In this sermon, the speaker discusses the period of time when God spoke through the prophets, which lasted for about four to five hundred years from 840 BC to 420 BC. The major themes of the prophets' messages were suffering and reigning, the first and second coming of Jesus Christ, the remnant, the day of the Lord, and the kingdom. The prophets' main goal was to call the nation of Israel back to God in repentance, but if they failed, they would announce the nation's impending destruction, with a remnant being saved. The speaker emphasizes the importance of prophecy in the Bible, stating that one-third of the Bible is prophecy, and highlights the literal fulfillment of prophecies in the New Testament.

We come now to the fourth major time that God has spoken through the prophets. The prophets spoke for about four to five hundred years from around 840 BC when Obadiah wrote to 420 BC when Malachi wrote. So from the fourth to the ninth century, from the ninth to the fourth century, they spoke. And 2 Kings chapter 17 and verse 13 says, Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers, saying, Turn you from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants and prophets. The major prophetic themes are suffering and reigning or the first and second coming of Jesus Christ, the remnant, the day of the Lord, and the kingdom. First, the prophets would try to save the nation from its idolatry and wickedness by calling them back to God in repentance. If this failed, then they would announce that the nation was going to be destroyed, but not completely destroyed. There would be a remnant that would be saved. And then out of this remnant would come a person who was going to bring all nations to God. The family tree of David was the most powerful family in the world, but it was cut down in the days of the prophets. And so the family is going to have a comeback. And out of the family will come one called the branch. And he will be the king of kings. It is fitting that the group of books called the prophets, the major and the minor, major because they took more space to write and minor because they took less space to write, are at the end of the Old Testament, pointing us toward that time of the New Testament when the Messiah would come. And when you go and read the Gospels, you'll find a phrase that constantly reappears, that it might be fulfilled. And as you examine those fulfillments, you'll find that God fulfills prophecy literally. And even in the figurative passages, once you determine the meaning of the figurative passages, that too has a literal fulfillment. You'll notice that the prophet was never sent while the nation was walking in obedience to God. But they mainly spoke concerning the nation Israel, and other nations are mentioned only as they come in contact with Israel. The prophets were concerned about the moral and political corruption of the nation. But the fact that the people were worshiping big idols and had turned away from their God, from following him fully, was their greatest concern. They came during times of apostasy when the nation was developing a wrong attitude toward God. And of course, Christ gave us the most succinct statement about what our attitude should be toward God in Luke 10 27, when he came, and that's, love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Your attitude toward God will affect your whole life. As you've often heard, creed always determines conduct. And that's not true just of individuals, but of nations as well. And prophecy is so important in God's Word that one third of the Bible is prophecy. It's God giving his revelation about his plans to his children. And so we read from that time when the theocracy began to cool off and was divided, and finally went into captivity. During this time of four or five hundred years, the Lord testified unto Israel and unto Judah by the hand of every prophet and of every seer, saying, Turn ye from evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets. These prophets were breathing the eternal things that were in the mind of God, things that God had planned from all eternity to take place here on earth, and things that he wanted in terms of their heart. And so they actually start way back in Samuel because there were oral prophets as well as writing prophets. Peter makes the statement, All the prophets from Samuel. And so the prophets would come and they would keep before the people the truth that this nation, Israel, was chosen by God and it was to be a theocracy, that it was a nation created to live among all the other nations and to live by the revelation of God, to be a kingdom of priests for him, a holy nation. And so when the prophets would come, their message would first of all be of the throne of God and of the sovereignty of God. They always had their hope centered in him, his purpose and what he had planned in the future. They would foretell that the Messiah was coming and we would realize the purposes of God on earth when the Messiah comes. And his kingdom will yet be established over all the earth. And we still look for the fulfillment of these prophecies. Now, as they prophesied, oftentimes they would see their own time. They would see the captivity and the restoration. They would see the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, his first coming. And they would see also his second coming and his rule. And there wouldn't be any time breaks between them. They would see the whole event as one thing because they were recognizing ultimately the throne of God, his sovereignty, and any kind of infidelity to the throne of God would be denounced as the sin of all sins. And there would be, if persisted and not repented of, a judgment and a suffering involved for those who do not submit to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And with all the negative judgments, you might say, that they would pronounce and the things that they prophesied would happen concerning the day of the Lord, as horrible as it would be, a day of fire and darkness, they could still see through it all. And they would look beyond and see the glory that is yet to come. And so all the prophets said in that day needs to be said again today. We need to be called back to the throne of God to bow before him. And they bear witness of Christ. He is the fulfillment of everything to which the prophets gave their witness. And our hope is in him, even as now Christ in us is the hope of glory. Now, as we begin to look at this fourth major time God spoke through the prophets, we are looking, first of all, at what is the need? We can't appreciate the prophets until we see the need. Then we look at the content in general, and then the method by which God speaks. And finally, the response that God expects. Listen to how Isaiah expresses the need. In Isaiah chapter one, he says, Listen, O heavens, and hear O earth, for the Lord speaks. Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against me. An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger. But Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly. They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They've turned away from Him. They have no doubt broken the moral law of God and corrupted the ceremonial law of God. God has raised sons, but they have turned away from Him. So he says, Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Change your habits by putting off the old and putting on the new. And he calls out the idolaters in chapter 44 and says, beginning in verse 14, Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak, and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. Then it becomes something for a man to burn. So he takes one of them and warms himself. He also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it. He makes it a graven image and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast, and he's satisfied. He also warms himself and says, Aha, I'm warm. I have seen the fire. But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships. He also prays to it and says, Deliver me, for thou art my God. They do not know, nor do they understand. For he has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot understand. And no one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination. I fall down before a block of wood. Do you begin to catch what the need is? Jeremiah speaks of the need as though they hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken or cracked cisterns that can hold no water. The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus, with a diamond point. It is engraved upon the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars. The heart's more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people for renown, for praise, and for glory. But they did not listen. So we see again the need. Hosea expresses it this way. Go love a woman who's loved by her husband. Yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes, their heart is faithless. Now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. Ezekiel expresses it very strongly. In Ezekiel 16, when he says, Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love. So I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became mine, declares the Lord God. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet, and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring into your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was a fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. So you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor, which I bestowed on you, declares the Lord God. But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passerby who might be willing. And you took some of your clothes made for yourself, high places of various colors, and played the harlot on them, which should never come about or happen. Moreover, you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to me, and you sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? You slaughtered my children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire. And besides all your abominations and your harlotries, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood. You can see the need. They have broken the law of God. They've broken the moral law of God. They've corrupted the ceremonial laws of God. God had entered into a wonderful relationship with Israel, and they've broken it. They've turned away from God to that which is false, to vanity, to idols. I mean, it's one thing to have marital problems, but if your spouse turns to you and says that they've fallen in love with someone else, well, that's another story then, isn't it? And so there's a terrible broken relationship here, and the need is for repentance and cleansing and restoration here. And thank God when we later see in Ezekiel that God does sprinkle them with clean water, and He cleanses them from all their filthiness, from all the idols. And He says, I'm going to give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I'm going to remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a new heart of flesh and put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes so that you will observe my ordinances and you'll live in the land that I gave your forefathers. So you'll be my people, and I'm going to be your God. So there needs to be a repentance and a work in their hearts. They need to be caused to come back to God, because they've gone away a hoarding after other gods. So they need restoration and reconciliation. Well, what's the general content of the message of the prophets? It's that God speaks about the problem of the broken relationship. He talks about what causes it, the consequences of it, and the solution. And as He begins to do that, one thing He makes clear is that He's not the cause of the problem. In Micah chapter 6 and verse 3, He says, My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Answer me. God is expressing that it is not His fault. And if any way they can say it's His fault, then answer me. But they can't, because He's done all for them. We see through the prophet Hosea a picture of this broken relationship. Hosea married Gomer, even as the Lord had married Israel. Back in Exodus chapter 19, verses 5 through 8, we read, Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and said them, you know, before them all the words which the Lord had commanded. And all the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. And so they entered into a relationship there. But as Gomer is a harlot, we read in Hosea 1, 2, When the Lord first spake through Hosea, the Lord said, Go take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry. For the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord. And so a wife of whoredom. And Israel does the same thing. They go after Baal. They go after idols. Israel becomes a harlot in the same way. In chapter two and verse five, it says, For their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, I will go after my lovers who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flags, my oil and my drink. So she's playing the harlot. And yet she will be punished. For the days of her Baals, when she used to offer sacrifices to them and adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry and follow her lovers so that she forgot me, declares the Lord. There needs to be a reconciliation in this relationship. Now, Gomer goes on in chapter three and actually becomes a slave. So verse two of chapter three says that I bought her for myself for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. Then I said to her, you'll stay with me for many days and you'll not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man. So I will also be toward you. He actually had to go and buy her back. I don't know if it's from her pimp or what, but she became a slave because of her harlotry. And so Hosea had to actually go buy her back the same way that Israel had to be bought back. And we see in verse four, for the sons of Israel will remain for many days without a king or a prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. And afterward, the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord, their God and David, their king, and they will come trembling to the Lord and to his goodness in the last days. And so there is a plan for Israel to be bought back. And at the end of the book, you see Hosea and Gomer reunited. And the same we will see Israel and God reunited when they seek the Lord and David, their king. So when you see the need, the need is for reconciliation and restoration. No wonder Isaiah says comfort. Oh, comfort my people, says your God. You see, judgment's not going to be the final word, but comfort. Speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low and let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says, call out. Then he answered, what shall I call out? All flesh is grass and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades. When the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news. Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news. Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, here is your God. Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with his arm ruling for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. Like a shepherd, he will tend his flock in his arm. He will gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead the nursing ewes. And so we see that God will do this. He's going to do it through his servant, through the Messiah, the leader he sent it. And so Isaiah continues to say, behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights, I've put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise his voice nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law. So God is the answer, God himself. And he wants the reconciliation through Isaiah. He says, thus says the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last. And there's no God besides me. And who is like me? Let him proclaim and declare it. Yes, let him recount it to me in order from the time that I established the ancient nation and let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. Do not tremble and do not be afraid. Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me or is there any other rock? I know of none. There is going to be a reconciliation. That's why Haggai 2-9 says the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I shall give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. And Daniel says the same thing in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. He says 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring an everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince. There'll be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the Prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and its end will come with a flood. Even to the end there will be war. Desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction. One that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate. And so we know through the prophets that there is going to be a time when they will be restored and the reconciliation will take place. And there's no doubt that this was what was in the minds of the disciples in Acts chapter 1 and verse 6 when they said will you now restore the kingdom, the theocracy, the relationship that we've had. This is the kingdom that the disciples refer to. It's a kingdom they've been anticipating from of all the passages such as Isaiah chapter 2 and Psalm chapter 2. The church age had been hidden from the prophets but these guys were anticipating at this time the restoration of the theocracy. And that's why they asked the question. So there's going to be a reconciliation and a restoration of Israel as the prophets have spoken. Now what is the method by which God speaks concerning this broken relationship and the reconciliation and restoration that needs to take place? He speaks through these prophets. Yes some were oral like Elijah and Elisha but most were written the words of God. And we see the scriptural definition of what a prophet is to be in Deuteronomy chapter 18 beginning in verse 15. And the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me. Moses referring to himself from among you from your countrymen you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly saying let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God. Let me not see this great fire anymore lest I die. And the Lord said to me they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And so in this sense a prophet is a medium in the sense that he's an instrument and God can speak through him and without speaking directly to the people because the presence of God was just too much for them to take. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name I myself will require it of him. And so a prophet is speaking for God. He's speaking the very words of God and they're not just suggestions they are the very words of God. But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name which I've not commanded him to speak or which he shall speak in the name of other gods that prophet shall die. And you may say in your heart how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken. When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord if the thing does not come about or come true that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously you shall not be afraid of him. God is true and even every word that he speaks through the prophets will come true and if it doesn't come true then that person is a false prophet and he should die. So the method that God chooses is to speak through these holy men and he does and they spoke everything they spoke pointed forward ultimately of course to Jesus Christ. The law, the prophets, the Psalms, everything points forward to Christ and must be fulfilled. In Acts 10 43 we read in to him that is to Jesus all the prophets bear witness. And in Revelation 19 10 the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. When you think of what a true prophet really is and you realize today there's so many people running around claiming to be prophets of God and every now and then maybe they hit on a few things that are true but oftentimes and most of the time the things that they're saying they're not true they're spoken presumptuously and if you find someone that is only speaking part of the truth or is only truthful some of the time then they're no prophet. They often die is what it says in the Old Testament. Obviously there's grace here but though we're not to despise prophesying even in the New Testament in terms of someone speaking a message from God that message better be just that straight from God and judged by the scriptures in perfect agreement with the scriptures and if he claims to be speaking from God and for God and it's not in line with the scriptures and it doesn't come absolutely true then he's a false prophet and so we need to be aware of that and not to take any kind of prophesying lightly at all and ultimately it will glorify Jesus Christ and point forward to him as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings that he is on the throne and will call us back from sin call us back from idolatry and have anything that's in our heart or our spirit that needs to be changed and so you know what is the response that God expects when he sends a prophet well first he expects us to just simply admit that there's failure that we say you're right I've failed I've sinned and then we confess our sin just admit it and confess it that's the first thing God expects if you've sinned against God if you've lost your relationship with God if you need restoration back to God then God has spoken to you no doubt through his word and the first thing that you can do is simply admit it and confess it that's the correct thing to do then once you do that then you can begin to turn back to your God who is faithful you can change your mind that's what repentance is and you can turn around and move back towards God and then just go on walking with him in faith and obedience establish a relationship with him get into the word of God and into prayer talk to him and get in fellowship with other Christians who are walking with God studying his word this is the response that God expects as we move toward the fifth time that God spoke through his son listen to some of the things that Isaiah says about the one who is to come therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuel and he will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good the people who walk in darkness will see a great light those who live in a dark land the light will shine on them for a child will be born to us a son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor mighty God eternal father prince of peace there will be no end to the increase of his government or peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this behold the Lord the God of hosts will lop off the bows with a terrible crash those also who are tall in stature will be cut down and those who are lofty will be abased and he will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe and Lebanon will fall by the mighty one then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and strength the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord and he will not judge by what his eyes see nor make a decision by what his ears hear but with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth and he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked behold your God will come with vengeance the recompense of God will come but he will save you then the eyes of the blind will be opened the ears of the death will be unstopped then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy the waters will break forth into wilderness and streams and the arabah and the scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water in the haunt of jackals its resting place grass becomes reeds and rushes and a highway will be there a roadway and it will be called the highway of holiness the unclean will not travel on it but it will be for him who walks that way and fools will not wander on it no lion will be there nor will any vicious beast go up on it these will not be found there but the redeemed will walk there and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with shoutful joyful shouting to zion with everlasting joy upon their heads they will find gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing will flee away behold the Lord God will come with might with his arm ruling for him behold his reward is with them and his recompense before him like a shepherd he'll tend his flock in his arm he'll gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom and he will gently lead the nursing ewes who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens by the span and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales who has directed the spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has informed him with whom did he consult and who gave him understanding and who taught him in the path of justice and taught him knowledge and informed him on the way of understanding behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales behold he lifts up the islands like fine dust even lebanon is not enough to burn nor its beast enough for a burnt offering all the nations there is nothing before him they're regarded by him as less than nothing and meaningless to whom then will you like in God or what likeness will you compare with him behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen one and whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him he will bring forth justice to the nations he will not cry or raise his voice nor make his voice heard in the street a bruised reed he will not break in a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish he will faithfully bring forth justice the Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples that I may know how to sustain the weary one with the word he awakens me morning by morning he awakens my ear to listen as a disciple the Lord God has opened my ear and I was not disobedient nor did I turn back I gave my back to those who strike me and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting for the Lord God helps me therefore I am not disgraced therefore I have set my face like flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed behold my servant will prosper he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted just as many were astonished at you my people his appearance was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men thus he will sprinkle many nations kings will shut their mouths on account of him for what had not been told them they will see and what they had not heard they will understand who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a tender shoot like a root out of parched ground he has no stately former majesty that we should look upon him nor appearance that we should be attracted to him he was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and like one from whom men hide their face he was despised and we did not esteem him surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourge and we are healed all of us like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that's led to the slaughter like a sheep that's silent before his shearers so he did not open his mouth by oppression and judgment he was taken away and as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due his grave was assigned to be with wicked men yet with a rich man in his deaths although he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth but the Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief that he would render himself as a guilt offering he will see his offspring he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand as a result of the anguish of his soul he will see it be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities therefore i will allot him a portion with the great and he will divide the strong because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors a redeemer will come to zion and to those who turn from the transgression in jacob declares the lord who is this who comes from edom with garments of glowing colors from basra this one who is majestic in his apparel marching in the greatness of his strength it is i who speak in righteousness mighty to say why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads in the wine press i have trodden the wine through alone and from the peoples there was no man with me i also trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath and their life blood is sprinkled on my garments and i sustain all my raiment for the day of vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption has come and i looked and there was no one to help and i was astonished and there was no one to uphold so my own arm brought salvation to me and my wrath upheld me and i trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath and i poured out their life blood on the earth for behold the lord will come in fire and his chariots like the whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for the lord will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh and those slain by the lord will be many those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens following one in the center who eats swine's flesh detestable things and mice shall come to an end all together declares the lord this one to whom all the prophets have been given honor and speaking of is finally going to come there is a period of silence about 400 years and then one man comes out of the wilderness john the baptist preparing a way for the lord because god is going to speak this fifth major time through his son hebrews chapter one verse one says god after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world and he that is the sun is the radiance of his glory the flashing forth and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power when he had made purification of sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much better than the angels that as he inherited a more excellent name than they for to which of the angels did he ever say thou art my son today i have begotten thee and again i will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me he is here the promised one has come the one that all the prophets foretold every prophet in the old testament assured god's chosen people again and again that the messiah would come and he would be the king of the jews and so they looked for him they longed for him passionately and patriotically as well and so as we look into the gospels we expect to find him of whom moses in the law and the prophets did right as john says in chapter 1 verse 45 and it's as though all the little streams of prophecy the tributaries that prophets brought forth all stream down and merge into this tremendous flow of god's truth and it's revealed in his son as john said in his revelation he spoke as the voice of many waters and there's a new clarity and value in terms of the revelation of god because god has now spoken his final word to man through his son and everything that god has ever said or ever will say he has said it again in his son and so god spoke literally it says in verse 2 in son now we know it's his son but it emphasizes the fact of the medium through which god is speaking it's through his son if you go to the national gallery here in london there are three representations of charles i on a canvas and in one his head is turned to the right and the other it's turned to the left and in the center you find a full face view and van dyck painted them for bernini the roman sculptor so that he could use them in order to make a bust of the king he took the three different impressions and that allowed him to make what he called a speaking likeness just one view wouldn't have been enough but by having these different views he was able to sculpt the bust and so there's a need for the four gospels and the views that they provide if you have four witnesses appear before a judge and they give basically the same account with some differences in their details then you're pretty much sure they're telling you the same story and you can get the gist of the story but if four witnesses come and they tell you word for word exactly the same story you almost wonder have they gotten together and collaborated this story and so we do expect when we have different accounts to see some differences and we do and so now we see the manifestation of christ and the need that exists during this time is to sum up all that god has said before and all that god's going to say in the future in jesus christ who is god in human flesh and so he comes and gives the ultimate words of god to us sums up the old testament and proclaims what the future holds for us everything in the new testament from acts to revelation is a development of what jesus christ spoke jesus said do not think that i came to abolish the law or the prophets i did not come to abolish but to fulfill therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house and yet it did not fall for it had been founded upon the rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house and it fell and great was its fall the result was that when jesus had finished these words the multitudes were amazed at his teaching for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes jesus is the exegesis of god he's god's alphabet the alpha and omega no man has seen god at any time the only begotten god who is in the bosom of the father he has explained him it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing the words that i've spoken to you are spirit and our life and when the officers came to the chief priests and the pharisees and they said to them why didn't you bring him the officers answered never did a man speak the way this man speaks do you not believe that i am in the father and the father is in me the words that i say to you i do not speak on my own initiative but the father abiding in me does his works he who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine but the fathers who sent me father now they have come to know that everything thou hast given me is from thee for the words which thou gavest me i have given to them and they received them and truly understood that i came forth from thee and they believe that thou didst send me now christ did not only summarize the old testament but he initiated the church age by teaching the disciples when jesus came into the district of caesarea philippi he began asking his disciples saying who do people say that the son of man is and they said some say john the baptist some elijah others jeremiah or one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that i am and simon peter answered and said thou art the christ the son of the living god and jesus answered and said to him blessed are you simon barjona because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven and i also say to you that you are peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hades shall not overpower it i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven so the need at this time is to sum up all that god has ever said before and all that he will say in the future in human flesh in his son jesus is the complete representation of god and trying to represent god any other way than jesus is idolatry truth centers in the person of jesus christ now what's the content christ's teachings fulfill and clarify the past he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets you've heard that the ancients were told you commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court but i say to you that everyone who's angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court and whoever shall say to his brother racha or thou fool shall be guilty before the supreme court and whoever shall say you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the hell of fire you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery but i say to you that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart and so we see that christ's teachings fulfill and clarify the past but also christ's teachings are seed thoughts for the teachings that we will find in the epistles jesus said a new commandment i give to that you love one another even as i have loved you that you also love one another by this all men will know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another and so in this seed we will find specifically what it means in the epistles for example in first corinthians 13 love is explained more fully as being patient and kind not jealous doesn't brag it's not arrogant it doesn't act in unbecoming ways it never seeks its own it's not provoked easily it doesn't take into account wrongs that are suffered it doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness but it rejoices with the truth and bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things love never fails jesus also explained much in the content of the gospels about himself the woman said i know that the messiah is coming he who is called christ when that one comes then he'll declare all things to us jesus said to her i who speak to you i am and so he claimed to be the messiah jesus said our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it's written he gave them bread out of heaven to eat jesus therefore said to him truly truly i say to you it's not moses who has given you the bread out of heaven but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven for the bread of god is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world they said therefore to him lord evermore give us this bread jesus said to him i am the bread of life jesus therefore said to them again truly truly i say to you i am the door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them i am the door if anyone enters through me he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy i came that they might have life and might have it abundantly i am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and when they were ready to stone jesus because he had said that i and the father are one jesus responded that the cannot be broken do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world you are blaspheming because i said i am the son of god if i do not do the works of my father do not believe me but if i do them though you do not believe me believe the works that you may know and understand that the father is in me and i in the father and when martha said that she knew that lazarus would rise again in the resurrection on the last day jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life jesus said that he was the way the truth and the life that before abraham was i am and he comforted his disciples saying i am with you always now what was the method by which god spoke well he spoke through the theanthropos through the god man at this point in the history of redemption god doesn't speak through a man but god becomes a man in order to demonstrate and speak the truth to man and this is what we call the incarnation it's also the missionary model for all of us that go out to take the good news we want to also follow this incarnational method of god because we are the living epistles john says that in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth john bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom i said he who comes after me has a higher rank than i for he existed before me for of his fullness we have all received in grace upon grace for the law was given through moses grace and truth were realized through jesus christ no man has seen god at any time the only begotten god who is in the bosom of the father he has explained him so the method through which god speaks is in son god actually becomes a man and the response that god expects is that we must come to jesus christ for salvation he says you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that they're witness to me yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life the scriptures as we search them lead us to jesus christ they are the highest court of appeal even jesus says this and after them there's just no other witness to appeal to and so when we meet christ the god man as john 1 12 says as many as receive me the person to them i give the power to become the sons of god this is the response that god requires that when we meet christ in the scriptures we receive him by faith or to know god and possess eternal life we must receive him and then follow him and this requires that we continue in his word jesus was speaking to the many that had come to believe him and jesus said therefore to those jews who had believed him if you abide in my word then you are truly disciples of mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free so continuing in the word of god once you've met jesus in the scriptures and you've received him by faith and he's given you the power to become the sons of god because he's spoken into your heart that seed of the word of god that lives and abides forever then a fundamental characteristic of true discipleship and following him is abiding in his word it's not so much a condition but it's an evidence it's a proof that you really are born again because if you're born again you're going to desire the sincere milk of the word of god that you may continue in his word and that you may grow in his grace and then we are to love and to go on loving as he loved that's why he says in john 13 that we're to love one another even as he loved us and we're to take up our cross and to follow him he said in luke chapter 9 and verse 23 that part of following on to know the lord will be denying ourselves taking up our cross and then following him and if we do this he will begin to work in and through us and by his spirit he'll bear much fruit in our lives jesus said in john 15 and verse 8 if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it'll be done for you by this is my father glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples this comes from abiding in the word of god well let me say this in closing you can look at creation around you and though you may not be able to explain everything with your understanding to your own satisfaction deep in your heart in the spirit that god created you know that there's enough evidence in creation as you look around that there is a wise god a creator you know it deep down inside and if you've read the scriptures at all and you've heard some of them this last few minutes you know that they ring true there's something that just tells you this holy book is real and true and it's different it's because they are the inspired words of god and if you've seen jesus christ at all and see that even our calendars are dated ad and bc because of this real person jesus christ time is either before christ or after christ and you know he was the very son of god and so though the natural man won't receive the things of the spirit of god because they're just foolishness to him but god may have granted you by his spirit by his grace to know as you've heard the story of jesus and he thought on it then perhaps his spirit is working in your heart and he's wooing you he's drawing you and it's he who's speaking to you and if you would just receive him the person jesus christ by his spirit and believe in the work that he's done for you then he said he would give you the power to become a son of god that he would enable you to be born anew that your spirit would become alive if you would receive by faith the seeds of the word of god into your heart so i just simply want to ask you that you would just stop and do that now ask christ if he would just come into your heart and receive him and then continue in the word of god don't just receive into your heart by faith but get into the bible start maybe with the gospel of john and read through it because it was written so that we could believe in him and get in to a fellowship of christian people who are interested in the word of god and study in the word of god and talking about it and just walking with god and who love one another and evidence that they are true disciples of jesus christ and so i commend you to the grace of god and to the work of his spirit in your life