It’s A Wrap! Conclusion Of The 29 Prophecies Of Christ.

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Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2021 11:58:50 GMT

Grace Bible Church

Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin

Tree Of Life

Week Ending 06-27-21

God has done some amazing things - and we have had some amazing things happen to us these past few weeks - and for those who may not have heard this Sundays offering discussion, -- we mentioned how we will soon have unlimited space for our website which means that we can have our many thousands of doctrines available at no charge throughout the world at a click of the button.

Often we may take for granted the message of grace, eternal security, and the mystery doctrines, and all that God has blessed us with in this client nation. But there are still many people - God’s children out in some of these 3^rd world countries - and they are starving for the word of God and sound, dispensational, exegetical teaching. So let’s not take anything for granted, giving thanks to God daily for all that we have, and let’s remember that God is still at work in each and every single one of our lives! It is a privilege to fight the good fight of faith beside each of you.

1Co 2:9 "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived' -- the things God has prepared for those who love him--”

That’s why we are excited and grateful for all that God is doing in our lives and all that He is doing through this ministry for the lives of His children around the world, - in spite of what Satan and the KOD try to do.

2Co 13:8 "For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth."

Let’s begin by noting the Sixth Saying of our Lord from the cross, - which has to do with that word “Tetelestai - it is finished” - and it’s interesting how the Holy Spirit brings all this together,

- because we are going to begin finishing (or closing out) our 29 Prophecy Fulfillment study with that word or phrase “Tetelestai, it is finished”.

We are going to examine why our Lord said “it is finished”, and how that relates to the foretelling of these many prophecies we have been noting.

Joh 19:29-30 “A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon {a branch of} hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth.” When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.”

Now, first of all, it’s very important that we don’t miss out on these principles, so we have a little repetition for us here: there were actually two times that they tried to give our Lord wine, one time He accepted it, the other time He did not. Last time we looked at the two separate and unique occasions in depth and detail, but for review, one time He was fulfilling a prophecy found in the Word of God, Ps 69:21, which was to receive the wine. The other time, while He was on the cross, we noted that the offered beverage contained a drug to dull the senses and alleviate pain, as well as a toxic effect to speed up the death process. We know that our Lord knew He had to maintain His full awareness and mental faculties in order to fulfill all the prophecies and He refused any kind of escape; He wanted to experience it fully, and He wanted to complete God’s plan to the letter! As scripture says, He was “obedient even unto death” (Php 2:8).

One of the most incredible amazing points that Pastor has taught us over the years is the fact that after He said “it is finished”, He was still not finished with fulfilling the will of God. When the Lord Jesus Christ uttered the word ‘tetelestai’, the perfect, passive, indicative of ‘teleo’, He revealed the fact that the work of salvation was totally complete or finished.

-The perfect tense means that - He finished it in the past, with the result that it goes on being finished forever.

-The passive voice means - we receive the action of the work being finished because He already did all the work for us.

-The indicative mood says - this is a dogmatic statement of fact.

We should love that!  And here’s why: after we are saved, sometimes we may wonder - why doesn’t God just take us to heaven right after we are saved?

The answer to that is: - because while the work of salvation was complete in itself, the result of that work wasn’t, the sense that God saved us not only for a ticket to heaven, but to be workers in the vineyard (Mat 20:1-16). He created a unique spiritual life for us which only we as individuals can live, no one can live it for us! He made us a new creation (2Co 5:13), a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Ti 2:14), to be His ambassadors (2Co 5:20).

Many believers today think that Salvation is the primary goal of Christianity, that we just get saved and then try to be moral and charitable and sing songs once a week, and that’s the totality of the Christian life. But the truth is, Salvation is only the beginning! They are essentially signing up for the military but never going to basic training and never attending their assigned post – it is left vacant!

So you see, for years we have thought that when He said “it is finished” - that He meant that He had fulfilled the entire plan of God, but there was more for Him to fulfill even after that. He still had some more prophecies to fulfill, like Ps 69:21; and Ps 31:5:

Ps 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Ps 31:5 Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.

So let’s ask a question about our Lord: Why did He come?

1. To do the will of God:

Joh 4:34 “He said My food or nourishment is to do the will or the pleasure of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work.”

Joh 5:30 “He said I do not seek or consult My own will or I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.”

Joh 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Not to do the will of Sam, or the will of John, or the will of Pastor Bob, but to do the will of God!

This shows us that our lives are just beginning from the completion of His work.

So then, why are we here, even after salvation?

To do the will of God!

He 10:7 "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come {In the roll of the book it is written of Me} To do Thy will, O God."

To carry our cross!

Mat 16:25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

And it’s not until we recognize this and then determine what is God’s plan for our lives, and learn that He has provided everything necessary for that even in eternity past (2Pe 1:3, Eph 1:4) that then our lives will have meaning.

For our life to have meaning in the PPOG - we have to know the answer to the question - what does God want me to do? After salvation, what?

After salvation is when life begins and we begin to learn the word of God, - we learn the principles of why we are here, such as:

-Thy mystery doctrine of the Church Age

-The indwelling and the filling of the Spirit

-the Predesigned Plan Of God and how Christ demonstrated it for us in His humanity

-The angelic conflict as the primary context of human history

-Rebound and the faith-rest drill

-The spiritual skills and the 10 Problem-solving devices (10 PSD’s)

-How to apply and employ all of these things and more to glorify God to the maximum by executing and fulfilling His PPOG - becoming an invisible hero!

We undertake this commanded endeavor to feed the sheep...

Eph 4:12-16 “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

And therefore in all these passages, when He said "tetelestai, meaning it is finished, there were still at least two more prophecies He needed to complete or fulfill.

Joh 19:28  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."

He then also fulfilled:

Psa 31:5 Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.

Concerning His suffering these prophesies are fulfilled in every detail, - we are not talking about fulfilling His future after His suffering. We are talking about the prophecies that were fulfilled in order that - there could be NO denying - that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. And how many prophecies were there that were fulfilled? There are many but we are going to go over the 29 of them that we have been studying, we will recap them all in this synopsis.

1. The first prophecy, the oldest of all, had been given by God at the time of Adam and Eve's sin.

GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

Notice the seed of a woman, - the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ through His mother Mary and then also us, - as we come into the world as a seed. Here we are told that the serpent would bruise the seed of the woman.  Did it happen? Absolutely.

Our Lord said He was going to actually crush the head of the serpent.

And by the way, - the serpent was going to bruise Him on the heel - because that was the only length that satan could get up to - because our Lord was going to be lifted up above the earth for the whole world to see…

Joh 12:31-33 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”

What happened when He was lifted up? He was lifted up above the head of the serpent - and He crushed the serpent on the head.

2. The betrayal of Jesus by Judas was foretold by David.

Our Lord finished the work on the cross. Why? Because He was betrayed by Judas and it was for told by David:

Ps 41:9 Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

And then we have the fulfillment:

Mk 14:10  And Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests, in order to betray Him to them. And they were glad when they heard {this,} and promised to give him money. And he {began} seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

3. Jesus Christ would be forsaken by His disciples, as prophesied by Zechariah.

Zec 13:7  "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate," Declares the Lord of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.

That was fulfilled by the way, when all the disciples left Him:

Mk 14:50 “And they all left Him and fled.”

More prophecy of the fact that the work was finished. Already we’re getting a glimpse of the finished work in process here with all of these prophecies. I know that many of these are familiar to us, but as Pastor would say: Don’t get familiar! -- I think he even has a whole doctrine on familiarity too!

4. The price of His betrayal was also foretold by Zechariah.

Zec 11:12 “And I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give {me} my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty {shekels} of silver as my wages.”

Learn these prophecy principles…

Learn it -- Know it -- and this is how you witness - and become a part of the plan of God - after your totally convinced of what happened at salvation.

And how do we know that this actually happened:

Mat 26:15 “and [Judas] said, ‘What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?’ And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.”

5. Then Zechariah also foretold what would be done with the betrayal money.

You see, our Lord didn’t just tell us how much money the betrayal price would be, He also tells us what they are going to do with it:

Zec 11:13 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, {that} magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty {shekels} of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.”

We call this the potter’s field in the book of Acts. This is where Judas Iscariot hung himself, and then his guts fell out, or his body fell off the tree and burst open on the rocks.

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:3-7 “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See {to that} yourself!" And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.” And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood." And they counseled together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers.

6. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would be sacrificed as the Passover Lamb of God.

Isa 53:7 "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter."

Fulfilled:

1Co 5:7 "For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us;"

These things are exciting to us - and you’ll see why when we get to the end of this study.

One of the things we are actually going to be doing is adding all 29 of these prophecy and fulfillments to our book -Do You Believe The Bible Is The Word Of God - that book my dad wrote many years ago. Look at how 1^st Peter 1 reveals that Christ as our Passover Lamb:

1Pe 1:18 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

7. Isaiah also prophesied the scourging and mocking that He would suffer.

Isa 50:6 “I gave My back to those who strike {Me,} And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:27-30 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole {Roman} cohort around Him. And they stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they kneeled down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spat on Him, and took the reed and {began} to beat Him on the head.”

Think of a time someone attacked you, physically or even verbally, or when someoen made fun of you. Think of a time when you were falsely accused of something shameful or embarrassing, remember the way that felt! Remember that wave of heat filling up your whole body, the power of the emotions, and you probably cried out and defended yourself without even thinking, just reflexively – “that is a lie!!”

Imagine this is you, accused of crimes you didn’t commit, railroaded by the people you are trying to help, all of them blatantly lying about you – they see you as a threat, but they just don’t get it...now they are punching you, kicking you, spitting and throwing salt on your bloody open wounds, calling you every brutal insult, even plucking hair out of your face! He really went through all that, for all of them, for me, and for you. Even before this, He was misunderstood and rejected, laughed at or yelled at. His own family even tried to have Him committed at one point, probably feeling afraid of shame because of Him. Nobody enjoys that! It is terribly difficult. We should meditate on this from time to time in remembrance of our Lord’s amazing self-sacrifice!

8. David would also prophesy His physical abuse, PSA 22:17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;

He is referring (prophetically) to the bones in our Lord’s human body. David may have been melodramatic, but Jesus could actually see His bones through His physical human body.

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:26 “Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified.”

μαστιζειν (mastizein), the original Greek word translated "scourge" above has the same root as εμαστιγωσεν (emastigosen), the original Greek word used in Joh 19:1 to state that Jesus was "scourged" by the Romans before His crucifixion, and refers to whipping, lashing or even punishing in general. But φραγελλωσας (phragellosas), the original Greek word translated "having scourged" in Mat 27:26 and Mk 15:15, specifies the whipping that Jesus received from the Romans as having been with the Roman flagellum.

A Roman flagellum was a whip with two or three long leather strips attached to a short wooden handle. Knotted in along the leather strips were pieces of metal and bone that dug into and then tore out flesh during the whipping, which shredded the victim's back from the neck to the buttocks. It wasn't uncommon for the victims of the Roman scourge to die from the ensuing blood loss and/or shock. The victims ribs and shoulder blades would be exposed. Imagine that! Then they threw salt on it! Inhumane! But Jesus was no ordinary man – He endured with His mental faculties intact to the end! Even the most callous observer must have been moved by His strength and endurance.  We know that He relied on spiritual skills and 8 PSD’s from maximum doctrine in His soul!

9. David prophesied the shame and dishonor that Jesus would suffer, being condemned as a criminal.

David said there is going to come a time that the Messiah would be shamed and dishonored as a criminal prophesied in Ps 69:9, 19 & 20.

Ps 69:9 “For zeal for Thy house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me.”

Ps 69:19-20 “Thou dost know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; All my adversaries are before Thee. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none.”

Fulfilled:

Mat 26:55 “At that time Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.”

And they answered and said something, - they said that He is deserving of death in Mat 26:66! He was indeed counted among the transgressors...

10. There would also be cruel and lying witnesses against Him.

Ps 35:11 "Cruel witnesses rose up; they asked me of things that I knew nothing about."

Liars always hate the truth instinctively. Liars also fear the truth, because truth exposes lies, but lies can not expose truth – they attempt to hide it! So liars always fear that the truth will expose them, and they must suppress and discredit and degrade and distort it…. We know a certain heavenly liar who does all of these things! No surprise if the world under his rule is rife with such activity.

Fulfilled:

Mk 14:55-56 “Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death; and they were not finding any. For many  were giving false testimony against Him, and {yet} their testimony was not consistent.”

11. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would not make an effort to defend Himself at His trial.

Isa 53:7 "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."

We must be in control of our thoughts and emotions if we are ever to imitate this feat! IT demands a consistent and stable RMA (relaxed mental attitude) and impersonal love – a love based on love for God and spiritual maturity.

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:13 “Then Pilate *said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" And He did not answer him with regard to even a {single} charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.

12. Isaiah also foretold Jesus Christ's crucifixion as the sin offering for the world.

Isa 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well‑being {fell} upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

Who is healed? According the word of God in ISA 53:6 -ALL OF US!

ISA 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Fulfilled:

Joh 19:16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus [a]and led Him away.

13. Isaiah also had prophesied that He was numbered among the transgressors or lawbreakers.

Isa 53:12  "He was counted among the transgressors."

Fulfilled:

Lk 23:32ff And two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

We are not going to get into this one because DJK did a fantastic job with this one last week for us and it’s still fresh in our minds. We are now ready for number 14 which leads us to the 20^th chapter of the gospel of John.

14. David prophesied that His hands and His feet would be pierced.

Ps 22:16 "Dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled me; they have pierced My hands and My feet."

Here is where we are going to look at Joh 20 beginning with verse 25.

Fulfilled:

Joh 20:25-27 The other disciples therefore were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace {be} with you." Then He *said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing."

15. The parting of His garments was also prophesied by David.

Psa 22:18 "They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture."

Fulfilled:

Joh 19:24 They said therefore to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, {to decide} whose it shall be"; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

They literally left our Lord with absolutely nothing,  -He became poor so that we may be rich…

16. David prophesied that they would give Him vinegar to drink.

Ps 69:21 "They also gave Me gall for My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:34 "They gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; but after tasting it, He would not drink."

We covered in depth last week the two events - one time He did drink the wine or vinegar to show us that He quenched our eternal thirst and another time, at the cross, He would not drink it because He didn’t want anything to diminish His awareness or to diminish the judgment - completely finished work.

17. David also prophesied that many would be watching Jesus during the crucifixion.

Ps 22:17 "The majority look and gloat over Me."

Where was this fulfilled? Fulfilled in Mat 27:36 - notice I’m giving you chapter and verse to back this up -  because someday we’re going to need it as we prove our point of view to people that we love, that’s why we should be trained and as 1Pe 3:15 said, “always be ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope that lies within you.”

Never forget our two royal warrants: Royal priests (1Pe 2:9), and ambassadors for Christ (2Co 5:20). Unbelievers have awareness of God (Rom 1:20-21, Ec 3:11), but they are suppressing it, because they want to live as wild children, doing what is right in their own eyes (Jdg 21:25). For this reason they need to deny the truth whenever they encounter it, to feel strong against the truth, so they will try to pick apart and dismantle our faith to build up their proud wall of unbelief. We need to be prepared for this, so that when they can not overcome our statements, it will put a crack in their protective shell, and this may be enough to weaken it so that it can be broken later or it will crumble under pressure. How do we prepare? Bible doctrine, taught repetitively, until not only can we remember, but we can not forget! We need that quick recall, so that we can fulfill 1Pe 2:9. So now the fulfillment of the prophecy...

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:36 “and sitting down, they {began} to keep watch over Him there.”

Also Luke put it like this:

Lk 23:48  And all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, {began} to return, beating their breasts.

The beating of their breast was a sign of mockery in the ancient world  - and that’s exactly what they did.

18. The Bible says that among those watching would be our Lord's family and friends, who would stand at a distance.

Ps 38:11 My loved ones and my friends stand distant from my plague; And my family members stand afar off.

Have you ever had “fair-weather friends?” Those who were always around when things were good but when you were in a jam, especially where they might be endangered by their association with you, they vanished? Stay with doctrine long enough, it will happen. The more we mature and bear fruit, the more the cosmic system will see us – outside invaders – and instinctively attack. Most people will give you up to save themselves. That’s the sin nature!

Another point: David who wrote many of these prophecies, and do you know why? David, in Act 13:20, was said to be “a man after God’s own heart.” In spite of all David’s failures and major screw-ups, God said that! Why? David had a life of faithfulness and a strong relationship with God, punctuated by a few periods of negative volition. Many of us have lives of negative volition punctuated by a few periods of faithfulness and devotion (and usually only when things are going very bad)!

Fulfilled:

Lk 23:49 “And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee, were standing at a distance, seeing these things.”

19. Some of His observers would shake their heads at Him.

Ps 109:25 "And I also became a reproach to them when they looked upon me; they shook their heads."

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:39  And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads,

They were mocking Him saying  - He’s not the Savior, look at Him -  He can’t even save Himself…

WAGGING THEIR HEADS - and again the wagging of heads was a sign of disgust and rejection, -  disgust and rejection for the very One who was dying for them.

20. Even the words of His detractors were prophesied by David.

Ps 22:8  "He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He  delights in Him!"

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:43-44 "HE HAS TRUSTED IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE TAKES PLEASURE IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’?' And the rebels who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him in the same way."

21. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would make intercession for sinners.

This intercession began even during His crucifixion, - even during His crucifixion  - He had His mind off of His flesh, - His own problems, - and - He was thinking of you and I. I’m sure all through His life He was making intercession for everyone.

Isa 53:12 "He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors."

Fulfilled:

Lk 23:34 "Then Jesus said, `Father, forgive them, for they do not understand what they are doing.' And they divided His garments, and cast lots."

22. David prophesied the thoughts of Jesus at the height of His suffering.

Ps 22:1 "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me, and why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?"

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:46 "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'ELI, ELI, LEMA SABAKTANEI?' that is, 'MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?'"

23. Zechariah taught that His body would be pierced with a spear.

Zec 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me  whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first‑born.”

Fulfilled:

Joh 19:34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.

Interesting side note: Some say that the blood and water refers to Jesus dying of a broken heart, but this ignores some mind-blowing things that are much more amazing than that pithy but untrue statement. Jesus said at the well in Joh 4:13, “whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water which I give him will never thirst again, but will become a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” Water is used in several places by Jesus as a metaphor for spiritual regeneration or for the Word. In Exodus, when Moses struck the rock at Mt Horeb with the rod, and water came out of the side, this points to the cross: The Rock (Christ) was struck with the rod (the Cross), and the water of life (Salvation)came out of its side. The blood and water also connects to the Temple at Jerusalem and the Passover lamb (“Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us”, 1Co 5:7). On Passover, thousands of lambs (without spot or blemish, no bones are broken...can you see it?) were slaughtered. Above the altar was a large cistern full of water, and from the side of the altar was a trough that led down out of the side of the Temple, which carried away the blood. When the last lamb had been slaughtered, the priest opened the cistern and water rushed down the trough, carrying all the blood from the slaughtered lambs out of the side of the Temple. Everything points to Jesus Christ! The only thing more amazing than all that is that so many people who know these things still do not believe!

24. David prophesied that Jesus would commit His spirit to God.

Ps 31:5  "Into Your hand I commit my spirit."

Fulfilled:

Lk 23:46  And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." And having said this, He breathed His last.

25. David also prophesied our Lord's last words on the cross.

Ps 22:31 “They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed {it.} “

The Hebrew literally reads, "For it is finished." He has finished it! What was it that He He has finished? In John 19:30 He reveals to us that - what is finished is the work of salvation - and the fulfillment of all the prophecies – these are the prophecies - concerning our Lord’s suffering on the cross – that we are talking about.

Fulfilled:

Joh 19:30 "Therefore, when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, `It is finished.' And after bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit."

In fact, we can even assume that the last word spoken by our Lord was “doctrine” according to

Ps 31:5 - Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord, God of doctrine.

26. As no bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken (EXO 12:46), not a bone of His would be broken.

Ps 34:20  "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."

Fulfilled:

Joh 19:32 The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him;

We went into great detail with this in our study, and the reason that they broke their legs was because they wanted to expedite their deaths, but not out of compassion, rather because they didn’t want them to be hanging on the Passover holiday, - which is just so mind blowing to me - that this whole entire event takes place on the Passover holiday! We know that everything about the Passover points to “Jesus Christ our Passover” through symbolism and typology. The lambs could not have any blemish or deformity, nor wounds or broken bones. Sadly, it all goes over the heads of the ‘psuchikos’ aka “natural” aka unregenerate man (1Co 2:14).

The Romans always broke the legs, except in one case – the individual was already dead – and Christ made sure that happened in order that scripture would be fulfilled!

27. His burial in the tomb of a rich man was foretold by Isaiah.

Isa 53:8-9 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Last week, we learned all about Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man, a member of the Sanhedrin, who was a “secret believer” along with a certain Pharisee who came to meet Jesus under cover of night “for fear of the Jews”. But they came out in the open at this time to pay respect to the Lord and ensure He received the proper burial.

Fulfilled:

Mat 27:57-60 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.

28. Nailing of Jesus' hands and feet;

Zec 13:6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Fulfilled:

Joh 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

29. Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a colt (donkey);

Zec 9:9  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Fulfilled:

Mk 11:7-11 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Now - we have given you 29 prophecies, and we want to show you something amazing, that secular mathematicians have even calculated, so tell this to the scientifically-minded types who love “facts and figures”. Jacob's prophecy that Judah would be the forefather of the Messiah is found in GEN 49:10, that would have a probability of one out of twelve, since there were twelve tribes from which Messiah might have come.

Micah's predication that Christ would be born in Bethlehem in Mic 5:2 would have a probability of one out of a hundred, on the assumption that there were about a hundred towns and villages in Judah where He might have been born. Are you getting that?

The combined probability that both events could have been predicted by chance would be 1 out of 12 multiplied by 1 out of 100 which is 1 in 1200. This is technical I know, but we all have spiritual IQ so we can take our time and challenge ourselves to push on so we can see that the Bible IS legitimate and the events that it recounts were divinely and supernaturally orchestrated.

If Jesus Christ had just filled 20 of the prophecies when He came to earth, the combined probability is one chance in 10 one-seventy-fifths. That number could be written as "1" followed by 175 zeros. That would look like this: 1 in 10,000,000,000,000, 000,000, 000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000, 000, 000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (Ok!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Now – Do You Believe That The Bible Is The Word Of God? That’s the book, but do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord?  I sure do!!!

So we went over the finished work, and our own work and the importance of finishing the work, obedient unto death, and how to do that. We also recapped our prophecies -- and now we are ready to review our Lord’s sayings on the cross:

So the first saying on the cross from our Lord can be found here:

1. Lk 23:34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

This and many of these sayings reveal our Lord's ‘chesed’ (Hebrew), or unfailing love and care for others and not Himself, in spite of what He had gone through and what He was going through.

2. Lk 23:43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

3. Joh 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"

4. Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

5. Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, *said, "I am thirsty."

As we have noted previously in great detail, He was thirsty for others.

The sixth saying of the cross can be described by one word:

6. Can be described by the word Tetelestai, translated “it is finished.”

We learned that while the work of Salvation itself was finished, He performed this work so that we could go to heaven, or when we believe we would just be taken up like Enoch, yet we go on living – why? Because sin is a barricade separating us from having a relationship with God. Without that relationship we can’t execute His plan for our lives, because our own power is not sufficient. When Salvation is finished, the Christian’s new life as priest and ambassador can begin! This is part of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

And so this leads us to the seventh and final Saying on the cross which is found in

7. Lk 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." And having said this, He breathed His last.

In other words, He died. But He still had something to do: When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, it was voluntary which means that He did it for us and He did it for Himself. He did it for us and Himself, He did it for us because of the will of God, and God’s will is that none of us would perish and He did that for us and then He also did it for Himself because He wanted to fulfill the will of God for His own life, His own personal sense of destiny. In fact, the entire Trinity did it for us as taught in passages like ACT 2:22. As the verse tells us, it was by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God that He was delivered up, not because of the Jews or the Romans. They were merely instruments of God’s will.

See, everybody plays a part, every person who ever lives, is that a surprise? The question is – are we protagonists i.e. heroes, good guys, or antagonists i.e. villains, bad guys? That is dependent on our individual volition, and while some people are only antagonists and never play the protagonist, the protagonists all have times when we play the villain – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!! (Rom 3:23)

This is why we were created! To serve God as protagonists and glorify Him! But it doesn’t glorify Him is we have  no choice – He wants us to choose freely! So we choose over and over and over, at every fork in the road, to be protagonists or antagonists. Unbelievers however can do no good until they are born again (Joh 15:5). But both the protagonists and the antagonists are incorporated into God’s perfect plan and whatever we do only expedites the fulfillment of His purpose, according to the divine decrees which were computed in eternity past by God’s omniscience. How can we live in fear and worry when we know this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Even those who are will only be the unwilling instruments of delivering us to His glory and our blessings.

As we can see in Act 4:26-28, the wicked are gathered together to be used to bring about the forgiveness of sin by their very acts to destroy God’s anointed! Touche! God always wins! His will will be accomplished (Isa 46:10)!

So, when Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, it was voluntary. He chose to say “I want to lose My life, I want to give up My life, I want to lay down My life, so that others may live.” He chose to be obedient even unto death, and He allowed protagonists and antagonists to play their roles even without realizing they were.

That’s the attitude of the God that we follow and that’s the attitude that we should never ever get familiar with, and this is the same attitude that we should have as ambassadors of Christ – the attitude that says --  I’m going to give up everything that I have, and I am going to trust Him that even our enemies – who are really HIS enemies – will be made to play their roles in bringing about the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

This also means that what appears to be the end is often a beginning. God turns cursing to blessing in miraculous ways! If we think divine viewpoint and always see the bigger picture, the eternal picture, we can learn to be flexible and embrace adversity with an attitude of “what does God have for me in this, or what blessing is He leading me toward by testing my faith (Jam1:2)?” That is the Php 2:5 attitude we have spoken of,

Php 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus”

With God -- when things come to an end they are not done…

let me show you why I say that: After He died – what happened to Him? Did He cease to exist? No, He rose from the dead: For Jesus Christ would arise from the grave in a resurrection body,

- walk among men for a short time,

- then ascend into the presence of the Father

- to sit at His right hand as our great High Priest

- and make intercession for us forever (HEB 1:3; 7:25).

So His death was not an end His death was our beginning!

But God saves the best for last… I say that because many of us have the opinion that the apostle Paul was the best but he was also the last.

1Co 15:9-10 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

And Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who is our prototype in His humanity and who is our role model first humbled Himself and became poor, that through Him all might become rich….

Heb 2:9-10 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

And now through union with Him we are positionally made higher than the angels, and we know that they serve us as guardians (Mat18:10) and long to see the things which are revealed to us in the mystery doctrine (1Pe 1:12). Positionally we are greater than the angels right now and someday we will be experientially greater as well. The point is that being in union with Christ, we are now positionally superior to angels. However, we cannot take advantage of our position now on earth unless we live in the PPOG designed for us in eternity past by God the Father. How do we do that? What you are doing right now – learning about God from His word which is metabolized, becoming a part of your soul structure by faith and the power of the Holy spirit, and what you do after – applying it to your life and your problems so that others can see what they are missing!

Take it out to the lost and dying world!