Be alright with me if it's today,
wouldn't you? Wouldn't it be something for the Lord to just
come and get us all at the same time? He's going to do that one
of these days. He's going to come and get us
all one of these days, same time. Well, Brother Lance Heller, his
wife, Robin, been knowing him for quite a while. And I love
them very much. They're so delightful to be with. His father's a missionary to
Papua, Papua New Guinea for a year, 50 years. And he's been down
there for many years. And he come home to see a daughter
graduate from high school out in Houston, Texas, where they
live. And they go to David Pledger's.
Couldn't go to a better place to hear the gospel than David
Pledger's. So, Brother Lance, you come and you bring the Lord
to the Lord laid on your heart this morning. Well, after hearing that song, I feel
I could just sit down and we could end right there, couldn't
we? That was the gospel. And it blessed my heart. And it's been a blessing to be
here. I was scheduled to be with Bruce
Crabtree this weekend until he and Donnie got together and changed
the schedule. And I'm thankful. It's been good to be here. It
really has. And it's been an encouragement
to my soul. as I've heard the truth of the
gospel preached here. And more than anything, to hear
Christ magnified, what a joy that is to a gospel preacher.
And turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
18. Now, before my schedule was changed,
I was speaking to Zach Robinette. I think some of you may know
him. He's down in Houston now with his wife, Andrea. And when
I mentioned about being up at Bruce Crabtree's, he said, you
know, when Bruce preaches, you just feel like going up there
and crawling into his arms. And I thought that was good. And
why is that? Why is that? Well, I think we
know, isn't it? Because as Bruce preaches the
gospel of God's glorious grace, we hear Christ, don't we? That's
what Zach was saying. We hear Christ as Bruce is preaching. And I think we saw that as he
began the conference. a couple days ago. What a blessing. And I think we're benefiting
from that even now, aren't we? Now, it's not enough to hear the preacher. It's not. It's not enough. Even
if he's preaching the truth, even if he's preaching the gospel,
you must hear Christ. Now, you know, Gabe, Gabe mentioned
that five-year-old little girl, and Gabe heard what she had to say,
and he went down, he said he immediately went and wrote down
what she said. I forget her name. Emily, was
it? Lucy. Lucy. The gospel according
to Lucy. Now, why did he do that? Because
he was hearing Christ, wasn't he? Is Lucy in that? You know,
she can preach to me anytime if that's a sample of what she
says. She preaches the gospel with
more clarity than I do. And why? Why? Because as she
spoke to him, Gabe heard Christ, didn't he? And that's what we
want to hear. That's what we want to hear.
That's what we're interested in hearing. Often we forget that. I know
I do. I know I do. And we've heard,
as messages have been preached, this glorious command to come
to Christ. And that's what it is, isn't
it? It's a command to come to Christ. But what a command. What
grace in that command, isn't there? Come to Christ. Well,
to come, you must hear. Isn't that true? You must hear.
That's what the word tells us. You must hear. And who is it
that you must hear? Well, you must hear Christ. You must hear this one. Or you'll
never come. You'll never come. And you can
hear preaching from the greatest of preachers. And if that's all
you're hearing, it's not going to benefit you one iota. You'll get nothing. You'll get
nothing. You must hear Christ. Now, this is something which
is emphasized throughout the word, as we know, as we know.
Now, this is what I want us to consider today. Who shall we
hear? Who shall we hear? Who shall
we hear with respect to our understanding of the scriptures, all the scriptures? our understanding of the law
as we look at it, our understanding of the Psalms. You know, we've
heard some of the preachers quote from these glorious songs that
the Lord has given to us. As you read those, consider who
is saying these psalms. You know, as we hear that psalm
where the psalmist makes that great cry of utter despair. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me in all that is laid out in that psalm? Who is singing
that song? It's Christ. It's Christ, isn't
it? I think Psalm 69 was quoted from. Who's singing that song, that
psalm? That's Christ, isn't it? You
know, this is what I was considering. One of the messages I was considering
bringing today was from Hebrews chapter 2, where it speaks of
Christ. And I think Clay read through
that portion of Christ standing up in the congregation of his
people, when all those are gathered together before him. And he stands
up. And what does he do? He sings,
doesn't he? He sings. And he sings from that
psalm that we read in that those glorious Psalms. He sings. Who do we hear? This is what
I want to bring to your attention today. Who is it that we hear? Who shall we hear with respect
to the words of the prophets, the gospels themselves, the epistles
and revelation? What a polluted and perverted
book that is today and throughout the world. Who do we hear? Who shall we
hear with respect to righteousness and redemption, sanctification
and obedience, the hope set before us? Who shall we hear? This is the question. Who shall
we hear with respect to all the matters of life? You know, remember
the Ethiopian eunuch, as he's reading the word. See, he's reading
the word. He's reading the word of truth.
He's reading that glorious chapter, Isaiah 53, which the Lord, in
his mercy, used to draw me to himself with that powerful and
effectual call. But he's reading that, and he
says, prophet speak of? Is he speaking
of himself or another man? And as we read the word, this
is the question. Who, as we read the word, who
are we hearing? Are we hearing the prophet? Are
we hearing this other man? It's important. It's important
because who we hear makes all the difference. It absolutely
does. The preeminence of the Lord Jesus
Christ in all things. particularly in the redemptive
purposes of God, is the single most important truth in all the
scriptures. Why? Why? Because God the Father
purposed it to be that way. In Colossians chapter 1, we heard
it this morning, didn't we? What do we read there? And he,
Christ, is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have
the preeminence. Why? For it pleased the Father
that in Him all the fullness should dwell. And there's an entire book of
the Bible devoted to the teaching of the supremacy of Christ in
everything. Christ is bigger. And Christ
is better, isn't he? That's the message. It seems
obvious, then, when we ask this question, who shall we hear,
that the answer, of course, is hear him. Hear him. But I don't think it's too much
to say. The failure to grasp and embrace this important truth
is at the root of all sorts of confusion and error, error with
regard to the law, confusion and error with regard to the
old covenant, the nation of Israel, the kingdom of God, sanctification,
as I said, Christian obedience, and many, many other things.
Doesn't matter who we listen to. Oh, it certainly does. It certainly does. Who you hear
will determine what you believe. So let's consider today what
the Word of God tells us with regard to this truth. Whom shall
we hear? Now, here in this passage, Moses,
look down there in verse 9. Here in this passage, Moses is
speaking to Israel as they're about to cross over the Jordan
to end fulfillment of this promise. of this land and they're about
to dispossess all the nations in the land that God had promised
to the children of Israel. Now, verse 9, what do we read
there? Moses, we read there, when you come, Moses is speaking,
when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you,
you shall not learn to follow the abominations of these nations.
Skip down to verse 14. For these nations, which you
will dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners. But as for you,
the Lord your God has not appointed such for you." Now, in the work
in Papua New Guinea, we find that the people listen to many
voices, many voices. They listen to the voices of
their culture. They listen to the voices of the mythology,
their creation mythology. They listen to the voices of
spirits. They listen to the voices of
sorcerers. They listen to the voices of
idols, which they believe control all things in the world. The
growth of their gardens, the rain, the sun. Now many people
are so interested in this, as if things are so different. So different in this primitive
country. But they're not different at
all. They're not different at all. In fact, we're rapidly going
to a place where you're not going to see any difference whatsoever.
Are there voices here? Oh, there certainly are. There
are many voices here. There's a cacophony of voices
out there. And they're all preaching to
you. There's voices in popular culture, voices in entertainment. Who are you listening to? Voices
in politics? You don't think there are voices
in politics? There's soothsayers, there's
diviners. Most of all, what about all the
religion that's out there? Oh, there's voices in that religion
that's being preached all over. Isn't that true? There are soothsayers,
diviners, sorcerers, witches. Oh, absolutely. We have our soothsayers
and diviners. And this is the message. God
has not appointed such for you. This is what Moses is saying.
All of these voices are voices of philosophy and empty deceit
according to the principles of the world and not according to
Christ. not according to Christ. Moses
says, the Lord has not appointed such for you. Well, what has
God appointed for Israel? That's the question, isn't it?
Verse 15. Look there. The Lord, the Lord, your God
will raise up for you a prophet like unto me from your midst,
from your brethren, him you shall hear. Now, What does Moses say? Well, what does he not say? Moses
does not say that God has appointed him and given him the words that
they were to listen to. But he was, wasn't he? Yes, he
was. He was a prophet sent of God. But Moses doesn't say that, does
he? He says, no, God has appointed for you another. Now, note too,
Moses does not say that God has appointed the law for Israel.
You might expect that, wouldn't you? Moses was the one to whom
God gave the law. You might think that he would
say, well, you're not to listen to all of the diviners and soothsayers
and all the laws of these heathen nations which you're about to
dispossess. God has given us the law. hear the law." He doesn't
say that, does he? No, he doesn't. No, he doesn't.
He says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like
unto me. Him shall you hear in all things. Him you shall hear. Now, keep
your place here. Just turn over for a moment to
Acts chapter 3. And I think We're all familiar with this,
but I want you to see the importance of this prophecy that is given
to us here in Deuteronomy. This is a prophecy of immense
significance in the Word of God. Here in Acts chapter 3, we have
Peter and he's preaching this great gospel message in Solomon's
portico after he's healed that lame man. Now, This is the first
recorded message after the day of Pentecost. The very first. This is the message we hear.
Well, what is Peter's message? Well, listen, begin there in
verse 19. Well, he has a great glorious
gospel message, doesn't he? But what's the focus of his message?
Verse 19. Repent, therefore, and be converted
that your sins may be blotted out. Those great clouds of sins
that Bruce spoke to us about. Here is the one who blots out
these sins. That your sins may be blotted
out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of
the Lord. And that he may send Jesus Christ. That he may send
Jesus Christ who is preached to you before whom heaven must
receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Now listen. truly who is this
one who is this Jesus for truly Moses said to the fathers the
Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your
brethren him you shall hear in all things whatever he says to
you here's the prophet here's the prophet isn't it this is
who Moses was speaking about turn back to Deuteronomy turn
back to Deuteronomy Now, both Moses and Peter are telling us
first and foremost that this prophet, this prophet whom the
Lord God would raise up would be greater than Moses, greater
than Moses. This prophet is the one who would
supersede Moses, that the people were to hear this prophet that
God would raise up. Now, secondly, look there in
verse 15. We're told that this prophet
would be one like Moses. He would be raised up from their
brethren, from their brethren. Wasn't Christ raised up from
their brethren? Oh, He surely was. And secondly, look, He would
be a mediator. Like Moses, He would be a mediator.
Verse 16. According to all the Lord, beginning
at 15 again, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet
like me from your midst, from your brethren, him you shall
hear. according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb,
in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice
of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore,
Lest I die. You see here, they're speaking
about that great day when Moses is on that mountain and the people,
they hear the thundering and the lightning and the earth trembling
and they're terrified. In fact, Moses himself says,
I'm exceedingly afraid and fearful. And the people, they saw this
and what did they do? They said, we can't talk to God. We need a mediator. Why? Lest we die. Lest we die. Well, this one would be a prophet
like Moses. He too would be a mediator. He would be this one that Clay
spoke of who was of such righteousness that he could lay his hand upon
God. And such holiness, such purity,
such burning holiness that he could lay his hand upon God.
and lay his hand upon man." Isn't that true? He'll be a mediator
like Moses. And not only that, he'll speak
what? The words that God commands him. Isn't that what Moses did? He
received the words from God on that mountain and throughout
his ministry as a prophet he received the words from God.
that God spoke to him and he spoke those words. Well, this
prophet, whoa, this prophet, he too receives, it will be one
who speaks the words that God commands. God commands. Verse
18, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among
your brethren and I will put my words in his mouth and he
shall speak to them all that I command him. And if If they
don't hear, if they don't hear verse 19, and it shall be that
whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in my name, I
will require it of him. I will require it of him. Turn
over to John chapter one, John chapter one. Now, what is Moses saying? Moses
is saying. Exactly what John the Baptist
said of himself with respect to Christ. Look there in verse
15 of chapter one. And we read here, John bore witness
of him. He's speaking of John the Baptist.
And he says, John, John bore witness of him and cried out
saying, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred
before me. Well, Moses is saying the same
thing, isn't he? He who comes after me is preferred
before me. Why is that? Because he was before
me. Verse 16, and of his fullness
we have all received and grace for grace for the law was given
through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Now, there are tremendous truths in these verses, aren't there?
Tremendous truths. But for a moment, I want us just
to see that Jesus Christ is the prophet preferred before Moses.
He's the prophet greater than Moses. He's the prophet in whom
the people are to hear in all things. He's the prophet whose
fullness we have all received. See, this is speaking about this
true Israel, isn't it? The true Israel of God. It's
of His fullness we have all received grace, abounding upon grace. Grace does not come through Moses. You know, often you hear statements
made. This covenant given to Moses
was a gracious covenant. It wasn't a gracious covenant.
It never was. Grace does not come through Moses. Grace and truth, the fulfillment
of all truth, come through this prophet, this one whom God appoints
for Israel. Grace and truth come through
Jesus Christ. Turn over to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Now, look there
in verse 34. John chapter 3 and verse 34 and
John, the Apostle John continues quoting John the Baptist. Now
listen to what he says. For he whom God has sent speaks
the words of God. For God does not give the Spirit
by measure. The Father loves the Son and
has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the
Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Now think
of this. John the Baptist had a clarity
of the gospel far surpassing all the disciples of Jesus until
after the day of Pentecost. Think of the understanding of
this man. Here is John the Baptist, and
he recognizes that this is the prophet sent of God. This is
the prophet sent of God. You know, the disciples had trouble
with that all the way till the day of Pentecost almost, didn't
they? And on that day of Pentecost,
the Holy Spirit opened their understanding and the Spirit
of God began this great work of leading them into all truth,
into all truth. But look at right at the beginning
of the ministry of Christ, these great proclamations that John
the Baptist makes. You know, I think that's why
the Lord Jesus later makes this declaration about John the Baptist.
He said, Among those born of women, there is not a greater
who has arisen than John the Baptist. John the Baptist. John is saying that this is the
prophet who Moses spoke about. He's the prophet sent of God. He speaks the words of God. He's
like no other prophet for God gives him spirit without measure. God has given not only that,
God has given all things into his hand. All authority has been
given unto him. And he who does not believe in
him, what does he say? Moses says it will be required
of him. John says the wrath of God abides on him. It will be required of him. It
will be required of you and me. This is the great prophet who
Moses had prophesied about. This is what John the Baptist
is saying, and this is what John is telling us as he writes. This
is the prophet. Hear him. Hear him. But this is what the Jews could
never do. They could never do this. And
even the believing Jews had such difficulty with this, didn't
they? Why? Why? Because Moses was a towering
figure in the life and history of the people of Israel. Think
of what Moses, think of the work that God gave Moses to do. By
direct appointment of God, Moses had done mighty signs and wonders. Mighty signs and wonders. He
delivered the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt.
He'd taken them into the depths of the Red Sea. Picture that. Into the into death, into the
depths of the Red Sea. He'd taken the whole nation of
Israel into the depths of the Red Sea and he'd brought them
out the other side to life. We read of being baptized, the
people of Israel being baptized into Moses. That's what it's
speaking, in the Red Sea, that's what it's speaking about. just
as the true Israel are baptized into Christ, in his death, and
in his burial, and in his resurrection. Well, Moses guided them through
the wilderness for 40 years, provided them with food and water. Well, he didn't. But God had
appointed this for him, didn't he? And he went up that mountain
that trembled and burned with fire. And he spoke with God and
he received the law of the old covenant which governed every
aspect of the life of the people of Israel, every aspect. We could
say that the people of Israel lived and breathed Moses. Through Moses, they received
the ordinances of worship in the service of God, the tabernacle,
the priesthood, the Sabbaths, the day of atonement. It's all finished. This is what
John is saying. It's all finished. The prophet
spoken of by Moses has come. This is the one whom you're to
hear. Not the law, not Moses, not the prophets. No, this prophet
is greater than all. Listen to the words of Jesus. Hear him. Hear him, hear him
and hear him alone. But the Jews could never understand
this because they never understood the role that God had appointed
for Moses. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
3. Well, what is the role that God had appointed for Moses? The Jews thought that Moses built
the house of God. They truly did. But Moses was
never building the house. They thought that their election
is a special nation. the law of God given to them,
the covenants, the worship and service of God, and all of these
intricate sacrifices and ceremonies. They thought this is the true
house of God. This is the true temple of worship. They thought too that the kingdom
of Israel represented the kingdom of God upon earth. The Jews thought
that all this was reality. They thought all this was the
true. But the children of Israel, the
children of Jacob, never constituted the true Israel of God, never
constituted the true house of God, neither did the kingdom
of Israel ever represent the true kingdom of God. Moses was
not building a spiritual house or establishing a spiritual kingdom. This was a work that God had
appointed for another. This was the work that God had
appointed for this prophet that he's speaking of. Look there
in verse 1. Verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 3.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider
the apostle and high priest of our confession. Here's the true
high priest, the apostle and high priest of our confession,
Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses
was faithful in all his house. Jesus Christ was faithful to
God who appointed him. Oh, he certainly was. But what
of Moses? Was Moses not faithful? Of course Moses was faithful.
Moses was faithful in all that God had appointed for him. But read on, but Jesus is counted
worthy of more glory. This is what the writer tells
us. Jesus is counted worthy of more glory than Moses for two
specific reasons. Verse three, for this one has
been counted worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he who
built the house has more honor than the house. For every house
is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. Well, See, the nation of Israel
thought that Moses was building the house. He never was. Christ
is the one who builds the house. And incidentally, you know, there's
always been down through history this attack on the deity of the
Lord of Jesus. Hasn't there? Well, who's it
speaking of that built the house? It's speaking about Jesus, isn't
it? It's speaking about this man, Jesus. He's the builder
of the house. And who builds all things? God. God builds all things is God. Now, Christ is counted more worthy
because he's the builder of the house. He had more honor than
Moses because it's Christ who builds the spiritual house. And
Christ is counted too worthy of more glory because he's the
owner of the house. He's the owner of the house.
Verse 5, and Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as
a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken
of afterward. But Christ as a son over his
own house, over his own house, whose house we are. He's the
owner of the house. Christ is the builder of the
house, and he is the owner of the house. Hear him. Hear him. You know,
when I was building our house on the field out in the tribe
that we work in, I had a couple men working with me. And people
would gather around. It just was fascinating for them. And they'd sit there, and they'd
be interjecting and telling these men what to do and how to do
it. And everybody's an expert. And I said to him, well, look,
I got so frustrated. I said, well, look, whose house
is this? Who are you to listen to? Are
you to listen to these guys out here, or are you to listen to
me? This is my house. I'm the owner of the house. I'm
the builder of the house. Listen to me. And this is exactly
the case, isn't it? If Christ is the builder of the
house, who do we listen to? We listen to Christ. If he's
the owner of the house, we listen to Christ. This is what we're
being told here. See? Hear him, hear him. Look over
in Hebrews 9. Now we're told there, in what
we just read, that Moses was a servant in the house, a servant
in the house. Well, what did God appoint Moses
to do as a servant? Well, God appointed Moses to
set up the entire Old Covenant economy. Through Moses, God constituted
this offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a nation, as a separate
from all other nations. Through Moses, God gave This,
the law which brought this unique nation into being. Through Moses,
the nation of Israel was set up as a theocracy. That is, God's
word, God's law governed every aspect of life. Every aspect
of life. This law given through Moses
determined government, religion, personal life. down to the most
intimate details. Everything. In other words, everything
having to do with the life of Israel. Now, this is what God
had appointed for Moses, and this was a remarkable achievement.
Oh, it surely was. This was a remarkable achievement. What was this? What are we told? Types and shadows. types and
shadows, not the real. The writer of Hebrews is, as
it were, in writing this, attempting to pry the fingers of the believing
Jews off of this old covenant revelation. They were holding
on so tightly to this, and it was as if he's taking their fingers
one by one to get their fingers off of this. This is not the
real. This is not the real. These are types and shadows.
Verse 18. What do we read? 9 verse 18.
Therefore, not even the first covenant was dedicated without
blood. For when Moses had spoken every
precept to the people according to the law, he took the blood
of calves and goats with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and
sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, this
is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.
Then likewise, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and
all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law, almost
all things are purified with blood. And without shedding of
blood, there is no remission." Well, what are all these things
that he's speaking of? These are all those things having
to do with the Old Covenant. every precept of the law, the
sacrifices, and the blood of the covenant, all the vessels
of worship, and carrying out the ministry of this covenant.
Everything having to do with this old covenant. Well, what
are all these things? Verse 23. Therefore, it was necessary
that the copies of the things in heaven should be purified
with these. But the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. It was necessary. What were all
these things? Copies of the things in heaven.
Copies of the true. These things were not the true.
They never were the true. They were never intended by God
to be the true. Verse 24. For Christ has not
entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us." Now there is a mediator. There is
a true mediator, isn't there? The entire Old Covenant worship
and service established by God through Moses were pictures and
symbols, copies of the heavenly things. The true house was built
by Christ. Now, let me just illustrate this
for you with a building analogy, which is fitting. Now, when there's
a plan for a building to be constructed, The architects do sketches. I'm
sure all of you have seen this. The architects do sketches. They
do architectural drawings. They do artistic renditions sometimes
of what the building is to look like, of how it's to be built.
Now, at times, if it's a large project, they'll even build a
scale model of the building. Everyone understands that these
are copies of the true, don't they? Well, this is exactly what
Moses was doing. Look there in verse 2. Moses
builds a model. Look there in verse two. Moses
is building a model for a tabernacle was prepared. The first part
in which was the lamp stand, the table and the show bread,
which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the
part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all,
which had the golden sensor and the arc of the covenant overlaid
on all sides with gold in which were the golden pot that had
the manna, Aaron's rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim
of glory overshadowing this mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot
now speak in detail." Now, what is Moses doing here? Figuratively
speaking, he's building a model, isn't he? Here he's taking this
tabernacle, and he's constructing this tabernacle, and here's the
lampstand, the table, the showbread, all of these parts of this model
that he's building. There's a golden censer, and
the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. Here
are all these parts of this model that Moses is building. He's
building a model of what? Of the true house. Now, like
the writer says, of all these things we can't speak in detail.
We're not interested. Why? Read on, verse 7. He continues,
but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a
year. It's as if he's doing this sketch here, not without blood.
He went in once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself
and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit
indicating this, the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, while the first tabernacle was still standing.
It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and
sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed
the service perfect in regard to conscience." Now Moses, again,
these things seem difficult, but Moses is sketching a picture.
He's sketching a picture of the true. Here is this high priest
on this great day of atonement when he comes to make offering
for the sins of the people of Israel. And he goes into the
holiest of holies once a year. You see, Moses is sketching this
copy of the true. He sketches these things as a
picture to portray to the nation of Israel the seriousness of
the holiness of God. and the seriousness of the presence
of God in this holiest of holies. He draws for them a picture of
their guilt, their separation from God, their need of a high
priest to make offering for sin. He draws for them their need
of this atoning blood sacrifice. making offering for their sin.
Well, that's what Moses was doing. Here is the sketch, here is the
drawing, here is this model, and here's the reality. Verse
11, but Christ, but Christ came as the high priest of the good
things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not
made with hands. Have you noticed how often the
gospel tells us that the true are things that are not made
with hands, not made with hands, not of this creation. And look
at these adjectives that he heaps one upon another, the good things
that come greater and more perfect tabernacle. Verse 12, not with
the blood of goats and calves, not the model, not the model,
not with the blood of goats and calves, but with the true, with
his own blood, he entered the most holy place, once for all,
having obtained eternal redemption. There's the reality. Now, a failure
to grasp this truth and all its implications has led to all sorts
of confusion with respect to the Old Covenant, you know, and
many other things. Many have, still today, have
this fundamentally wrong idea that Moses was building the house.
That he was building the house, that he, yes it's true they say,
he put up this, he began the house. He put up this bare bones
structure and then Christ came to complete the house and brought
the house to completion. And so as a result, because of
this fundamentally wrong idea, they believe that there are these
old covenant types, just types, so they believe they're part
of the real structure. See, this is why this is so important. From the Sabbath, for example.
all the way to those that believe that the old covenant law, with
the exception of the ceremonial law, are applicable to the church
today. What about Israel? What about that temple? What
about Jerusalem? You know, it shocks me to find
that there are gospel believers that are still waiting for a
temple in Jerusalem to be made with hands, and that Christ,
this one, will come and sit upon the throne. Well, these were
never the real, and they never will be. What are they doing? They're
still listening to Moses. This is the spiritual equivalent
of taking the roof off of the model of the house and tacking
it on the real house and saying, that's the roof. That's how absurd
that is. They're still listening to Moses.
Now, the writer to the Hebrews is going to great lengths. You
see the effort. This is no small thing. You see
the effort that he's going to communicate to them and to us
the importance of hearing Christ and Him alone. In all things,
Hebrews 12, turn there. Now, as you know, in the previous
chapter, in Hebrews 11, we read of the Old Testament saints.
Well, what of them? What did they believe in? Well,
they never believed in these types and shadows, did they?
This is what we read of Abraham, by faith he dwelt in the land
of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited
for the city, now listen, which has foundations whose builder
and maker is God. That's what Abraham, too, and
all the Old Testament saints, they weren't believing in the
types and the shadows. They were waiting for that city
who has foundations, who's builder and maker is God. Look down there
in verse 18 of Hebrews chapter 12. What have we come to? You
know, we've heard these glorious messages of coming to Christ.
Well, here he tells us, what do we come to? What is it? Verse
18, for you have not come to the mountain that may be touched
and burned with fire and to blackness and darkness and tempest and
the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words. See, we don't
even come. to words, do we? We come to a
person. You have not come to the voice
of words so that those who heard it begged that the word should
not be spoken to them anymore, for they could not endure what
was commanded. And if so much as a beast touches
the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so
terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly
afraid and trembling. You have not, this is what he's
saying, you have not come to the old covenant. You have not
come to the law given on the mountain that burned with fire.
You have not come to the voice of words. You have not come to
Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, but you have not come
to the mountain that may be touched. No, you haven't come to these
things. Verse 22, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God and the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels, to the assembly and church of the firstborn who
are registered in heaven. There's those firstborn, aren't
they? This is what we've come to. To God, the judge of all
men, to the spirit of just men made perfect. Verse 24, for Jesus,
to Jesus, this is who we've come to, to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better
things than that of Abel. You have not come to the things
that may be touched. You've come to Christ. You've
come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. You've come
to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. You haven't
come to this Jerusalem, which now is. You've come to the heavenly
Jerusalem. You've come to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant. Hear him. Hear him. Verse 25,
see that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if you did not
escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we
not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven. If you refuse to hear this prophet,
oh, how serious, how serious. You will not escape. You will
not escape. It will be required of you. And he goes on, he says more,
these two covenants could never exist together. These two covenants
could never exist together. The entire old covenant economy
was about to be removed. It was never intended to be permanent. God, as it were, was shaking
the foundations of this covenant with the express purpose that
it be entirely removed. Verse 26, whose voice then shook
the earth. But now he is promised saying,
yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.
Now the shaking of the heaven and the earth in the word of
God is metaphorical of the end of something which has no permanence. No permanence. It's something
that can be shaken. How different than the rock of
our salvation. Well, it's something that can
be shaken. It's about to be removed. That's what's being indicated
here. Verse 27, now this, Yet once more indicates the removal
of those things that are being shaken as of things that are
made. That the things which cannot
be shaken may remain. You see, this old covenant were
the things which can be shaken. And they are there to be removed
so that the true might remain, verse 28. Therefore, since we
are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken. That's the
kingdom we're receiving, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a kingdom
of righteousness, a kingdom that is forever and ever. Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us
have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear. We're receiving this kingdom
prophesied in the Old Testament, the kingdom which is the true
kingdom, the kingdom which is not made with hands, the kingdom
which is not of this creation. the kingdom which is a spiritual
kingdom, the kingdom which is of this everlasting righteousness
which will never end, this kingdom which cannot be shaken. Now,
the kingdom, as we know, these things which cannot be shaken
are this eternal covenant of grace established by the blood
of Christ. Now, the inception of the New
Testament Church was on the day of Pentecost. Seven weeks after
the resurrection of Christ, in the same way that the Old Covenant
law was given on Mount Sinai, seven weeks after the deliverance
of the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt. And on that
day, on that day, the New Testament Church came into being. And all
of the ordinances, all of the worship, all of the institutions
of the old passed away. And the New Testament church
became the only, listen now, the New Testament church became
the only worship and service binding upon the consciences
of believers, the gospel, the gospel. And they were entirely
absolved of any duty to the old covenant. You know, when those false teachers
came in to the church at Colossae and they were saying to these
people, you know, no, you've got to obey the Sabbath and you
got to do all of these things. What did Paul say? He said, these
are a shadow. Don't be deceived. These are
a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ. The body is Christ. Let me just illustrate this for
you in a simple illustration. What is he saying? What is Moses
saying? What is all of this telling us? We've always had cats for our
children. And, you know, if any of you
have had cats, you'll know that you end up with kittens somehow. And, you know, these kittens,
as they're growing up, I often would sort of be sitting in my
chair if I was studying, and a kitten would be there, and
the sun would be shining in on the floor, and I'd move my hand
like this, you know, and they'd see the shadow on the floor. And those kittens would go wild. You know, they'd be jumping on
that, pouncing on that shadow on the floor, trying to get a
hold of it, you know? They were trying to get a hold
of that shadow. Well, would they ever get a hold of my hand? No. No. And they can't even get
a hold of the shadow either. Notice? But what an illustration. This is what Paul is saying.
All of these things are a shadow. They're a shadow of the true.
They're copies of the true. If you're trying to get a hold
of Christ by holding on to these things, it'll never happen. It'll
never happen. No, the body, the body is Christ. Even Moses, this is what we're
being told here. Even Moses, with all that God
accomplished through him, was still a shadow. He was a shadow. He was a type of Christ. Well,
we can't possibly understand how difficult this was for the
Jewish believers. We can't. We sit here and we
criticize, but this was so hard for the Jewish believers. And
it took time. And the Lord understood that, which is why you find things
like Paul circumcising Timothy, was it? But you find things that
seem a little confusing. Why would he do this? Well, it
took time. This was monumental. Now, on that great day of Pentecost,
the Lord poured out His Spirit. And what was that great promise?
That the Spirit would lead them into all truth. Into all truth. that he would take the things
of Christ and reveal them to his disciples and reveal them
to us. And that's exactly what he did.
That's exactly what the Spirit did. And that's why we have the
Gospels. That's why we have the epistles.
That's why we have the New Testament revelation. That's what was happening. The Spirit was taking the things
of Christ, revealing them to the disciples and to us. Matthew 17. Turn there and we'll
finish. Turn there and we'll finish. Matthew 17. Now one of
those things which the Spirit revealed is made reference to
by Peter. He's speaking about what occurred
here in Matthew 17. And Peter, in writing his second
epistle, you remember, he says of this event, he says, we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. This is what's been revealed
to us. This is what I'm telling you. For he received, speaking
of Jesus, he received from God the Father honor and glory when
such a voice came from the excellent glory. That's a name, isn't it?
The excellent glory. And this is what he said. This
is my beloved son. in whom I am well pleased." Now,
Peter's indicating the significance of this event. This is something
that he never forgot. He never forgot. Now look, as
we read through this, I'd like you to see the unmistakable contrasting
parallels between the events that are recorded here and the
events which occurred on Mount Sinai. Verse one, look there
in verse one. Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James,
and John, his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves. Just as Moses was led up by God
on that high mountain at Mount Sinai, here he takes Peter, James,
and John, and he leads them up on this high mountain. Verse
two, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like
the sun, and his clothes became white as the light. Now, as we
know, the face of Moses, when he was there on that mountain
with God, shone with the glory of God's presence, a reflected
glory, a glory which was easily concealed by that veil that he
put on his face when he came down the mountain. But here,
what do we read of this prophet? Here, his face shone like the
sun. And his garments could not conceal
this inward radiant glory of his transfigured body, such that
even his clothes were transformed and became white as light. Verse
three, and behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking
with him. You see, God spoke with Moses
on Mount Sinai, and here God speaks with Moses. Here Christ
speaks with Moses. Verse four, then Peter answered
and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you
wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking,
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came
out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased. Hear him, hear him. You see, on Mount Sinai was that
blackness and darkness covering the mountain. But here, we read
of this bright cloud overshadowing them. There on that mountain,
God spoke 10 words. That's what we read literally.
On that mountain, God spoke 10 words, the words of the law,
the words of the old covenant. But here, he speaks just one
word. Just one word, the words of the
gospel, the words of the new covenant. Hear him, hear him. Verse six, and when the disciples
heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and do not be
afraid. On Mount Sinai, the people were
terrified. And Moses trembled with fear
and was exceedingly afraid. But here on this mountain, here
with the true mediator, the mediator of the gospel, he comes and he
says, do not be afraid. In verse 8, when they lifted
up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus. Here were Moses and
Elijah, men Every Israelite was taught to revere and to listen
to and obey from his birth. Here are these two men called
of God. Think of this. Moses and Elijah
called of God, appointed by God, commissioned by God. God put
his words in their mouth. He did, didn't he? God put his
words in their mouth and they spoke these words to the children
of Israel. What could be more wonderful
than to have Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, speak
to them in person? To Peter and James and John,
this was wonderful, wasn't it? This was wonderful. Peter says,
Lord, it is good for us to be here. No, no. No, no, says the Lord. This is
my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." Hear him. Hear him. And when they lifted
up their eyes, what did they see? They saw no one but Jesus. No one but Jesus. Gone are Moses
and Elijah. Well, what a powerful picture
is given to the disciples in the fulfillment of this gospel
prophecy spoken by Moses. The Lord The Lord your God shall
raise up unto you a prophet like unto me. Him shall you hear in
all things." This prophet is the eternal word. Hear him. Hear him. Amen.