wants am I willing to do it no matter what is the cost he is near to the broken-hearted but he's far away from those who are self-sufficient Mary you know in her song says the rich he has sent away empty but the poor he has field and then I want to move on to a couple of slides further down the line this one God's plan is fulfilled in Jesus Christ love second Corinthians 1 verse 20 all the promises of God find their yes and amen in Christ all the promises of God find there yes in him. You know what that means? Really? Everything that God has promised to the human race, everything that you and I long for in the depths of our heart, whether it's happiness, whether it's joy, whether it's success, whether it's good relationships, whether it's appreciation, whether it's a good reputation, whether it is whatever, whatever you're looking for in your Christmas gift. God has given it to Jesus because he was obedient even unto death. And guess what happens when by faith you are joined to Jesus, you give up all your self-righteousness, all your earthly inheritance so to speak, all your earthly credentials, everything that you derive your identity from in the flesh and you claim your allegiance to Jesus and Jesus alone, what God has given to Jesus, he gives to you through the Holy Spirit a foretaste of it today and in the day of eternity glory that eye has not seen and ear has not heard. That is the gospel message and that is the message of Christmas. And so finally this, finally this last lesson then you can go home. We have hope. Peter, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice. I don't profess to know where each of us finds himself or herself this morning. Some of us struggle with health issues. Some of us struggle with finances. Some of us struggle relationally. Some of us struggle with trying to find our destiny or our purpose in life and the world is filled with people who are hopeless and some of us we listen to the news and we despair. I mean really a hundred and thirty two kids this past week slaughtered in Pakistan by seven terrorists. Can you imagine? Eight kids in Australia killed seven of them by their own crazy mother. That's after they went through that whole terrorist thing in that chocolate cafe. And there isn't a day that goes by when you wonder what in the world is the world coming to? And it's not hard to become cynical. It's not hard to say God where are you? There's some of us here we have prayed for years and years and years for things to change and nothing has changed and some of us are here we give up and we have given up and we say well it's never going to happen. You know what I really enjoyed about our profession of faith service two weeks ago? I mean the stories were great and they were powerful but you know what struck me? Each of the persons who share their story, Brenda, Joey and Powell, they're not just young, I don't mean to sound wrong, they're not just young whippersnappers living in the idealism of youth are they? They're people who have lived and they have fought and they have battled and they they've been through the meal. But if you listen to their stories and if you haven't they're all online and you need to listen to them. But you know what struck me about them is that each of them was able to testify that long and hard as the battle was, God has given them hope and he has shown his face and that has made all the difference. And I believe with all my heart that no matter where you or I find ourselves, God in Jesus Christ has already done everything that needs to be done. And if we will but hang on to him with everything that we have come hell or high water sooner or later we will see his face and we will experience his touch if not in this life but in the life to come and we will forever celebrate the fact that God's promises have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus. He's got a plan. He reveals that plan to those who are humble. That plan is fulfilled in Jesus and because of Jesus we have hope. May God give us eyes to see. May he give us a revelation of the preciousness of Jesus because out of that flows worship and adoration and [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:37:55.480; remove through 00:37:59.000] appreciation because his name is higher than any other name. [CUT] [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:37:59.000; resume after this marked segment]