Shadows to Substance Series (Conclusion) - DJ Dickerson

This morning

is our final lesson of our series,

Shadows to Substance. I was a little

sad. I'm going to tell you as I was

preparing this one, thinking this is the

conclusion. And I kept thinking, I got

one more. I just know it. We've been

going on for a while. This is going to

be part 18 of 18. So, this isn't the

longest series I've ever done, but it is

it was rather a lengthy one, but I have

certainly enjoyed it. And I hope that

the way that I'm bringing this lesson

series to a close is going to be

encouraging and edifying to each one as

those sermons prior to has certainly

been encouraging, edifying to me and

preparing them in our study together. So

the question that we're asking

this morning of ourselves based on all

that we have read and all that we have

studied through this several part series

of shadows to substance is the question

what are we still seeking?

I I really pondered on this as to how to

end this one and I thought this question

is the one. This is it.

Because friends, throughout this series,

we have walked carefully through the

scriptures and we have traced God's

unfolding plan

from Genesis

to Christ.

And we have seen that God did not reveal

everything at once. That's that I think

that's the beauty of it. I really do.

Rather, what he did is he taught us

patiently.

He taught us progressively. He taught us

purposefully.

I've mentioned already throughout this

series that really you see that he's

teaching layer by layer

over and over. We have seen how God used

real people, real events, real

institutions as shadows, those types and

and figures designed to prepare the

human heart for something greater.

reminded of the passage of Romans 15 and

verse4

where Paul said for whatever things were

written before were written for our

learning that we through the patience

and comfort of the scriptures might have

hope.

What we have learned is God using

history itself as his classroom.

That every covenant, every sacrifice,

every priesthood, every deliverance was

preaching a powerful message that

extends all the way here to us today.

That all of it was pointing forward.

And I want us to think about this. Now,

I'm not going to repreach the whole

series, so don't get worried. All right?

I am going to give you a little you

probably if you had the handouts you're

thinking oh wow he's going to hit on a

lot of stuff just a little bit because

I'm making the point here as we as we're

going to bring this lesson series to a

close but again just reminding ourselves

again that God was teaching through

shadows spiritual truths through

physical realities

from the very beginning God chose to

teach spiritual truths through spiritual

through through those physical realities

And and one of the things that you'll

notice there is is creation, right?

We've talked about creation itself.

Psalm 19 and verse one, the psalmist

said, "The heavens declare the glory of

God and the firmament shows his

handiwork."

And even in Romans 1 and verse 20 speaks

of this, for since the creation of the

world, his invisible attributes are

clearly seen being understood by the

things that are made, even his eternal

power and godhead. so that they are

without excuse.

God was showing humanity that life comes

from him alone, the creator.

And again, we saw it from the very

beginning in Genesis, the creation.

We've talked about water as another one

of those. Noah passed through the water.

That's what 1 Corinthians 10, we looked

at that one just recently, two two

sermons ago, where Noah is passed

through water into a new world. Israel

crossed the Red Sea in deliverance.

Later, they crossed the Jordan of the

promised land. That's what Paul was

explaining in 1 Corinthians 10 1-4 that

Israel was baptized into Moses in the

cloud and in the sea. And Peter tells us

regarding back to Noah that this

foreshadowed baptism which now what?

Saves us. 1 Peter chapter 3:es 20 and 21

who formerly were disobedient when once

the divine longsuffering waited in the

days of Noah while the ark was being

prepared in which a few that is eight

souls were saved through water. There is

also an anti-ype which now saves us.

Baptism, not the removal of the filth of

the flesh,

but the answer of a good conscience

toward God through the resurrection of

Jesus Christ.

See, what do we see in that one? Water

was never merely water. It was always

pointing forward to cleansing,

deliverance, and new life.

God taught through blood and sacrifice.

We looked at that one last Sunday

morning, didn't we? Leviticus 17:1, one

Leviticus 17:1

of the uh passages I shared with you

then. For the life of the flesh is

where? It's in the blood. And I have

given it to you up on the altar to make

atonement for your souls. For it is the

blood that makes atonement for the soul.

And what is that also mentioned there in

Hebrews 9 and verse 22? Well, there it

is again referencing back even to what

you see in in Exodus and all and

Leviticus. And according to the law,

almost all things are purified with

what? Blood.

And without shedding of blood, there is

no remission.

We were reminded just in that one as

well that every lamb placed on an altar

preached the same sermon. You know what

that was? Sin cost life. Yet Hebrews

also tells us that those sacrifices

could never truly remove sin. Talking

about the bloods of bulls and goats. We

read that last Sunday, didn't we? They

were shadows. And what they were doing

is they were waiting for fulfillment.

God taught through priesthood.

The priesthood of Hebrews 7:es 23- 26

that's referencing there back to the

priesthood of the Old Testament, the old

law. It says also there were many

priests because they were prevented by

death from continuing.

But he, who's that reference again?

Jesus. The fulfillment, the substance

that we've been talking about in this

series. But he, because he continues

forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

Therefore, he is also able to save to

the uttermost those who come to God

through him, since he always lives to

make intercession for them. For such a

high priest was fitting for us, who is

holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from

sinners, and has become higher than the

heavens.

See, the priests that stood between God

and man, the old law, they offered

sacrifices on behalf of the people that

we mentioned, but those priests were

temporary, weren't they? They died.

Their ministry ended. They were pointing

forward to someone greater. And who was

that? Jesus Christ the righteous. Just

as the Hebrew writer makes clear in

Hebrews 7.

Now, I bring all of this up because

friends, you know, God taught through

covenant. He taught through land. He

taught through marriage. He taught

through nationhood.

We covered a lot of ground. A lot.

And Hebrews tells us plainly, the law

had only a shadow of good things to

come. And one of the passages that we

use numerous times throughout this

series as well was Colossians 2 16 and

17 of what Paul was emphasizing about

those things of the old. Let no one

judge you in food or in drink or in

regarding a festival or a new moon or

Sabbath. Again referencing the old. He

says those are a shadow which are shadow

of things to come but the substance is

of Christ.

He says the substance belongs to Christ.

All of this is teaching us.

And what we have seen throughout the

series of lessons is that God he was not

experimenting. Okay? He was not

experimenting friends. He was teaching.

And can I tell you uh something plainly?

I I I believe is that shadows

only make sense

when the substance arrives.

All this other that we have noted

when the substance arrive now it makes

sense. We put all those things together.

As I mentioned throughout this series,

we have all these pieces of the puzzle

and we've been putting them all together

and they fit so perfectly.

When Jesus arrived, every shadow found

its meaning in him.

And remember what John the Baptist when

he said uh when when he looked at Jesus

and said behold the lamb of God who

takes away the sin of the world.

Paul would tell us Christ is our

Passover sacrifice for us. Hebrews

declared Jesus appeared once for all to

put away sin by the sacrifice of

himself. Jesus is our high priest. And

Hebrews tells us that we now have a

great high priest who has passed through

the heavens and because of him we can

come boldly to the throne of grace

unlike the priest of old. Again as we

mentioned Jesus did not offer another

sacrifice. He offered himself

that he is our rest.

That's why he could rightfully say in

Matthew 11 28 through30 come unto me all

ye that labor and are heavy laden and I

will give you rest.

He could say that

because there remains a rest for the

people of God and that rest is found in

Christ.

Marriage itself pointed forward to

Christ and his church. Paul wrote that

Christ loved the church and gave himself

for her. My mind has just constantly

just been spinning through all of this.

in Hebrews 1:es 1-4.

I want us to think about this.

What what what's being told in Hebrews

1. And Hebrews covers a lot of ground as

well. I know we we hit on a lot of

passages in Hebrews, but look at how

Hebrews chapter 1 starts out verse 1-4.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

God, who at various times and in various

ways spoke in time past to the fathers

by the prophets, has in these last days

spoken to us by his son, whom he has

appointed heir of all things, through

whom also he made the worlds, who being

the brightness of his glory and the

express image of his person, upholding

all things by the word of his power,

when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down at the right hand of the

majesty on high, having become so much

better than the angels as he has by

inheritance obtained a more excellent

name than they. What that basically is

telling us is very simple. While God

once spoke through prophets, he has now

spoken through his son. All of what we

have seen in this series is that Christ

is God's final word.

Nothing more is coming. Okay?

The shadows have done their work. that

fulfillment, that substance has arrived.

Yet, here is where the tragedy begins.

Okay, here's where it kind of turns a

little bit on us.

Even when Christ came, many still wanted

something else. Y'all know that?

I want you to look 1 Corinthians 1 and

verse 22. Brother Daniel, let us in our

scripture reading this morning. And as

you get your minds as to what was stated

there, what Paul was making mention, I'm

going to use verse 22 to start us off

here. For Jews request a sign, and

Greeks seek after wisdom.

Now,

here's something that you'll find as you

go and you study more into about the the

Jews and as well as the Greeks here. And

I I'm going to mention a few passages uh

again with this. But here what he's

saying is the Jews, they wanted

continual proof,

did they not? They did. They asked Jesus

himself who was a substance right in

front of them

for signs even after witnessing miracles

that he did.

That sounds crazy, doesn't it?

They ignored resurrection level evidence

because it didn't fit their

expectations.

The Greeks, they sought after wisdom. I

I'll just take you back to Acts chapter

Acts 17 · chapter mention

17 and verse 21. This is a prime area

that you find Paul. You think about the

Athenians, this passage where he he

proclaims there on Mars Hill, right?

That's a powerful powerful lesson about

him teaching them about that unknown god

to them which was God right the creator

of all the one true God

what's he say in verse 21 of Acts 17 for

all the Athenians and the foreigners who

were there spent their time in nothing

else but either to tell or to hear some

new thing it's exactly what Paul's

saying in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 22 is

1 Corinthians 1:22

they wanted philosophy ophy.

They spent their time hearing something

new. They loved ideas but not

submission.

I told y'all this is where the tragedy

begins.

This is where the problem happens.

Paul answers both groups with one

statement. I'm use the first part of 1

Corinthians 1 and verse 23. Here's the

statement. But we preach Christ

crucified.

Yeah, you seek after this and you want

this,

but we preach Christ crucified. That's

what we do,

friends. That statement still confronts

us.

We can be no different than the Jews who

seek after a sign and the Greeks who are

still seeking wisdom. We can be no

different than them. that are referenced

in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 22.

1 Corinthians 1:22

And we we may not ask for miracles. We

may not do that. But we sometimes ask

for certainty that's beyond scripture.

We may not chase Greek philosophy. We

may not do that.

But you know what we still want? We want

explanations that fit our preferences.

And then we say the Bible is sufficient.

Yet we often live as though it's not.

enough.

It's just not enough.

We have the problem that exists of of

looking for emotional

confirmation.

We have to be careful about that, right?

That emotional stuff. The heart is

deceitful, right? Scriptures talk about

that. We look for deeper insight. We

look for something more.

But before we go searching elsewhere,

what we need to first remember is what

God has already given us.

Look how much time we spent in this

series of all the different levels and

layers of those shadows that led

straight to the substance every single

time. And we want more.

We want more. Is there a miracle

somewhere? Is there a sign? Is there

what are we doing?

Look at 2 Timothy 3 16-1 17.

This happens in our society, friends.

This is what I'm talking about. 2

Timothy 3:16-1 17 says, "All scripture,"

and say, "Some,

all scripture is given by inspiration of

God." And look at this. Read on. and is

profitable for doctrine, for approve,

for correction, for instruction in

righteousness, that the man of God may

be, look at this word, complete,

thoroughly equipped for every good work.

There is no exception at the end of the

sentence.

There's no but

no it says scripture all scripture is

inspired by God and able to make the man

of God complete

Peter second Peter chapter 1 go over to

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

second Peter chapter 1 again prove all

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

things according to God's word not DJs

God's divine power Peter talks about in

second Peter 1:es 2-4 look at this

what has God given us.

Look at this. grace and peace be

multiplied to you in the knowledge of

God and of Jesus our Lord

as his divine power has given to us all

things that pertain to life and

godliness

through the knowledge here's here it is

through the knowledge of him

the substance right what we've been

talking about him who called us by glory

and virtue by which have been given to

us exceedingly great and precious

promises that through these you may be

partakers of the divine nature, having

escaped the corruption that is in the

world through lust. Wow.

Speaks volumes, doesn't it? God's divine

power has given us all things that

pertain to life and godliness. You see,

God God did not leave salvation vague.

He didn't he didn't do that. The gospel

is so plain. It's so clear. We were

talking about this morning in our Bible

class in Acts chapter eight. that

section of scripture that speaks of the

Ethiopian unic. Philip went up and he

preached Christ to him from where the

shadow of the Old Testament

that talked about the suffering savior

in Isaiah chapter 53. He preached

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

Christ. What did Paul said in 1

1 Corinthians 1:23

Corinthians 1 verse 23? But we preach

Christ crucified. That's it.

And that's exactly what the Ethiopian

unic heard in Acts chapter 8. Again, we

Acts 8 · chapter mention

don't have the whole outline of what

Philip was preaching there or teaching.

But you know what? He came to the

conclusion of that Jesus Christ that's

being spoken of in Isaiah 53 is a

suffering savior that died on the cross

for his sins and all of ours. And what

did he say? Here is water. What hinders

me from being baptized.

The Ethiopian unic wasn't going well.

What else do you got?

You got anything else? Is there a sign?

Is there some wisdom? there. What? What?

What is there?

No, that Ethiopian unic, he heard the

gospel message right there and he said,

"Here's water. What would hinders me

from being baptized?"

That's powerful. That Ethiopian unic

recognized something, didn't

that shadow right to the substance that

Jesus Christ himself being preached to

him.

belief, repentance, confession, baptism,

remission of sins,

no mystery, there's no hidden knowledge,

there's no elite access code that we

need.

And yet, here's the thing. The

simplicity of the cross offends human

pride.

It offends it.

I believe you would agree with me. Okay?

And I've had conversation with a lot

over this series of lessons. I believe

you would agree with me that these this

series of lessons was so simple.

Okay. So simple. Taking things from the

Old Testament,

blood, water again, marriage, creation,

all all of those things, the priesthood,

all those shadows. And and all we did

was go to the New Testament and we

connect them to Jesus. That's all we

did.

This was NOT COMPLEX AT ALL, was it?

Because if it was complex, DJ's not

teaching or preaching it. Okay, go ahead

and get that one down.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse

18, for the message of the cross is

foolishness to those who are perishing.

That one hurts. All right. That hurts

for someone to consider that this

message is so simple.

They consider it foolish. It's

foolishness to those who are perishing.

But to us who are being saved, it is the

power of God because we connect all of

it.

You see, when when he uses that

statement, the message of the cross is

foolishness those who are perishing. You

know, you ask the question, well, why?

Because it removes boasting.

We got to remember we are the creation

not the creator.

Salvation is by grace through faith and

God saves through humble obedience not

human brilliance.

And that brings us to I I think one of

the most personal questions we're going

to ask this morning in in this series of

lessons.

We must ask ourselves honestly if God

has shown us everything that we need,

friends, what are we still seeking?

What are we still looking for?

I mean, we could ask questions. Are are

we seeking assurance beyond faith? Are

we seeking comfort beyond obedience? Are

we seeking acceptance beyond Christ?

What are we still seeking?

I I want you to notice Hebrews 2 1-3.

Look at that.

Hebrews 2 1-3. Therefore, we must give

the more earnest heed to the things we

have heard.

Heard. Where's faith come from?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by

the word of God. That's Romans 10:17.

Romans 10:17

That's it. We have heard. If we don't do

that, what's he give a warning? He gives

a warning. Lest we drift away. For if

the word spoken through angels prove

steadfast in every transgression and

disobedience received a just reward, how

shall we escape if we neglect so great a

salvation which at the first began to be

spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to

us by those who heard him? Friends, we

have been confirming all series long.

We have confirmed all of these shadows

to the substance.

He says we got to give them more earnest

heed less we drift away because that's

what happens. And then we stand up. We

want to see a sign and we're looking for

wisdom. We're looking for all the

What did Jesus disciples? They once

asked this now with the Kyle Copelan

songs that that he selected this

morning. One of them was Lord to whom

shall we go? Did y'all see that

scripture? To whom shall we go? Where

could I go but to the Lord? That was a

scripture John 6 and verse 68 that's

referenced there in that song. But Simon

Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we

go? You have the words of eternal life.

what he's saying is there's nowhere

else.

And I I love what Paul said. I just love

it. You know, when Paul in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, if you go on down to 1 Pet, I

said I could just preach on chapter I

could just go throughout Corinthians,

tell you the truth. I'm not that not

going to do that today. But chapter 2

and verse two, he said,"I determine not

to know anything among you except Jesus

Christ and him crucified."

Friends, that was his message.

And do you know what? That's still our

message.

That's still the same message.

Now,

let me bring the series to its close.

Now, just because I close a series

doesn't mean that we stop thinking about

it. All right. All those charts and I

didn't have a I didn't have a chart this

morning uh that I have extra handouts

this morning. So, I I know you might

walked in disappointed this morning want

that on that chart.

U it probably would have been like 20

pages front and back with all the things

that I wanted to put in there from the

whole series. But if you got the ones

from before, you you you you got what

you need there for all the all the

lessons.

But I want our minds to continue to

think on what we have studied in this in

this series

that God has patiently walked humanity

from promise to fulfillment, from shadow

to substance, from picture to reality.

Because friends, the question is not

it's not whether God has spoken clearly.

Because again, I go back to what I

mentioned earlier. Not a single one has

come up to me and said, "I'm confused

about what was being taught from the Old

Testament connecting it." My friends, my

kids,

my children

understood those lessons.

basic simple gospel truth message they

understood those connections of the

shadows to substance

so God he he's spoken clearly

so it's not this that's not the question

the question is whether will we trust

him in what he has said

because that's what Paul is telling the

say brother Colossians chapter 2:es 9

and 10 for in him dwells all the

fullness of the godhead bodily and you

are complete in him who is the head of

all principality and power.

You know what he's saying? Nothing is

missing and nothing's lacking. He said,

"This is what I need to know and this is

what you need to know."

We don't want to be like the Jews that

Paul is referencing in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. We don't want to be like the

Greeks, right? That's they're doing the

same. You know what? What are they

looking for?

Verse 21 or verse 20.

Where is the wise? Where's the scribe?

Where's the disputer of this age?

Has not God made the foolish the wisdom

made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For since verse 21, in the wisdom of

God, the world through wisdom did not

know God. It pleased God through the

foolishness of the message preached to

save those who believe. For Jews request

a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but

we preach Christ crucified.

To the Jews a stumbling block, and to

the Greeks foolishness. But to those who

are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ

the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser

than men and the weakness of God is

stronger than men. There's another

lesson right in there, friends. I could

preach a whole another sermon just on

those few verses. And I may,

but not this morning.

He's saying nothing's missing, nothing's

lacking.

So the question again is what are we

still seeking?

What is holding us back?

from submitting to his word, his will.

Friends, if you're still searching for

meaning, forgiveness or assurance

through shadows and his salvation

through his son, think about all those

things. If you're still seeking, God has

already pointed you to the answer.

What's the answer? It's

exactly as we have noted

the substance

that is Christ.

I'm very thankful that God has not left

us guessing as to what our purpose here

on this earth is.

He didn't.

He has shown us his will and purpose

through shadows and his salvation

through his son. And as we close this

series, I'm just I'm I'm I want to

submit to you,

we have to stop chasing what feels

impressive to us

and start walking faithfully with

Christ.

Because when you have Jesus, that

passage we just saw says you have

everything.

You have everything.

And it is so sad many times when I think

about those Jews who again asking Jesus

for more, for more, for more.

We know what they were up to.

Their pride got in the way that they

would not submit.

And that same heart still exists today.

There's those who have not put on the

body of Christ in baptism even though it

clearly points from the old shadows that

to the substance that is Christ and all

of the scriptures won't do it.

Pride gets in the way. It's dangerous.

It's not because we don't have

everything. It's because we don't really

want to submit to everything that the

Lord has said.

But friends, the shadows have faded and

the substance stands revealed. And you

know what? The cross still calls. Still

does. So we have to stop seeking signs.

We got to stop chasing the wisdom of

this. We got to stay start living fully

in Christ and see where true wisdoms.

It's in

the word of God.

It's in Christ. So friends, I tell you

again as we have again throughout this

whole series, the gospel has called in

every one of those shadows to the

substance that is Christ has called us

to the same plan of salvation.

Same one. It didn't lead us off veering

off into another direction or something

else that's here to come. No, it led us

straight back to hearing the word,

believing, repenting of our sins,

confessing Jesus to be the son of man

God, and being baptized, buried with

Christ in baptism to rise and walk in

newness of life as Romans 6 and4 says,

forgiveness of our sins to be added to

the Lord's church.

It led us all right back to that

every single time. You need to submit to

that this morning. All things stand

ready. And if you're already in Christ,

but find yourself you're still seeking

something more,

remember this. In Christ, everything has

already been given.

It's all been given. And it came through

Jesus the loving shepherd. Our song of

encouragement is being given. Number

272.

Friends, I I I ask again that very

personal question. We need to we need to

consider

what are we still seeking? What are we

doing with Jesus? What are we doing with

his word? What are we doing with what he

has already revealed?

I'm asking and pleading with you, stop

seeking after those things.

only seek Christ him crucified

his life given for us and to follow the

path that the loving shepherd gives. He

said, "I am the good shepherd and I know

my sheep and they shall hear my voice."

Do you hear his voice this morning? Do

you hear it calling from the shadows?

The very substance that he is. You do

answer that call. Won't you come as we

stand and sing the song that has been

selected for