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All right, we're in Luke chapter 24 and we'll start in verse number 26 where the Bible says ought not Christ who have suffered these things and to enter into his glory and beginning of Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself and the title of the sermon this morning is the witness of the prophets the witness of the prophets now by way of introduction let me start off by saying that Jesus Christ obviously is the main character of the entire Bible when you read the scriptures all 66 books obviously they cover an array of different subjects and doctrines but the main person and the main doctrine that it's emphasizing is the Lord Jesus Christ he is the theme of the word of God and so it should come as no surprise that every single book would have an aspect of him within that book even in the Old Testament you see Jesus Christ did not come it was his first appearance was not in Bethlehem's manger he's always been okay he is the son of God he is from everlasting and in fact throughout the Old Testament we will see different pictures of him and appearances of him as well go with me if you went to Acts chapter number 10 Acts chapter number 10 and we're gonna look at that this morning you say well you know brother Mahia I came to church because I got a problem with my marriage or I got a I got an issue I'm going through you know I was kind of hoping that I would hear something that would help me with that situation well you know what this sermon will help you increase your love for the word of God okay it'll help you increase your love for the Bible which is where you're gonna find your answers to the problems that you have and it's important that when we come to church you know we exhort one another daily of course in regards to the issues and problems that we have but we need to grow in knowledge as well we cannot be spiritually illiterate when it comes to the word of God we need to know the details of the Bible and the fact of the matter is when we study the details of the Bible we actually grow in our appreciation and our love for the word of God and that's the goal today look at Acts chapter 10 and verse 42 by the way this is a perfect verse to use for the dispensationalist all right you know the ones who don't believe that it was by believe only in the Old Testament that it was by sacrifices and all these foolish things look what the Bible says in verse 42 and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins what is it saying there it's saying through the prophets those in the Old Testament they've witnessed what was their witness that whosoever believeth it doesn't say whosoever believeth and does the sacrifice whosoever believeth and keepeth the Sabbath or does the commandments or whatever works that they can conjure up it just says whosoever believeth but the main thrust of that verse is that to him give all the prophets witness now there are four ways that Jesus Christ has been witnessed of or pictured of in the Old Testament and these are in no particular order but I'm just going to give them to you we're going to focus primarily on one of them the first one is through cardinal ordinances okay as the Bible says in Hebrews meets drinks and diverse washings for example you have the sacrifices in the Old Testament these were a picture a shadow of things to come because the Bible tells us in John chapter one behold the Lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world and we see that throughout the whole whole whole Testament under the Levitical law God's people were commanded to do sacrifices daily weekly monthly yearly and it was just as a reminder to God's people that one day a Savior would come who is the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world he would provide himself a sacrifice but we see that through carnal ordinances he's pictured but not only that through inanimate objects as well because if you remember there's there's the story in numbers regarding the brazen serpent okay and that brazen serpent was an inanimate object but it was picturing what Christ would do when he was lifted up when he was crucified and whoever look look at the punishment believeth on him shall receive the remission of sins they shall be saved we see that in John chapter three of course another inanimate object would be the manna you know he says in John chapter six that he was the bread the bread of light that came down from heaven to give life unto those who believe on him then we also see the literal appearances of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament you see he didn't just appear through figures and symbolism in regards to the sacrifices the carnal ordinances inanimate objects he actually appeared himself okay you have the the story of Melchizedek brother Mark preached on that on Friday you have the appearance of him in Genesis chapter 19 when he appears to Genesis 18 and 19 when he appears to Abraham and he's about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah all right you have the appearance of him when he when he appears to Gideon and so many different parts of the Bible he actually appears to people one of the most famous ones is in Daniel when he appears with Meshach Shadrach and Abednego in the furnace of fire that is a literal appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament but then the last one is this so we said the carnal ordinances the inanimate objects the literal appearances of him but then it's also through literal people that he symbolically shows himself okay these are people who were normal people but they had certain attributes and characteristics and were highlighted in the Bible to basically attribute who Jesus Christ is and was and who he was going to be what he was going to do when he came to this earth and that's primarily what we're going to look at today the witness of the prophets speaking specifically about people who basically showed the Lord Jesus Christ in themselves now go with me if you go to Romans chapter number five we're going to look through some of the Old Testament Bible characters and see how they symbolize Jesus Christ example number one we're going to look at Adam okay Adam was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ you said well hold on a second you know there Adam didn't do anything good you know he basically damned the entire world how can you say he's like symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ well the way he's symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ is because of his colossal impact on mankind okay look at Romans chapter 5 verse number 12 it says wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned for until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression look what it says who is the figure of him that was to come so the Bible's telling us here that Adam was a figure now obviously if you look at it just that face value Adam does not really look like a really good you know symbolism of the Lord Jesus Christ but let's read on we'll see why and not as it was by one that sinned so was the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification for if by one man's offense death reign by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous so in other words what we see here is a good comparison of the impact that these men made you have Adam who by his actions condemned the entire world that's why we're all sinners what on the other hand we have Jesus Christ that because of his obedience not disobedience many can be made righteous his impact will affect many for thousands of years and many will be saved from that condemnation that was to be blamed upon Adam and of course Eve so that's one similarity that we see and in fact Jesus Christ throughout the gospel specifically excuse me in the book of John he's known as the son of God right capital S well in Luke chapter 3 when we see the the genealogies the last person is Adam and it says who is the son of God lowercase s now go with me we went to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 so Adam was flesh and blood he was given a soul he was the son of God lowercase s we see Jesus Christ who's made a quickening spirit right who is also the son of God capital S now Jesus Christ is also referred to in the New Testament as the last Adam okay that's why he's good a good symbolism of who excuse me who Adam is a good symbolism of who Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ is referred to as the last Adam and in fact throughout the every Christmas we sing a call a song called heart the herald angel sing right and one of the verses says second Adam from above reinstate us in thy love and that's in 1st Corinthians 15 is what it's referencing there look at verse 21 for since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead so one of the comparisons that we're seeing here is the contrast it's not necessarily Adam's failures it's the complete contrast of his failure where we see the where we see the similarities with Jesus Christ we see the corresponding characteristics that both of these men have all right one of them caused death the other one will cause a resurrection let's skip down to verse 44 I'm sorry I'll read from you from verse 22 says for as an Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive verse 44 says it is so in a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body so the reason Adam is being used as an example here in 1st Corinthians 15 is because chapter 15 is teaching the doctrine of the resurrection and in order to understand it clearly he's using Adam and Jesus Christ as an example of what they were as a body Adam was a was a living soul Jesus Christ was a quickening spear why because flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God you see as a person our life is found in our blood but the Bible tells us that when we die we're not going to have the same body when we're resurrected it's going to be changed okay and the life that's now going to cause this body to live is not going to be the blood it's going to be the spirit okay look what it says in verse 45 and so it is written the first man Adam was made a living soul the last Adam was made a quickening spirit how be it that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and after that which is spiritual so it even gives the the sequence of order there okay just as Adam came first and then Jesus Christ so it is with us you know we're born a physical body with flesh and blood but when we get saved and when we die we're going to be made a quickening spirit as well verse 47 says the first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven as is the earthy such are they also that are earthy and as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly and as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly so it's trying to give us a picture here of what the resurrection is going to be like because you know everyone always wonders what did Adam look like well I think he just looked like us probably different skin tone I don't know don't ask me if he had a belly button or not I have no idea but he probably looked like us okay just different hair color but he looked like us and why because we're bearing the image of the earthy we're bearing the image of that man Adam and then it says we shall also bear the image of the heavenly in reference to the glorified state after we resurrect verse 50 says now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God neither does corruption inherit incorruption so this is talking about the resurrection and it pictures it perfectly and he uses Adam as a reference to how we look now Jesus Christ how we will look in the future now you don't have to turn there but in first John chapter 3 and verse number 2 it says beloved now are we the sons of God and it did not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is now now we see through a glass darkly we don't necessarily know what we're going to look like in our resurrected bodies okay you know the Bible constantly gives us different parables to help us to really imagine what it's going to be like to have some sort of understanding for example in Matthew chapter 13 you have the parable of the mustard seed that is sown but when it comes out it doesn't come out a huge mustard seed you know it comes out as a tree where birds and fowls can can nest into their tree so it comes out something completely different and so it is in the resurrection when we die our bodies are buried once we resurrect we're going to look completely different and in first John chapter 3 it says we shall be like him what does that mean we're going to be glorified is what it's talking about so Adam is a good picture of Jesus Christ why because of the colossal impact that he made on mankind likewise Jesus Christ has also made that impact by saving many by making many righteous unto eternal life now go with me to Genesis chapter number 4 Genesis chapter 4 so example number 1 we saw Adam okay example number 2 we're going to look at Abel now I don't even know if we're going to get through all of these I might do a part 2 tonight because there's so many pictures in the Old Testament of people and obviously their entire life doesn't symbolize Jesus Christ but different events that took place in their personal lives you can actually see you know a symbolic meaning of who Jesus Christ is and we're going to look at each and every one of them example number 2 would be Abel now why was he symbolic of Jesus Christ well simply because of what his blood spoke of okay look at Genesis chapter 4 now Abel had a very short ministry okay you just see him in Genesis 4 and that's it you know he's doing right and then he gets killed for doing right look at Genesis 4 verse 1 it says and Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord and she again bare his brother Abel and Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground and in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell so let me just stop right there and just explain what what's taking place here you see a lot of the things that took place in the Old Testament God specifically wanted us to be symbolic of salvation of Jesus Christ and what would happen is you would have someone like Cain who's supposed to bring a sacrifice right he's supposed to offer an animal to picture what Jesus Christ was going to do in the future but what does he do instead he brings his own work he brings the fruit the fruit of the ground is what he does what is that a picture of it's a picture of working for your salvation the sacrifice is the picture of Jesus Christ already doing the work the fruit of the ground is a picture of someone trying to do the work and the Bible clearly tells us in the New Testament for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast the Bible says not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us the Bible tells us the Bible also says in Romans chapter 3 verse 28 therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law so this is a great picture of what Abel did right here of salvation he brought that sacrifice which is the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would one day do whereas Cain he went in the way of Cain which is works okay he was the first he was the first vegan vegetarian in the Bible we're not against vegans but hey doesn't look like he did a very good job as being the first one to do it look at the Bible says in verse 6 and the Lord said unto Cain why art thou Roth Roth means angry okay wrathful and why is thy countenance fallen if thou doest well thou shalt not be accepted and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shall rule over him and Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him so Cain was so upset he was so wrathful he hated his brother so much because he did not God did not have respect into his offering that he even was willing to kill his own brother he slew him in the field and the Bible says in verse 9 and the Lord said unto Cain where is Abel thy brother now does God not know where he was that you know what he wants he wants a confession you know just as when he went to Adam in Genesis chapter 3 and says where art thou you know and he's hiding it's not it's not like God didn't know where he was at he was looking for a confession and look what he says verse verse 9 says in the Lord sent to Cain where is Abel thy brother and he said I know not am I my brother's keeper you liar verse 10 and he said what has thou done the voice of thy brother's blood cries unto me from the ground and now art thou cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand when thou tell us the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength a fugitive in a vagabond shall thou be in the earth and Cain said unto the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear behold thou has driven me out this day from the face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid and I shall be a fugitive in a vagabond in the earth and it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me now go ahead and go to Matthew chapter 23 Matthew chapter 23 pretty sad story this guy hated his brother so much that he was willing to kill him just because he was envious just because he was mad that God didn't have respect unto his offering what Cain should have done was this just correct it maybe before he even killed his brother he should have just been like you know what Abel did it right I did it wrong let me go ahead and do it right so God can I have respect unto my offering as well but let's say he didn't do that and he kills his brother he should have just confessed it you see he that confesseth his sin the Bible says shall have shall obtain mercy who so confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall obtain mercy those who try to hide it don't obtain mercy now look at Matthew Matthew chapter 23 and verse 34 here are in the New Testament Abel is mentioned just a few times some of them are repetitious times but Matthew right here in Matthew we see that he's mentioned verse 34 says wherefore behold I send you unto the prop I sent unto you prophets and wise men and scribes and some of them he shall kill and crucify and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barakas whom he slew between the temple and the altar so the question remains what was Abel's blood saying when it was when it was crying from the ground what was it saying well based upon this scripture what it was crying out for was revenge because you if you read later on in Genesis chapter 4 that's why Cain says someone's gonna slay me God cursed him and someone was gonna slay him so it was crying out revenge he wanted to be avenged for the blood that was there was there was a spilled now go to Hebrews chapter 12 I'm gonna prove this to you Hebrews chapter 12 I'm gonna read to you from Hebrews 11 and verse 4 where it says by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh look at Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 22 so we see Cain slain Abel Abel's blood cries from the ground God curses Cain and he's afraid that someone's gonna take vengeance upon him look at Hebrews 12 verse 22 says but ye are coming to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel so we understand that in Hebrews when it's referencing the blood of Christ is talking about that which was spilled in order to start the New Testament or the New Covenant okay and without the shedding of blood there is no remission the Bible says so we can look at the story of Jesus Christ and his blood being shed and Abel's blood being shed and what could we take away from those two well one blood cried out revenge the other one's blood cried out redemption you see Abel's blood though he was righteous he was still a sinner so when his blood was spilled God saw that and guess what vengeance is mine say the Lord I will repay but in the New Testament when Jesus Christ spills his blood it's actually crying out redemption that's why it's speaking better things than that of Abel why is that because simply for the fact that when someone kills somebody guess what there's a consequence to that okay there are consequences and there are penalties there's revenge that's gonna be taken upon you because of the sin that you've committed for the wages of sin is death the Bible says but we see that in the New Testament obviously throughout the scriptures but specifically when Jesus Christ came he spilled his blood and it spoke redemption that's what his blood was spilled for in order to start that New Covenant and the Bible says he speaks better things why because it's a better covenant okay it's a better testament go to Genesis chapter 22 Genesis chapter 22 so we see the relation there a righteous man being slain his blood spilling his blood speaking things but that which Jesus Christ spoke was obviously a lot better but it'll symbolic of what Jesus Christ's blood was gonna say when he came in the New Testament so number one what do we look at so far we looked at Adam Adam is a picture of Jesus Christ because of his colossal impact upon mankind we see Abel he's a picture of Jesus Christ why is that because of what his blood spoke about number example number three we're gonna look at Isaac now Isaac is probably one of the ones that we all are most familiar with being a picture of Jesus Christ and why is that because of his sacrifice that he made look at Genesis 22 verse number five we're not gonna spend too much time on this one but I think it's worth mentioning the Bible says in verse 5 and Abraham said unto his young men abide here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand in the night and then went both of them together and Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said my father and he said here am I my son and he said behold the fire in the wood but where is the land for a burnt offering and Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb first burnt offering so they both went so they went both of them together so we see there in verse number eight the picture right because he is gonna provide himself because later on we see a ram caught in the thicket but this is actually a foreshadowing of what Jesus Christ was gonna do because Jesus Christ was gonna provide himself an offering for mankind look at verse number nine it says and they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son and the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said here am I and he said lay not thine hand upon the lad neither do thou anything unto him for now I know that thou fear is God seeing thou has not withheld thy son thine only son from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen now what mountain is he referring to I believe he's talking about Mount Calvary because in in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen what is that when Jesus Christ actually offers himself God will offer himself an offering for us now go to Hebrews chapter number 11 Hebrews chapter number 11 that's why it's important that as we read the Bible on our personal time we take time to really meditate upon the stories and the phrases that we see within the Word of God there's a lot of nuggets of truth a lot of gold and silver and precious stones that are found within the Word of God and if you just breeze over your Bible reading just because you want to get over it you're gonna miss a lot of these things read it carefully you should never speed read the Bible well I'm a fast reader well you don't read everything else fast you know read the newspaper fast read your books the novels and and love novels fast in fact don't even read those at all right read them so fast you don't even read it but the Bible you ought to read slowly carefully meditate on it ruminate on it chew on it because there's a lot of precious jewels that you can find in it and look when you find these jewels in the Bible it does something to you right your heart leaves it's like wow this is this is awesome I knew this is the Word of God but it's just confirming even more than it's the Word of God because it's so precious it's beautiful look at verse 9 it's our excuse me in Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 17 it says by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that hath received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in that in Isaac that shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure so we not only see that Isaac is a great picture of the sacrifice but Abraham's faith the new the fact that he knew that he was gonna raise him up was also a great picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ okay now go with me if you would to Genesis 37 Genesis 37 we're gonna go back and forth from Old Testament New Testament so just get ready for that so great pictures here we have Adam who made a colossal impact on mankind just as Jesus Christ did when he came in and offered himself for the whole world we see Abel whose blood spoke revenge whereas Jesus Christ blood spoke redemption we see Isaac and how Isaac was a figure of not only his death and the sacrifice that he was gonna make but also of his resurrection and the faith that Abraham had of that the next one we're gonna look at is Joseph Joseph is a great picture of Jesus Christ now throughout this story Joseph really is only mentioned this time he's not even mentioned in the New Testament at all but throughout the in Genesis he's one of the main characters of the book of Genesis and throughout this the the story of Joseph we see a lot of symbolic symbolism and really I think it's because of his obedience you know you if you think of when Moses God commanded Moses to speak into the rock so that water can come out he was supposed to he was supposed to speak into the rock what do you do instead he smote it and because of that Moses was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land because he basically marred the symbolism that he was trying to give to him by his disobedience so we see Joseph there's a lot of symbolic meaning of Joseph and the Lord Jesus Christ and I think it's because of his obedience okay one of them do we see is that he was sold by his brethren for 20 pieces of silver just as Jesus Christ was sold by Judas for 30 pieces of silver now another similarity that we see is that they both brought up their evil report of their brethren look at Genesis 37 verse number two it says here in verse number two these are the generations of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock with his brethren and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah his father's wives and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report now hold your place there and go to John chapter number seven hold your place there in Genesis chapter 37 so we don't necessarily know what they were doing wrong but we know that what they were doing was wrong okay it was an evil report maybe they're just being lazy by the way being lazy is evil okay being slothful is evil he brings up their evil report and he doesn't necessarily get a good reputation from his brethren because of this in fact you see later on that they hate him and they're really they're even contemplating on killing him but instead they decide to sell him for 20 pieces of silver but he brings up their evil report and we see the same thing with Jesus Christ because look at John chapter 7 verse number 7 it says the world cannot hate you but me it hated because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil so what was Jesus Christ doing in the New Testament he was talking about he was basically writing out people is what he was doing talk about how evil they were and let me just park it here for a minute that we as God's people we as Christians that's what we need to be doing you know you know why are you always calling people out and saying the names and talking about other churches you should mind your own business no because the Bible says here that we're supposed to testify of the world that the works thereof are evil so anything that evil that comes up on the news anything evil that we hear about in different churches if they have a public ministry guess what it needs to be called out we need to testify of those things that those things are evil why so that others can fear so that others can be knowledgeable of these evil and wicked people and let me just remind you that this world is filled with evil and wicked people this is not Candyland this is not a make-believe place where there's no evil people around evil people exist and we as God's people because we're the light of the world we're supposed to shed light in this dark world and expose the wickedness thereof just as Jesus Christ just as Joseph you know Joseph he could have just said you know man I want to have good with my brothers and I don't want them to hate me I want to I want to make sure that they that I fit in with them I want to make sure that they like me and they include me but in order to please his father what do you do he would bring up their evil report and likewise in order for us to please our Heavenly Father we need to make sure we testify of the works that they're evil in this world regardless of our brethren don't like us you know regardless if if our fellow man who are not saved don't like us regardless of safe people don't want to agree with us he said oh you know I got these people who are saved and they're they're against me and my beliefs then you know what bring up their evil report and let God sort them out you know those people need to get right with God it's not you if you're the one doing if you're the one living for God you're walking in light as he is in the light you're living a life that's pleasing unto the Lord you know mark it down you're gonna have enemies if you don't have enemies you're not being persecuted you're probably not being a very good Christian oh no no no I think Jesus you know God is love yeah God is love but he's wrathful and hateful as well and guess what not everyone in this world loves God newsflash there's people who actually hate God okay and if they hate God they're gonna hate us as well and look why would we desire to be loved by the world if Jesus Christ was not loved by the world he was criticized he was he was spat upon they crucified him okay they hated his guts and it should be the same with us okay now obviously we might not go through that extent but the Bible does say yay all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution I'm not saying someone's gonna crucify you but you know what there's gonna be a lot of people are gonna rail on you they're gonna hate you for your beliefs and you know what don't let that discourage you let that confirm that what you're doing is right let that be a measure to say okay that person hates me these people people are talking trash about me I guess what I'm doing is right and look persecuted for righteousness sake okay not because you're some lazy bum at work who can't come in on time we're not doing your job or whatever it may be you know I'm being persecuted for righteousness sake no you're just a bad worker you being persecuted for laziness sake is what you're doing I'm talking about be persecuted for righteousness sake because you believe right you're doing right and people are getting on you because of that maybe it's family members okay maybe it's other Christians maybe it's pastors don't let that discourage you let that confirm hey what I'm doing must be right now Joseph he brought up the evil report Jesus Christ brings up the evil report go back to Genesis chapter 37 hold your place there in John so not only that were they sold for pieces of silver one for 21 for 30 you know they also brought up the evil report of their brethren but they also both received specific instructions from God look at the Bible says in Genesis 37 in verse number five it says in Joseph dream the dream and he told it his brethren and they hated him yet the more so to add you know to the fact that they hated him you know he's bringing up the evil report then he's telling them the dream they're like man we need you even more for this and he said unto them here I pray you this dream which I have dreamed for behold we were binding sheaves in the field and lo my sheaf arose and also stood upright and behold your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf and his brethren sent him shout thou indeed reign over us or shot down indeed have dominion over us and they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words and he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren and said behold I have dreamed a dream more and behold the Sun and the moon and the 11 stars made obeisance to me and he told it to his father and his into his brethren and his father rebuked him and said unto him what is this dream that thou has dreamed shall I and your and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth and his brethren envied him but his father observed the same now go back to John go to John chapter 5 we're also gonna go we're gonna go back to John chapter 7 so I don't know if Joseph is just naive or something you know and he's just like they hate him and he's just gonna add to that and say and by the way I got a dream and you're gonna go ahead and reverence me later on in the future isn't that great you know hey mom dad you know I had this dream that you guys are gonna make obeisance to me isn't that wonderful you know and they're just and his dad even rebuked them for it they're like what are you talking with you little 17 year old you know like mom and mom and dad's typically tell a older child I wiped your behind when you heard like a little baby you know that's probably something they were they were saying so they didn't appreciate his dream right look at John chapter 5 verse 30 says says I can of mine own self do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me by the way there's two wills there right go to John chapter 7 John chapter 7 unless Jesus Christ is schizophrenic he's got bipolar disorder or something John chapter 7 in verse 15 it says in the Jews marveled saying how know what this man letters having never learned Jesus answered him and said my doctrine is not mine but his that sent me if any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether it speak of myself so you look in Genesis chapter 37 Joseph's brother didn't even believe in him right in fact they hated him they envied him they did not believe that which would he that which he received from God and the same thing we see in the New Testament that the Jews did not believe Jesus Christ as well in fact the Bible says he came into his own and his own received him not but not just them his own brothers did not believe on him either look at John chapter 7 verse number 1 says and after these things Jesus walked in Galilee for he would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him you know just like Joseph's brothers sought to kill Joseph now the Jews feast of Tabernacles was at hand his brethren therefore said unto him depart hence and go into Judea that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest they're being facetious here's what they're doing for there is no man that doeth anything in secret he himself seeketh to be known openly if thou do these things show thyself to the world for neither did his brethren believe in him then Jesus said unto them my time is not yet come but your time is always always ready the Bible says so what do we see here we see the the parallel that just as Joseph's brethren did not believe on Joseph Jesus Christ on brethren did not believe on him okay they they saw him to be a joke all right they mocked him but in like manner we see in the latter end of Genesis that his brethren Joseph's brethren did trust in Joseph in fact they came to Egypt and the Bible tells us that Joseph actually rescued his family because of that he saw many people alive the Bible says and likewise later on in the Gospels we see that Jesus brethren ended up believing on him as well okay go to Luke chapter 19 but one common thing that we see if you if you if you paid attention to the to the reading there in Genesis what is the brethren tell what did Joseph's brothers and Joseph's father say will thou reign over us are you gonna reign over us you're gonna be like a ruler of us what does that sound like to you look at Luke chapter 19 in verse number 11 and as they heard these things he added and spake a parable because he was nigh to Jerusalem because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear he said therefore a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive himself a kingdom and to return and he called this ten servants and delivered them ten pounds and sent them to them occupied till I come but his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us and we're not gonna read the entire portion of Scripture but what is this referring to it's referring to Jesus Christ and is referring to the Jews and the Jews did not want to have Jesus Christ reigning over them so we see that parallel there that just as the Jews didn't want Jesus Christ to reign over there neither did his brother nor his father want Joseph to reign over them as well you see that parallel there you don't have to turn there I'll go to Luke chapter 2 I'm gonna read to you from Philippians chapter 2 it says that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father so one day even if the people are in hell guess what every knee shall bow everyone becomes a believer when they die even in hell they become a believer in God and in Jesus Christ and in fact one day every knees going to bow so that reprobate God hating atheists he's gonna bow what's that atheist name that died what Stephen Hawking he's gonna bow with wheelchair and all I don't appreciate you saying that about him well I don't appreciate him spreading his garbage about atheism and turning people away from God God will make sure that he and his robotic self will bow down what's the other guy's name Christian what Christopher Hitchens you know he died of cancer thankfully you know he's gonna bow down as well I just you're too harsh I don't think well you know what then you need to go listen to Joe Osteen where it's all flowers and roses he's gonna bow as well you know all these people doesn't matter who they are so don't don't don't be offended when when some God hating reprobate rails on God just know their time will come and in fact you could go ahead and leave that conversation and say hey one day you're gonna bow your sheaf will bow to his one day okay because we saw that just as his Joseph's brethren you know they're mocking him but later on they bowed well guess what later on everyone's gonna bow to Jesus Christ okay another thing that we can see here is that though Joseph excuse me though Joseph's father rebuked Joseph the Bible the the chapter ends with him saying that his father observed these sayings well if you remember look at Luke chapter 2 verse 47 and says and all that hurt and were astonished at his understanding and answers and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him son why hast thou thus dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought these sorrowing and he said unto him how is it that he saw me was he not that I must be about my father's business and they understood not the same which he spake unto them and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them but his mother but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man so likewise we see Mary though she doesn't quite understand everything that Jesus was saying she hid those sayings in her heart as well now go with me to first Kings chapter 19 first Kings chapter 19 let me do a bit of a review here so we're talking about the witness of the prophets okay and many of these some of these are not prophets but they are prophets in the sense that they're prophesying of the coming Christ we see number one the first example was Adam Adam was an example of Jesus Christ because of the colossal impact that he made on mankind he damned all of mankind just as Jesus Christ is making a way for all mankind to be saved we also see the example of Abel Abel was an example because of what his blood said he spoke revenge whereas the Jesus Christ blood speaks redemption then we saw the example of Isaac and of course we see the most obvious one is the fact that Isaac was willing to sacrifice himself we see the example of Joseph and we saw many examples of that his evil report that he brought up the the fact that the sheaves were gonna bow down to him just as the whole world's gonna bow down to Jesus Christ so on and so forth now here's one that I really like and Elijah is a great example of Jesus Christ now obviously when we read the New Testament we see that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah okay excuse me Elijah and that is true okay but if you read the story in first Kings chapter 19 you can't help but see that he is a great picture of Jesus Christ and Elisha is a great picture of the believer Elisha is a picture of the believer now look at first Kings chapter 19 and verse 18 let me take a drink of water here verse 18 says yet I have left my seven thousand in Israel left me seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which has not kissed them now this is a very famous portion of scripture the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal we see that reference referenced in Romans chapter number 11 and the concept there is that in every age in every generation there is always a group of people who God considers the remnant who are living for God and I don't I say without apology that we are that remnant not just us but churches who are like-minded with a soul winning Baptist churches are the remnant why because these churches these people who have not bowed the knee to Baal there were great preachers they did great exploits they see a lot of people say they do great works for God and God sees fit to highlight these people in the Bible okay but in context of what we see in first Kings chapter 19 he says look there's seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal and then he goes into verse 19 so he departed thence and found who Elisha so Elisha was one of those seven thousand so though there were seven thousand not all seven thousand are named but one of them the people who are named is Elisha and if you look later on in Elisha's ministry he actually does some great works for God the power of God was on his life okay and we'll get that in just a little bit but look look at verse 19 says so he departed thence and finally Elisha the son of Shaphat who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him and he with the 12th and Elisha passed by him and cast his mantle on him and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said let me I pray thee kiss my father my mother and then when I follow thee and he said unto him go back again for what have I done to thee and he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and bore their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave them to the people and they did eat then he arose and went after Elisha and ministered unto him so I hope that rings a bell of a story that we see in the Bible in the New Testament you don't have to turn in Luke chapter 9 verse 60 verse 61 it says and another also said Lord I will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell which are at my house at home at my house and Jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to the plow looking back is fit for the kingdom of God now in Luke chapter 9 we see Jesus Christ being a little rough you know the guy's like yeah I need to bury my dad he just died you know and and and Jesus said let the dead bury their dad and we would read something like that like whoa man that's good that's kind of rough but you got to understand that Jesus Christ ministry he only had three years to accomplish the most incredible task that needed to be accomplished you know he didn't have time for people to be lagging it okay so that's why he said that but we see the parallel there with Elisha that he was plowing you know and guess what once he started following Elijah he never looked back now Elijah Elijah ministry was longer than Jesus Christ ministry that's why he was able to wait for him but we see the parallel now go to 2nd Kings chapter 2 and look the same rings true for us today we need to make sure that in order for us to be fit for the kingdom of God in other for us to be fit to preach the kingdom of God it's that's what it's talking about we need to make sure we put our hands to the plow right what is that talking about talking about work talk about soul winning talk about doing great works for God and we can't constantly be looking back okay looking back at your old girlfriend or looking back at the money that you used to have or looking back or whatever it is that's holding you back from going forward for God you need to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ we need to make sure that when we're plowing we're working for the Lord we're not double-minded because the Bible tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways okay look be all in for God make sure you're counting the cost make sure you're building upon that foundation and make sure you're not looking back don't be like remember Lot's wife right when I first got saved I preached a sermon about Lot's wife and I was really into hip-hop and rap before I got saved that's that was basically what we grew up on you know my family put me to sleep listening to rap I'm just kidding but it was basically like that and I remember like it helped me to like rhyme all my my points when I would when I used to when I first started preaching and one of the sermons I can't remember exactly what the theme of the sermon was but I was talking about how hey don't go back to the world don't go back to your flesh and all these things and you know the bad habits they used to have and I use Lot's wife as an example I said look it's nobody's fault if when you turn back you're a pillar of salt and what I was saying was basically you know Lot's wife she looked back she became a pillar of salt well you know what anybody who decides to look back you could become a pillar of salt as well but the only difference is is that you'll be salt without savor cast out to be trodden under the foot of men you know so we got to make sure that that's not us that we're plowing forward and preaching the kingdom of God look at second Kings chapter two verse number one and it came to pass when the Lord will take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went went with Elisha from Gilgal so right off the bat we see a good picture of Jesus Christ why because Elijah Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind just as Jesus Christ was received up into the clouds when he ascended up to the right hand of the father verse number two look what it says and Elijah said unto Elisha Terry here I pray thee for the Lord has sent me to Bethel and Elijah said unto him as the Lord live and as thy soul liveth I will not leave thee so they went down to Bethel now we're not going to read the entire portion of scripture but over and over again Elijah is telling Elijah hey Terry here Terry here you don't have to turn to Luke 24 verse 49 Jesus the scripture that we started off with says and behold I send the promise of my father upon you but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high so we see almost the same instructions being given there as well look at the Bible says in verse number seven and 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off and they too stood by Jordan and Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither so that they too went over on dry ground and it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee and Elisha said I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me and he said thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be done it shall be sowed unto thee but if not it shall not be so now go with me if you would to uh John chapter 16 John chapter 16 and I'm sure you know where I'm going with this because it's not pretty obvious what's taking place here so Elijah is about to be taken up into a whirlwind he says what do you want from me before I leave and he goes I want a double portion of what you have okay what he's saying was I want the power of God on my life just as you did great works I want to do double of those great works you don't have to turn there you're in John 16 I'm gonna read to you from John 14 it says in verse 15 if you love me keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you look at John 16 verse 7 nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you so the Bible's telling us here that when Jesus Christ ascended that's actually when when the Holy Spirit began to indwell the believer in the Old Testament the spirit of God will come upon the believers upon great men of God but in the New Testament we're given the promise that when Jesus Christ ascended he would be indwelling the believers but guess what had to happen he had to ascend just as Elijah said hey if you see me ascend I'm gonna send you that double portion of my spirit but if you don't see me then you're not gonna get it okay look at John chapter 14 go to John chapter 14 he said well hold on a second you know in in John he's just gonna send a spirit but you know in what Elijah's asking for is a double portion of his spirit how does that make any sense well look at John chapter 14 and verse number 12 it says verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my father the Bible says so what do we see with Elijah he did greater works than Elijah in fact he did double the miracles that Elijah was able to do why because he had the double portion of his spirit and likewise in the New Testament us as believers guess what we get a double portion as well though we have one spirit we can do greater works than yea even Jesus Christ that's blasphemous he said it he says it right there and greater works than these shall ye do you know what that tells me if God has given me the green light to do greater works than Jesus Christ let's do it you know I don't want to live this just mediocre just boring average Christian life you know what I want to do I want to do greater works I want the double portion of God's spirit to do greater works I want to be like Elisha who didn't live in the past with Elijah and say man I can't be like Elijah you know I can't be like the great man of God I can't be like a Jack Hiles like a J. Frank Norris no yeah you're right you can't be like them you actually be greater than them you know and the greatest man you know that ever lived obviously the Bible talks about John the Baptist but the greatest man it was Jesus Christ he did the greatest works yet the Bible tells us that we can do greater works than him are you talking about the miracles no I'm not talking about the miracles because look miracles are temporal every person that Jesus Christ brought back to life died again you know all the food that he multiplied people ate and it was gone okay miracles are great and everything but you know they're temporal I'm talking about the words of soul winning I'm talking about seeing people saved I'm talking about when we went to the mission stripper we saw 700 excuse me not 700 377 people saved I'm talking about a church here that we've seen over 1800 people saved in just a little over a year that is a greater work year one down year two to go year 20 you know we want to make sure that as the years go by that we're doing the greater works why because we have a double portion of the spirit of God you know but it's not practical you know the way you guys do ministry the way you preach and the way you guys do all those things it just doesn't work you know it's you're not you're going to scare people away I the people here I haven't scared any of you have I I haven't seen anybody walk out yet I mean we had someone walk out a couple months ago but hey you know gotta replace them amen we believe in replacement theology when one leaves another one comes back okay look it's we just need to trust God you know we need to make sure that we're asking God for a double portion of his spirit what is that we're talking about the power of God in our lives you know we talked about it on Thursday that we ought to prove ourselves as the ministers of God through the power of God the holy ghost you know it's good to be practical we we do practical things at our church but more than anything we need people who are relying on God okay you're like man but I'm not eloquent good you need the power of God then you're going to become more reliant upon him and every single person in this church can't be some self-proclaimed just talented christian you need to make sure that you're asking you're praying for the power of God in your life God fill me with your holy spirit to preach the word of God boldly that I may see people saved that I may do great works for thee so we can be just like Elijah and in fact another parallel that we see with Elijah is that even though Jesus Christ died 2000 years ago and he resurrected his life is still affecting people today well there's a story in the bible and I don't know the exact passage it just came to me where Elijah or excuse me Elijah is buried and his bones are there there's a group of men who are going to bury another man and some some some of the opposing nations who they were beefing with they come and what do they do they throw the body into the grave of Elijah's grave and what happens that guy comes to life because even his bones have power you know we want to make sure that just as Jesus Christ's life even though it was 2000 years ago that he was on this earth is still affecting lives today then guess what our lives will still affect people years from now okay then we will make such an impact that we will be affecting the second generation that our life even when we're when we're gone we being dead yet speaking okay through youtube amen all right now let's see here go with me go back to first kings excuse me second kings chapter two we're almost done second king chapter two and look at verse number 11 says when it came to pass excuse me let me make sure I have the right passage here yeah second kings verse number 11 it says and it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and part of them both asunder and elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven and elijah saw and he cried my father my father the chariot of israel and the horseman thereof and he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces and he took up also the mantle of elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of jordan and he took the mantle of elijah that fell from him and smote the waters and said where is the lord god of elijah and when he also had smitten the waters they parted hither and thither and elijah went over by the way i like elijah you know he's grieving over the fact that his master was taken from him but immediately what does he do puts on the mantle what does he start smiting the waters doing the same exact thing that elijah did he didn't waste any time and here's the good principle is that once you get saved just hop right in the water's fine okay you know peter where's peter is he here peter got baptized on thursday and you know if you've been baptized here you know we're not very kind when it comes to baptism we're working on it right it's a little cold that's what i'm saying you know you have people they're just like they're like having a seizure while they're getting in seconds it's so cold peter he's just like boop he's like wasn't shaking or nothing it's like man this guy's got it you know he's he's manning up hey man but you know what that's how we need to be in our christian lives is that as soon as we get saved let's just hop right in don't wait to that major event in your life you know i'm gonna start soul winning and i'm gonna start going to church i'm gonna start getting serious about the things of god once x y and z takes place no do it now okay now's the time to start doing things for god you know boast not thyself with tomorrow for that no it's not what a day may bring forth and that's what elijah is doing here verse 15 says when the sons of the prophets which were which were to view at Jericho saw him they said the spirit of elijah doth rest on elijah and they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him and they said and said behold now there be with thy servants 50 strong men let them go we pray thee and seek thy master let's pray adventure the spirit of the lord hath taken them up and cast them upon the mountain or into some valley and he said ye shall not sin so what do we see there well we see 50 servants just as jesus christ was seen above 50 men you know after his resurrection before his ascension and a funny thing here that we see is that these 50 men they're like hey um we got 50 strong guys you know we should go on and look for elijah in case you know god just took him up and you know he didn't take him all the way and he just dropped him off on some mountain or something you know but elijah knew he's like well you're not gonna find him you're not gonna find him and when they urged him verse 17 till he was ashamed he said send they send their four 50 men and they sought three days but found him not and when they came against him for he tarried at jericho he said unto him did not i say unto you go not now go to act chapter one this is the last passage we're going to act chapter one because we're going to look at a similarity that we see here in act chapter number one so what happens he's taken up by a whirlwind the spirit comes upon elijah he begins immediately to do great works you know and look once you first get saved the the the thing you need to hop into other than church is soul winning we're not saying you have to go out there and actually preach the gospel but go with someone go see it done go see a live birth you know of someone getting saved all right so these 50 men they come to light let's go look from here they're gazing to look for elijah and elijah says hey he's not there and look what act chapter one verse number seven says and he said unto them uh it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father has put in his own power but you shall receive power after that the holy ghost has come upon you and he shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem and in all judaea and in samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the earth and when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said ye men of galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven so you see the parallel there just as these men were gazing looking for elijah you know these guys were just like and then the angels coming like hey guys he's not there anymore you know he's going to come back again in like manner is what he's going to do and look the the the spiritual application that we make to that is look we're not to be like pre-tribbers amen right just gazing like he's coming right now right now no he's not you know occupy till i come the bible says and there are certain events that we do got to look for for the second coming of christ but the main event is not the second coming of christ that we're looking for you know obviously the anti-christ has to come and the six seals and so on and so forth but we need to make sure that we're not like these pre-tribbers we're just we just want to head out as soon as possible you know no occupy till i come okay making sure we're working we're not just gazing elijah or excuse me elijah was just like you guys are just looking for nothing he's not coming right now all right you know we need to go to work is what we need to go do and a lot of pre-tribbers the reason why they're so lazy is because they're gazing they need to make sure that they're looking onto the fields that are white already to harvest instead of looking to see when jesus christ is coming okay so what did we learn today we learned that in the old testament there's many many pictures and we've only scratched the surface okay there's a lot of people in the old testament to picture him we saw of course adam we saw able um isaac uh we saw also who do we go over here i already forgot adam able isaac joseph and lastly we saw elijah okay elijah and elijah and so i hope that that sermon i hope these these scriptures that we looked at would would would put a fire in your heart to say man i want to find some stuff like that this is great look that goes to show you that if you're only stuck in the new testament you need to put yourself in the old testament as well okay because they both work hand in hand with one another and you'll get a greater understanding when you compare both all right let's go ahead bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the word of god thank you so much for these scriptures that you've placed within your word and these gems and i pray god that you'd help us to be like these great men of god and lord you said that we're ambassadors for christ we're supposed to be representing the lord may our lives reflect uh our savior and i pray god that you'd help us to do so and bless the soul wanting to follow and all there is and in jesus name we pray amen