I would invite you this morning
to turn to the first chapter of the book
of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1. The title of my message this morning
is, the prophet, with an emphasis on both words. The prophet. There is a lot of talk in our
day of a religion whose followers have as their guide, they say,
a prophet. They say, there is one Allah,
and Muhammad is his prophet. They follow a volume of his writings
and prophecies that began somewhere around 600 A.D. He's their prophet. Don't insult their prophet. But
there are also quite a few more. There is Mormonism, and they
follow their prophet, Joseph Smith. He was supposed to have
found some golden plates, got a revelation, got a word from
God somewhere around 1830. And then there are the Jehovah's
Witnesses. They have their prophet, C.T. Russell, and many of them claim
themselves to be prophets. And beyond them, there are a
multitude of various groups, all having themselves prophets,
And many men rise calling themselves prophets. I remember years ago
of hearing on the radio one called the prosperity prophet, the Georgia
prophet, on and on. But what we ought to do is ask
ourselves, What does God Himself have to
say about His prophets? What is the test that He gives
us for a prophet? Well, hold your place here in
Hebrews 1 and turn back to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy
chapter 18. Let me assure you, this is much
older than the 1940's or the 1830's or even the 1600's. This goes back a lot farther. And so he tells us in Deuteronomy
chapter 18 and 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." Under the law, he was to literally die. And it
has not changed as far as the end of such individuals, they
will die the death. And if thou say in thine heart,
How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? He says, 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 hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Don't believe his prophecies? Don't be afraid of his prophecies? Don't in any way honor him as
a prophet? God says, I will deal with him. Don't be afraid. But if you notice,
it is always on the basis of what the Lord has spoken. It's always a measure based on
what God Himself says. And all through the ages, there
were these false prophets, and they rose up and spoke again
and again, even as those true prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah,
or David, or Daniel, or Moses, And they caused the people to
fear. And they led them again and again
into great idolatry. As a matter of fact, they were
in the majority. There were many more false prophets
than there were prophets of God. One such occasion is when Elijah
the prophet stood on Mount Carmel and spoke the Word of the Lord. And as he stood and spoke the
Word of the Lord, there were 850 false prophets to this one
true prophet. One true prophet. And then Jeremiah the prophet
records these words. He says, "...then the word of
the Lord, the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies
in my name. I sent them not, neither have
I commanded them, neither spake unto them, they prophesy unto
you a false vision, and divination, and a thing of naught, and the
deceit of their heart." They prophesy naught. That's nothing. Zero. And it is simply out of their
deceived hearts. But long before these prophets,
these false prophets, whether in that day or in our day, there
were the true prophets of Jehovah God. And these true prophets
of God, over a long period of time, they had a message from
God, they spake at various times, many times separated from each
other, But over thousands of years, their messages were not
only for the hour and people they prophesied to, but they
had also in them another message. And it was a message for a future
time. And all of their messages, spoken
by different men in different places at different times over
thousands of years, all of their messages concerned a particular
person. They concerned all one coming
individuals. So we read in the book of Acts,
the apostles say concerning Jesus Christ, to Him give all the prophets
witness. To Him give all the prophets
of God a singular united message. They all prophesied that through
His name, whosoever believeth in Him, they'll receive life,
salvation, righteousness, all that God has to give. And one of those prophets, one
of the earliest, if not the earliest of these prophets, a man by the
name of Moses, he spoke of this person and he distinguished him
from all others. Look back in Deuteronomy chapter
18 again. You see, prior to what he says
about these false prophets, if you look back in Deuteronomy
chapter 18, he tells us, beginning in verse 10, as he did in that
day, There shall not be found among
you any that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire." That was one of the requirements of one of the false
religions. And that is that these young
children would either be laid in the arms of a molten God,
supposedly, where they would be burned instantly to death,
or caused to pass through this God, supposedly, that was a test
of one's faith and belief. He said, that that useth divination, or
an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or
a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things
are an abomination to the Lord." And here we are in our day, so
enlightened, so advanced and learned a society as we are,
and men and women rush quickly back to those very things. They were an abomination in the
sight of God in Moses' day, and they are today. One who supposedly
talks with the dead. One who has a spirit that can
tell you things. One who can do this and that
and the other. One who can look at the stars
and tell you what they're telling you or whatever ways of telling
your fortune or forecasting or prophesying things concerning
you. God says they're an abomination.
And because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them
out before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the
Lord thy God." Whatever he has to say, Whatever it is that he
tells, it will have something to do with a people that he will
make perfect in his sight. For these nations which thou
shalt possess hearkened unto observers of time and unto diviners,
but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to
do so." In other words, As Moses led those people into those various
nations that were characterized on every hand by idolatry, this
was the warning and command of God. And we, if we be among His
spiritual people in this day, face the same things. But I'm afraid they're much more
subtle. They're much more deceiving. But notice what it says in verse
15. He says, "...the Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a prophet." Now there's something immediately
distinguishing about this one. And that is the Spirit of God. gives us this name, this word,
this title in capital letters. There are these prophets, and
then there is the Prophet. For the Lord thy God will raise
up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,
like unto me, unto him, Ye shall hearken." He's going to be a
man. But He's not going to be just
any man. He says, "...according to all that thou desirest of
the Lord thy God in Oreb, in the day of the assembly, saying,
Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let
me see this great fire any more that I die not." You see, they
at that time, when God gave the law, and they were there at the
foot of that mountain, and if any creature came near to that
mountain, they'd be smitten, because God was there. And so they said, don't let him
speak to us anymore. He says, "...and the Lord said
unto thee, They have well spoken that which they have spoken."
They said, we can't stand it if God speaks directly to us. And God said, that's exactly
right. But He says, I will raise them
up a prophet, one prophet. from among their brethren like
unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall
speak unto them all that I shall command him. 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. I will require
it of him." When you read those verses, you find out exactly what a prophet
is. A prophet is one that speaks
for God. A prophet is that one who has
the words of God. And so, we find Moses being led
by the Spirit, we find this prophet of God, and he is used to tell
his people that God is sending them the prophet. And he says, you better hear
this prophet. If you don't hear this prophet,
if you don't believe this prophet, if you don't follow the instruction
of this prophet, believe on him, God says, I'll require it of
you. But if a prophet is one who speaks for God, Are there
any prophets now in the sense even of these Old Testament prophets? Well, keep holding your hand.
We're going to get there. But I want you to turn to Luke
chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. And listen to what
we read coming from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Luke 16 and verse 16. He says, the Law and the Prophets
were until John. Do you see that? Not only the
Law, But the prophets themselves, in this sense, the prophets were
until John, John the Baptist. And since that time, the kingdom
of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. The law was until John. If you remember, John was the
forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He announced not only
His coming, but His presence, His arrival. And when he did
that, he says, the Law and the Prophets were until John. But after that, the Kingdom of
God, or the Gospel of the Kingdom, For the gospel of the King is
preached, and every man presseth into it. Why till then? Because when Christ came, when
Jesus of Nazareth was born into this world, the prophet had come. The prophet had come. And this is the one who speaks
for God. So if you turn back to our text,
here in the book of Hebrews, we find the apostle acknowledging
and stating and declaring again this very thing. Hebrews 1 and
verse 1. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets. How did He speak to them? By
the prophets. But notice this next verse. This
same God, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son."
Here He is, the Prophet. As a matter of fact, In the Old
Testament, there were three offices for which God required that the
one He appointed to that office be anointed. You remember they
anointed the kings, and they anointed the priests, and they
anointed the prophets. And the name Christ, that name
and word and description which is Christ, literally means the
anointed. In other words, here's the one
who is anointed for all three offices. There was never a man
who was anointed for all three offices. Some were anointed kings,
some were anointed priests, some were anointed prophets, and some
were even anointed king-prophets, but nobody was anointed all three. So here is the prophet. The prophet is none other than
God's Son. And as the prophet, he gives
us many warnings concerning all these false prophets. Listen
in Matthew 7. Beware of false prophets which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. They don't look like wolves.
They don't act like wolves. But inwardly, they are ravening
wolves. Christ says, beware of them. In Matthew 24, He says, And many
false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. There'll be many of them, just
like in Elijah's day, they'll be in the majority. And they'll
deceive many. Not just a few, many. Because they will not simply
be among these groups that are so obviously following a false
prophet or false prophets, but they will also be among those
who pass for professing Christianity. But a false prophet is a false
prophet. Again, he says this in Mark 13,
for false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs
and wonders. They'll show signs and wonders. They'll have a measure of power.
But if you listen to the next word, they will show signs and
wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Their deception is such, their
cunning is such, their subtlety is such, their transformation
is such, transformed even as unto angels of light, to seduce,
to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect. And then Peter
says this, given the same warning, he says, looking back to the
Old Testament ages, but there were false prophets also among
the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in
damnable heresies. even denying the Lord that bought
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." So how does the prophet say they
are to be distinguished? Well, under the Old Testament
economy, there was a rule just like there is presently. Under
the Old Testament economy, it was the same thing basically. In Isaiah 8, he says, to the
law and the testimony. What's that? It's the Word of
God. God has never been without a Word. He's never left His people
without a guide. Never left them without the truth. To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it's because there's
no light in them. That's just the way it is. Those
who do not speak according to the Scriptures, they have no
light. How do we know if a person has
light? if he speaks according to the Scriptures. I'm not talking
about a place here or there, but in the sum total of Scripture. We have various truths that men
and women are willing to acknowledge. You have to do that if you be
a counterfeit. But this is a body of truth. And then in the New Testament,
He leads the Spirit of God to John the Apostle who writes in
1 John 4, Beloved, believe not every spirit. Now those men of old, they spoke
by a spirit, the Holy Spirit. And men and women in our day,
they speak by spirits, but not the Holy Spirit. what Paul called
another spirit. But he says, beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, test the spirits, whether
they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. How? By God's Word. You see, we know what is true
or false by comparing what they say with what God says. And he says that all the true
prophets, all the Scriptures, all the true Scriptures speak
of Him, they all wrote of Him, they all wrote about Him, and
they all declared that God's promises were in Him. Look back over to Luke chapter
24. Luke chapter 24. to what the prophet said over
2,000 years ago. Luke chapter 24 in verse 25,
this was immediately after his resurrection. And this was when he met those
disciples on the road to Emmaus after he was raised from the
dead. Verse 25, Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow
of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Here they were surprised, shocked,
saddened that he was taken, hung on a tree, and put to death. But that's exactly what all the
prophets had said would happen. He said, in light of that, ought
not Christ or the Christ to have suffered these things and to
enter into His glory? Isn't this what the prophets
were saying? Do you have eyes to see it? Hearts to believe it? You weren't
so looking for an earthly Messiah to cure all your social problems? And beginning at Moses, and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself." Beginning at Moses, including all the prophets,
all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. And then a little while after
that, he would meet with other disciples, come into their presence. And in verse 44, it says that,
"...he said unto them, These are the words which I have spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me." And then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. In other words, we only understand
the Scriptures to the degree that we see and have understanding
as to how they pertain to Christ. And especially, and particularly
how they involve and how they speak of and testify to his death. And he said unto them, Thus it
was written, and thus it behooved Christ. to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem." Then he says this, "...and you
are witnesses." You are witnesses of these things. As a matter of fact, he says
in another place to some people who claimed to believe the prophet
Moses. He said, if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. They lifted two men very highly. Moses. He says, if you'd believed
Moses, You'd believe me. He wrote of me. And the other
one that they held up was Father Abraham. And he said to this,
Abraham saw my day, and he rejoiced in it. You see, this prophet
speaks as those prophets did to a particular people. He did not speak to everybody.
He speaks to everybody as the king, as the righteous judge. But He speaks as the prophet
to a particular people as these did, and their message was to
a particular people within that people. They spoke to Israel. But when Paul speaks, he says,
they are not all Israel that are of Israel. In other words,
the prophet spoke to this nation of Israel as God sent them to
these people. But within that people, there
was another people, these who are of the household of faith,
such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and others. And they spoke particularly to
them, as Christ speaks particularly to spiritual Israel, and to those
who are described as His sheep. You see, that's who hears Him.
My sheep hear My voice. Christ said, they will not continually
follow the voice of a stranger. My sheep will hear My voice. You see, He according to him
that is of God." What does he mean by of God? It means he's
loved of God, and chosen of God, and redeemed of God. He that
is of God, heareth God's words. You could put a copy of the Bible in every motel room in the world,
But apart from the Spirit of God, it's a closed book to me. As a matter of fact, I was watching
for a few minutes a little documentary on a big fancy hotel in England. And they were having visitors. that would take up a whole floor
of that hotel that cost thousands of dollars a night. They were
taking the whole floor. But one of the things that the
manager wanted to make sure was done was in every room, if there
was a Bible in that room, that it got taken out, lest it offend
these who have another prophet. What does the prophet say? What does his gospel proclaim? Well, that all depends on what
he says, and not only what he says, but the state and condition
of those he speaks to. And he speaks to those that he
came into this world to save. And they're described as sinners. If you're a sinner who's found
out you can't save yourself, if you're a sinner who's found
out because you've obviously been taught of God this, that
you need a Savior, his gospel is called glad tidings. Good news. He has good news. This prophet speaks good things. It's not like it was in the prophet
Micaiah's day and others, when kings would say, I don't want
to hear him, he's not got anything good to say about me. Well, if
you're a self-righteous, individual who thinks he can save himself,
who thinks she can go her own way, he's got nothing to say
to you. But if you're a hopeless, helpless,
weak sinner, he's got good news for you. As a matter of fact,
his gospel is called the gospel of peace. And this good news
is concerning Him and all the promises of God which He says
are yea and amen in Him. That's why it's not good news
if He were to say to us, you've got to do this and that and the
other in order to be blessed, in order to be saved. But if
you're like that fellow left on the roadside dead, He speaks
life. Look at verse 2 and 3 again in
Hebrews 1. He says, "...God, who in time
past spoke to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days..." When are the last days? Well, this apostle wrote this
about over 2,000 years ago probably. And when Christ came into this
world, He ushered in the last days. He hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things."
Do you need something? If He's the Heir of all things,
if you get any, it'll be from Him. It'll be in Him. He's the heir, the rightful heir
of all things. And that's why the Apostle writes
in Romans 8 that those who by the Spirit are brought to Him,
they are made to find out something. And that is that God in grace
has made them joint heirs with Jesus Christ. It says this, "...by
whom also He made the worlds." He is the Creator God. There
was not anything made that was not made by Him. It was all made
by Him and for Him, who being the brightness of His glory. What is His glory? His grace. the brightness of His glory,
and the express image of His person, God manifest in the flesh,
and upholding all things by the word of His power, the absolute
sovereign of the universe, when He had by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high."
You see, when the prophet speaks, whether he speaks as he did from
his own human lips, or whether he speaks through the prophets
in times past, or whether he speaks through the apostles in
his day, or whether he speaks through those he sends to preach
the gospel, it's always about something that he accomplished. It's always about something that
he did by himself. When he had by himself, without
your help or mine, when He had by Himself purged, not simply
provided a cleansing, but actually purged our sins. He sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on High. And right here is one
thing that absolutely, totally distinguishes our Prophet. He
is alive. Don't have to visit any tomb.
That's why it's such utter foolishness to make pilgrimages to this so-called
holy land. He's not there. Because He finished
the work of salvation. Because God accepted His sacrifice
on the behalf of His people. Because He was victorious over
death, hell, and the grave. He raised from the dead and He
lives. You can kiss the foot or the
toes of dead statues if you want to. You can visit tombs and make
pilgrimages to Salt Lake City or wherever it is. You can go
to Mecca, doesn't matter where it is. But the true prophet,
he's alive. And that's why his book is called
the Living Word. The Living Word. And Christ, this prophet, His
message has to do with what He has accomplished and finished
for sinners. And He sent forth those apostles
proclaiming what He had taught them, saying what He said, and
bearing with it His authority. This is what He said to them,
"'He that heareth you, heareth Me.' And he that despiseth you
despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."
Say you love God all you want to. Christ said, you don't hear
me and those sin of me. You know, that's what an apostle
is. That's what it means. One sent forth. What did he command them to preach? I suppose we might could call
Paul the chief of the apostles in one sense, the way we think,
but they're all just what they were by the grace of God. But
this one that God used to write the better part of the New Testament
to speak for God, being sent forth of God, He said this, I
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Nothing else. Nothing else. He says, "...for I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures." How He was buried
and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. In other words, the message of
the apostles was in strict harmony with the message of the prophets
who wrote down the Old Testament Scriptures. They're about Christ. They're about His sufferings
and His glory, His people. The New Testament is about Christ,
His sufferings, His glory, and His people. And that's why He said to them,
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into
His glory, since this is what all the prophets were saying?
You see, the message of the prophets, and the message of Christ, and
the message of the apostles, and the message of true gospel
preachers always involves the glory that follows. It's always a message about His
success. It's always a message about what
He accomplished. which is the full and total salvation
of His people, which is the whole work of righteousness, that righteousness
that God imputes to them. You see, all the prophets kept showing
us the only way that God could be worshipped. Whether it was
Moses, whether it was any of the other prophets, They were
all teaching, they were all showing that the only way God can be
worshipped is through a God-appointed and God-provided sacrifice for
sins. They are all showing us how sin
must be put away. And so, when the apostle is led
to write this epistle to the Hebrews, he takes, as he goes
through this book, he writes this book with a full knowledge
of what all the prophets said, but especially what God said
through them. And so in a sense, what he writes
in Hebrews, he uses to compare Christ to the things of the Old
Testament. But he also uses it to contrast
Christ to all these Old Testament things. Although they all pointed
to him, he is so utterly superior. infinitely superior. You see, in Hebrews, he writes
and collects together by the Spirit of God all of these better
things. What all these prophets wrote,
being inspired of the Spirit of God, they were good. as far
as a picture can be of something or someone, but this prophet
speaks, and all who speak for him, they speak of things that
are much better." And the apostle says, he's a
better priest. How is he a better priest? Well,
he's that priest who never dies. He has an unchangeable priesthood. He's a priest forever. He's a
priest in that he is himself man and he is himself God. And his is a better sacrifice. They had to do their work many
times. So great is our priest, he only
did it once." That's one of the key words in the book of Hebrews.
Once. He entered in once. They died. Somebody else had to be raised
up in their place. They went in time and time again. Their work was never finished.
His was. And it's because His was a better
sacrifice. They offered the sacrifice of
bulls and goats. His was a sacrifice of Himself. He offered the sacrifice of His
perfect, sinless blood. He laid down His glorious God-in-flesh
life. And not only that, His was a
better covenant. As a matter of fact, His blood
is called the blood of the everlasting covenant. Their covenant required
obedience and accomplishment on their part. This covenant
required only His perfect obedience unto death. The Old Testament had good promises but His are better promises,
because God says they are all yes and amen in Him. Go read through the book of Hebrews.
It talks about the priesthood and shows how Christ is the priest. It talks about all these sacrifices
that could never make the offerers of them perfect, and He by this
one offering has perfected forever them that are sanctified." You go all the way through it,
and you have Him compared to all the prophets and all the
things that the prophets set forth. But He obviously, is the
prophet." In other words, basically, God has nothing more to say. His Word, His written Word, is
the closing of the whole canon of Scripture, with a warning
that anybody who adds to these words, God will deal with them. And
then somebody comes on television, some preacher, and says, the
Lord spoke to me last night. And amazingly, the Lord told
him things that are exactly the opposite of what he's already
said. Liar. You can't add two. And you dare not take away from
the words of the prophet. You cannot improve on them. The
gospel is not about what he says, the gospel is what he says. Isn't it amazing that men can
sit down and they can write volume after volume after volume, and
the Almighty, All-Wise, All-Knowing God gave us one book. And somebody
said, of all these commentaries, there's one book that will throw
a lot of light on them. And I can tell you as one who's
read a lot of the writings of men and a lot of the commentaries
of men over the ages, I found out that this book proves a lot
of them wrong. Wrong. I remember one time reading in a commentary of man's argument
for infant baptism. And he began his argument by
saying something like this, since we know that Israel was the church
in the wilderness, and circumcision was that sign of the covenant,
so likewise infant baptism is a sign of the covenant. And I
thought, wait a minute. Where in this book does it say
that that whole nation of Israel was the church in the wilderness?
Most every one of them died in unbelief. So based on an erroneous presupposition,
they start to build, and the only thing that teaches us right
is what the prophet says. What God says. He says He has
a people. He says He's loved them with
an everlasting love. Not everybody. But He has a people
that He loved and chose in Christ, put in this everlasting covenant
in Him, with Him, made Him their surety, made Him their representative
and their mediator, and from that hour entrusted Him with
the whole work of their salvation. And when he hangs on that cross,
he says it's finished. Paul's prophets say it's not
finished until you do something. He said it's finished. I think
I'll believe him. They say you've got to do these
works. He says it's not a works lest
any man should boast. And it goes on and on and on. But I'll tell you, that man speaks
well who speaks well of Christ. When my last day upon this earth
is done, I will be the first to confess that I've been a terrible
pastor, a poor friend, a miserable comforter, often unfaithful and
failing and more than I would even want to tell you. But by
God's grace, I try to tell you what the prophet says. I don't look to anybody else.
If somebody says what he says, I'm glad of it and rejoice in
it. If they write what he wrote, I rejoice in it. But that's it. We are to speak of His glorious
person and His perfect work of righteousness. And His sheep
will hear His voice. But men and women, the majority,
who by nature are spiritually blind and who choose to remain
ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, they love false prophets. They'll
heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Tell us what we
want to hear. And there are a multitude. They're
lining up to take that place. Tell you what you want to hear.
They'll put you a sign. When you come in the door and
they'll say, this is a church where everybody is somebody.
But if I put it up, it will say, this is the church in which everybody
is nobody, and Jesus Christ is everything. And Luke, he says,
Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you, for so did their
fathers to the false prophets. When our Lord went up on that
Mount of Transfiguration, there was a bright, display of His glory. It says,
while He yet spake, while He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them. That was Peter, James, and John.
And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my
well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. He says that He has freely justified
some sinners through that redemption that is in Him. And He says to
those who have struggled under the weight and burdens that the
false prophets lay on them, Come unto Me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden. And I'll give you rest. Rest. Not I'll give you something to
do. I'll give you rest. I'll be your Sabbath. You can
rest because I've finished the work. Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
prophet. There are no more. There will
be no more. His Word is the last say on everything. No new revelations, no new writings,
if they speak not according to this Word, it's because there's
no light in them. Father, this day, it amazes us that you and your great
grace and mercy would keep our hearts bound to this One, to
this Word, to this glorious truth that is always good news to real
sinners. We thank you for it. We thank
you for the Prophet. Bind our hearts to Him and put
your Word in our hearts that we might not sin against You.
Deliver us from our errors and give to Yourself the glory alone. For we pray in Christ's name,
Amen.