Let us turn to God's word again
in the chapter that we read Deuteronomy chapter 18 in double text and
in verses 15 and 18 Deuteronomy chapter 18 double text verse
15 God's word to Moses the Lord thy God will rise
unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee as my brethren
like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken. And in verse 18 I will
raise him up a prophet from among their brethren like unto me and
will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him. It is a promise of course, it
speaks of one that will yet come and we have the fulfilment of
it in the New Testament with the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and we see that quite clearly from the words that we
find in Acts chapter 3, the words of Peter where he makes reference
to what has been said there to Moses and Peter makes it plain
it was fulfilled in Christ. In verse 22 there in Acts chapter
3, Moses truly said unto the fathers of prophets, Shall the
Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things
whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass
that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed
from among the people and so forth. Peter then speaks there
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who is the fulfilment of
his promise that God had given so many years previously. The
Lord Jesus Christ is that one who exercises a threefold office. We see him in the Gospel as that
one who is truly the Lord's prophet, he preaches and he instructs
the people. Not only a prophet, we see him
also there as a priest who comes to make the great atoning sacrifice,
but also a priest who, bearing the seventeenth chapter of John,
intercedes on behalf of his people, but also we see him as the king,
that one who comes to conquer all the works of darkness, to
defeat Satan, and he is that one, of course, who rules in
this day of grace. Christ then has this threefold
office. He is the anointed, the very
name Christ simply means the anointed. And it's interesting
when we come to the Old Testament scriptures and consider those
who were anointed to their various offices in Israel. We know that
the prophets were men who were anointed of God. In the first book of Kings chapter
19 Elijah is instructed with regards to Elisha. Elisha shalt
thou anoint to be prophet in thy realm is the command that
God gives to him there in verse 16 of that chapter. Elisha shalt
thou anoint to be prophet. And again we have that verse
in the first book of Chronicles plus my anointing Do my prophets
know harm? The true prophets of the Lord
were men then who were anointed, marked out for their office. But that was also the case with
regards to the priestly office. In the book of Exodus we see
that Aaron and his sons were all to be anointed in chapter
36. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his
sons." The priest was the commander that was given by God to Moses. Aaron and his sons were those
men who were to serve in the priestly office and they were
anointed for that particular work. And then again, of course,
the kings were always anointed for who was to be the first king,
he was anointed and then in 1st Samuel chapter 16 we read that
Samuel must go and anoint David. David the son of Jesse is the
one who is chosen to be the king instead of Saul and there in
1st Samuel chapter 16 we read that David being anointed all
the other songs of guests had been brought before the prophet
all except this who was the youngest and he sent and brought him in
where he was running with all of the beautiful countenance
with tall and goodly to look to and the Lord said arise anoint
him for this is her then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
him in the midst of his brethren And the Spirit of the Lord came
upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramah. David is anointed then to be
the king. All of these offices, the prophets,
the priests, the kings, were all anointed. Now, when we consider
some of these individuals there in the Old Testament, we discover
that some were not only to serve God in one office, but they might
serve him in another office also. For example, Aaron was one who
prophesied as well as serving as a priest. He was one who also
spoke the word of God, anointed with a priest yet, but also in
a sense exercising a prophetic ministry. in Exodus 7 and verse 1, the
Lord said unto Moses, Say, I have made thee a God, a Pharaoh, and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Aaron is the prophet,
he speaks on behalf of Moses because Moses says that he is
slow of speech. And we know that Menelai David
and his son Solomon were not only kings but they were prophets.
They spoke prophetic words. Those who are the human authors,
of course, have so much of the Old Testament. We have David's
writings in the book of Psalms, and many of the Psalms are Messianic.
And then we also have the wisdom literature, books such as Proverbs
and Ecclesiastes, the Sons of Solomon. And in these we also
find Solomon speaking prophetic words concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. So David and his son Solomon,
yes, are anointed to be kings, but they're also prophets. But the man who is most striking
of all, of course, is this man Moses, the writer of the first
five books of Scripture. And we know that Moses was the
prophet here at the end of the book of Deuteronomy. He is recognized
and acknowledged to be such. In chapter 34, the very last chapter, the last verses,
verse 10, there arose but a prophet since, in Israel, like unto Moses. that the Lord knew face to face
with all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do
in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to
all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all the great
terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel. He spoke
God's words, he was the Lord's prophet and that word was confirmed
by the mighty deeds, the great miracles that he was able to
perform. He was evidently marked out as one who was speaking the
words of the Lord. There arose not a prophet since
in Israel like Moses. And then also, at the end of
this book of Deuteronomy, chapter 33, we read of him there as king. He was king in Jeshura. He was
king in Jeshura. verse 3 there in chapter 33,
and I consulted Dr. Gill with regards to who the
king in Jesus really is, and Gill says it's a double reference,
certainly it applies ultimately to God, he is the king, but also
Gill says there is a reference there to the man Moses. He was
king as well as being a prophet. And then in Psalm 99 we read
of Moses and Aaron among his priests. So he is a priest. In a sense we see him as that
one who exercises his threefold office. He is prophet, he is king, he
is priest. And is he not in that sense a
wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is he not that one He
was anticipating the coming of Christ in his threefold office.
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the
midst of thee, from thy brethren like unto Mary, he said. Like
unto Mary. Unto him ye shall hearken. And God said, verse 18, I will
raise him up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee.
It's a confirmation of it. Like unto thee. and will put
my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him." Moses then is a type. But that much more
glorious of course is the anti-type which we see in the Lord Jesus.
The law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And his mouth says, the bride
in the son of Solomon, his mouth is most sweet. For the mouth
of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does he speak? He speaks gospel
words. The Lord speaks gracious promises. The Lord issues wondrous
invitations to sinners. His mouth is most sweet. Let us come to consider something
of Christ's prophetic office this morning as we see in this
two-fold text here in Deuteronomy chapter 18. I want to observe
some three things, three contrasts really with regards to this office. First of all, we see that in
this office the Lord Jesus Christ is both passive and active. He is passive and in other words
he must first receive, this is what the Prophet does, he first
receives and in receiving he is passive but he receives in
order that he might give and do we not see it here in verse
18 God says I will put my words in his mouth
in that he is passive I will put my words in his mouth and
he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. He
mustn't only receive the word of God, but he is to speak the
word of God, he is to be obedient. Now, it is the first, it's the
passive that controls the active. He can only speak God's words
as God gives him His word. But both of these are necessary. There were men who did receive
words from God. For example, in Genesis chapter
20, a man like Abimelech receives words from God, instruction from
God. It was the same also, was it
not, with Nebuchadnezzar. But they, as only before, they
only received the word of God, they didn't speak the words of
God. They were not prophets. with the prophets there is both
the receiving, there's the passive, God's word coming to them, the
God's word doesn't just come to them, they also then have
to speak that word that God has given to them. And that's what marks them out
as prophets. We see it, for example, in the experience of the prophet
Jeremiah. He receives the word of God. In the very first chapter of
the book, how fearful he is that the Lord
comes to him and says, Say not, I have a child. For thou shalt
go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee,
thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces,
for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the
Lord put forth his hand and touched my neck. And the Lord said unto
me, Behold I have put my words in my mouth. He receives God's
word, God puts his words into his mouth. But not only into
his mouth, it enters really into his very being, it takes hold
of his total personality. And though his ministry is a
hard ministry because he's a man who is often rejected by the
people and they despise his message, And this man would, if he could,
cease to minister the word of God. As we see in chapter 20
and verse 9, Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor
speak any more in his name. But his word was in my heart
as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was weary for
bearing, and I could not stand. He had to speak the words of
God. Why? Because he's the Lord's
prophet. God gave him the Word, put the Word in his mouth and
he must speak the Word that God gave him. He must exercise that
ministry. And the same was true with regards
to this man, Moses. He received the Word from God
and then he must speak that Word that God had given to him. He
must make it known unto the people in chapter For in Exodus, Exodus
chapter 4, verse 11, the Lord said unto
him, Who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf,
or the seeing, or the blind, have not I the Lord? Yea, therefore,
go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt
say. God is with the mouth of Moses,
God teaches him. And what God teaches him, what
God gives him, he must then speak to the people, he must proclaim
the word of God. Here then we see with the true
prophet there is a passive aspect, there is the receiving of the
word of God, and then there's the active, there's the speaking
of the word that God has given to the prophet. Now we see this
so pre-eminent in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
he is this great prophet that is being promised. Turning to
the New Testament Scriptures, then what do we see? In John's
Gospel, in John chapter 8, and verse 28, Christ said, As my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things. As my Father hath taught me.
What does the Lord Jesus do? He only comes to speak what God
had taught him. He only comes to deliver that
message that he had received from God. He is God's servant
in the covenant. And he comes within the will
of him who had sent him. Again in chapter 15, verse 15,
he says, All the things that I have heard of my father I have
made known unto you. All that he had heard of the
Father, this is the message that he comes to proclaim. He is truly a prophet. He is
the Lord's prophet. At the end of chapter 12 there
in John's Gospel, he says, I have not spoken of myself, but the
Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. He's not speaking His own words.
He is speaking the very words of God. When we come to the last
walk, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ, isn't it? the revelation
of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants. God gave it to him and God gave
it to him for this purpose to show unto his servants that he
comes and he signifies his message unto John. We see the Lord Jesus
sent as a prophet in this aspect of his office. He is passive
in receiving the word of God and he is active in preaching,
in proclaiming, in saying the words that God has given to him. Then in the second place, with
regards to this office of the Prophet, we see that in exercising
his ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ does it in this twofold
fashion. It is both immediate, but it's
also mediated. Sometimes it is direct, other
times it is indirect. So, it is indirect in this sense,
when we consider how Christ makes use of prophets in the Old Testament,
and apostles in the New Testament, and even to this day he mediates
his word through preaching. Christ is there in the Old Testament.
Christ speaks indirectly, in a sense, through that ministry
of the Old Testament prophet. His word is mediated through
them. We're told in the book of the
Revelation, chapter 19, the testimony of Jesus. He is the spirit of
prophecy. Those Old Testament prophets,
you see. It is Christ himself who is coming and speaking through
them. Is he not the word of God? Is
he not that one through whom God constantly makes himself
known? Today look at the words that
we find in the opening chapter of Peter's first epistle. There in 1 Peter 1 and verse 10, of which salvation
we read that prophets have enquired. This is the Old Testament of
which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
you prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was
in them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow." It was the Spirit of
Christ that was in the Old Testament prophets. And so those men in
the Old Testament, they were instruments in Christ's hands.
His message was mediated through them. They were speaking really
on his behalf. And as with the Old Testament
prophets, so we see the same when we come to the New Testament
and the ministry of his apostles. We have, in John chapter 14,
a reference to the ministry of the apostles, and
how the Holy Spirit will minister to them and speak the word of
Christ through them. In John 14.26 Christ says to
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." You see what he said here concerning
the ministry of the Apostles. What are the words of the Apostles
are speaking? They are Christ's words. By the
ministry of the Holy Ghost, he says, he shall teach you all
things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I
have said unto you. As they are inspired by the Spirit,
they will speak the words of Christ. He goes on to say, does
he not, when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from
the Father, he shall testify of them. All these men, they
speak, and they speak Christ's words
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And even to this day,
the Lord Jesus is pleased to come, is he not, and to speak
through preaching. Not that any preacher is inspired
by Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles, but the
Lord has himself appointed this office of the ministry, the preaching
of his word, and he is pleased to come, he is pleased to go
on there in the preaching. We have that passage in the 10th
chapter of Rome and verse 14, how then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without
a preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent, as
it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring about tidings of good things.
Observe here what he said concerning this office of the preaching,
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard.
The preacher makes known Christ. This was Paul's determination
not to know anything amongst the Corinthians, say Jesus Christ,
and he crucified Christ in his person, Christ in his work. They
preach Christ, but the force really of what is said there
in that 14th verse is stronger than just preaching of Christ.
How shall they believe in him? It says, of whom they have not
heard. But some argue that that little
word of is really unnecessary, that the more literal rendering
of what is contained in the original would be this, how shall they
believe in him whom they have not heard? Not God who, but whom. How shall they believe in him
whom they have not heard? It is Christ himself who comes
in the preaching. It is Christ who draws near.
It was so, of course, with the Ephesians. Paul says to them,
he hath not so learned Christ, if so be he hath heard him, and
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. How did they learn
Christ? How were they taught by him? Christ never went to Ephesus,
but there was the ministry of the word there in Ephesus, and
Christ comes in the preacher. And do we not, friends, have
to know something of that? The Lord Jesus Christ coming,
it's not so much then that we're hearing a preacher, but we're
hearing the word of God. Christ, when Christ comes to
us, then there's that blessed application. When we're made
to feel something through the authority of the Word of God,
when there is that work of the Spirit and that mixing of faith
and we're receiving it, and we're not just being instructed in
our mind, we're feeding upon the Word of God because Christ
is with us. Christ does come in an indirect sense, he's a
prophet still. The exercise is prophetic ministry,
even today in the ministry and the preaching of his Gospel,
but of course we see also how Christ did come immediately. Or there was that fulfilment
of what is contained here in the promise that we have in our
text. The Lord thy God was raised up
unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,
like unto me. unto him shall ye hearken and
in the repetition I will, says God, I will raise him 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 and so it was in the appointed time in the fullness of the time
that the Lord Jesus Christ came remember the opening words A
great opening statement that we have at the beginning of Paul's
epistle to the Hebrews, concerning the last time. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he may
be worth, who be in the brightness of his glory and the expressive
image of his person." Christ has come, you see. God, in these last days, in this
Gospel day, God has spoken by His Son. Christ came, He exercised
His ministry immediately. When we read there in the opening
chapter of Mark's Gospel, we see After John was put into prison,
Jesus comes into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, the scripture is fulfilled, the
kingdom of God is come, and commanding men to repent
and to believe. There is Christ exercising his
ministry. And it was recognised by those
who heard him, even a man like Nicodemus. We know, he said to
Christ in John chapter 3, 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. He exercises his prophetic
office immediately when he's here upon the earth. That Christ
is no more upon the earth. And yet still I say he would
exercise his office as a prophet. He did in the Old Testament through
the Old Testament prophets. And even to this day doesn't
Christ come and doesn't Christ speak and instruct us as we attend
to his word and to that office that he has given, even the office
of the ministry. characteristics with regards
to this prophetic office. And the third I want to mention
this morning is that it is both outward and inward. It is passive, it receives the
word, it is active, it proclaims the word. It is mediated, but
it is also immediate. It comes immediately itself in
the fullness of the time. But that ministry that Christ
exercises, prophetically, is also outward and inward. Now it is outward. But it is
outward, of course, here in the words of God. Isn't Christ in all the scriptures?
He himself says to the Jews of his own day, search the scriptures,
for in them you think that you have eternal life, and these
are they that testified of learning. For he's not Christ in all the
scriptures. And when we come to the word of God, it is our
desire that we might find Christ, that we might live with Christ. Remember that first occasion
that John Warburton heard the ministry of William Gadsby. And
he went into that chapel and when he saw the preacher rather
despised him in his heart. He thought the man appeared something
of a clown before him. But when Josephie stood up and
commenced his preaching, he announced the text, and then he went on
to say how he was going to ransack the Bible with him in order that
he might bring forth Christ. And thou Walburton's ears pricked
up. when he heard how that this man
was determined that there he was going to preach nothing but
Christ. O friends, when we come to the Word of God, it is what
we desire, that we might find Christ, that we might discover
Christ in all the Scriptures. Remember those lines of Joseph
Hart, the Scriptures and the Lord, they are one tremendous
love. The written and incarnate Word
in all things are the same. that we love about the Word of
God. He reveals to us Him who is the Incarnate Word. He sits
before us the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have that passage, that
passage in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews concerning the Word which is
quick and powerful. We often quote it. A very striking
word of the Apostle. The Word of God, he says, is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a joints
and barrel, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart." We say that's true with regards to the scriptures.
God searches and sifts us by His Word. But really, in the
context here, it is more Christ himself that he's being spoken
of rather than the word of scripture Paul continues, neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight using the masculine
pronoun neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight when all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do seeing then
that we have a great high priest that he's part of the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, he is speaking with Christ. Christ
is that Word that is quick and powerful, and it's when Christ
himself comes to us in the Word, he does come in that outward
fashion, does he not, in the Word of Scripture. Because he
comes in that outward fashion, of course, there must also be
that inward It's outward, it's inward, it's inward by the Spirit.
It's by the Spirit that His Word is quick and powerful, is it
not? Then the Gospel comes. What does Paul say to the Thessalonians? Our Gospel came not unto you
in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance. Isn't that how we should be receiving
the Word of Scripture, that Word that speaks of Christ? We want
it to come in the hand of the Spirit. Christ, during the course
of that earthly ministry, that immediate ministry that he was
exercising, he said to the people, it is the Spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak of him,
they are Spirit and they are life. Or do we, friends, desire
that, that Christ would come and speak words unto us? words
of our spirit and life to our soul as we come under the sound
of his word. We need then that there might
be that blessings ministry of the spirit that God would come
and accomplish his work in us. Thou hast brought all our works
in us, says the prophet Isaiah. That's what we need. not just
the outward form, but we need to know something of the power
of these things. And where there is that, there will be a three-fold
ministry to us, will there not? There will be an opening up of
our mind. What do we feel to need that?
That our understandings might be enlightened. That the light
might shine in the darkness of our poor minds, our minds which
because of our sinful nature are shrouded in darkness and
ignorance and we need to have our minds illuminated. But isn't that what the ministry
of the gospel is about? Or to the Ephesians, in Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 17 says, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ The Father of Glory may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Oh, and we
need to have our understandings enlightened. To this end that
ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the Son. From what is the
exceeding greatness of His power to what will you believe? Now,
our minds, our understandings must be enlightened, because
by nature we are those who are so ignorant, having the understanding
darkened, it says in chapter four, alienated from the light
of God. So the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness
of our hearts, we need then to have our minds opened up. to have that ministry of the
Holy Spirit, granting that inward illumination. But it's not enough
to have an understanding in the mind, is it? There must also be, you know,
the will. And this is that inward ministry
again. Thy people shall be willing, is the promise that is given
to Christ. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. If the Son shall make you free,
he shall be free indeed. He comes to liberate the will,
that will that is in bondage to all that we are a sinner.
We cannot, we have no free will, we cannot decide for Christ. It's nonsense. Those who preach
such a so-called gospel, imagining that men can make their decisions
and their commitments, It is Christ who must come and make
us His willing people. We are the spirit of the Lord.
There is power. Not only an enlightened understanding,
but also a willing obedience must come from the Lord. And
then also, of course, there must be that gracious renewing in
the heart. That is the promise that God
has given, is it not? He will give to His people such
a heart, a new heart, and a believing heart. Tell Him, I, 24, verse 7, I will
give them a heart to know Me, He promises. I will give them
a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be My
people, and I will be their God. Oh, what a promise is this, that
God is pleased to grant unto his people such a heart as to
know him and believe in him and trust him. This is the great
promise that the Lord grants to his people. There is then, I say, that inward
aspect to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. when he comes
by his Spirit, when he comes in his Word, when he exercises
his prophetic ministry. We have the fulfilment then of
this double promise. The words, those he speaks under
the inspiration of the Spirit, here in verse 15, he tells them
as God instructs him, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee
a prophet from the midst of the of thy brethren like unto me.
Unto him ye shall hearken." Again, how God speaks so directly. In
verse 15, He is speaking through His servant, the prophet, Moses. But here in verse 18, He speaks
so directly. "'I,' He said, "'will raise him
up, a prophet from among their brethren like unto me.'" and
will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall provide. O God grant that we might be
those friends who know what it is to have Christ as our great
prophet, the one who comes to teach us, the one who comes to
instruct, and that we might be those who are careful to hear
his voice, unto him ye shall hearken. May God bless to us
each one. Amen.