Guest speaker - Tim Stephens

This sermon is from Grace Fellowship Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. If you would like to learn more about us, please visit us at our website at graceedmonton .ca.

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Please enjoy the following sermon. We're going to be considering the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ here today, talking about his work, his sufferings, and his glory, his resurrection.

And before we get into that, I wanted to read in Luke chapter 24, verses 13, down through verse 27.

So look there with me, Luke 24, starting in verse 13, down through verse 27.

This is immediately following reports of the resurrection. It says that very day, two of them were going to a village named

Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And he said to them, what is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?

And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopas answered him, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

And he said to them, what things? And they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.

And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.

And Jesus said to them, oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

So here we have an account of the two disciples on the Emmaus road. Emmaus is about two hours from Jerusalem. And so Jesus there talking to them for a couple of hours.

And as on the way to the Emmaus road, Jesus appears to them. And what interesting thing to note is in verse 16, it says their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And that is in a passive tense. It's God who kept their eyes from recognizing the

Lord Jesus Christ. And we have to ask, well, why would God do that? And I believe there is confusion here in the mind of the disciples about Jesus.

We thought he was a prophet. We thought he was the one sent from God. We thought he, he may be the Christ, but now he's dead and he's in the grave three days.

And now we're hearing reports of resurrection and we're not sure. And so they're, they're weak in their faith.

They're, they're dejected. They're in turmoil. They're thinking, have we just wasted our lives following this

Jesus? And in the midst of this confusion, Jesus appears to them in the flesh.

And why this is so interesting is because we live in a world today with a lot of confusion about who Jesus is. You know, we have

Mormons and you have Muslims and you have all these other groups, within Christian circles, you have all these ideas of who

Jesus is. And I know we probably are tempted sometimes to say it would be nice if Jesus was just here in the flesh and that would just bring clarity.

But Jesus was in the flesh and they still didn't recognize him. Their eyes were kept from seeing him.

And I believe this is purposeful because Jesus calling them foolish ones, full of heart to believe all of the prophets have spoken.

In other words, you don't need a physical encounter with Jesus in the flesh to know who he is.

You can recognize him in his word. And Jesus here directs us and directs those disciples to the word.

And it's through the preaching of the word that the hearts then burn within them. And then they eventually come to recognize the

Lord Jesus Christ. And so if we understand the scriptures and what the scriptures say about Jesus, then we will know who he is.

And knowing Jesus, we might be built up in our faith and enjoy life in him.

Now, as we come to the very end of the text that I read, Jesus as he rebukes them for their foolishness and their slowness of heart to believe what is written in the prophets.

He says in verse 26, was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And then verse 27, it says, in beginning with Moses and all the prophets, referring to the

Old Testament scriptures, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

And so I don't know about you, but I would love to be there for those two hours and hear Jesus expound the scriptures and say, well, these are the ones that talk about the

Christ. And specifically, you know, here they're confused about Jesus' identity because they said earlier in verse 19,

Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up, he condemned to death and crucified him.

We had hoped, they said in verse 21, that he was the one to redeem Israel. We were hoping he was Messiah. We believe he was the prophet.

And so here they're unsure about the identity of Jesus. Jesus also rebukes them because he says, was it not necessary that Christ should suffer?

In other words, the scriptures not only speak about the identity of Christ, but also his sufferings. And then also as they're confused about the reports from the tomb and the vision of angels, which said that he is risen, it also says in verse 26, was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

So in other words, the identity of Christ, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory of Christ or the resurrection of Christ are clearly foretold in the scriptures, in Moses and the prophets.

And so Jesus then expounds those texts. Now, we're not able to walk along with Jesus.

And sadly, there's no footnote here that then lists all the verses that Jesus used to prove his identity and his sufferings and also his resurrection.

But while we don't have a footnote, we do have lots of end notes. In other words, the text continues after the gospel of Luke, and we come to the book of Acts, and we come to the epistles.

And what's important to note is that when the disciples begin to preach about the Lord Jesus Christ and begin to talk about his identity and talk about his sufferings and talk about his resurrection and glory, they're not innovators.

They're not coming up with the message themselves, but they are simply repeating the same message that they heard from the

Lord Jesus Christ himself. I want to show you or have you listen to a text in Acts 17, starting in verse two and three.

It says this, Paul went in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the

Christ to suffer. Almost the same words that Jesus is using here. Proving from the scriptures that it was necessary for the

Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus who I proclaim to you is the

Christ. In other words, Paul is seeking to persuade the

Jews in the synagogues as was his custom from the scriptures about the identity, the sufferings, and the resurrection and glory of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And he's not making this message up. As you read the book of Acts, you have

Stephen preaching about these themes. You have Peter preaching about this. You have Philip preaching about this.

And so the disciples are not developing the scriptures, but rather they're taking what they had seen and heard from the

Lord Jesus Christ and declaring that to the people. And so if we want insight into how

Jesus explained the scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus road to understand his identity, his sufferings, and his resurrection, then all we have to do is look at the teaching of the apostles and how they use the scriptures to prove the identity and the sufferings and the resurrection glory of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what I want to do here this afternoon, is look at some of the texts in the New Testament, which expound

Old Testament texts on these themes about Jesus' identity, his suffering, and his resurrection glory.

And we'll begin with his identity. And as we consider with the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the chiefly used texts in the

New Testament to describe the identity of Christ is Psalm 110. In fact, it's the most quoted

Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Psalm 110 verse 1.

And it says this, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Here, Peter used this text in Acts 2 as he preached on the steps of the temple.

It's used by Paul and several times in his letter. It's used in the book of Hebrews. And what this text is saying, our

Lord Jesus Christ himself uses it in the Gospels. And what this text is saying, it's a Psalm of David, where David is saying the

Lord, and the Lord there in Psalm 110 verse 1 is all in uppercase, meaning this is God's personal name, the name

Yahweh, tetragrammaton. So the Lord, the Lord God, David says, said to my

Lord, David's Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And so what is

David talking about here? Now, it's not just the New Testament, but even before the coming of the

Lord Jesus Christ, Psalm 110 verse 1 was seen as a messianic Psalm. It was speaking about the

Messiah, the anointed one, God's messenger, one who is even greater than David.

And so what this Psalm is revealing to us is something about the identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. He has been sent by the Lord, sent by God, and he is also

David's Lord. The Lord Jesus used this in the Gospels to put a riddle before the

Pharisees by saying, how can the Christ be both David's son and David's Lord? They didn't know the answer to that question, even though Christ was standing right in front of him.

But one thing we recognize about this, or one thing we ought to notice in this particular text, Psalm 110 verse 1, is that Jesus Christ is the

Lord. He is the anointed king, the ruler, and he is to be exalted to the right hand of God himself.

And so when it says here, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool, it talks about the high and exalted place that the

Christ rightfully deserves. And so what this teaches us about the identity of Jesus is that he's no mere prophet, but he is the

Christ. And the word Christ means anointed, but even more than that, it means anointed king.

And this is God's king. Not only do we see Christ as king in Psalm 110 verse 1, but later in that Psalm, in 110 verse 4, it says, the

Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. Speaking of the same Messiah, the anointed one, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

And so we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Psalm 110, is that he is both king and he is both priest.

Now this is very curious because in the Old Testament, just like today, there's a distinction between the role of the church and the role of the state.

In the Old Testament, you had the king and then you had the priests and the priests didn't rule the kingdom.

Likewise, the king couldn't come in and offer sacrifices. There is a division of powers, a separation, a distinction between the priests and the king.

But Psalm 110 reveals that the Christ, the anointed one of God, will sit enthroned at his right hand.

He will be the king and he'll also be the priest forever, merging together these two offices of priest and king in the one person of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is so important for the identity of Jesus and even who he is today, the exalted

Lord. There still remains a distinction between the king and the priest or between the state and the church.

But whether it's the state or the church, all of those institutions find their obedience or submission to the one

Lord Jesus Christ, who is king over all. And he is also the head of the church, the

King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and he is the head of the church as well. And so Psalm 110 teaches us this.

Now, another text that is used in the New Testament to speak about the identity of Jesus is Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 is quoted in Acts 13 by Paul and Barnabas as they're preaching in Antioch, Pisidia.

It's also used in the book of Hebrews to talk about the identity of Jesus. Now, in Psalm 2,

I'll read to you verses 7 through 9. I wish we could spend more time looking at Psalm 2 because it talks about the nations of this world trying to burst apart the bonds that God and his anointed have over them, their rightful ownership and rulership of them.

In verses 7 to 9, it says this in Psalm 2, I will tell of the decree the

Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Here we have another important explanation about the identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Here he is described as God's son, whom

God has begotten. And we know that title is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

We know not only in the Gospel of John where he's called the begotten son, and we have also at his baptism, this is my beloved son with whom

I'm well pleased, the man of transfiguration, this is my beloved son, listen to him. And so we have the same language being used here in Psalm 2.

Not only is he the son, the rightful heir of all that is God's, it says here, the father speaking to the son, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.

So not only is Jesus the exalted king, the exalted Christ, but here the nations are his heritage.

The ends of the earth is his possession. And so Jesus Christ is the king, the ruler over the nations.

He is God's son. He is the great judge. And so with that,

Psalm 2 ends with this warning in exhortation. It says, starting in verse 10 in Psalm 2, now, therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned,

O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled and blessed are all who take refuge in him.

And so these are the texts that the apostles would point to, to argue about the identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And not just a mere prophet, but the exalted king, the son of God, every ruler, every king, every

Lord, every nation owes allegiance to this one Christ, the

Lord Jesus. And so this teaches us that the identity of the

Lord Jesus is not merely an academic exercise. It's not just like, okay, he's the king, check.

But no, this has consequences. There's consequences for the kings of the earth, there's consequences for us. Here as citizens in Alberta, in Canada, Jesus Christ is

Lord of lords and he's king of kings and he is the judge of all. And this is so very important.

We just had Easter last weekend, talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is always a time of year where everyone begins to think about the true identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Time Magazine and other magazines talk about, well, essentially who is the true

Jesus and who is the historical Jesus? And did he really die? Did he really rise again? And all this evidence is marshaled for this position or that position as if we're the ones who judge the

Lord Jesus. So here's all the proof for his resurrection and here's all these people say. And then we sit back and think, hmm, yeah,

I kind of like that point. I kind of like that point. Yeah, that's reasonable to me as if we're the ones who are judging the

Lord Jesus Christ, but it's the other way around. And his resurrection is proof that he is the judge of all.

And so all men everywhere are called to repent and believe the gospel because the Lord is the king of every king, the

Lord of every Lord, and he is the great judge. And so we're called in Psalm 2 to kiss the son, to bow to him, to obey him, to believe in him.

The third and last text I want to bring to your attention when it comes to the identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ is another text that's cited off in the New Testament. Peter uses it in Acts 3 as he preaches,

Stephen in Acts 7 as he preaches, and this is found in Deuteronomy 18. In Deuteronomy 18, starting in verse 15, it says this, the

Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

It is to him you shall listen. Now, Moses received this from God and God told him, he said this, this is starting in verse 18 in Deuteronomy 18,

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I'll put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him, and whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name,

I myself will require it of him. Now, what's interesting about these words given to Moses, so Moses was used by God to bring the law to God's people.

Through him, the covenant was mediated to the people of Israel. Now, through him, God used

Moses as a tool, as an instrument to bring his people out of bondage through the

Exodus and across the Red Sea, and to lead them to the very cusp of the promised land before God would give them the promised land in Joshua.

And so Moses is a towering figure in the Old Testament. The first five books are written by Moses as he was moved by the

Spirit of God. But what Moses tells the people of Israel, as monumental as God has used him as a mighty prophet,

God will raise up another prophet like him. And what we see in the

Old Covenant is that there was always an anticipation of the New Covenant. There was always an anticipation that this was a temporary arrangement until the

Christ would come. Now, I believe when Moses says another prophet among your brothers, he's not just talking about men like Daniel or Ezekiel or Isaiah, but he's referring to the

Lord Jesus Christ. And how do I know that? Well, again, because the apostles like Peter and Stephen and Paul and others said, well,

Moses was talking about Christ, which tells me that Jesus told his disciples that was talking about me.

And it makes sense because Jesus was no mere prophet, but he was one like Moses. In fact, Hebrews chapter three says that Moses was a servant in the house of God, but Jesus is a son.

So he's like Moses, but greater than Moses. And like Moses, he led the people on an Exodus, not from the bondage of tyranny in Egypt, the bondage of Pharaoh, but from the tyranny of the devil and the bondage of sin.

And Christ led a host out of captivity through his death and through his resurrection.

And just like Moses, he also brings a new covenant and he is like Moses, a mediator.

And so we see these parallels between Moses and the Lord Jesus, although the new covenant far exceeds the old and the new priesthood far exceeds the old, and it brings a more glorious salvation.

And so what we see in these texts is that the authors of the new

Testament, as they talk about the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have one who is the

King, we have one who is the priest, we have one who is the prophet.

And so it's no wonder that catechisms of old would talk about the identity of Jesus in these terms, that Jesus is the prophet, the priest, and the

King. That these different roles in the Old Testament all come together in the one and the same person of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And because he is the King, he must be obeyed. Because he is

God's priest, well, he reconciles people to God through his own sacrifice. Because he is

God's prophet, well, he reveals God. He exegetes him. It says in 1 John 1, he makes the

Father known and he must be listened to. And so all of these texts come together to teach us about the identity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why Jesus would say to them, O foolish ones and slow to heart to believe, all the prophets have spoken.

You should have known that the Christ was God's prophet, God's priest, and God's King in one person, the

Lord Jesus Christ. Now, not only do we have texts in the New Testament talking about the identity of Jesus, we also have texts talking about the sufferings of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to consider some of the verses in the New Testament that the apostles appealed to, to talk about the sufferings of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And so I have three others here as well. Now, the first I want to mention is

Psalm 118. Psalm 118, you might not, that might not come to your mind right away when

I think of Psalm 118, but I'm sure you know one verse in it, verse 26, which says, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

Lord. And so those who shouted Hosanna as Jesus in his triumphal entry came down into Jerusalem and they were quoting this

Psalm, Psalm 118, verse 26. Now, not only is that portion of the

Psalm quoted in the New Testament, but you also have a later verse in that Psalm quoted by Peter in Acts 4, he quotes verse 22.

And Psalm 118, verse 22 says this, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This passage is quoted several times in the New Testament. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Now, when Peter said this, he was preaching to the same people who put

Jesus to death a matter of mere weeks earlier. And so with great boldness, it says that Peter was filled with the

Holy Spirit. He's preaching to these people who have crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he knows that he himself could soon be hung on a cross.

It says in Acts 4, starting in verse 8, it says rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom

God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing well before you. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved.

Here we have Peter quoting this text, saying that the stone, which has become the foundation of God's people, was the same stone that the builders rejected.

And so in other words, the rejection and the sufferings and the death of the

Lord Jesus Christ was exactly what Psalm 118 foretold. Peter didn't understand this at the time, but now with Jesus explaining the scriptures, and now the disciples filled with the

Holy Spirit, they now understand, they see clearly the mission of Jesus. It was

God's intent that he, as the foundation of the church, would be despised and rejected.

This is important for us to consider because this verse illustrates for us a central theme in the

Christian faith, that the road to glory is a road called suffering and rejection, and it involves persecution and hardship.

And so Jesus' pathway to glory included his rejection. And so Peter, now with his understanding, preaches this with great boldness to these men, and he's ready to embrace suffering.

He's ready to be despised and rejected, just like the Lord Jesus Christ, because he knows this is the pathway to glory.

Another text that I want to bring to your attention when it comes to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ is

Psalm 22. You don't need to turn there if you wish, but Psalm 22, verse number one, begins in this way.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Those words are very memorable because they were spoken by our

Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. And it's important for us to recognize when

Jesus says these words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? There were some who thought, well, he's calling Elijah. Now see if Elijah comes and takes him off the cross.

But I believe that Jesus here is not only expressing the reality that he is suffering the wrath of God, but it's also calling to mind

Psalm 22. And not just the first verse of Psalm 22, but Psalm 22 in its entirety.

For instance, if I was to say the phrase, a mighty fortress is our God, or it is well with my soul.

Those are titles of hymns, but like hymns are often titled, the title matches the first several words of that particular hymn.

And so Jesus here is not going to tell his people, open your scrolls and find

Psalm 22. That wasn't called Psalm 22. It was called the Psalm of David. My God, my

God, why have you forsaken me? That was the name of the song. Just like a mighty fortress is our God, or it is well with my soul.

And so with those words, Jesus is bringing to mind the contents of Psalm 22.

Let me read to you other verses in that Psalm, like verse seven and eight. It says, they are all who see me, mock me.

They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. They say, he trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him for he delights in him. This is nearly verbatim, what we have recorded in the gospels.

Later in verse 16, it says this in Psalm 22, for dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me.

They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count on my bones. They stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them. And for my clothing, they cast lots. Now you might think, and I'm sure skeptics would read that and there's no way that was written before the crucifixion.

That must've been written afterwards, surely. But in God's kind providence, we have copies of Psalm 22 that predate the

Lord Jesus Christ by hundreds of years. And those verses are in there. And so this is written a thousand years before Jesus walked this earth.

So perfectly describing the events of Good Friday. All the

Christ, his rejection, even down to the piercing of his hands and his feet, the exposing of his bones from the scourging, the casting of lots from his clothes, the mocking, the wagging of their heads, all of that recorded by God a thousand years before it took place.

Simply incredible. No wonder Jesus says, it was not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory.

Haven't you read Psalm 22? Didn't you pick that up? When Christ cried that out from the cross.

The third and final text I want to mention when it comes to sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ as the scriptures concerning the

Lord Jesus Christ are expounded is of course Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 has to be chief among the passages which talk about the

Lord Jesus Christ. You might call that chapter the gospel according to Isaiah or the gospel according to God preached by Isaiah.

It contains the substitutionary death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And of course it's quoted in the New Testament. We have Peter mentioning this passage in 1 Peter. It's mentioned in the book of Acts.

You also remember the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 and he asked Philip, what does this mean?

Who is this talking about? And then Philip, it says, beginning with the text of Isaiah 53 and then expounding to him the rest of the scriptures concerning Christ, his identity, his sufferings, and his resurrection.

Let me read to you a portion from Isaiah 53 starting in verse 3. It says there, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Again, what's important to recognize in these verses is that the death and the sufferings of the

Lord Jesus Christ was not like plan B or plan C. This was God's purpose. And he foretold it through the words of the prophets.

And then it came to fruition where the Lord Jesus, the great prophet, the great priest, the great king would deliver his people through his own self -sacrifice, where he would die a criminal's death, where he would suffer the wrath of Almighty God that we rightly deserve as sinners.

And he would become like the scapegoat where the priest would lay his hand upon that goat and the sins of the people symbolically are placed upon the goat and then out into the wilderness to be slaughtered, just like our

Lord Jesus Christ, outside the gates. But our sin not symbolically placed on him, but actual fact, counted upon him by God.

And then he is stricken, smitten, and afflicted, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, as Jesus would be explaining these texts to the disciples on the Emmaus Road, as he even talks about his own crucifixion, these disciples thought like the other disciples, this was a great defeat.

Our great Christ, he has now been crucified and he's buried in a tomb. He reports his resurrection, but this is a sad day, a terrible day, a great defeat.

But as Jesus would have expounded these texts to them, like Isaiah 53, they would have come to realize that through Christ's own defeat and Christ's own death comes the defeat of sin and the death of death itself through this great exchange where God's prophet, priest, and king suffers in the place of his people so they might live.

Which brings us to the third point I want to speak about. We've talked about the identity of Jesus. We've talked about the sufferings of Christ.

And thirdly, I want to show you in the scriptures where it talks about his glory or his resurrection. And I want to continue in Isaiah 53, because in Isaiah 53, we not only have the sufferings of Christ, but we also have the glory of Christ, the resurrection of Christ.

And verses 10 and 11 in Isaiah 53, it says this, when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring.

He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. This is a curious passage of scripture if you don't understand its fulfillment in Jesus.

Because just a few verses before, it talks about how he's cut off in the land of the living, how he's put in a rich man's tomb.

Okay? He's not just asleep, like he's dead. He is no more. He has been crushed by God.

But now he sees his offspring. Now his days are prolonged. And now he's prospering.

And so, what is happening here? How does he see and be satisfied? These things can only be fulfilled if a dead man rises again, if the one who was crushed lives again.

The one who was buried in that tomb walks out of that tomb and is now alive. And this is what

Isaiah 53 speaks about. Same thing is true in Psalm 22, which talks about piercing his hands and his feet and could see his bones and people would wag their head at him.

In Psalm 22, verse 22, it says this, after all those sufferings, it says, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation,

I will praise you. In those, in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, which talks about the sufferings of the

Lord Jesus, they both end with a triumphal note about his glory, about his resurrection, about what happens after his death.

And Isaiah 53, verse 12, it talks about how Christ will divide his spoil with the many.

In other words, his victory, his glory, his resurrection will be our victory. His glory will be our glory.

His resurrection will be our resurrection. And so, not only has Jesus, the great prophet, priest, and king suffered in the place of his people, but he's risen again for his people.

Likewise, Psalm 16, another text. Psalm 16 is quoted in Acts 2 and also

Acts 13, both by Peter and Paul when they preach. Psalm 16, verse 10 says this, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption.

In other words, you will not let my body remain in the grave, nor let the body of your holy one decay.

Peter uses in Acts 2 and says, well, this is not speaking about David. His bones are here.

You can go visit them. But this is talking about the one who is greater than David, the greater son, the greater king, the

Lord Jesus Christ. This is talking about the empty tomb. David did not ascend into the heavens or sit at the right hand of God.

Peter also used the same logic to talk about Psalm 110, verse 1. It is Christ who now sits at the right hand of God.

It is Christ who has ascended. And so, Psalm 16 speaks about the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus Christ, just like Psalm 110 speaks about his exaltation in place and glory.

And the last text I want to bring to your attention is Daniel 7, speaking about the glory of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel 7, starting in verse 13 and 14, it says this, I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man.

And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. In this kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed.

Jesus' most favorite title that he would use for himself is son of man. And that word, that phrase, son of man comes from Daniel chapter 7, where the son of man comes to the ancient of days, reference to the father, and comes to the ancient of days to receive a kingdom over all the tribes, nations, and peoples of the world.

And the question is, well, when does this take place? What kingdom is this referring to? Well, this refers to Christ's glorification.

In Philippians 2, verses 8 to 11, it says this, that Christ humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord to the glory of God the Father. Hebrews 1 also mentions that after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

He went to the ancient of days and he received this kingdom. He was glorified.

Likewise, in Romans 1, verse 4, it says that through Jesus' sufferings and then through his exaltation in his resurrection, he was declared to be the

Son of God in power. And so what we see here in the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus Christ, he comes up to the Father and he is glorified. He is given the kingdoms.

He is anointed. He is declared to be the Son of God in power.

In other words, he is glorified. And so what we see in these texts, some of these texts, not even all the texts that are used in the

New Testament to talk about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we see in these texts repeated uses in the

New Testament, speaking about the identity and the suffering and the resurrection glory of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm convinced that these are the texts that our Lord Jesus Christ in that two -hour walk was expounding and explaining to these disciples on the

Emmaus Road, so that they might understand his identity, his sufferings, and also his glory.

Now, I want to end and just give you a few applications on how we ought to use these verses about the identity, the sufferings, and the glory of Christ and how they ought to impact our lives.

Okay, four things. Number one, these scriptures concerning Jesus explain his identity, his suffering, and his resurrection and glory.

In other words, we don't need, like these disciples, a physical or visible representation of Jesus or to meet

Jesus in person to know about his identity, his suffering, and his resurrection. The scriptures here are sufficient.

They're able to explain. They're able to show us Christ. The reason why there are so many contrary views concerning the

Lord Jesus Christ today is because there is so much illiteracy of the scriptures. We need more scripture.

We need more gospel preaching. We need more explaining and proving and reasoning about who

Jesus is, about his sufferings, and about his glory. And specifically, this is what our children need.

This is what our neighbors need. This is what your co -workers need. This is what people around you need. And so, it's important that we catechize our children.

We teach them about Jesus being the prophet, priest, and king. We teach them about his sufferings and what that all meant.

We teach him about his glory and about his resurrection such that they're not these foolish ones and are slow of heart to believe because they've had the scriptures beginning with Moses and all the prophets set before them and say, here is

Christ. This is who he is. And through this, the fog of confusion that these disciples experience will be lifted and they will see

Christ. They will understand his sufferings and they will comprehend his glory. The second thing that's important to recognize here is that these scriptures concerning Jesus, they validate

God's plan and they validate his promises. They validate God's power.

In other words, these scriptures that revealed hundreds of years before the

Lord Jesus define their perfect fulfillment in the life and ministry of Jesus validates for us that the remaining text which talk about the return of Christ and it was talk about the final state of the believers of the

Lord Jesus and the end of Satan and the end of death and the end of sin. We all have confidence because the scriptures have been validated in Jesus' identity and his suffering and hidden his resurrection.

Isaiah 46 starting in verse nine says this, remember the former things of old for I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

Likewise, in Isaiah 48 starting in verse three, it says there the former things I declare of old.

They went out from my mouth and I announced them. Then suddenly I did them and they came to pass because I know that you are obstinate and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass.

I declared them to you from of old before they came to pass I announced them to you lest you should say my idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them or lest we say well that's a coincidence.

Okay, so God is saying because of your stiff neck which is like iron sinew you can't turn that thing and your forehead that's so made of brass it's you because of your thick heads and your hard hearts and your stiff necks

I've laid it all out beforehand and now I sent my son and you see the fulfillment in the

Lord Jesus Christ and there's no excuse and I've told you this beforehand so you might know that I am

God and there is no other and don't chalk this up to coincidence don't say oh that's neat that's interesting.

No, because of our Lord Jesus Christ and his identity his suffering and his glory we can trust from Genesis to Revelation that this is

God's word it's been validated vindicated by the

Lord Jesus Christ and so what's so important for us to recognize is that Jesus the one whom we preach the one whom we believe and one whom we cherish and love is not some mythologized or legendary figure no this is the

Christ of Scripture whom God declared beforehand and has come to pass just as God had said and so it validates all of God's plans his promises and his power.

A thirdly the scriptures concerning Jesus convert sinners these scriptures that I've gone through were the same scriptures that the apostles use in the

New Testament as they would travel from town to town and place to place seeking to advance the kingdom of Christ and to prove that Jesus is the

Christ that he came to suffer and die in the place of sinners and that he rose again in glory. In other words these are the very passages that the disciples use to see sinners converted to see the

Holy Spirit work through them in these texts so that others would come to know and be saved and forgiven by the

Lord Jesus Christ. I've already mentioned Philip explaining Isaiah 53 to the

Ethiopian eunuch and he was saved and baptized in that providential encounter and we have a long history in the church of the scriptures just being unleashed being declared being put in written form in preach form and as they go out the world is changed and transformed sinners are converted they're made disciples they follow after the

Lord Jesus Christ and so this reminds us that the power to recognize the

Lord Jesus Christ and become a disciple of Christ does not need a personal encounter on the Emmaus road but it requires the declaration of scripture the scriptures are sufficient even for foolish ones and even for those who are slow of to believe what

God has spoken in his word and so this should cause us to be prepared that we might know these texts that we have a ready answer and a ready word and be seeking to as Paul's custom reason and explain and prove from the scriptures that Jesus was the

Christ that he suffered he died and that he rose again and has entered into his glory.

The fourth and final application I think is important from this text is that these scriptures that Jesus used and these scriptures concerning Jesus they strengthen our faith and they produce praise later in Luke 24 verse 32 it says there did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures.

In other words these disciples reported that when Jesus unpacked the words of God they were fired up they were excited like how do we miss this and and this is the product of biblical preaching where you have the word expounded and you're like well why didn't

I see that I see it now it's clear now who this great Christ is and of course the scriptures direct us to Jesus and to who he is and what he has done and it causes our hearts to burn it causes our faith to be strengthened here you have a group of disciples who were there in the upper room commiserating licking each other's wounds uh wondering if the last three years was just a complete waste what are they going to do now with their lives they've already left their jobs let's just go back to it and as they are in this confused dejected state

Jesus gives to them the scriptures and then in seeing

Christ in the scriptures well now their faith is strengthened now it's produced praise in their hearts now their hearts are burning and each and every one of them then go and give their lives for what they've seen and heard in the word they go and they die as martyrs

Peter's boldness just a few weeks later is because he sees Christ clearly in the scriptures and so they became witnesses they became those who would declare the words of God with great conviction and power and so perhaps you've been in seasons when you find your faith is struggling where there are doubts creeping in where there's a flickering light that was once a a bright flame where there's been seasons of hardship and difficulty where there's been disillusionments and you're looking at the events of your life and and things aren't quite working out the way that you would have hoped in those moments it's important that we return again to the word and the word then directs us to the

Lord Jesus Christ so that our hearts would burn within us and we'd say and we would see the greatness of the

Lord Jesus Christ and we would praise him we'd be reminded again of our great prophet our great priest our great king his suffering and death for sinners and then his resurrection and his exaltation to glory where he now sits at the right hand of God intercedes for his people and will return in glory and in power and so as you consider these scriptures today may

God move in your hearts to direct you to Christ and may your heart burn within you because we serve and live under a great

Christ let me pray heavenly father I thank you for your word and we thank you how your word directs us shines a spotlight upon the

Lord Jesus Christ truly he is the king of kings and lord of lords the great prophet the great priest and through his death we are healed through his resurrection we are justified oh heavenly father we thank you for the work of the

Lord Jesus and we pray that these scriptures even that we could just look at briefly here today would encourage us about the identity and the sufferings and the glory of the

Lord Jesus Christ that we might enjoy him and so strengthen our faith produce praise in us as we consider our great

Christ I pray this in his name amen thank you for listening to another sermon from grace fellowship church if you would like to keep up with us you can find us at facebook at grace fellowship church or our instagram at grace church yeg all one word finally you can visit us at our website grace edmonton .ca