 Hi everyone. Thank you for bearing with me. There was a problem. Alright, shall we begin with the word of prayer? I think those who are not muted, can you please mute? Because my voice is echoing. Alright, shall we begin with the word of prayer? Anyone can please leave. Just go ahead. Anybody can leave in prayer, please. Father God, we thank you. Bless you for this day. Father, we submit ourselves unto your loving and Lord. Help us to know what you are teaching us, Lord. And use it in our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Okay, is there any reason why it's echoing? Guys, is everyone out here? Because it's echoing for me. I don't know why that problem is coming. Okay, let's get into today's class. So last week we talked about the cross. We talked about the day of the throne and how the shadows of the cross, how the cross was fulfilled from the Old Testament. And we see it fulfilled in the New Year. So we thought the seed of the word, the first clothing became an apple and how the blood of Abel was calling out again the shadow of the cross. And Abraham and his sacrifice, we looked at the Passover Lamb and when Moses came out of the desert, the rock which Moses struck again pointing to Jesus and the rock which he spoke to pointing to Jesus. And then we also looked at the levitical offerings. So the levitical offerings, every offering was pointing to Jesus Christ. Then we also looked at the day of the throne. That one day when the high priest will go into the Holy of Holies, take the blood of the ram or the bull and he would go into the Holy of Holies and he would pour out that blood on the altar as a remission of the sins, of the entire mission of Israel. Then we also looked at the serpent in the wilderness, right? And how, hold on this, okay? So we looked at the serpent in the wilderness and how that again pointed to Jesus Christ. Finally, we also looked at the one with a lot of verses, Bible verses, where he hangs on a tree fulfilling the prophecies, right? So I'm sure each one of us are learning this. Even in the Old Testament and Christology, we see that there are many portraits of the Old Testament pointing to Jesus Christ. So if you read the book of Exodus, if you read the book of Leviticus, all those Levitical offerings, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the peace offering, the pain offering, all those offerings and a lot of the things that they did in the Old Testament were all pointing to Jesus Christ, right? So we looked at that last week, Shadows of the Cross. Of course, you'll learn more in detail in the course of Christology. But now let's get into the next chapter, which is the Cross in Prophecy. We saw the Shadows of the Cross. We saw that the Cross was already, you know, God had already planned it in the Old Testament from the beginning of time. Jesus, when he came into this world, he knew that one day he will, you know, go to the Cross. That's his final destination. He knew it. But let's look at the Cross in Prophecy. And the Cross is mentioned also, all through the Old Testament. Let's read these verses now. I encourage each one of us, right? Let's not waste time because you know that this is recorded and it goes into the e-learning. So whenever there's dead air, it doesn't sound nice, right? So please just begin to start reading. The moment I give the verse, maybe one of you can please read, right? So it says here, Acts 13, 33. Maybe one of us can please read Acts 13, 33. Acts chapter 13 and verse 33. Yes. One of us can read please. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Yeah. So he says that God has already appointed it and he says that you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Right? Let's see the next one. They divide my garments, Psalms 22, 16 through 18. It's there on your notes. Go ahead and read any one of us. For dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my booms. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them and from my clothing, they cast lots. Right. So we see here in Psalms 22, which was hundreds of years before Jesus. David under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is writing this. For dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. Look at how accurate that prophecy is. I can count all my booms. They look and stare at me. Right. Now we'll also talk about what the cross is, what happens physically. It was the most excruciating kind of death. The word excruciating came from the word crucifixion. It's derived from that word. When you have a certain kind of pain and that pain is unbearable, it's called excruciating pain. It comes out from that word. So Jesus was physically in excruciating pain. History says that when he was crucified, he had already been beaten with those 40 lashes. History says that the bones in his body could be seen. His blood was constantly dripping out. How do we also know this? Because when the soldier pierced his side, what happened? Blood and water came out. So there's no more blood left. Every ounce of blood from Jesus's body was gone. What happens when blood goes out of our body? The muscles tighten up and it tears and so the bones can be seen. And verse 18, again, accurate prophecy. They divide my garments among them and my clothing, they cast lots. Did this happen? Yes. Remember the soldiers? What did they do? This is a fine cloth. This is a fine material. We can take it into the wasting. We can take it to the market and sell it. So they cast lots. Among maybe three or four of us, let's see who will get this piece of cloth. And they cast lots for his clothes. This prophecy, 400 years, 500 odd years before Jesus Christ was born. How did this happen? Through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Look at the next one. Again, very, very accurate prophecy. Not one of his bones is broken. Let's read Psalms 34 and verse 20. It's there on your notes. Psalms 24 and verse... Go ahead. He guards all his bones. Not one of them is broken. Yes. So on the cross, we also know that Jesus, not even a bone was broken. Usually, I think I've mentioned this before, during a time of crucifixion, what the Romans would do is, when a person is being crucified, and sometimes they've not been beaten, they've not been scourged or that. So it is just crucified. So the death takes longer time than what happened to Jesus. Initially, for Jesus, it was let's bruise him, let's beat him, give him those lashes and send him away. That's what Pilate wanted to do. And so they really beat him and they scourged his body. They used those weapons that initially... The Romans, what they would do is, they would get these claws of birds. And they would clip those, tie those claws at the end of the ropes. So when they strike, the claws will literally hang on to the skin and they will pull out the skin. So it was not just beating with a stick, but it was these tools that were used. And here, people who are crucified, they would take time. Sometimes it would be four hours, five hours, because it's a slow and a painful death. But what they would do is, when they wouldn't let the sun set, and the sun is setting and the man on the cross is still alive, they would just break their bones so that that would facilitate a faster death. But this is not what happened in Jesus' case. Even before they could break any bone, Jesus looked up to the heavens and said, into the hands, I command my spirit. Now, what is that again fulfilling prophecy? Now, did you ever think of this? When you go through the Old Testament, when God initiated those sacrifices and the Levitical offerings, He tells something very interesting to Moses. He says, and to the people of Israel, He says, when you take the lamb, take a lamb without defect. Not a lamb which eyes is not, one eye can't be seen, or a lamb that one hand is not moving, or a lamb that is... Usually what happens is they want to get rid of those. So I might as well give it for an offering. But God says, take a lamb without defect, a healthy lamb. Take that lamb without defect and offer that as a sacrifice. And when we see it in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus was a lamb without defect. So that is why we see that this prophecy is so small. Maybe it's not a very important part. It directs, it shows that the Holy Spirit speaking to the prophets of the Old brought it in such accuracy of what is going to happen. Let's read this. There will be fierce witnesses. Psalms 35 and verse 11. Let's read that. Psalms 35 and verse 11. Fierce witnesses rise up. They ask me things that I do not know. Right. Thank you. Now, fierce witnesses rise up and they ask me things that I do not know. So when you look at the cross, right? And when you look at what happened before the cross, what happened before the cross? So Jesus went to trial, right? And he stood in front of pipe trees, Pharisees, and they asked him questions. Is it on, sorry, light? They asked him questions. Who are you and what are you doing? Right? Why is it that you are going and preaching about this? Why are you talking about this? Why are you doing these miracles? They're asking him why, right? And fierce witnesses stood against him. Meaning what? When he stood in front of the people, one, there were Pharisees and Sadducees who said, hey, he is demonically possessed. Another person says he's out of his mind. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Another one says he's a person who's just stirring up a crowd, just doing all these miracles, but he's stirring up a crowd. Now, fierce witnesses stood against him. And all through, every time he was witnessing, fierce witnesses standing against him. Let's read this. Galatians chapter 3 was 13 and 14. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Courage this everyone who hangs on the tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Yeah, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Lord Jesus took the shame on the cross, becoming as one who is cursed for us, so that we, you and I can receive the full blessings of the cross. The blessings of Abraham, that is righteousness by faith, friendship with God, victory over our enemies and prosperity in the land. We see that all of this is something that the Lord Jesus did for us. Now, every time we think about the cross, every time we look at the cross, it is something that should really encourage us and say, God, we thank you for what you have done for us. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for paying the price all through from the Old Testament. The people were living in sin. People were living in that, you know, from the time the people came out of Egypt. We see that the people of Israel were going up and down. There was never a time, you know, they were, I wouldn't say never a time, but during the time of David, there was a season when they were truly worshiped and they were truly living a life that was true to God. But again, there was no fullness that you and I have today. But Hebrews chapter 11 talks about the heroes of faith. And all these people, Abraham, Daniel, Moses, Joseph, Hebrews 11 talks about that list of heroes of faith. And he says, all of them were of the Old Covenant. But now we are of the New Covenant. A covenant so great, a covenant so strong. Second Corinthians 8 and verse 9. Let's read that, please. Second Corinthians 8 and 9. Let's go ahead. Second Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sins He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. So we can become rich because of what He did on the cross. Through His poverty. We're not talking about physical richness. We know that. We're talking about a spiritual aspect. Christ became sin for us so that we can become the righteousness of God. Christ became for us so that we can become rich in God. So there was this complete reversal. And the book of Romans talks about it very powerfully. It says, the first Adam and the last Adam. The first Adam was tempted in all ways, but he fell. But the last Adam again was tempted in all ways, yet he overcame. It was the same enemy. It was the same kind of temptations. The first Adam was born of God. The second Adam was born of God. And we see those similarities. But the first Adam caused a fall. But the second Adam reversed that fall. Chirah, did you raise your hand? Do you have any question? Chirah, did you raise your hand? Hello. Yes, Pastor. Yes, go ahead, Chirah. Yeah, Pastor, just now you told, Christ became poor for us to become us rich, right? Yes. In which perspective you're telling Christ to become poor for us so we have to become rich? No, it's not we have to become rich. We are rich. That's what I was saying, Chirah. It was not about the physical richness. It's not about getting more money. It's not about the money aspect, right? Now, Jesus became poor for us, poor in what sense? There was a separation of God and, you know, Jesus is triune, right? He is part of the Trinity. Now, when he was on the cross, there was a separation. Something that he did not understand. Something that he, you know, he was with God. John chapter 1 says, in the beginning was a word. The word was with God and the word was God, right? So what happened was in this Trinity, on the cross, God imputed all the sins and there was this brief separation, right? And that separation was being poor in the spirit, right? You know, you say, when we say poor, we are not talking about the physical fullness, right? He became poor for us so that we might become rich in the blessings of God, right? He took up the sin, making him, you know, making him the unrighteousness. But with that, we become the righteousness, right? So it's basically, for example, somebody, you know, we look at the whole aspect of making atonement for, or the word atonement also means substitution, right? Making atonement for means somebody else is coming and taking our place where we had to be. The whole aspect, you know, of talking about the poor so that we can become rich was in the spiritual aspect, right? Of course, we're not looking at, okay, Jesus took up our sins. It's not like he was saying, okay, now I'm separated from the Father. I'm not going to do, you know, I'm not going to be back. We know what happens, right? So Jesus says, God into your hands I command my spirit and He won the victory, right? But for that victory, He had to become poor. He had to take on that sin, right? That's why He says, Father, why have you forsaken me? More than the physical pain was the separation from this trinity, separation from the Father. It's like the Father saying, I can't do anything now because all the sins are upon you right now. So you have to bear that sin. And the judgment of God came on Jesus because of, you know, what Jesus did on the cross. So He became poor on the cross. Now after that, because of the victory, you and I, when we believe we will become rich in God, the richness of His grace, the richness of His blessing, the richness of His power, His anointing comes upon us, right? Chirah, I hope that answers your question. So it's not the physical richness, but it's in the spirit. Yes, Pastor, thank you, Pastor. Nina John asks, can we also say He made Himself of no reputation taking the form of a born servant? In this way, He became poor for us. Yeah, right. So He took on what we were supposed to take on. So in a broader sense, there's so many things that He took on. The whole aspect of the punishment that we had to take on, He took it up, making Him poor. But He did that so that we can become rich. And when we read the book of Romans, Romans 8 talks about the whole reversal, so we can gain more understanding from that. Right. Finally, let's read Acts chapter 5 and verse 41. Acts 5 and verse 41. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Yeah. Now this is after the Pentecost and the Apostles are baptized in the Holy Spirit. What does it say? Can you read that again, please? Acts 5 and verse 41. Just read that again, please. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. They were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Now imagine this, right? The Lord Jesus took up our shame. He could bear such a shame for us. Now the Apostles are glad that they have been chosen and been called worthy to take up shame for the name of Jesus Christ. Right. Now just picture this. These are the same Apostles who were fearful, worried about what their future holds. Now they are saying, hey, they went from the council glad because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the sake of Jesus Christ. Now how did that happen? Because they completely understood what happened on the cross. The cross was a place of shame. If you read about the cross, history says that when a person is on the cross, even a beggar on the road has more value than a person on the cross. In those days lepers would be put away into another place, into another city. They wouldn't have the right to come into the city. Even if they do, they must cover themselves and if people get to know they would be stoned and beaten. But even the lepers had more value than a person who is dying on the cross. See how shameful that is. If they had to choose between a leper and a person dying on the cross, they would choose a leper. So shameful. If it was a choice between a beggar and a person dying on the cross, they would choose the beggar. Because on the cross, the person is no more a human being. The Roman history says that they would fill buckets of these dirty, stinking, the plain water and they would throw it on them. On those who were on the cross. As a sign of saying you are no longer a person. On the cross, the Roman way of crucifixion was that they were completely naked. It was not that they were wearing any garments. They were completely naked on the cross. Look at the shame. Jesus took out all of this shame for us. How much more must we be willing to do something or face shame for His sake? I am not saying that we have to face shame. Of course, God has also given us authority. We are who we are. We are Christians. We live this life. What I am trying to say is that there will be places. Many of us are here in church and Bible college. Nobody is going to say that things are going to happen. What about in your workplace? If we go to work, if we are in regular secular college, some of us may plan to study. Some of us in our neighborhood, living around the neighborhood, people may ridicule and mock at us. These guys are Christians. Sundays they only go to church. They do something there. They talk about the Holy Spirit. They talk about this. They talk about that. They don't drink. They don't smoke. They don't know how to have fun. People will ridicule and mock. It may be a shame for us. But always remember when these things happen, the enemy brings these thoughts. The enemy says, why do you have to live in this shame? Why don't you go out and do this? Do what everyone else is doing. You have the right to enjoy. You and I can look at the cross and say, if the Lord Jesus has paid such a high price, such a shame that he took up for us, how much more should I be willing to take up this little shame for his sake? This way, we are honouring the Lord Jesus. We are honouring what he did on the cross. All the Apostle talks about it. He says, after becoming believers, if we turn away from him and continue to sin, there is no more sacrifice that is required. I think more is done, can be done. Everything is just going to be... Our lives are going to just turn the other way. Basically, he is saying, if you have tasted the goodness of God, what the Lord Jesus has done for you and you still push him away, we still turn away, there is nothing more that Jesus can do because he has done everything else. But we can only be expectant of a harsh judgment for our future. I just want to encourage us, even before we take up a break, remember that the Lord Jesus has paid a price, each one of us. We may be paying a price in small ways. God may tell us to sacrifice a few things in our life, maybe sacrifice our time, sacrifice our efforts, give more into being with him, his presence. Call us to sacrifice. I'll respond, Sharika. Yes, I will do it because you did for me. You paid the price for me. Now, I was reading this book. They shared this and then we'll take a break. I'm reading this book and such a wonderful book. It was talking about the power of the victory that Jesus did for us on the cross. The writer mentions, he says, even if Jesus has to do it all over again for one person living in this entire world. Now, just picture this. One person in the entire world that's living, that one person that's living in sin. Jesus would be willing to come back, come as a baby, live that whole life, die on the cross again, that same humiliating death for that one person. Can you imagine that picture that he has for us? We thank God that he doesn't have to do that. He doesn't have to do that anymore because the price was paid once and for all. The writer in Hebrew says, when he ascended, he ascended on high and there is no other name on heaven and earth but at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that he alone is God. That is such a powerful experience for us. We look at the cross and prophecy. In the book of Hebrews, they also say, that the Lord Jesus Himself says it, what the prophets wrote about, the desire to see what you all are seeing but those who were there listening to it did not understand. They didn't understand what Jesus was talking about because for them, Jesus was just another man walking about. When you read even the book of Mark, it's so wonderful because the Pharisees in Galilee were saying, hey, this Jesus of Nazareth, we have seen him. We've seen him as a young boy. We've seen him working, we've seen him walking about here. How did he get this knowledge and this wisdom? One, two, and he's claiming he's the Messiah. That's a big claim to make. I think in Mark 4 it says, we know him. It was not like Jesus was hiding and suddenly from somewhere he came. We know him. He's the carpenter's son. We know his brothers. We know his sisters. We know him. We've seen him. He's telling he's the Messiah. Oh, it was a big claim. They could not understand because they looked at it in the natural. The natural is Jesus. Jesus was saying, what the prophets talked about, what they desired to see, you all are saying, they didn't understand. Probably the disciples also didn't understand but they only understood it later. So you and I have such a great of blessing that we can look to the cross anytime, wherever we are, whatever place in life we are at, we can always go back to the cross because the price was free. He became a sacrifice for us. So we'll stop here. Since there's a problem with the recording, so what I thought was we will stop here. Just use this next hour to study yourself and we'll come back next week and we will continue with chapter. In this chapter, we'll continue with this chapter and then we'll get into the chapter 11. Can somebody please close in prayer? Shall we close in prayer? Father God, thank you Lord. Thank you for the cross Lord. Father, you gave everything for us Lord so that we can live today in peace, Lord God Almighty. Father, the sacrifice that you have done for us. Father, we can't even imagine Lord God Almighty. Father, you had us in your mind Lord. Father, you loved us so much Lord that you gave everything away Father God Almighty. Father, as we learn Lord from your word Lord and through these classes whatever that you have taught us help us Lord to remember that Lord to bring to our mind every moment of our lives Lord because you have redeemed us by your precious blood Lord. Almighty God help each of us Lord. Each of us are so precious to you Father God and wherever that you have placed us Lord Father in that place help us to glorify you Lord by our thoughts, by our actions but whatever that is what we can pour out for you Lord God Almighty help each of us Lord to be a powerful witness Lord in our thought word and deeds Lord so that we can serve you wholeheartedly Lord and be the person that you have called us to be and always Lord be in connection with you Father God because only in you we have the victory Lord help each of us to live the lives Lord in Jesus mighty matchless name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much Jackman. Thank you guys. Sorry about all the glitches initially hopefully I can get that resolved and next class we can start off without any problems. Thank you so much. Please use this next hour to just read and study and have a great week ahead. God bless.