Christ in the Old Testament

Thank you for that singing this morning. He truly is an amazing God. If people could understand just how great, how awesome, how worthy, how untamable, how powerful, how awesome He is, that would change the way we live, the way we think, and everything else. The problem in the church is that we don’t have a biblical view of who God is. We don’t understand who He is, and when we don’t understand who He is, we don’t understand who we are. When we don’t understand who we are, we have no clue what life, church, or spiritual things are even about.

So, how do we know? We look to His self-revelation, to His Word, to His Son, to Jesus. This ties in beautifully with my sermon this morning: we’re going to see Jesus, we’re going to set our focus upon who He is. I pray that the Holy Spirit takes His Word and opens our eyes and understanding, so that we can appreciate just how holy, mighty, and awesome God is.

I pray that through this sermon today and through future study of His Word, He will shatter our predispositions and assumptions. I pray that we will come with open ears, open hearts, and humility, and that we will recognize just who He truly is.

So this is going to be part one of my introduction—yes, you heard that right—part one of this new series, "Christ in the Old Testament." And man, let me tell you, I have been studying for months and months on this. I am so excited! The Old Testament is so rich, and Jesus is everywhere. This morning, I want to talk about how we see Jesus in the Old Testament: how do we read the Old Testament, and where do we look for Christ in the Old Testament?

So let me give you a primer question this morning: what is the Bible all about? And you can even answer if you want—what is the Bible about? If some lost person came up to you, knowing that you are a believer, and they asked you that question, what would you say? Forgiveness of sin—that’s a good one. What else? God’s love—that’s a good one. What else? It’s about Jesus, right? So the whole Bible is God’s story of redemption, and in that we have God’s love, redemption, and forgiveness of sins—all possible because of Jesus.

So it's a book that points us to one person, one Redeemer, one hero of the story—and that's Jesus Christ. All of Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, is the story of God's redemption.

So let's look in Luke 24. We've already covered the first 12 verses. Let's go to verse 13. We've already set the context: the women came to anoint the body of Jesus, they found the stone rolled away, they saw angels who said, "Why are you even here? You're looking for the living among the dead. He's not here. He's risen, just as he said." They go and tell some of the other disciples, and quite frankly, they don't believe them. Peter, being impetuous as he is, runs to the tomb, stoops down, sees the linen cloths lying by themselves, and there's no body there. He just leaves, marveling to himself—something's happened.

And then in verse 13, we pick up the story, and we meet two more disciples. The Bible says, "Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all the things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them." Notice verse 16: "But their eyes were restrained, so they did not know Him. And He said to them, 'What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are you not sad?'" Don't you love Jesus? He's hooking them with a question.

Verse 18: "Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, 'Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?'" In other words, "Where have You been? You totally missed it." And He said to them, "What things?" There we go again—Jesus asking questions. So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb—speaking of Peter—and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."

Imagine the confusion. Can you imagine what it's like walking in their sandals? They don't know what to believe, they're scared, and they're depressed. Luke says that they're walking along sad, but then Jesus says in verse 25, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Beginning at Moses—that is, the Pentateuch, Genesis, and all through the prophets—that's the entirety of the Hebrew Bible. He expounded. Underline that word if you're a Bible marker. He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.

That verse says a lot—"all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Jesus is teaching us that all the scripture points to Him. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank you so much for this word. Lord, we find ourselves dejected, despondent, despairing. We find ourselves, Lord, with assumptions, mixed up with our biases and our preconceived notions of who You are. Lord, You have to come and You have to correct us. Lord, You do that by pointing us to the scriptures. Lord, I thank you that You’re not a distant deity, but You are a God who speaks. You are a God who has revealed Himself to us through the scriptures. And through the scriptures we see Him clearly as He is. So, Lord, we pray You do the same thing for us that You did for Cleopas and his friend. Lord, that You would open our eyes to Your identity, show us who You are—not who we want You to be. Lord, teach us to read Your Word with a gospel lens, seeing how it ever points us to You. And Lord, we pray if anyone is lost this morning, that they would look to Jesus, they would look to You, Lord, as their Savior. And that those who are saved, Lord, would look to Jesus, that we would set our affection on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

So question number one: How do we read the Old Testament? Raise your hand if you enjoy reading the Old Testament. We got a few who feel more comfortable with the New Testament. Okay, that's most of us, right? Many people approach the Bible in different ways, don't they?

Some people see it as a collection of fanciful stories—mythology, legends. Others see the Old Testament as mysterious and confusing. Have you ever been there? I have. I’ve been there, and I’m a pastor.

Sometimes we struggle to make sense of the genealogies—the begats and the begotten—and then we lose focus when it goes into the sacrifices and the strange customs of Leviticus. However, some see it simply as a historical narrative of the nation of Israel that has little or no application to the church today. Others interpret the Old Testament merely as moral lessons or examples for us to follow, and you hear that in preaching a lot today.

But let me propose to you today that most people are guilty of practicing a form of biblical interpretation called reader response hermeneutics. Reader response hermeneutics is simply the method of interpreting the Bible, and we're all guilty of it, whether we know the term or not. Reader response hermeneutics is when we ask, "What does this mean to me?" Have you ever asked that when reading the Bible? "Well, what does this mean to me?" When we go to a Bible study and there's no clear exposition of the text, it's just, "Well, what does this mean to you?" Someone gives an answer. "What does this mean to you?" Someone else gives a completely different answer. "What does this mean to me?" We have 10 people—we have 10 different answers.

That's not how to interpret the Bible. There's only one clear interpretation, and we let the Bible interpret itself. We don't read our meaning into the text—we derive our meaning from the text. So, how do we do that? We come to the Bible and ask a series of questions. We have to ask: who wrote the book? Understanding the author provides insight into the perspective and purpose of the writing. Who wrote the book? Who was it written to? We must know the audience, and that helps us grasp the culture and the spiritual context of the book. If we're studying a passage, we need to understand its context. We don't just take a verse in isolation—we understand the surrounding chapters and the broader themes of the book itself. Because guess what: I can take one verse and make it mean anything I want it to mean. I've twisted it. Instead, I take the whole book. What is God communicating with me? What is the author's intention? Who was it written to? And we also ask: what's the literal, grammatical, and historical setting? What does the original language say? What's the historical background? What is going on in this passage? What literary style is the author employing? This gives clarity to the passage's meaning.

Also, it's really simple. We need to ask, what is the plain reading of the text? What is God's word clearly communicating? Instead of jumping through loopholes and trying to make it say what we want it to say, we need to ask, what is God clearly saying in His Word? Because most of the time, it's straightforward—meaning, God's not trying to trick us. What's the author saying to the original audience, and how would they have received it? So, put yourself in their sandals, so to speak—how would they have received this text? Then, we have the text of the book. Once we've worked through those questions, we can then ask, what is God clearly teaching us in this passage? What can we immediately glean from this? So we shift our focus from "what does this mean to me" to "what has God clearly communicated through His Word." In doing so, it causes us to submit to Scripture's authority and allow God's truth to shape our perspective, instead of our perspective trying to fit God's truth into our own mold. We don't mold it to fit our own ideas.

Here's another question we need to ask when we're studying the Old Testament: we need to ask, what are the theological implications of this passage? In other words, what does this passage teach me about the person and character of God? Is God revealing Himself to me as loving, as merciful? Is He revealing Himself as holy and just? What is God teaching me about Himself? And here's a big key, especially in this series: what are the christological implications? In other words, what is this passage teaching me about Jesus? How does this passage point to Jesus's person and work? So, as we work our way through the Old Testament, we're going to be asking ourselves these questions.

Another pitfall we have to avoid is the temptation to read ourselves into the story. Now, some people approach biblical interpretation with the mindset of "this is talking about me." There are personal applications in the Word of God, do not get me wrong, but it's a book not about us. Remember, the central focus is about Jesus. So we hear messages like, "You need to dare to be a Daniel," or "You need to slay your giants like David," and those things will preach. They will get people stirred up. But guess what—that's not the meaning of those texts. That is not the intention. These narratives have secondary applications that are relevant, but the primary purpose of the text of scripture is far greater than pointing to ourselves. They're not merely moral lessons about courage, faith, and perseverance. Instead, they point us to someone infinitely greater. It points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, when we focus solely on making ourselves the hero of the story, we miss the true message. And that is, scripture is about God's redemptive plan revealed through Christ.

The narratives of the Bible teach us about God's faithfulness, His sovereignty, His power, and they ultimately direct us to the truth of the story—the person and work of Christ. Because friends, there's only one true hero in the story: it's not Daniel, it's not David, it's not Moses, it's not Elijah, it's not Peter, it's not Paul—it's the Lord Jesus Christ. It all points to Him. Every story, every prophecy, every symbol in Scripture ultimately points to Jesus.

Let me give you some examples. Daniel in the lion’s den—a favorite kid story, right? Everybody familiar with that story. It ultimately foreshadows Christ’s perfect trust in God and His deliverance from death. David’s triumph over Goliath reflects the victory of Christ, the ultimate Champion who conquers sin and death on our behalf. Moses’s leadership through the Exodus and Elijah’s bold stand on Mount Carmel—they’re not about their greatness, but about God’s faithfulness, God’s power working through them to foreshadow the ultimate Redeemer.

Jesus is the greater Daniel who faced the ultimate lion of death and triumphed. He's the greater David who conquered the true Goliath, which was Satan and our sin. He's the greater Moses who leads his people out of slavery to sin and into the glorious freedom of God. He's the greater Elijah who calls people to worship the one true God. You see, I want to remind each of you: how easy would it be to read clearly without your glasses? Wouldn't it be difficult? That's the way we read the Old Testament—we read it without our gospel glasses on. And so, without our gospel glasses, it just becomes a bunch of stories. "Well, that's cool, but what's it got to do with me?" Or we get confused and think, "Well, maybe I need to be more like Daniel or maybe I need to be more like David. Where's a nine-foot guy I can slay? Where's my slinging stone?" And we totally miss the point because we do not read it through a gospel lens.

Now, to be sure, in the Old Testament Christ is everywhere—but sometimes He’s hidden. It’s like playing “Where’s Waldo?”—those games where you search for the hidden figure. I love those games, but Christ is sometimes like Waldo: sometimes hard to find. His presence and work are there, but they’re not always immediately apparent. However, sometimes they jump right off the page—they’re overt and clear. Other times, they’re more covert and concealed. But Paul explains this in the New Testament. He says that certain truths—like the church, the inclusion of the Gentiles in the family of God, the fullness of salvation—were mysterious in the Old Testament but were revealed when Jesus came.

Peter writes that the prophets of old were inspired by the Spirit of Christ; they wrote about His sufferings and the glories to follow, but they did not even fully understand their own words. They knew this would become plain after the coming of Christ. And so, thankfully, with the incarnation of Christ and the completion of the New Testament canon, what was mysterious now becomes clear—what was fuzzy now comes into focus. We realize that what was foreshadowed in types and symbols finds its substance in Christ. The ceremonies, customs, prophecies, and sacrifices of the Old Testament point us to Jesus—His person and His work. The symbol becomes substance; the shadow finds reality in Christ. And so, when we read the Old Testament with a gospel lens, we can trace that grand narrative of redemption and watch it unfold, seeing Jesus at the center from Genesis to Revelation.

Now let me also warn you of another pitfall—we shouldn't try to force the types. We shouldn't try to see Jesus hiding behind every bush, rock, and tree in the Old Testament. We can't force types. We can't force meanings onto Scripture where they clearly don't exist. Why not? Because doing so risks turning the whole Bible into an allegory where anything can mean everything and everything could mean anything—and that's not the point. That's not how we interpret Scripture. However, when we encounter a good example in Scripture, like David or Daniel or Moses, it's always pointing us to someone greater than they are. And whenever we read about a poor example in Scripture, it's pointing to our need for someone who succeeded where they failed. Does that make sense to everybody? It always points to Christ. It points to our own unending need for a perfect man, a new Adam, a Redeemer, a Lamb of God, a perfect sacrifice, a perfect Prophet who reveals God's Word to us, a perfect Priest who mediates between sinful man and the holy God, and a perfect King who will reign over us in justice and in righteousness. And it points to Jesus who fulfills all these roles perfectly.

So where do we look to see Jesus? Where do we look to see Jesus? Well, maybe you're like me and you're terrible at finding things. Can the guys in the room raise your hands? You can ask Allison. I'll search the house high and low for something—especially in the fridge. I don't know. Things get lost. The fridge is a black hole. It's a vacuum. I don't know where things go. "Where's the barbecue sauce?" Pulled out every drawer. Looked in every bin. "It's not there." She comes up and says, "It's right here!" Okay, what happened? Well, for one—just dumb. Two, I don't know where to look.

So when we go to the Old Testament, we have to know where to look. Where do we find Jesus? We have to know where to look. We look to the scriptures, we look to God’s self-disclosure, we look to God’s self-revelation. Because friends, God exists, and He is not silent. God has not left us alone, groping in the dark, hoping to finally one day stumble into Him. He has clearly revealed Himself through the scriptures. God has spoken. God has become one of us. God came and entered into time and space and human history. God has revealed Himself to us, and He has revealed His will for us within the scriptures. Look again at verse 27: this is how Jesus reveals Himself to these two disciples on the way to Emmaus, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded them and all the scriptures concerning himself." "He revealed himself through the Scriptures." The reason so many people—including those who claim to be Christians—don’t know God very well is because they don’t know their Bible very well. We say amen. And so often, people create a version of Jesus that suits their preferences, a version of Jesus that condones their sin, a version of Jesus that aligns with their desires. This happens when we do not submit to the scriptures.

So friends, to truly know God we must know His Word. God has spoken. God has revealed Himself through the Scriptures and through His Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke at various times and in various ways through prophets, dreams, visions, and signs, but in these last days He has spoken to us—how? Through His Son." Jesus is God's final Word. Jesus is God's self-disclosure. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. You want to know God? You have to know Jesus. You want to get to God? You want to get to heaven? You've got to go through Jesus. So friends, we don't have the right to redefine God. We don't have the right to redefine His Word, His truth, or His morality. We must learn from Him, submit to Him, and obey Him as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. So true knowledge of God begins and grows through humble submission to the Jesus of the Bible—not the version of Him that we create to suit ourselves. Amen.

So I want to show very quickly what the scriptures do. The scriptures show us our false assumptions. Now we've just talked about the whole chapter of Luke 24. Jesus has risen from the dead three days after His crucifixion, just as He said He would. The women saw the angels, heard their pronouncement that Jesus had risen from the dead. Peter and John ran, they noted the empty tomb. By this point, Jesus has appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other disciples. They were astonished, afraid, and incredulous. They did not believe; they doubted the news. Now He appears to these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. These two disciples were discussing everything that transpired over the weekend. They were sad, humiliated, depressed, confused, and dejected. They had been sure that Jesus was the one the prophets had predicted, but in their eyes, He had been defeated by the chief priests and the Romans. He had been crucified by the religious elite and the Roman soldiers. His work was done. It looked like Jesus had failed. All of their hopes of everything that He was and everything that He would bring were just dashed on the rocks.

Imagine that. We don't know how long they had been following Jesus. They may have been following Jesus for three years or more, just as the other disciples. They had such high hopes—and it's all gone.

And verse 16 is strange, isn't it? It's always stood out to me. Jesus' identity was hidden from these disciples. They couldn't identify this stranger. Now, I've wondered, why on earth couldn't they recognize Jesus? But here's something I'll propose. Perhaps His identity was hidden providentially from them by God so that they would not be so overwhelmed by His being alive that they couldn't hear what He was about to teach them. Maybe they needed a break. They needed to chill out just for a minute.

And they were saying things like this: "Man, we hoped that He had redeemed Israel. We had hoped He would be the one who would deliver us from the yoke of the Roman oppressors." Notice how these disciples thought they had Jesus figured out, didn't they? But in reality, they missed His purpose for coming, which was to die to redeem mankind from sin, not to deliver them from Rome. It's to reconcile them to God, not restore the glories of the kingdom of Israel.

Now, let me ask you this. Have you ever felt like you had Jesus figured out? Have you ever felt that way? Only to be disappointed when He doesn't do what you expected Him to do? You pray and expect Him to act on your behalf, but He doesn't do what you ask. His truth doesn't align with your desires. But friends, let me tell you, sometimes we can't see or hear Jesus clearly, because our view of Him is distorted by selfishness and sin. We think we've got Him boxed in a corner. We think we've got Him figured out. We think we've got Jesus under control, but He surprises us.

And oftentimes, our view of Jesus is distorted because we create the version of Jesus we want, rather than the Jesus who He is. We want a Jesus who is slightly stronger, slightly smarter than us, but yet He's still a version of ourselves. We want someone who likes what we like and agrees with us. We want a Jesus we can control, one who saves us from hell but condones our sins. We want a Jesus who is skeptical about what we are skeptical about, who likes what we like and condemns those we condemn. So perhaps we want a Jesus who's all-loving and accepting and tolerant of all views, lifestyles, and religions.

On the other hand, maybe we want a Jesus who smashes and destroys those who are not like us. You ever notice that every culture paints Jesus to look like them? Both extremes are wrong, though. Both distortions make Jesus into an idol of our own making. Friends, this is not the Jesus of the Bible at all, and Jesus is not who we try to mold to our preferences. He's the eternal Son of God, friends. He cannot be reshaped to fit our desires.

So in Jesus, we find someone who challenges our sins. We find someone who shatters our assumptions. We find someone who calls us to a life of obedience. We find one who is infinitely holy. But we also find someone who loves us enough to die for us. We find a Jesus who calls us to abandon all and follow Him. Friends, this Jesus won't be controlled. He won't be boxed in.

So, as in the story of Narnia, when Lucy asks the badger about Aslan, “Is he safe?” The badger laughs and says, “No, he’s not safe. He’s good—but not safe.” Friend, that’s the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He’s good. He’s perfect. He’s righteous. He’s holy. He’s loving. But friends, He is not safe. He’s not one to be controlled or manipulated. We bow before Him. We recognize His power and authority over our lives. The Jesus of the Bible shatters our false assumptions about who He is and what He’s like.

Furthermore, the scriptures allow us to see Jesus clearly. Look again at verse 27. Actually, let's go to verse 25. "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter his glory?" It's like you've read the scriptures, guys. You've read the prophecies. You know that the Messiah has come to be humiliated, to be rejected, to die. You've read Isaiah 53. You've read Psalm 22. Come on, guys. You also know that He's going to rise again. That He's going to enter His glory.

And "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded them, and all the scriptures concerning himself." Now, think about this. Man, would I have loved to have been there—to hear the Master Teacher Himself start at Genesis 1:1 and go all the way through to Malachi and talk about all the things concerning Himself. Man, could you imagine that? I wish to goodness Luke had recorded that. But the Holy Spirit did not see fit for him to do so. However, I would have loved to listen in on that conversation.

And Jesus is like, "Guys, you've read the teachings of the Torah. You've been following this Jesus. You saw Him crucified. Now you hear that He's risen from the dead. Why don't you understand?" Now, if these guys had gone beyond merely hearing the words. If they had processed them, and if they had truly studied them in their hearts. If they had truly desired to know the truth about their message. They would have understood that Jesus' death did not negate His identity as the Messiah. In fact, it confirmed it. He did what the scripture said He would do. It confirmed and fulfilled the scriptures.

So very quickly, I want us to think about what Jesus could have possibly said. Beginning in Genesis 3-15, Jesus would have shown that He is the promised Seed who would crush the head of the serpent. He would have spoken about the effects of the Fall and the need for sin to be atoned for. No doubt He would have talked about Noah and how He is the true Ark of safety. He would have likely mentioned Abraham, how he was called to follow God and how Abraham was justified by faith. No doubt He would have mentioned the offering of Isaac, who prefigured His own willing sacrifice.

Jesus would have talked about giving God's Law and His righteous requirements. He would have talked about the Exodus, how He's the greater Moses, how He's the true Passover Lamb. He would have gone through the book of Joshua, showing He's the great Leader and Savior of His people. He would have gone through Judges. Those Judges who prefigured Him as the greater Deliverer from sin and death. He would have gone through the Kings and Chronicles, revealing that He is the perfect King that we all need. He would have gone through Psalms and the Wisdom Literature and pointed to Himself as the Wisdom of God and the purpose of life. And He would have gone through the Prophets. How they prophesied about how He would be born in Bethlehem. And that He would be a Suffering Servant. How that they would pierce His hands and His feet. But also how His soul would not be left in hell and His body would not see corruption in Psalm 16. He would have gone through Ezra and Nehemiah and Malachi after Israel returned from Babylon. He would say He's the great Restorer of hope. He would have gone through all the Old Testament pointing to Him.

It's doubtful that Jesus would have used all the Old Testament examples and characters and situations simply to tell these two disciples how to live a better life. He didn't give them advice. He didn't give them these stories just to increase their faith or give them moral lessons. Jesus wasn't offering self-help advice or tips on how to improve daily living. Instead, He was going through the scriptures, expounding to them all things concerning Himself.

It's doubtful Jesus would have turned to Noah and been like, "You know what, guys—you need to obey God even if it means going into the crowd." Instead, He would have said, "You know what, Noah built an ark. I'm the true Ark of safety. You find your provision and your protection in Me." Jesus wouldn't have gone through the story of Isaac and told them to offer up, "You're Isaac." Instead, He would have said, "I'm the one who was offered up for you in your place. I'm the greater Sacrifice." He wouldn't have gone through the story of Joseph and taught them moral lessons about preparing for the future and running from temptation, even though those are applicable. Jesus would have emphasized how He's the greater Joseph. He's the one who saves His family and the surrounding nations through the Gospel.

You see, Jesus didn't use the scriptures to simply point out all the things we need to do for God. He went through the scriptures and talked about all the things He has already done for us. And that turns the Old Testament from a group of moral stories to the completed plan of redemption as Jesus said, "It is finished." Praise God, it finds its culmination in Him. Because in reality, there are no true heroes to follow in the Old Testament. They're not godly enough. The Judges aren't strong enough to deliver Israel for long. The Kings aren't righteous enough to lead forever. The Prophets' words are not clear enough. The Priests are not pure enough.

Friends, we need a better Prophet, Priest, King, Deliverer. That's found only in one person: the Lord Jesus Christ. So what Jesus is saying to these disciples, He's saying, "It's always been about Me. Look to Me. The scriptures are pointing to Me."

So friends, this is my prayer. If you don't remember anything at all that I ever tell you for as long as I'm pastor of this church, I want you to remember this. I want you to look to Jesus Christ. Look to Him. Run to Him. Cling to Him. Understand that our purpose for existence is Jesus. Look to Him. Look to Him. Look to Him. Look to Him. Look to Him. We should point to Christ as they come to give us a hymn of invitation. I'm going to leave you with this thought.

If I could preach a sermon that is gladly received by Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, or anyone from another religion without offending them, I have not preached the true Jesus. Amen. Because Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." So I must make Jesus known. I must make Jesus plain. I must preach Jesus, Him crucified, risen, and returning, because the center of the Bible, the heart of our faith, the foundation of all truth is Jesus Christ and Him alone. So every sermon, every message, every word—every action should point to Him. To preach anything else or to reduce the Gospel to mere self-help or moralism is to miss the point entirely. It's about Jesus Christ. I hope I've said that enough in this sermon to drill that in everybody's memory.

So if you're lost this morning, I want you to look to Jesus as Savior. Amen. If you feel guilty, if you feel overcome by sin, I want you to look to Jesus as the one who can cleanse you. If you feel hopeless this morning, I want you to look to Jesus as the one who gives you hope. If you feel lost, I want you to look to Jesus as the one who is the Way. If you're searching for truth and meaning and purpose, I want to point you to Jesus, who is the Truth. If you need healing, if you need comfort, I want to point you to Jesus, who is your Healer and your Comforter. I want you to look to Jesus because it all points to Him.

So if the Lord is dealing with your heart or you want to be prayed for, I encourage you—you can pray where you're at or you can join me here at the altar and I'll be glad to pray with you. This altar is open. Page 437, "Wherever He leads, I'll go." Would you stand, please? Amen. I heard my pastor say, "I gave my life to ransom thee." Surrender your all today, "Wherever He leads, I'll go. Wherever He leads, I'll go. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so. Wherever He leads, I'll go. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so. I'll follow my Christ, who loves me so." Eyes to finally be open and then realize—oh, it's Jesus! So it's like your favorite TV show is "to be continued." I don't know what television show does that, but you get the gist: "to be continued."

So I encourage you, read your Bible. We have a Bible reading plan; you can see Elaine for that. Remember the things we've learned, read the Bible through a Gospel lens, and read it looking to Jesus who has done everything for you. Then you say, "Lord, what are You revealing to me? What can I learn about God? What can I learn about Jesus? And how can I worship You through this?" And then, "What are You calling me to do? How can I obey this?" And ultimately, we find our purpose and meaning when we find it in Jesus. So go, love Jesus, live Jesus, and share Jesus with someone this week. And if all hearts are free for the dentist, you mind dismissing us.