Sweet Will of God - King’s Heralds God So Loved the World - King’s Heralds

Sweet Will of God - King’s Heralds God So Loved the World - King’s Heralds

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Voice Of Prophecy

H.M.S. Richards

Christ, Israel’s Messiah


My Stubborn Will My stubborn will at last hath yielded, I would be thine and thine alone. And this the prayer my lips are bringing, my lips are praying, Lord, let in me Thy will be done. Sweet will of God, still pulls me closer, till I am wholly lost in Thee. Shun him with thee, O Lord, forever, My wayward feet no more to roam. What power from thee my soul can sever, The center of God's will, my home.

Sweet will of God, still pulls me closer, till I am wholly lost in thee. Sweet will of God, Still for me closer, The service today is going to be a great blessing for each of us, I'm sure, as we enjoy the good music and then as we study God's holy word. My father, HMS Richards, is bringing to us now the subject entitled, Christ, Israel's Messiah. It was Dr. William Ng, well-known dean of St.

Paul's Cathedral in London, who once said, I have no fear that the candle lighted in Palestine years ago will ever be put out. And we agree. The candle of Christ's life and influence and teachings will never be put out no matter what happens in the world. He himself said, I am the light of the world. John 8, 12.

And why is this? Why do men in every section of the world revere his name. Why do we find him honored as the great teacher and philosopher and leader of men by pagan, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders? Why is it? Our answer is that he was more than a mere man.

He was actually the promised Messiah of Holy Scripture. He was the Light of the World. Through many centuries, ancient prophets of God had pointed forward to the coming of 1 whom they called the Messiah or the Anointed 1 or as we say, the Christ. All 3 names mean the same, by the way. Turn to the margin in John 1, verse 41, and you'll see that.

Was Jesus Christ the Messiah of the prophets? Let us take a brief look at some of the things the ancient Hebrew prophets said about the coming Messiah. Now listen carefully. First, in the prophecy of Micah, the 5th chapter, verse 2, we read that the coming Messiah was to have an eternal origin. He was the Son of God prior to His being born to the Blessed Virgin in a way not to be explained by man.

Listen to the exact words of the prophecy. Bethau Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. That's no mere man, that's divinity. Yet the Messiah was to be man also, as we read in Zechariah 13, 7, where the mighty God speaks of, quote, the man that is my fellow, meaning my associate or my equal. In Daniel 7, verse 13, we find the prophet applying the term son of man to 1 who appears before the throne of God.

Messiah was to be a son of Abraham, who was the father of the faithful and the friend of God. Genesis 21. This was fulfilled as we read in Matthew the first chapter where we find Christ's genealogy traced right back to Abraham. Messiah was not to be born according to the ordinary course of nature but as to descend from a pure virgin. In Genesis 3.15 we read the first prophecy of the Messiah or Christ stating that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.

And in Isaiah 7, 14 we read, A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. In fulfillment of these prophecies, be sure to read the story of the miraculous birth of Christ in the first 2 chapters of the Gospel of Luke. And notice this inspired record was written by a physician. Another step forward in the prophecy of the ancient Hebrew prophets is that the coming Messiah was to be born as 1 of the descendants of Isaac and not of Ishmael, both of whom were sons of Abraham. So Jesus Christ sprang from Isaac and not from Ishmael.

As we come a little further down the stream of time, we find that according to the prophet, Messiah was to be the son of Jacob and not of Esau, who were the 2 sons of Isaac. Jesus Christ did descend from Jacob, not his brother Esau. And here's another step. Jacob had 12 sons, but the Messiah was to spring from none other of the 12 than Judah. Jesus Christ claimed Judah as his ancestor in a direct line as you'll see in Matthew 1, verses 1 to 16.

We look down the family line a little farther and we see the prophecy that Messiah was to spring from Jesse, the father of David, king of Israel. And Jesus Christ was indeed his descendant. See Isaiah 11. And Remember this, Jesse had 8 sons and David was the youngest. From none of the 7 older but David alone was Messiah to derive his origin.

Jesus Christ was the son of David. Compare 1 Samuel 16, verse 13 with Matthew 1, chapter 1, verse 16. These facts show why the numerous genealogies of the Bible were recorded. When we are reading the Bible through, sometimes we tire these long lists of names, but they are very important in proving the messiahship of Jesus Christ. The true messiah of the prophets was to be born under very poor conditions when the family would be reduced to a very low estate.

On both his father's and his mother's side, Jesus Christ was of very humble origin, though descended from illustrious ancestors. His father was a carpenter, his mother came from an obscure family. He was also lowly in appearance. According to the prophets, the messenger was to precede the Messiah, preparing the people for his coming. You will find this prophecy in Malachi 3 in the first verse.

And he was fulfilled in the experience of Christ who had a messenger going before him, namely John the Baptist. This forerunner of the Messiah was to be either Elijah himself or 1 in the spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist, Christ's cousin and forerunner, was altogether in the spirit of that great prophet Elijah. Read the first chapter of Mark on this. The forerunner of the Messiah was to preach in the wilderness to prepare the minds of the people for Christ's coming.

Well, John the Baptist did preach in the wilderness of Judea and he himself professed to be sent to prepare the people of that time for the advent of Messiah or Christ. You'll find all this in the third chapter of Matthew. We must hasten along with these prophecies for there are many of them. Here is an important 1. The Messiah was not to be born in Jerusalem, the capital of the country, but in Bethlehem, an obscure village.

By a very peculiar providence, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as we all know. Matthew 2, verse 6. The coming Messiah was to preach the law of God to his countrymen in great congregations as the prophecy of Psalm 40, verse 9 declares. This was fulfilled in the life of Christ as we read in the 4 Gospels. Now here is something that has often been overlooked.

There were 12 tribes of ancient Israel. 2 of the most northern ones were Zebulun and Naphtali. According to the words of the ancient prophets, they were to be greatly distressed but afterwards highly honored and exalted by the appearance of the true Messiah among them. It is an historical fact that these very tribes were the principal ones who suffered in the first great Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-Pileser. But they were afterwards among the very first to enjoy the blessings of Christ's preaching of the gospel and His holy ministry.

They saw His miraculous works among them. Now this prophecy to which I am referring is found in Isaiah 9, first 3 verses, and in 2 Kings 15-29. And its fulfillment you will read in Matthew 4, verse 12, beginning. Another prophecy of Isaiah 9. Now remember, the prophecy of Isaiah was written about a thousand years, well no, 700 years before Christ was born.

And here in the ninth chapter, the ancient Hebrew prophet declared that the true coming Messiah was to converse and preach the gospel in the region of Galilee. That's exactly where Jesus Christ lived, where He taught, that obscure and despicable part of the land of Israel. By way of contempt, he was sometimes called the Galilean. Mark 14, verse 70. Now the Messiah was to have a temple to which he should come when he made his appearance in human flesh.

This prophecy you will find in Malachi 3, written several hundred years before he was born. That Christ did so is clear, for when He came, the Son of God, He claimed the Temple of Jerusalem as His own in a sense that no mere mortal ever could. This we find fulfilled as recorded in Luke 19, 47 and Matthew 21, 12. To some people who had commercialized the precincts of the Holy Temple of God in those days, he said, and I'm reading now from Mark 11, 17, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer. But ye have made it a den of thieves.

Then you remember, he cast them out, their commercial interests were compelled to leave the temple that day. Now there are many other messianic prophecies, that is, prophecies about the Messiah or coming Christ in the Old Testament. We shall mention just A few more here. Now the Holy Messiah is spoken of by the ancient prophets of Israel under the characters of an angel, a messenger, a redeemer, an interpreter, 1 in a thousand, a plant of renown, I'm just giving you some of the names under which he is prophesied, a captain, the beloved of God, the true David. Now there are texts for all of these which I could give you.

Genesis 48, 16, Genesis 32, 24, Hosea 12, 3, and so forth. All of these texts are easy to find in the scriptures. Now according to the New Testament story, Jesus Christ was all of these. He was whatever was peculiar to the character of that august being, the promised Messiah. Now we have given scriptural references for these prophecies and their fulfillments.

There are many more prophecies of the Messiah which were accurately and literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ's life, in his ministry and character which we must consider at some other time. But we have given enough today to convince the earnest and honest heart of any man or woman that Jesus of Nazareth, called by Christians the Lord Jesus Christ, was the actual fulfillment and fulfiller in person of the prophecies of the Holy Messiah of the ancient prophets of Israel. There's no doubt about it. He fulfilled these prophecies literally and actually and in his own person. You can read them for yourself in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament and read the full family in the New Testament.

Remember, there were 400 years between those 2 testaments. There could be no collusion, whatever. The prophecies of the glorious Messiah are twofold. Throughout the Old Testament we read of the glory of the Messiah who was to come as a king, as a mighty ruler, as a conqueror over all the foes of God and Israel. There are also prophecies of the same Messiah which picture him as a suffering servant of God, as 1 who was spit upon, cruelly treated, and even put to death.

Now these 2 lines of prophecy confuse some in ancient times, but they really proved the actual messiahship of Jesus Christ who fulfilled both lines of prophecy. He was not only the suffering servant of our necessities, but He is to come the second time as Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He was to come and die for the sins of the whole world. That's right in the prophecies for both Jew and Gentile. But he is to come again and rule from David's throne, just as the prophet said.

His kingdom shall reach from sea to sea, as the prophecy said, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 9.10. Every human being, every non-Christian, every pagan, every Muslim, every man of Israel, every Christian should study the claims of Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ, the Messiah of Israel's prophets. Millions are doing so and every year tens of thousands, yes, hundreds of thousands are accepting his claims. This is not a matter that should be treated with neglect or with prejudice.

The claims of Jesus Christ should have an honest hearing and earnest consideration. If Christ is the true Messiah, it would not only be a mistake but a terrible tragedy to neglect him or to reject him. Why not study these ancient prophecies? Why not see if Jesus Christ actually is the Messiah? Here is what he said himself to some men who in his day had not given proper attention to this great subject.

Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. John 5, 39. Those very scriptures of the ancient prophets testified of him, prophesied of him. Then he continued with sadness, and ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Some years ago the principal of the English Mission College in Cairo, Egypt, received a letter from a Japanese Buddhist whose children had been attending his school. The letter contained this question, Who is John 3.16?

My children are always talking about him." The principal sent a note back at once explaining that John 3.16 was not a man but a verse in a book. Soon he received another letter from the father with the request, Can you supply me with a copy of the book? Of course, a copy of the New Testament was sent to him. It was not long until the principal of the school received a third letter saying that he and all the members of his family had accepted Christ as the true Messiah and Savior of the world. And how does John 3.16 read?

Let's read it to you. Let's repeat it all together. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Sounds good, doesn't it? And it's true.

Just try it and see. And this is the word of the Lord to you. Incline your ear and come unto me. Here and your soul shall live. God so loved the world, God so loved the world, of the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso believeth, believeth in him, be ye worth in Him.

Should not perish, should not perish, but have everlasting life. God said not his soul into the world to condemn the world. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, That also believeth, believeth in him, Should not perish, should not perish, but have everlasting life, everlasting life, everlasting, everlasting life. Everlasting, everlasting world.

God's own love, the world.

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Christ, Israel’s Messiah

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