Jesus in the Old Testament

God's promise to end sin. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” ~ Genesis 3:15

God's promise of sending a prophet like Moses.“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— " ~Deuteronomy 18:15

 God's covenant promise with David."When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." ~2 Samuel 7:12-13

The reign of God's Son. "Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." ~Psalm 2:10-12

God's Son has descended from Heaven. "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!" ~Proverbs 30:4

The Righteous Branch. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.'" ~Jeremiah 23:5-6

He was wounded for our transgressions. "Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." ~Isaiah 53:4-12

The Son of Man is given dominion. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." ~Daniel 7:13-14

This is just several references to Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." ~Matthew 5:17

Piper : How Much Does God Love This Church?

If My Words abide in You: John Piper

1 Samuel 8

Israel Demands a King

8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel's Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

Background: Lecrae

Hebrews 10

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”

17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Paradise

Justified

I Need a Friend

   I can't do it alone. I can not say it any more clearer. I can not live my life on my own strength, my own will power, my own faith, my own performance, my own character. I need help. Thanks be to God that He gives friendships, and enables us to love one another, and build one another up, and lean on one another through trials.
  "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." ~Proverbs 17:17
   Fairly recently I had an altercation with a dear friend that I care about. Some words were exchanged, my pride and self-esteem was hurt, and the end result wasn't pleasant. At times in life like this I am often compelled to do whatever I can to make things right. I hate not being at peace, I hate not getting along, and I can't stand the heart ache that broken friendships can bring. One can see how powerful the words of a friend can be in Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
   I believe that friendships are often taken too lightly in modern times. People have a weak sense of friendship and commitment to one another. If we look at the example of Jonathan and David from the Bible, we can understand that their friendship was a mighty one. The Bible tells us that their friendship was such a loving friendship that their love for one another passed the love of women. This image that we get of friendship, I believe, is how we ought to be in our friendships. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And Jesus said the second one is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
   How amazing is that? That our greatest commandment as believers, as disciples of Jesus, is to love God with everything we got, and at the same time Jesus says the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, is like it. From these two passages, there is a direct correlation with loving God and loving people. And so truly we can rationally see that a broken relationship with God has a distinct connection with broken relationships with others.
  So if relationships with mere strangers is to love them as ourselves, how much more ought we to love those who are nearest to us?
   I want to know that you love me. I do not want to be confused or mislead about that. I need a friend in my life who is looking out for my best interests. I need a friend who loves me at all times. I need a friend that points me to Christ and builds me up in my faith and encourages me to persevere.
   "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." ~1 John 3:16
Do you love God? Prove it. Do you love me? Prove it. Friends love at all times.

God has Appointed Time

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He saw that it was good. From the book of Genesis we can see that God made everything. He spoke all things into existence. But there is one problem we all face. Man sinned, and the fall of man cursed the earth with sin.
And in the beginning,God promised to reverse this curse. Look at Genesis 3:15. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
 We have a sin problem, and everyday we all are faced with life and the ups and downs that come along with it.
There is a time for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 explains:
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."

The bottom line to life is, DON'T WASTE IT.
God will bring every act into judgment, whether good or evil. And the one man he will send back to judge the world will be Jesus.
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." ~Acts 17:30-31

Alistair Begg: Paul in Acts 26, part 3

Alistair Begg: Paul in Acts 26, part 2

Alistair Begg: Paul in Acts 26

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
  Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
  Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
  he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 121

 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
  My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
  Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.  

 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
  The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
  The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.