We're gonna begin in John chapter
one, and like I said, our lesson mainly is in Deuteronomy 18.
But here in John chapter one, this is the Jewish priest and
the Levites questioning John the Baptist, and their question
is basically, who are you, John? John the Baptist, you remember?
He's the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the one, he's
the voice crying in the wilderness, he's the one who was prophesied
in Malachi to be the one who would usher in the presence,
the coming in of the advent of the Messiah. And so he came baptizing
and people flocked to him. He wasn't a polished preacher,
he didn't wear the right clothes and all of that stuff, but people
flocked to him. And he spoke very plainly to
the Pharisees and to the Sadducees and to the scribes of that day. And so they ask him, look at
John 1 and verse 19. It says, this is the record of
John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, who art thou? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. Apparently some of the people
who followed John were either thinking that or wondering about
that, but he started out, I'm gonna tell you who I'm not. I'm
not your savior. And that's what every preacher
ought to say to people who put too much stock in human beings. We're sinners. I'm just a sinful
man preaching to sinful men and women. That's all I, a sinner
saved by grace. I'm not your savior. And of course, I've never had
that problem. People thinking that. But you know, some people,
they really, it's almost like they put more stock in the man
to whom they're, who preaches to them than they do the word
of God. And that's pretty close. But John says, I'm not the Christ,
I'm not the Messiah. And he says, and they ask him,
verse 21, what then? Art thou Elias? Are you Elijah? That's who he's talking about
because they had thought that Elijah was gonna come back from
the dead. And he saith, I'm not, I'm not
Elijah. And then look here, art thou
that prophet? Now you may have in your concordance,
it may say, are you a prophet? Well, John was a prophet. But
the way that the original should read is, art thou that prophet? And he answered, no. But he was
a prophet. So he understood exactly what
they meant. They were referring back to a
prophecy that would only be fulfilled by Christ. And so when they said,
art thou that prophet, they weren't just saying, are you a prophet?
I've got that in my concordance, but you know that middle concordance
was not verbally inspired by the word of God. Sometimes they
get it right, sometimes they don't. But if they had said,
John, are you a prophet? He would have said yes, because
he was a prophet, a prophet sent of God. But the question is,
are thou that prophet? And he answered, no, I am not
that prophet. I'm not the Messiah. And verse
22, then said they unto him, who art thou that we may give
an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?
And he said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
And that's a fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah. Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which
were of the Pharisees, And they asked him and said unto
him, why baptizest thou then if thou be not that Christ? If you're not the Messiah, nor
Elias, neither that prophet. And John answered them, saying,
I baptize with water. But there standeth one among
you whom you know not. He it is, Christ, is who he's
talking about. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes Lachet, I'm not worthy
to unloose. And these things were done in
Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. So are you
that prophet? Now what are they saying? That
prophet that Moses spoke of over in Deuteronomy? Turn back to
Deuteronomy chapter 18 now. And look at verse 15. Deuteronomy 18, 15. And this
is Moses, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet
from the midst of thee, from among the people, of thy brethren,
like unto me, unto him shall you hearken. This is Moses talking
about. God's going to raise up a prophet.
That prophet that he's speaking of is Christ, the fulfillment
of all prophecy. Now let me show you, and this
is a prophecy of Christ who is that prophet, meaning not the
only prophet that God ever sent, but the fulfillment, that perfect
prophet who would end all prophecy in that sense. Because he himself
is the embodiment of the word of God. In beginning was the
word and the word was with God and the word was God. That's
Christ. And Christ is that prophet. And you remember when he was,
remember when Christ in John chapter four was talking to the
woman at the well, the Samaritan woman. I've got this recorded
in your lesson. And he told the, the woman at the well told him
this, you know, in their conversation. This is John 4, 25. She said,
I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ, and when he
has come, he will tell us all things. Well, the only one who
could tell you all things is that prophet. All the other prophets
told us some things, and they were true. But this one would
tell us all things. He would be the fulfillment himself
of all prophecy, and he would be the end all of all prophecy.
Well, Christ was and is that prophet. And he looked at the
woman at the well and he said, I that speak unto thee am he.
I'm that prophet. Over in Acts chapter three, when
Peter was preaching, he referred to Christ as that prophet. In
Acts chapter 7, you can look all these up. I've got them listed
in your lesson. In Acts chapter 7, when Stephen
was preaching, he referred to Christ as that prophet. And it
goes all the way back here to Deuteronomy 18. Now let's look
again at Deuteronomy 18. The Lord thy God, Moses says,
will rise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, Like unto me, unto him you shall hearken according
to all that thou desires of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the
day of the assembly." That's Mount Sinai. Saying, let me not
hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this
great fire anymore that I die not. Remember when Moses was
coming down out of the mountain, all the thunderings and lightnings.
And verse 17 says, and the Lord said unto me, they have well
spoken that which they have spoken. Verse 18. I will raise them up
a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my
words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him. That's Christ. When we speak
of Christ as the mediator, you've heard that. There's one God,
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. A
mediator is one who stands between two parties. In this sense, it's
God and his people. The connection between God and
his people is that one mediator, that's Christ. And the mediatorial
work of Christ involves his three offices as prophet, priest, and
king. That's his mediatorial offices.
The foundation of his mediatorial work is his priestly office because
that's where justice is satisfied. That's where sin is borne away
and taken away through the sacrifice offered by the high priest. And
of course, Christ offered himself without spot to God. He's our
high priest. He's our altar. He's our sacrifice. He satisfied the justice of God
and washed away our sins. and brought out perfect righteousness. That's the foundation of his
mediatorial work. And as a result of that work
as priest, there is a great, great good news message to tell. And that's his work as prophet.
Everything that the word of God One old preacher said this about
Christ being the word of God, that he is himself the embodiment
of the word of God. He is the word, John chapter
one tells us that. He is the subject, he is the
word of God, embodiment of it. He is the incarnate word, John
1, 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He is the subject of the written
word, and he's the subject of the preached word. This written
word from Genesis to Revelation is the word of Christ. That's
why if you have a red letter Bible, that's okay. But don't
say, well, the red letters mean more than the black letters,
because they don't. It's all the word of Christ.
Deuteronomy 18 is just as much Christ's words as the words written
in red. And people, you know, I've had
people say this. I know that's what Paul said,
but I want to hear what Christ said. Well, Paul only said what
Christ said. He was an ambassador of Christ.
This is the word of the Lord. And so he's the written word.
And he told the Pharisees, he said, you do search the scriptures
for in them you think you have eternal life. They are they which
testified me. and then he's the subject of
the preached word. Paul said, I strive not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. The
preaching of the cross, that's what it's all about. So here's
Christ, that prophet, he came from heaven, above all, having
the spirit without measure, declaring the whole counsel of God, and
bringing life and immortality to light through his gospel.
He is He is the subject of all prophecy and he's the fulfillment
of all prophecy. Jeremiah, for example, prophesied
of Christ as the Lord our righteousness. Well, Christ is the Lord our
righteousness. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to every one that believeth. And this
promise here that he made Moses is of one person, one prophet
who is the Messiah, the word of God himself, And it says here
in Deuteronomy 18, 18, he, I'll raise a prophet from among their
brethren. Christ in his flesh came forth
from the Jews. He was made of the seed of David
and that in his humanity without sin, like unto thee in his humanity,
but not his sinfulness because he had no sin. So Christ was
made like unto his brethren. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but the seed of Abraham. And so he was born right out
of this people, and he came as the servant of the Father. You
know, when we speak of the Trinity, sometimes we are so inadequate
to use human words to describe it. In fact, really, we can't.
A lot of people over the years have tried to use a human illustration
or an earthly illustration to describe the Trinity. One God in three distinct persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and they'll use things like three
different roles, like I'm a son of my father, I'm a father to
my son, I'm a husband to my wife, but that's not the Trinity. It's
not one God in three different roles. I've also heard the illustration
of forms, like water. Water is a liquid. If you freeze
it, it's a solid. If you boil it, it's a gas. But that's not the Trinity. There
is no earthly illustration to describe the Trinity. It's just
one of those truths that we have to just step back and just be
amazed at the glory of God, the majesty of God. But the Bible
teaches us that Christ came as the servant of his Father, submitting
himself, even though in nature of deity, he is co-equal with
the Father and the Spirit in every attribute of deity, and
he did not relinquish that, but as God-man, he submitted himself
as the servant of the Father. Why? Because that was necessary
for him to save sinners like us. What did he have to do to
save sinners like us? We had to keep the law. The law
that is embodied in him. He wrote the law. Yet he was
made under the law, the scripture says. He is the prophet of the
law, you might say, just like Moses was of the law. And all
the law finds its fulfillment in him. He had to die. That's why he had to take on
human flesh without sin. Having our sins imputed to him
before the foundation of the world as our surety, he had to
come and take our place under the law. So not only did he have
to be made under the law, he had to be made of a woman, the
seed of woman, without sin in order for him to die and in order
for him to redeem them that were under the law. So Moses speaks
of that prophet. That prophet who was like Moses,
yet who was infinitely superior to Moses. He's infinitely superior
to Moses and all other prophets because he's the son of God.
And the deliverance that he accomplished is eternal salvation for all
whom the Father had given him. Now Moses was a deliverer, wasn't
he? God used him to deliver the Hebrew
children out of Egypt. But that was just temporary.
The ones he delivered out of Egypt, all except for a few,
their carcasses fell in the desert. And they couldn't even enter
into the promised land because of unbelief. But our deliverer,
Jesus Christ, the deliverance that he accomplished for God's
elect Jew and Gentile, whom he redeemed with his precious blood,
who are justified based upon his righteousness and purity,
we're delivered forever and ever and ever eternally. Moses, the
ones who he delivered, they were a rebellious people. They were
an unbelieving people on the whole. There was a few, a remnant,
that believed by the grace of God. But on the whole, those
people were rebellious. We've been reading through the
Old Testament some here, and every time we turn around, what
are the children of God doing? They're murmuring and complaining.
And I know even us, even us who are saved by the grace of God,
we murmur and complain a lot. God kept them for a time, even
in spite of themselves, and he's gonna keep us in spite of ourselves.
But Jesus Christ, that great prophet, unlike Moses, he has
the power to change the hearts of his people. He gives us a
new heart, a new mind, a new spirit, a new willingness. Now
that doesn't mean we're perfect yet. We still have that old desire
of the flesh. And we're in a struggle. It's
the flesh against the spirit. But that prophet who is our prophet,
he has the power not only to just by the whip of the law bring
us into submission, he writes the law on our hearts and gives
us a desire to obey him. And that's why we have such a
struggle within, because of his word written on our hearts. God
declares, I'll put my words my law on their heart. Now, as our
prophet God declared in John 7 and John 8 and John 17, I will
put my words in his mouth. And so Christ, in submission
to the Father, he spoke that which the Father gave him. And
he said that. And his words, you know the words
of Moses could fall on deaf ears, couldn't they? But Christ's words
are the words of life, because when he speaks in power, sinners
live spiritually. I think about Peter, you know,
in John chapter six there, when the multitude turned away from
Christ, and he looked at his disciples and he said, will you
go away also? And Peter said, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of life. That's that prophet, you
see. His words are words of grace.
His words are full of grace and truth. His words bring peace,
pardon, life, salvation from sin, the power of His word, because
He's that prophet. And whenever I preach or any
man of God preaches, we're not preaching our word, we're preaching
His word. That's why it's up, it's impended
upon you to test us by the word of God. Am I preaching God's
word or not? Because if it's just my word,
it means nothing. His word is the doctrine of grace.
His word is the gospel, which is the power of God and the salvation
to everyone that believeth. His word is the word of righteousness.
You know, when most preachers today talk about righteousness,
what are they talking about? They're not talking about the
righteousness of that prophet. They're talking about just mere
human morality or reformation outwardly, but the righteousness
of God. is the message of that prophet
who saves us by his blood. His word of righteousness which
he himself worked out on the cross for his people and which
God has imputed to them for their justification and which he gives
faith to receive it and to believe it. His words are the words of
life by which the spirit gives life to spiritually dead sinners. Just like he stood at the tomb
of Lazarus What did he say? He said, Lazarus, come forth. He didn't say, now, Lazarus,
listen to the organ playing softly. And if you'll just submit, no.
He said, Lazarus, come out. And Lazarus came out. And that's
the way he does it. That's that prophet. Look at Deuteronomy
18 and verse 19. He says, and it shall come to
pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which
he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. There's a
penalty there. There's a consequence for not
listening to this prophet. Verse 20, but the prophet which
shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not
commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other
gods, even that prophet shall die. In other words, this is
serious business. Here's a promise given to those
who refuse to hear that prophet, his message, his message of grace,
the gospel. And here's a message to prophets
who claim to be prophets of God, but who speak other things in
the name of another God. That's what he says. He that
believeth the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. In your
lesson here, I just summarized all of this, if you think about
it. First of all, all other prophets were inspired by Christ and sent
by Christ, all other true prophets. Well, Christ himself is more
than a prophet. He is God with us. And he is the word. And all true
prophets speak his word. Secondly, all other prophets
pointed to Christ and spoke of Christ. But Christ is the sum
and substance of all that they prophesied. He fulfilled and
completed all that they foretold. And you know, there's not one
prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah that he
did not fulfill. And we'll see this in just a
moment, but Jeremiah prophesied of Christ as the Lord our righteousness.
Well, Christ is the Lord our righteousness. Thirdly, All other
prophets began the holy books and the message of grace. You
can go all the way back to Abel and Enoch. You can go into Samuel
and all the way through, all the way up to Malachi. So they
began the books. In other words, God used them
to write those things or to have them recorded down in history.
And we thank God we have the written word of God. But Christ
is the fulfillment. He finished it. Everything that
they wrote of and began, He finished it. He completed it. And of course,
mainly we see that in our salvation, for by one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. But everything that was said
of the Messiah was fulfilled in Him. And that's why John the
Baptist said, I'm not the Messiah, don't look to me. Later on he
told them, he said, I baptize with water, but there's one among
you. who can baptize with the Spirit. In other words, John
said, I can't give you life. I can't make you righteous and
I can't give you life, but there's one among you who can and who
does. Fourthly, all other prophets
spoke by inspiration of God and learned what they learned, but
Christ spoke of the Father as being with him and by him. I
and the Father are one, he said. He said this, he said, if you've
seen the Father, you've seen me. If you're hearing his word,
you're hearing the word of the Father. Now that was true, hearing
their word, the word of the Father, that was true of all other prophets,
but Christ embodied that in that he himself was one with the Father. And then he's our wisdom, our
righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. And then fifthly,
all other prophets have left their work and they're gone.
John the Baptist's work is done. He's gone. Samuel's work is done. He's gone. But Christ's work
is still going on as long as there are sheep out there who
have yet to be brought into the fold, and the gospel is continually
preached. You know, people talk about the
second coming of Christ, and I talk about it too, and we're
to live every day in expectation of it, knowing that it's gonna
happen, and we don't know when. I can tell you one thing about
the when of the second coming. whenever the last one of his
lost sheep is brought into the kingdom, I believe that's when
he's coming back. So as long as this world exists, we pray,
Lord, come on back, because we get so frustrated, and the pain,
and the problems of life. But as long as this world is
existing, God has a witness, and he has some people yet to
bring into the kingdom. Hope it's somebody I know. Hope
it's somebody that, one of my relatives, I mean, I know that's
selfish, but that's what I want. But I'd be glad whoever it is.
We'll rejoice whoever it is, won't we? When he brings them
in. Well, let's read these last verses,
21 and 22. He said, and if thou shalt say
in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord
hath not spoken? Verse 22, when a prophet speaketh
in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to
pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but
the prophet that hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt
not be afraid of. Now what's he saying there? Well,
he's simply saying if a prophet speaks something that doesn't
come to pass, you can forget him. You don't have to respect
him or regard him. You don't have to follow him.
Everything, now listen to this, everything that God's true prophets
spoke, and of course everything that that prophet, Christ spoke,
has come to pass. There's some yet future, there's
some things yet future, but his track record is pretty good.
You know why? It's 100%. These guys today who
claim to be prophets, who claim to have a word from God about
the future, who claim they can do this and do that, I'm gonna
tell you something, don't listen to them. And when it comes to
God's true prophets, and especially that prophet, Christ, you know,
whenever he healed somebody, there was no question about it.
There was no doubt about it. You didn't have to get a doctor
to come in and check him out. The people knew this fella was
blind and now he sees. There was no problem. There was
no shenanigans going on here. It was true. Every one of God's
true prophets, their word came true. And that's true with that
prophet, Christ alone. Okay.