by
Pastor Mark Montgomery
Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209

     You used to attend Tree of Life. If you were still attending there, and were present there the morning of the shooting, and had been one of those who were killed, where would your soul have gone? I know that you are faithful to your synagogue, and I know that you are a good man, but those things don't answer the question.

     The Old Testament teaches that the Law must be obeyed all the time. As I said before, I know you're a good man, but I also know that there have been times when you have not kept the Law of God. All of us, Jews and Gentiles, have violated its tenets at one time or another. Have we ALWAYS kept God as the priority in our lives (Commandment 1)? Have we EVER used God's name as an expletive or an interjection when we weren't talking to Him or about Him (Commandment 3)? As a Jew, have you ALWAYS kept the Sabbath in accordance with the Torah (Commandment 4)? As boys, did we ALWAYS honor our parents, and show that by always obeying them (Commandment 5)? Did we EVER take anything that did not belong to us, or tell a lie about someone else (Commandments 8 and 9)? Did we ever desire something that belonged to our neighbor (Commandment 10)? Did we ALWAYS love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind (Deut 6:5)? Have we ALWAYS loved our neighbor as much as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18)? I know the answer for me is "No", and I know it is for you as well because we are all born sinners. King David said, "In sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5). He wasn't referring to being conceived through sinful activities. He was saying that from the moment of conception he was a sinner. Isaiah 64:6 says,

     But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

     So, all of us are sinners. What is the consequence of that fact? Daniel 12:2 tells us that someday there will be a resurrection, and "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." It is clear from that verse that some people will have everlasting life in Heaven. It is also clear that some will be in a place that also lasts forever, but will be a place of misery. Who are those people that receive "everlasting contempt"? Ezekiel 18:20 states, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." So, since we are all sinners, we are all headed towards this place of eternal punishment. This is not just a physical death. This is an eternal separation from God in Hell. Psalm 9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God." And, lest we think that we are not "wicked" people, Proverbs 13:6 states, "but wickedness overthroweth the sinner". Psalm 119:53 adds "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.". So, who are the wicked? They can be defined as both sinners and as those who do not obey God's Law. So, in the sight of God, I am wicked, and so is everyone else.

     Since all of us have sinned, we need to get those sins removed, or else we are eternally doomed. So, what are we going to do about that sin problem? We can try to be good, but being good doesn't solve the problem that we have done bad. God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and said,

     "Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it." (Ezekiel 33:12-13).

     In other words, no matter how righteous a man may be, that will not save him from being judged for his sin. Let me illustrate this. If I get arrested for committing a robbery, and I am guilty, my defense can not be that I never murdered anyone. It's good that I never murdered anyone, but that does not resolve the fact that I DID rob someone. In the same way, even though I may not have committed EVERY sin known to man, the fact remains that I have committed SOME sins, and therefore I am a lawbreaker, and deserve to be punished.

     So, if our good works can not solve the problem, what can? There must be a way, for Solomon wrote, "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath" (Proverbs 15:24). David said that he needed to be washed and cleansed (Psalm 51:2).He, and we, need to have our sins forgiven by the God that we have sinned against. God will forgive. David wrote, "For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. (Psalm 86:13). God spoke to Israel in II Chronicles 7:14:

     "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

I am so thankful that the passage mentioned above from Ezekiel 33 also includes this statement, "Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right... he shall not die" (vs 14-15).

     What is the answer? The Bible teaches that there had to be a blood atonement. This starts in the Garden of Eden when God clothes Adam and Eve in animal skins, which could only have come from animals that were killed. We know that at the first Passover in Egypt that God said that He would "pass over" those homes where a spotless lamb had been killed, its blood shed, and that blood applied to the door of the house (Ex 12). After God established His covenant with Israel at Mt Sinai that covenant was confirmed with blood sacrifices (Ex 24:5-8). Under the Levitical system there was a blood sacrifice made for an atonement every day (Ex 29:36). One the Day of Atonement the high priest went onto the Holy of Holies with the blood from a sacrifice and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat to make an atonement for the sins of the people. Leviticus 17:11 says,

     "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

     Unfortunately, that Levitical system no longer exists. There is not a Temple, nor an altar, nor the Ark of the Covenant, nor the Mercy Seat, nor a priest available for that type of blood sacrifice to be offered. So, for all intents and purposes, since 70 AD there has never been one blood sacrifice made that was in accordance with the Law of God. Therefore, that system can not save anyone today, because it is not being practiced. In addition, if the sacrifice of a lamb or a bullock could solve a man or a nation's sin problem, why did those sacrifices have to be repeated annually, or even daily? The answer is that they could not. They were a show of obedience and faith, but they ultimately were insufficient to save a man's soul.

     So, if the blood of animals did not suffice, what would? God told Eve that someday there would come a "seed of the woman" that would have his heal bruised by Satan but would ultimately bruise Satan's head. Satan would receive a destructive blow from this Person who was not referred to as the "seed of the man", but only as the "seed of the woman". How could that be? Isaiah prophesied that "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14), which means "God with us". So this One Who would destroy Satan would have to be virgin born. In Daniel 9:25-26 this Person is called "Messiah". Psalm 2:2 calls Him the "LORD's anointed". In Deuteronomy 18:5 God tells Israel, "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken". In Psalm 110:1 David says that this Messiah is his "Lord", and says that He will rule the nations, and would also be a priest, but not after the Levitlcal order, but of the order of Melchizedek, to whom Abraham paid tithes (Genesis 14:20). Isaiah 11 says that Messiah will come through the line of Jesse, the father of David, that He will rule in righteousness, and that the day will come when there is peace on earth among both Jews and Gentiles during His reign on the throne of David. Micah 5:2 tells us that he would be born in Bethlehem. So, we see Messiah in the Old Testament as being God in the flesh, virgin born, coming from the tribe of Judah through the line of David, born in Bethlehem, ultimately ruling on David's throne over both the Jews and the Gentiles, serving as a priest in spite of not being from the tribe of Levi, and, most importantly, defeating Satan.

     But there is more. There are numerous prophesies dealing with the birth, life, and death of Messiah, as well as His future rule. One passage that I would like to focus on is Isaiah 53. There the prophet writes:

     "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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 her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

     Notice in Isaiah 53 what Messiah will be and do. He will not appear outwardly to be anything special. He will be rejected by men. He will smitten by God. He will take this punishment because of the sins of mankind. All men have gone astray as sinners, and God will place upon His Anointed the sins of the entire world. He will be killed for men's transgressions. He will be buried with sinners and with the rich. He will die, not because He had done anything wrong, but because He is offering His own blood as an atonement for the sins of the world so as to satisfy the penalty for sin that Holy God demanded. Therefore, God will bless Him, because He took upon Himself the sins of mankind.

     When will this happen? Daniel 9:24-26 states,

     "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."

     Daniel is very specific in his timetable. The word "weeks" simply means "sevens", so based on the statements made in this passage the weeks are probably "weeks of years", or seven year periods. Thus, there are a total of 490 years. The part I want to notice is that Daniel says that Messiah will be cut off after sixty-nine "weeks", or 483 years. So, if we know when the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, including its streets and wall, was issued, we ought to be able to understand when Messiah would die. That edict was given in 445 BC by Artaxerxes, and is recorded in Nehemiah 2. If you start with in 445 BC, and move forward 483 years with 360 days each, this brings you to 32 AD. Notice also that Daniel says that Messiah would not be cut off "for Himself", because, as Isaiah says, He never committed any sin. He died for the sake of mankind. Also, at some point following Messiah being cut off the city and the Temple would be destroyed. We know that occurred when Titus and the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD.

     So, what has the Old Testament taught us thus far? All men are sinners, and because of their sin they are condemned to the eternal judgment of God. Man's good works can not solve the problem. In fact, a blood sacrifice is required. But it can not be the blood of an animal, for if that was all it took then there would have been no need for an annual Day of Atonement, and if by some chance it were sufficient, then everyone who has lived since the sacrifices ceased in 70 A.D. has been condemned to Hell. But God had another sacrifice in mind - the sacrifice of Messiah, the virgin born, sinless, Son of God. He was the one who would make the atonement for sin, and with the shedding of His blood there would never be a need to repeat the sacrifice - it was good once for all.

     So, how does a person today receive that atonement. We have seen that it is not by man's good works. It is not based upon our lineage, for both Jews and Gentiles can receive it, and both Jews and Gentiles can suffer everlasting judgment. It is based upon faith. Genesis 15:6 states, speaking of Abraham, "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." So Abraham, who was a sinner like the rest of us, had righteousness applied to his account by God. Why did it happen? Because he believed God. Why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's not accepted? Because Abel believed God and did what God said. Why was Noah saved from the flood? Because he believed God and built an ark. How did Moses become the great leader of Israel? He believed God and aligned himself with his Jewish brethren rather than with Pharaoh. How did Israel escape Egypt? They believed God and participated in the Passover as He instructed. Yes there were actions involved, but the actions were rooted in faith in what God had said. Over and over this formula is repeated: if you believe what God has said, you will be saved. If you reject what God has said, you will be condemned.

     So, we finally come to the conclusion. We have seen what the Old Testament Scriptures said about man's sin and the consequences of that sin. We have seen that only a blood sacrifice would atone for sins, and that sacrifice would only have to be made one time. Anything that needs to be repeated can not save or it would not have needed to be repeated. We have seen that the sacrifice would require the bloody death, sometime around 32 A.D., of the "Seed of the woman" who was God in the flesh, virgin born in Bethlehem, and of the lineage of David - the Messiah. Who can this Person be? It must be Jesus, for no one else fits, or can fit in the future, the requirements laid out in the prophecies.

     Jesus came into the world to give His life on the cross to save all who believe from an eternity on the Lake of Fire. John the Baptist, a Jewish man from the priestly tribe of Levi, proclaimed Jesus to be "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." He was THE LAMB: the One who was unspotted with sin, and thus could take the penalty for sin in the place of the rest of mankind. His death appeased the wrath of Holy God, and His resurrection proved beyond any doubt that He was indeed the Son of God. However, his sacrifice must be accepted by faith in order to be efficacious. Isaiah 53 says that he would bare the sins of "many". Why only many? Because large numbers of people refuse to believe. Some don't believe that Jesus was Who He said He was. Some don't believe that He died for their sins and then rose again the third day. Some don't believe that they even require a savior at all because they think that their lifestyle or lineage is "good enough". They don't believe that when Jesus said, "Ye must be born again" to the religious leader Nicodemus He was telling the truth. Apparently Nicodemus believed it, because it is recorded that he assisted in the burial of Jesus, undoubtedly at great risk to his position in the Sanhedrin. The ultimate question of this letter is: do YOU believe it?

     Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus is quite interesting. Allow me to reproduce it here from the Gospel of John, chapter 3.

     "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

     If you have not yet received Jesus as Savior, please call upon Him to save you soon. As a loyal customer of yours, I would hate to see a good man like you miss out on salvation. It is ultimately your choice - no one has to believe. However, there is an eternal price to pay when one rejects the message of God concerning His Son's sacrifice for mankind. The apostle Paul, (who described his background before salvation this way:

     "If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.") wrote, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." (Romans 10:1).

That is my desire as well, and, since you are one of God's chosen people, I would particularly like to see you receive His gift of eternal life.

Have a wonderful day, and may God bless you.

Mark Montgomery