Well, I hope that after our lessons
this morning in Bible class, you are more familiar with the
prophetic office of our Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think of when you
think of Christ our prophet? Christ our prophet. What does
that mean? When you give consideration to
Christ being our priest, most of us, I'm sure you who believe
the gospel of God's grace, you understand fairly comfortably
what the priesthood of Christ involves. He is the one who makes
intercession before God on our behalf. He is the one who offers
sacrifice to God for the atonement of sin, and he is the sacrifice
which he offered unto God by which our sins have been put
away. Christ, our priest, ever lived to make intercession for
us before the throne of God's grace. We understand something
of God's grace in providing Christ to be a priest unto us. When
we talk about Christ as being our king, God's people are comfortable. You've been well instructed.
We're not of those who foolishly, ignorantly suppose that Jesus
Christ somehow is going to someday, maybe, perhaps, if somebody will
pretty please let him, be a king. But rather we recognize that
Jesus Christ, our God, is king. King over all things. And we
bow to him as king in our hearts. We who believe submit to the
dominion of Christ, the Lord our King. We delight in his sovereign
rule and we delight to give ourselves over willingly to him as our
Lord as well as our Savior. But what do you think of when
you hear Christ our prophet? Our prophet? Most everybody,
I suspect, draws a blank. What does it mean, Christ is
our prophet? What does it mean that he has
come to be the prophet of God to his people? Does that simply
mean that he's a preacher? Does that simply mean that he's
a teacher? No, it means infinitely more than that. You know, this
ignorance, this lack of instruction regarding Christ our prophet
is not justified at all. The Lord God speaks plainly,
and four times in his book The Holy Spirit gives us a word concerning
Christ our prophet, and He gives it in almost exactly the same
words each time. Now, I want us to go back to
Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter 18. And everything
you had in your Sunday school class this morning, just file
that away in your mind. That was the introduction. This
is the message. I'm going to be dealing with
the same subject. My message this morning is Christ our prophet. Look here in Deuteronomy chapter
18. In verse 15, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a
prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me. Him ye shall hearken. Unto him ye shall hearken. And then in verse 18 he says
the same thing again. I will raise them up a prophet. a 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." Turn over
to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 7 and verse 37, I believe it
is, yes. Acts 7 and verse 37, Stephen
is giving his last Testimony, he's about to die the first martyr
for the cause of Christ being stoned to death for his testimony
Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ Acts chapter 30 chapter 7 in
verse 37. He says this is that Moses which
said unto the children of Israel a Prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me Him shall
ye hear And that's three times. The same word has been given
by God the Holy Spirit with regard to Christ. And now our text for
this morning is in Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, or chapter
3 rather, in verse 22. Acts 3 and verse 22. Here's the fourth word. Moses
truly said unto the Father, of a truth. This is certainly so.
You know it's so. Peter is speaking to these Jews
now and he's telling them why they ought to believe on Christ.
He's telling them of the power and the authority of Christ by
whom he has healed that lame man. He says, now fellas, you
know it's true. Moses said unto the father, Moses
said this. You've heard it. You've heard
it all your lives. You know it's so. A prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren. Like unto
me, him shall ye hear, and 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." Now, our Lord Jesus Christ is given
this word of promise and word of fulfillment in almost exactly
the same words four times. Wes, that means pay attention,
buddy. I've got something to tell you. God the Holy Spirit
is saying, I want you to pay particular, distinct attention
to this prophetic character of the Son of God. Our Lord Jesus
holds these three distinct offices as our mediator. He is our prophet,
our priest, and our king. There are many other types of
Christ who held these offices. Some held one and some another.
Some of them even held two of these offices. Some were both
prophets and priests. Some were both kings and prophets. But none were ever prophet, priest,
and king, except the Lord Jesus Christ. Melchizedek was a king
and a priest, but he was not a prophet. Aaron was a prophet
and a priest, but not a king. David and Solomon were kings
and prophets, but they were not priests. Christ alone is the
prophet, the priest, and the king, for in all things he must
have the preeminence. He is our prophet, mighty in
word and in deed. He is our priest after the order
of Melchizedek, and he is the king of kings and the Lord of
lords. There is none like him. As prophet,
priest, and king, Christ the Mediator meets all the needs
of his people. You see, by nature, we are ignorant
men and women. By nature, we're totally ignorant
of all things spiritual. Now, I wish we'd learned this.
I know man is a very proud creature, and all men think they know.
All men think they understand. All men suppose that they can
open the Bible up and understand it, and get hold of it, and get
hold of God, and they can fix God up in a little box, in a
nice little package, and they say, now, this is our God, this
is what He does, this is what we believe, I understand it,
now don't bother me anymore. Now don't bother me anymore.
I'm telling you that the natural man is totally ignorant. Totally ignorant of the Living
God. Totally. You wonder why you can't
witness fellows at work and them hear you? You wonder why you
can't talk to your neighbors? You wonder why you can't talk
to your sons and daughters, mothers and fathers without them fussing
and fighting and getting upset? I'll tell you why. They've got
no eyes. And a man without any eyes can't
see. They've got no light. Absolutely no light. They're
in utter darkness. Utter darkness. Ever been in
darkness? I'm talking about darkness. One
time in my life, one time, I was in total darkness. It's an eerie
feeling. When I was in school out in Missouri,
we went to some caverns, I forgot what they were called now, 70-80
miles from the college in Springfield. Several of us went down into
this pit down there, just a cave down in the earth, kind of like
the caverns down here near Bowling Green, I suppose. And we went
down in that black hole that was lit up, and you could see
all the formations in the rocks and all those things that they
so impressed the geologists so that they misunderstand everything. But we got down in there and
walked around. And for just a second, for just
a second, everything got real quiet and still. They turned
the lights off in that hole. You could stick your hand right
here and you couldn't feel it. You couldn't. It was just darkness. Darkness. That's the way man
by nature is. He's in darkness. And he can't
see. He can't see. That's the way
all of us were by nature. And Christ, our prophet, comes
and gives light. And brother, when he turns the
lights on, you can see. When He turns the light, don't
you see? When He gives you eyes, you see. When He causes the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God to shine into your soul,
you see. You perceive and understand and
grab hold of the things of God. That's what happens in the new
birth. That's exactly what happens in the new birth. Our Lord came,
or Nicodemus came to our Lord and And he said, Lord, we know
that you're a prophet. We know you're a teacher come
from God. Nobody could do what you do if God wasn't with you.
Well, anybody can see that. And our Lord looked at Nicodemus.
Now, James, we've got to get hold of this. This fellow is
a ruler of the Jews. He is He was number one big shot
in the temple. I mean, everybody looked up to
Nicodemus. Nicodemus was himself that one
that everybody looked to for instruction. And our Lord said,
Nicodemus, you're as ignorant as a fool with regard to the
things of God. Now you read the chapter. He
said, Nicodemus, you don't see a thing. You don't see a thing. You don't know anything. You
don't know anything. And I'm telling you that men
and women, until they're born of God, don't know beans. They just don't know beans about
the gospel. It'd be easier to teach the jackass
nuclear physics than to teach a natural man the things of God.
You can't do it. You can't do it. He has no ability
to perceive spiritual truth until he's born again. Our Lord said,
when you're born again, you can see. When you're born again,
you'll see the things of God. You can't see, you can't enter
into the kingdom of God until you're born again. Christ our
prophet comes to give us eyes to see by the power of his grace
in the new birth. Like all other men, God's elect
are guilty, defrayed, justly condemned sinners by nature.
But Christ Jesus, our priest, has made atonement for our sins,
and he has removed the wrath of God from us. He's reconciled
us to himself by his death upon the cross. Before conversion,
by God's almighty grace, all of God's elect are enemies to
God, rebels just like everybody else. disobedient to the throne
of the Almighty. But Christ our King, as powerful,
as a powerful Prince comes and subdues our hearts by His grace,
He causes us to approach unto His throne. He makes His arrows
sharp in our hearts and causes us to fall under His dominion,
willingly giving ourselves up to serve Him. And even after
we're converted, even after by God's grace we have been made
to walk in life before God. We're still weak and helpless
creatures of flesh and blood. And so Christ our King rules
over us, protects us, preserves us, defends us, and provides
for us in all things. He's our prophet, our priest,
and our king. But today I want us to concentrate
on this 22nd and 23rd verse of Acts 3. And I want, if God will
enable me, to show you how that Christ is our prophet. He is
a prophet to teach us the will of God. He first began to exercise
his prophetic office shortly after his baptism. He continued
in it throughout his life, and he still exercises it from heaven
today. By the Spirit of God, through
the preaching of the Word, the prophet still speaks. Oh, may
it please him now through this word that I speak to you to speak
and give his word of instruction and life in this day. What does
he teach us? He teaches us principally and
primarily and everything else he teaches flows out of this.
He teaches us how a man can be just with God. This prophet has
come down from heaven and done what nobody ever could do. He's shown us how that God can
be just and yet justify the ungodly. This prophet has come down and
shown us how that by the sacrifice of himself, Law is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. Righteousness
is honored. Holiness is maintained. While
God, looking on him, pardons the sins of his people. And everything
else he teaches flows out of this one thing. First of all,
I want you to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is that prophet
whom God raised up. Notice the text. Moses truly
said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise
up unto you of your brethren like unto me." And what a prophet
he is. Christ Jesus is that prophet
whom God raised up in the most extraordinary way. When God had
spoken to the Jews with his voice of thunder and lightning at Sinai,
God had given the law. And the Jews saw Moses as he
came down from the mountain, and the glory of God shone on
that man's face. He had been with God in the holy
mountain. And it comes with the law of God to the children of
Israel. And those Jews grew back in terror. And they cried, Moses! Moses! Don't let God speak to
us! Don't let God speak to us! Lest
we die. I'm going to tell you, if you
ever see God's law, that's what you're going to say about it.
That's what you're going to say about it. These folks talk about
living by the law. Give the Ten Commandments as
a rule of life. We're going to start obeying
the law. They don't have any idea what
the law says. Man perceives what the law says. He says, don't
let God speak to me by that law. Let somebody stand between me
and God. Let somebody, somebody who's able, a fit person stand
between the holy God and us sinful people, lest we die. And the
Lord God accepted and was pleased with their prayer. He said, that's
what you need. You need somebody to stand between
me and you. You need somebody who's suitable and able to speak
to you on my behalf, and able and suitable to speak to me on
your behalf. And that's Christ the prophet.
So the Lord God gave promise that He would give this prophet.
He would give one who was able to speak and reveal the most
secret counsels of the Almighty, and speak to men in perfect holiness,
and yet not consume them in His wrath. Christ Jesus, the Son
of God, is that prophet. Our prophet came down from heaven.
He is the one who is the eternal, Almighty God Himself. He came
down from God's lofty throne, and yet our prophet was raised
up from among his brethren. The Lord God said in the prophecy,
Psalm 89 verse 19, I have laid health upon one that is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen out of the people. And this is what
he's saying. Our prophet, unlike any other
prophet, came down from heaven for he's God. But he's also a
man. He was raised up from among his
brethren. He came out of the tribe of Judah.
He was the son of David. This prophet was a kinsman to
Moses. He was an Israelite. He was one
of us. He's one of us. He's one of us. Bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh. The prophet was the child of
a virgin. Now there's not anything marvelous,
anything great, anything spectacular about the virgin. There's nothing
great about her. Mary was a woman just like Shirley
Darty, just like you. No different from you. Exactly
like you. Only difference was she never
knew a man. That's the only difference. This woman was redeemed, justified,
and saved by the grace of God. She was a sinner redeemed by
the blood of Christ, just like everybody else. And those who
exalt Mary, call her Mother of God, and worship at her pedestal,
have exalted one who is just wed to a place of divinity. Call upon Mary to heal that silly
old man in Rome. said Mary healed him of his gunshot
wound. Mary did it. Mary did it. Mary's
Mary. Nothing but Mary. That's all. But that one who was born of
Mary, now he's something else. He's something else. He's God
Almighty. He was born by the power of the
Holy Ghost. He was born without the aid of
a man. He's the seed of the Holy One. He is the Holy One. He's Jesus
Christ our God. so that he comes as a man of
the household of David. But this prophet is God with
us. His name is Emmanuel. He is not
merely a man come to teach. He is not merely one who has
come to teach us about God, but rather he is God come to reveal
God unto us. He tells us by his by his word,
how that he himself, while he speaks to men upon the earth,
is with the Father. How can that be? Here he is in
a body, in a body, but he's with the Father. He's still in heaven,
because he never ceased to be God, though he's a man, just
like we are. And this prophet has fully revealed
God to man. He has perfectly made known all
things that are needful for man to know. Turn over again to John
chapter 1 and verse 18. John chapter 1 and verse 18. In verse 14, John says, the Word,
the Word, the Word. Now, you remember this. Jesus
Christ is the Word. He is the Word. The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us and lives right here with us.
And we beheld His glory as the glory of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. Now look in verse 18.
No man hath seen God. That's it. Now that's it. David Coleman, you can't see
God. You can't see Him. You can't
perceive Him. You can't see Him. You can't
touch Him. You can't hear Him. You can't call on Him. You can't
reach out to Him. You can't come to God. He's a
Spirit. He's a Spirit. I wish we'd understand
this. God's a Spirit. You can't see
God. God's a Spirit. You can't get
hold of God. You can't get hold of air. You can't get hold of
Him. God's a Spirit. God's a Spirit. You can't hear
Him. You don't have a mouth. He doesn't
have eyes. He doesn't have ears. He doesn't
have a hand. He's a spirit. God's a spirit. God's a spirit. You can't speak to Him. You can't
do it. Just try it sometimes. I'm not being funny. I'm telling
you the truth. God's a spirit. No man's ever seen Him. No man's
ever seen Him. No man ever will see Him. not
in his essence, not in his ineffable glory, not in his essential being,
not in his majesty. God's a spirit. It's impossible
to know or have dealing with a spirit. Can't do it. But Jesus
Christ is the Word of God. No man's seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, He has. He's seen Him. He is God. He is God. Here stands a man. Here stands a man who's been
God. For this man is God. And he's
come to tell you who God is. He's come to tell you who God
is. He hath that One, that Only Begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father. He hath declared Him. That word declared, an interesting
word. It means that he has reached
to end to the very substance and being
of God. And so here he is. That's what
he's done. That's what Christ has done.
He has taken God and showed him so fully, so fully, so perfectly,
so completely, that as he stands before his disciples, he said,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. If you've seen me,
you've seen the Father. If you hear me, you hear the
Father. If you speak to me, you speak
to the Father. If you believe me, you believe
the Father. Do you see that? Christ our prophet
declares God. He's the only one who can. He declares to us everything
about the character of God we need to know. So great is this
one, that when the Jews beheld him, they said, this truly is
that prophet. That long expected, long promised,
long anticipated prophet that should come into the world. Turn
over to John chapter 4, verse 25. Again, verse 24, our Lord said,
Lady, God's a spirit. God's a spirit. He said we know
we're going to have to worship in this mountain. Jews say we're
going to have to worship in that one. And our Lord said, Lady,
God's a spirit. God's a spirit. And they that
worship Him don't worship Him in houses made with stone. They
that worship Him don't worship Him in holy places. They that
worship him don't travel to Jerusalem and make a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land. They that worship him don't go to the holy tomb
where Jesus was buried. They that worship him don't have
holy places on the earth. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth." And the woman replied, she still
hadn't learned to keep her mouth shut, she said, I know that when
Christ, when Messiah is coming, which is called Christ, when
he has come, he will tell us all things. Lady, you're right.
Lady, you're right. He will. He'll tell us everything
God wants us to know and everything we need to know. Jesus saith
unto her, I speak unto thee and he. And once he said that, That
gal didn't have anything else to say. She didn't have anything
else to say. Up until this time, she's arguing
with him. Up until this time, she's debating with him. Up until
this time, she's fussing with him. She's arguing her religion
with his religion. He said, lady, I'm the prophet! Oh, that's so, let me hear what
he's got to say. Let me hear what he's got to
say. Jesus Christ is our prophet. And he's in every way qualified
to be one. He not only takes upon himself
the name Prophet, but he's a suitable and right Prophet. He didn't
ordain himself to this office, but he was appointed, ordained,
and established by God to be our Prophet. In the covenant
of grace, the Lord God set him apart to be our Prophet. And
when he went down into the river of Jordan and was baptized, John
said he saw the Spirit of God descend on him, and there it
stays. And as I knew, this is the one,
for God said, upon whom you see the Spirit like a dove descend
and abide, that's the prophet. That's the prophet. He was anointed
with the Spirit above measure. God poured out His Spirit upon
him without limitation, without measure. There are many, many
names which identify Christ as our prophet. He is the messenger
of the covenant. He comes to declare it. He is
wisdom, the very wisdom of God. He'll teach us the way of life.
He's our counselor. Not only was he our counselor
to represent us in the council of peace, but he's our counselor
to guide us as we walk through this world. He's our teacher,
teaching us the things of God. He's our speaker, speaking to
us from the throne of heaven. He's our light and our salvation. He's the witness of God to the
people. And while our Lord was upon this
earth, he gave clear and undeniable evidence and proof that he's
the prophet that God had promised. What was it? That clear, undeniable,
and evident proof that he is the prophet of God was set forth
over in Isaiah 35. I want you to turn there a minute. Isaiah 35. Now I want you to follow me carefully.
How do we know How do we know with absolute certainty when
that prophet spoken of by God stands before us? How do we know? Isaiah 35 and verse 4. Say to
them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance, even God with recompense. He
will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as a heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the
wilderness shall the waters break out, and streams in the desert."
Now this is what he said. When the prophet comes, when
the prophet comes, when the prophet comes that God promised, he's
going to do miracles that no man can deny. He's going to do
miracles no man can deny. He is not going to have a little bursitis in his
shoulder and say, or you have a little bursitis in your shoulder
and he says, now it's healed. Heyo, bless God. No, he's not
going to do that. He's going to say to a fella
who's never walked in his life, rise up and walk. And that man's
going to leap and dance like a newborn heart. Like a newborn
deer. Look at him. He is not going
to come along and get on television just before the camera goes off
and, I got a vision from God and there's somebody out there,
somebody out there been having trouble with their back. I wonder
how many folks here that get. Been having trouble with your
back. God's healing your back. No, no, no. He gonna come by. and speak to a man who's never
heard a sound. And that man's gonna hear and
speak back. He's not going to come along
and lay hands on a fella and tell him that God's going to
heal your cancer. No. He's gonna come and meet
a man going to the grave and say to the dead, rise up and
walk. And that man's gonna get up and walk. This prophet is
going to perform by God's power, for he is God, indisputable public
miracles for the good of men and the glory of God, so that
when he stands in front of you, you'll say, that's the prophet.
That's the prophet. That's the prophet. Now that's
what those signs and wonders and miracles of God were given
for in the days of Christ's coming, and that's what confirms his
apostles as the messengers of the Christ. So much was this
evidence that when our Lord fed the 5,000, you remember in John
6? He fed the 5,000, actually 5,000 men, give every man a wife,
and every man and wife two children. That's reasonable, isn't it,
for those days? He fed 20,000 people. 20,000 people with a few sardines
and a little piece of bread. That's right. And when he got
done, they said, truly, this is that prophet. No denying it. You know, our Lord's enemies
never one time disputed his miracles. Never one time. Not one time
did they say, now, that fellow wasn't really lying. Not one
time did they say, that fellow wasn't really lying. Not one
time did they come along and say, now, that fellow wasn't
really dead. Not once. Because they were done with such
public, clear evidence that there was no disputing it. None whatever. Now, you want me to tell you
what a sure sign of a false prophet is? Hold on to your seat. We're going to jump a creek.
A sure sign of a false prophet, number one, is his message. His
message is contrary to the gospel of God's free grace. But there's
another one, there's another one. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1, chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. In the last
days, there are going to come a lot of folks saying, here's
Christ and there's Christ. In the last days, there are going
to come a lot of folks saying, God's given me a vision. God's
given me a word. God's told me what you must do.
In the last days, there are going to come a lot of folks who claim
to be the prophets of God, who will tell you to go worship another
God. That is, they're going to tell you to worship contrary
to the word of God. And here's a sure sign. There
are many, but here's one sure sign that a man's a false prophet.
In verse 9. Even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonder. Turn over to Revelation chapter
13. Revelation 13. Verse 13. Here's the proof of the false
prophet. He'd do it. great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. What are you saying, pastor?
Didn't the apostles perform miracles? Yes, sir, they did. Evident,
public, clearly attested miracles of God's power. Nobody ever disputed
one of them. Nobody ever disputed one. But
those apostolic gifts Peace forever when the word of Christ the prophet
was made known. No more need for him. No more
need for him. We've got the prophet, the word
of God. And I'm telling you that every
man today who stands up and speaks of having signs and wonders and
powers and gifts to speak in tongues and gifts to perform
miracles and gifts to heal the sick and gifts to raise the dead,
every last one of them are workers of Satan. Every one of them. Right there it is in the book.
Right there it is. They'll come with signs and wonders. Oh, they'll impress. Lying wonders.
Lying wonders. I could spend a lot of time with
that, but I'll leave it alone. I'll spend some time with it
later. Our Lord, when the Jews came and challenged Him about
His deity or His Messiahship, He said, look what I do. Look
what I'm doing. Did God say this is what Messiah
would do? It's what I'm doing. Look at the blind man. See him?
He's sitting there reading the scripture. Look at that lame
man. You see him? He's walking into
the house of God. Look at that deaf man. You hear
him? He's hearing and singing the words of God's praise. That's
what scripture said out there. That's what it said. I'm the
prophet. I'm the prophet. He never had to say, I'm the
prophet. He said, look at the works. And they said, you said
you're God. He never had to say, he never had to look at him and
say, now I'm that prophet that Moses spoke of. He said, look
what I'm doing. And they said, you mean you're
telling us you're the prophet Moses spoke of? That's it. That's it. Our Lord's disciples
often referred to his miracles as an evidence of him being the
prophet. And when John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Christ,
Aren't thou the Christ? Aren't thou the prophet? Or should
we look for another? Do you remember what the Lord
told him? He took those two disciples, and he said to them, Jesus answered
and said, Go and show John again those things which you hear and
see. The blind received their sight,
The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto
them." That's enough. That's enough. He's the prophet! God's prophet. One other miraculous work demonstrates
and identifies Christ and His prophetic work is that of foretelling
the future, and I bring these before you only just give you
a little background, this is what Christ was upon the earth.
And hear me, buddy, this is what he still is. He's the prophet. Our Lord Jesus told his disciples,
he said, now, there's a fella at a certain place who's got
a coach. He said, go tell him the master
needs him and bring him to me. And they went and got the coach. And you know that man didn't
say a word? That man didn't say a word. He just, he told him,
said, tell him how the master, the master has need of him, and
he'll give you the coach. And they did. Suppose somebody's
come down your way, and say, uh, David, the master has needed
your car, uh, give me the keys. Why? Well, where did you come
from? We need to get you back there.
But this one, is the prophet. He's the prophet who controls
the minds of men, and the hearts of men, and the deeds of men,
for he's God. He said to his disciples, he
said, now when you go into the city, you're going to see a man
carrying a pitcher of water, follow him home, and tell him,
show us the room where we can eat supper with our Lord. And
they did, and it happened just as he said. Our Lord Jesus spoke
plainly of Judas betraying Him, and how that Judas would betray
Him. How He would be betrayed by His own familiar friends.
Our Lord Jesus plainly told His disciples, while He's sitting
at the Lord's table, He said, The man who's got his hand in
the bone with Me, he's the betrayer. He's the betrayer. Our Lord told
of His sufferings and death. and how the Jews would deliver
him over to the Romans to be crucified rather than to be stoned. Our Lord told of the conduct
of his disciples, how they would all deny him and betray him,
and how that Peter particularly would both deny him and be converted,
raised up again by the grace of God. He told plainly of his
resurrection from the dead, and he told of the destruction of
Jerusalem. He told them plainly how that
God would send his armies into that city, and he would level
that city to the ground. It would be left utterly desolate
under the judgment of God. And it came to pass in 70 A.D.
In our text, Christ is particularly described as a prophet likened
to Moses. Now Moses was a preeminent prophet.
in the Old Testament, and Christ is the prophet like him. Moses
and Christ received their commission and their doctrine in exactly
the same way. You see, Christ the prophet is
our mediator in the covenant, and he received commandment from
God in the covenant. Read John chapter 10, he said
so. Moses learned from God, not by angels, and not by visions,
and not by dreams, and not even by other men, but rather he went
up into the Holy Mount. And up in that Holy Mount, he
spoke to God as a man speaks with his own familiar friends.
And God told him what to say, and what to do, and what to declare. He told him. And Moses came down
dead. He came down with God's law.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, like Moses, alone with the Father,
in the covenant of grace before the world began, got his commission
as our Savior, and he got his doctrine as our Savior as well. He got his commission, and he
got his message. He got his word, just like Moses
did, as the prophet of God. The doctrine of Moses and the
doctrine of Christ was the same doctrine. Now I hear these buffoons
talk about anytime you get a fella hemmed up and he wants to escape. Mark, you're talking to a fella
and you quote that scripture, thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That's in the old Bible. That's
in the old Bible. Moses taught the same thing Christ
taught, exactly the same thing. That's right, he taught exactly
the same thing. Somebody said, well Moses taught
salvation by law, Christ teaches salvation by grace. Oh no, no,
Moses taught damnation by law, and Christ did the same thing.
I'll tell you what Moses and Christ taught. Moses said, Sinful
man must have a sacrifice. Christ says, I'm the sacrifice.
Moses said, by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Christ says, no man cometh to
the Father but by me. Moses said, the law must be honored. Christ said, I've kept the law.
I've honored it. I've magnified the law and made
it honorable. Moses says, justice must be satisfied. The sinner must be slain. Christ
says here, justice is satisfied. Look at my hand. Justice is satisfied. Moses declares, you must be without
sin, holy even as God is holy. Christ Jesus says, I blotted
out your sins with my blood. As a thick cloud, I blotted them
out. Moses said, you must be righteous. Christ says, I am
thy righteousness. Moses said, you must be sanctified. Christ says, I am thy sanctification. Moses says, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. Christ says, I am the salvation
of the Lord. I am that salvation. Moses proclaimed
substitutionary redemption and salvation by grace alone. And
Christ Jesus is the substitute and the savior. Do you see that?
Moses and Christ were alike in their doctrine. More than that,
the law came by Moses. He had the word of God. And Christ
Jesus comes and brings the truth of God. Moses was raised up and
sent of God to redeem Israel out of Egypt. Christ was raised
up and sent of God to redeem God's true Israel out of a bondage
worse than that of Egypt. Moses was faithful in all the
house of God. Christ was faithful over all
his house, whose house we are. But as the picture falls far
short of a person. You know, you can't love a picture. You just can't fall in love with
a picture. I have pictures of my wife and
daughter. And you know, I never have yet. I'm not a sentimentalist, I guess.
I guess I am more than I like to admit. But I ain't so bad
that I've ever taken one of those pictures up and kissed it. I
don't care how long I've been gone from home. I don't care
where I am. I don't care how alone I am.
I have never yet kissed a picture. Just somehow or another, that
just doesn't strike me as being rational. But it would sure enough
be crazy if I've got my daughter standing here beside me and she
says, I'll see you tonight, Dad. And I lean over and kiss the
picture. What's wrong with that? We're going to have to check
him into the funny farm. Or my wife. She drinks me at
the door. She stretches out her arm. She
says, sweetheart, it's good to see you. And I pull out the picture.
Here's that picture. What have you been up to? That's
kind of foolish, this picture. And I'm telling you that as the
picture falls infinitely short of the person, so the type falls
infinitely short of Christ. And our attachment is not to
the type. Our attachment is not to the
picture. Our attachment is to Christ,
our prophet, our prophet. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
prophet supreme. He's the prophet excellent above
all others. You see, all other prophets declare
the word of God. All of them do. They say, this
is God's word. Christ Jesus is the word of God. He is the word of God. This book, you see it? Cover to cover. This holy book, this holy book
is God's word. Here stands our Lord Jesus Christ
before his disciples. And John says, the Word was made
flesh. The Word was made flesh. Now
listen to me carefully. Listen to me carefully. I reverence
this book. This is the Word of God. This
is the Word of God. But a man can love this book
and never know the Word." Huh? You can take this book and make
an idol out of it. You can't take that person and make an
idol out of him. He's God. Is that right, Dorothy? You can
quote the book, cover to cover, and never love the Word. For the Word is not written on
paper. The word that I'm speaking of
now is the living word of whom this book speaks. God says, I'll put my words in
his mouth. Words of life. Words of life. I'm afraid most people give out
facts about God, and they know facts about life. But when Christ
the prophet speaks, he gives words of life, so that those
to whom he speaks live. Amen. Amen. He comes and speaks to Lydia
Smith. He opens her heart, swings the
door open, and enters in, and she lives. God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus comes to Lazarus,
and he says, Lazarus! And Lazarus fails! It always
is that way. If Christ speaks, you're going
to hear Him, and you're going to live. Other prophets spoke
by inspiration of God. Christ our prophet is God speaking
to men. Other prophets pointed to and
spoke of Christ. All of them did. Christ is the
sum, the substance, the fulfillment, the completion, the perfection
of all that they spoke. All the other prophets began
to speak. They wrote to reveal God's message
to man. But Christ Jesus is God's message
to man. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath one time spoken to us by his Son. He's the Word. All other prophets spoke what they learned from
God. Christ speaks as one who is God. All other prophets are
dead. They left us. And now they're
gone. Moses was a great man, but he's
in the grave. David was a great man, but he's
in the grave. Elijah was a great man, but he's
in the grave. But there is a prophet! whose
work never ceases, and that prophet sits on the throne of glory.
And today, today, he speaks the words by his spirit through the
preaching of the gospel and causes folks to hear his voice. He speaks by his preacher. That's
how he speaks to men. He does not speak by vision. He does not speak by dreams. He does not speak by inclinations. He speaks by this word, through
the voice of a preacher, by the Holy Ghost, and tells you what
he says. That's right. When it comes along, God told
me this, God told me that. Unless he can give you thus,
sayeth the Lord, he's a liar. God didn't tell him. God didn't
tell him. I've got to quit. Let me just
make two statements. Our text tells us plainly that
all who are born of God hear and obey this prophet. They do. Every last one of them. The Lord
God says with regard to his elect, him shall ye hear in all things
whatsoever he shall say unto you. Christ is an effectual saving
prophet. The hour will come at the now
years when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and
they that hear shall live. That's the gospel regeneration.
That's how God saves sinners. The Lord God speaks by his word
and causes the dead sinner to live. That's the first resurrection. And those who are born of God,
those who are called by this prophet, obey Him. They obey Him. They obey His
doctrines. They obey His ordinances. They
obey His counsel. They obey His words. Their hearts
are molded into obedience. Their hearts are melted into
submission. I told our ladies this morning,
illustrations of this very thing, you find me a fella who reads
what God says about baptism and says I won't be baptized, I'm
going to show you a lost man. I don't care what he professes.
I don't care what he professes. You find me a man who reads the
Word of God and sees what God says about predestination, election,
divine sovereignty, effectual atonement, and he rebels and
bucks up against it? You show me an Arminian who rebels
against the Word of God? I want to show you a lost man.
I don't care what he professes. Doesn't matter what he says.
God's people don't rebel against the Word. You find me a man who
does not give himself diligently to providing for his household,
who is not honest, a man of integrity, laboring before God, laboring
with men for the glory of God, I'm going to show you a man who's
lost. I don't care what he says. Doesn't matter what he says.
You find me a woman who will not submit to her husband's rules,
to her husband's dominion as her head and representative?
I'm showing you a lost woman. I don't care what religion says.
I don't care what ERA says. I don't care what she professes.
God's people obey. They submit to the word of God. They submit to the prophet. More
than that, those who refuse to honor Christ Those who refuse
to hear his word as the prophet shall perish under the wrath
of God. Hear the text, and it shall come
to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall
be destroyed from among the people. If you harden your heart and
will not hear the gospel as it is spoken by Jesus Christ, You
will hear and obey his voice one day. And I'm telling you, you're going
to hear him one of these days. For he's going to speak. He's going to say, depart, you
cursed and everlasting fire. You're going to hear him and
you're going to obey him. It's not a matter of will you
hear the Lord, will you obey the Lord, will you submit to
the Lord? You're going to. You're going to. It's just a
matter of when. It's a matter of when. And I'm
saying to you, men and women, hear me what I say. Hear God
what He says. You will either hear Him and
obey Him now in repentance and faith, or you're going to bow
before Him at the judgment and you will hear and obey His voice. May God graciously cause you
to hear and obey Christ our prophet. He says, there is one way of
salvation. I am the way. I am the way."
Said, no way to God but by his blood and righteousness. Come,
he's the way. He says, come unto me, all you
that labor, heavy laden. I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest. He says, come, come to me. Come.
He says, trust me. Trust me. Faith in Christ, what is it?
Trust in him. Trust in him. Trust in him. Trust me. We got every reason
to trust him, don't we? Every reason under the sun. He's the
prophet. He's the prophet. He's that one
God spoke of. Trust me. Trust me. Surrender. Surrender. Surrender. Surrender
to me. Surrender to me. Bow down, I'll
lift you up. Humble yourself, I'll exalt you. Fall on me, I'll carry you. Surrender to me, surrender to
me. Surrender or die. Those are your options, those
are your options. Surrender or die without mercy. God helped you to hear the prophet. Amen.