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Voice Of Prophecy

H.M.S. Richards

Man of Mystery


We're happy to be with you today for this worship service, and let us each 1 be praying earnestly that God will bless us as we study His Word. My father, HMS Richards, is bringing to us now the interesting subject entitled, Man of Mystery. Have you ever been in New York City? Yes, well, have you seen the Rockefeller Center in Radio City? There's an inscription on 1 of the frescoes at the eastern entrance of that place which reads, Man's ultimate destiny depends not on whether he can learn new lessons or make new discoveries and conquests, but on his acceptance of the lesson taught close upon 2000 years ago.

This, of course, refers to the teachings of Christ. And this leads to the question, who was Jesus Christ? A great teacher? Yes. A great philosopher?

Yes. A great leader? Certainly. A genius? Many say so.

A monumental character? True. He has dominated the ages since, but unless Jesus Christ is more than all of these, He is not the Christ prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. In the Holy Bible He is plainly declared to be the Son of God, Not merely as all true believers are the sons of God through faith, but the Son of God through the divine miracle of the Incarnation. In this He differs from all who were ever born before or since.

He is the Man of Mystery. Listen to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3, 4. He declares that God by revelation made known unto him the mystery, whereby, when ye read, he says, ye may understand my knowledge in the Mystery of Christ. In our day the word mystery carries the meaning of something that no 1 can understand, but it was a little different in the Apostle's day. In his writings the word connotes something which, though incapable of being fully understood by mere human reason, has been made known by Divine Revelation.

In this case, it was God's eternal purpose to save His fallen creatures through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. But this wonderful plan was not made known fully until Jesus came. As the Apostle states in Romans 16, 26, Now it is made manifest, he says, that is, since the coming of Christ as the Savior of mankind. During all the long ages, from the creation of the world to the birth of Jesus, men went on in their blindness. There are many people in the world like that today, though the prophecies that pointed forward to Christ's coming as the world's Savior have been fulfilled, and the record of His wonderful life and death and resurrection is available to anyone who can read.

Still, there are millions who do not know of God's great plan of salvation, or if they have heard of it, pay no attention to it. Of course, it was just like that when Jesus was actually here on earth. Some people say, if I could only see Him and know all that He did personally, I'd believe in Him. Well, what about those people who did see Him? What about those brainy men in old Jerusalem who had the definite reports of His miracles, even saw some of them?

They heard him teach, they saw him in person, heard his voice, but did not recognize him. They certainly didn't understand God's eternal purpose to save sinners by faith in Jesus Christ. This wonderful truth, this glorious plan, this hidden mystery, they did not discern. As the Apostle says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." 1 Corinthians 2, 7, 8. Of course they should have recognized Him for what He really was.

As 1 great writer said, his patience should have proved it to them. The writings of the Old Testament prophets under divine inspiration had predicted that Christ would come and describe to him. They had those books. By the way, have you read such books as Isaiah and Jeremiah? Have you read the Psalms?

Have you read the so-called Minor Prophets from Daniel on to Malachi? Have you read the books of Moses? Read them. Remember, these books were written many centuries before Christ was born, some of them over a thousand years before, yet their predictions were fulfilled. Jesus came and did the very things predicted in their prophecies.

First, it was predicted many centuries before it came to pass that Messiah, that is Christ, should come into the world for the redemption of human beings. That's the very first prophecy in the Bible. You'll find it here in Genesis 3.15. Some have called it the first sermon ever preached, preached by God Himself there in the Garden of Eden, to a congregation of 3, Adam and Eve and the Serpent. Read this wonderful verse.

Notice the text in the margin. You'll see it's a prophecy of Christ, that someday He would redeem the world and destroy the devil and all his works. From the time this promise was made, Serious-minded people looked forward to the coming of the Redeemer to bless the world. Second, the Messiah or Christ, for the 2 words mean exactly the same thing, namely the 1 who was anointed to do God's work and save men, is frequently prophesied of under the character of Him who was to come. Jesus Christ is several times described by the writers of the New Testament as the Messiah.

There are many texts that prove this. And compare these Old Testament texts such as Psalms 118 and Isaiah 35 and Daniel 9, were the New Testament texts mentioned in the margin of your Bible. You'll see that Jesus Himself and also the Apostles referred to these ancient prophecies of the Messiah. They applied them to Jesus. Third, in ancient times there were to be 4 great monarchies in the world, 4 great kingdoms, 1 succeeding another.

It was foretold that the Messiah would appear under the last of these 4 great powers. So true it was, Christ was born under the empire of Rome, which was the fourth from Babylon, counting Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. History proves it. In the fourth place, the Messiah was to come before the destruction of the second temple, which had been built by Herod. This was fulfilled, for Christ preached in that very temple, and then it was finally destroyed by the Romans 40 years later.

The Prophecies in Haggai, the second chapter, the Fulfillment, Matthew 21. In the fifth place, the Messiah, or Christ, was to come into the world before the dominion of the Jews was taken away. And it is a fact that Christ was born a little before the entire overthrow of their Kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem. Sixth, Christ, or Messiah, was to make His appearance at a time of general peace following dreadful wars. So it was fulfilled.

When Christ came into the world, the Roman wars had just ended. The Temple of Janus, the two-faced god of Rome, was shut in Rome, and universal peace reigned throughout the empire. Read any good Roman history on this. Seventh, Messiah was to come when men everywhere were in general expectation of Him. When Christ did appear, all nations were looking for some extraordinary person to come.

8. Messiah was to have existed with God before the foundations of the world were laid. Now this is something that many do not realize, but it is a fact and prophecy declared. Proverbs 8, 22 is a sample. This was fulfilled in Christ's advent.

As we read in John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. All things were made by Him. Christ was with the Father in the creation of the world. And now comes a very important point, often overlooked by both Christian and non-Christian students and thinkers. It is our ninth point.

The Messiah was to be 1 who had been the fellow or the equal and companion of the Almighty God. Jesus Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and was with Him from eternity. This is the plain statement of Scripture. Now let us prove this by reading first the prophecy, then the fulfillment. The prophecy is in Zechariah 13, 7.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." Notice this prophecy was written by the great Hebrew prophet Zechariah over 400 years before Jesus was born. In verse 6 of the 13th chapter, he speaks about the wounds in the hands of the Messiah, and then in the 7th verse, God speaks of the man that is my fellow. The shepherd is to be smitten, the sheep scattered. Jesus applied this text to himself as we read in Matthew 26, verse 31.

All ye shall be offended because of me this night, said Jesus in those solemn hours, for it is written, and then he quotes this very prophecy of Zechariah, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered." There is no doubt this prophecy refers to him. He is the man who is the fellow of the Lord of hosts, prophesied hundreds of years before. Messiah was to be the Son of God. The great apostle himself tells us that Jesus thought it not something to be clung to, to be desired to be more than the redemption of man, to be equal with God. He was willing to make himself of no reputation, to empty himself of his heavenly glory, to come down to this earth to be our Redeemer, born as a babe in Bethlehem.

He walked and talked and worked and lived and suffered as a man among men, and yet at the same time as the Son of God was crucified for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven. All these prophecies, my friends, were fulfilled. Jesus did all these things. All these things happened to Him. In This way he was revealed as the Son of God and proved to be the very 1 to whom the prophecies had been pointing for so many hundreds of years.

All non-Christians should consider these facts. All Christians should know about them. These are facts about Jesus Christ, the Man of Mystery. This means that He was, as He claimed to be, the Son of God, and being so, we cannot ignore him. The first words of Jesus recorded in the scriptures were those spoken in the Holy Temple at Jerusalem, when as a lad of 12 he explained his tarrying there in the city.

He said to his mother, Wist ye not, or do ye not know, that I must be about my father's business? Read those words in Luke 2.49. The last words spoken by him before commending his soul to his father were, It is finished. John 19.30 He had completed his assignment. He was completing his atoning sacrifice upon the cross, and since he is the Son of God who fulfilled prophecy, the man of mystery, the 1 who shows us God's plan for our salvation, what shall we say, what shall we do about him?

The doctors in the temple were amazed. The multitudes who heard him were astonished. The disciples marveled. The people at the town of Nazareth wondered. The devils believed and trembled.

Jesus impressed men everywhere with his uniqueness. He was different. No 1 could explain him on ordinary lines. They said, whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? He was a puzzle to them, an enigma, a marvel.

He was God's man of mystery because the people of his day did not understand the prophecies and did not realize who he was. It was his disciple Peter who could account for Jesus only by confessing that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And that's exactly who He was and who He is this very day. Will you not give your allegiance to Him now? Will you not be his disciple?

Will you not accept him as your personal Savior? Why not say yes today? Oh, Listen to our wondrous story, counted once among the lost. Yet 1 came down from Heaven's glory saving us at all for cost who saved us from eternal but God's Son But God's Son upon the cross He died for you Barely within heaven interceding Will you surrender to this Savior? To his scepter humbly bow.

To his scepter humbly bow. You too shall come to know his favor. He will save you, save you now. Who saved us from eternal harm? But God's Son upon the cross.

What did he do? He died for you. Where is he now? Mary, will in heaven intercede.

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Man of Mystery

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