Biblical Concept of Christ as Prophet

Review and Introduction to the Prophetic Office

0:03 As was announced last Lord's Day morning, we are returning in our Sunday morning expositions to consider those truths of the Word of God which have come to us under the general category of a series of studies entitled, Here We Stand. This series is designed to set forth what we might call the mountain peaks, the main pivots of Christian doctrine and the implications of that doctrine for the life and walk of the Church. Having considered the nature of the book we believe and obey, that is, the Scriptures, something concerning the God whom we worship and confess, we are now concerned with the broad issue entitled, The Salvation We Receive and Proclaim.

1:00 Having established from the Scriptures that the objects of this salvation are men and women, boys and girls created in the image of God, men fallen in Adam, men elect in Christ, we then turned many months ago to begin to consider the central figure in this salvation.

1:24 And since Christ is the great theme of Scripture, it is proper that there should be what, as far as symmetry is concerned, a disproportionate measure of time given to this aspect of our study, namely Christ in the glory of His person and the sufficiency of His work for sinners. As we have attempted to collate some of the biblical materials relative to Christ as the central figure in the salvation set forth in the Word of God, for some months we contemplated Him in what we call the mystery of His person, seeking to bring together the many lines of biblical truth which focus upon that very question that was asked in our reading this morning. Who do men say that I am? A question concerning the identity of His person.

2:20 And we saw from the Scriptures that Jesus Christ is nothing less than true God, true man, one person in two natures forever. And then we moved into the area of a consideration, not so much of the mystery of his person, but the majesty of his offices. An office, of course, being a position of authority or trust, a position of influence and power. We speak of the office of the President of the United States, and it is in his offices that Jesus Christ, as God and man in one person and two natures forever, accomplishes the work of salvation. What are the number and names of those offices? We can do no better in answer to that question than to quote the shorter catechism, Christ

3:14 executes as our Redeemer the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. Now, we have already considered him in the majesty of his office as a priest. As a priest, his main concern is Godward. He is the representative of sinful people towards God,

3:40 on whose behalf, that is, on behalf of those sinful people making sacrifice for sin and interceding for them to secure all the benefits purchased by that sacrifice. Now this morning we begin to consider him in the second of his threefold offices, namely that of his prophetic office.

4:07 And as we begin this study, let me remind you on the very threshold that this is not an academic exercise. We have emphasized again and again that what Jesus Christ is in His person and His offices is perfectly suited to our necessities as sinners. There are no luxuries in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

4:37 Our need is so vast and so complex as sinners that nothing less than Jesus Christ in the mystery of His person as revealed in Scripture and in the full Lord's majesty of His offices could ever meet our need. And therefore you do not sit, as it were, as an onlooker listening to a description of someone who lived in the past concerning whom some interesting things are written.

5:07 You, my friend, with me are a sinner, fallen in Adam, ruined in sin, a sinner who needs nothing less than the rescuing work of Jesus Christ, who is God and man in one person and two natures forever. And if he ever rescues you, he will rescue you as a priest, as a prophet, and as a king.

Hugh Martin on Faith's Concern for Christ's Threefold Office

5:34 And if he is not priest, prophet, and king to you, you will live and die in your sins, and you will bear the wrath of God forever. So then, you see, this is not an academic exercise. It is a matter of our greatest personal interest. And to buttress this assertion, I want to read as we introduce the subject this morning, Some eloquent words from Hugh Martin in his commentary on the life of Simon Peter, taking the very passage which was read this morning from Luke's Gospel, Peter's confession concerning the identity of Christ. Hugh Martin says, It is much to see the glorious provision made in the constitution of Emmanuel's person for revealing the Father and reconciling the alien and ruling him in the Father's name.

6:29 That is, to see Him as prophet, revealing the Father, priest, reconciling the alien, king, ruling Him in the Father's name. But faith rejoices to see Jesus bearing the Father's commission thus, to be a prophet, a priest, and a king. Has He the Father's authority to tell me the Father's mind, to disclose the Father's heart, to announce the Father's will?

6:59 Has he that right to be my prophet? Is he to me the ultimate and satisfying ambassador to treat with me concerning what my God and Maker, my governor and judge would have me to believe and have me to do? Is Christ that? Then he asked the second question. Is he possessed of the Father's commission to establish peace between me and my God?

7:27 to put me in a steadfast and immovable foot of mutual confidence in love with the Father forever? Is He a true priest who can resolve the problem of sin? Third question, is He to me the Father's signet, ring, and seal, so that He may rule me in the Father's name, gathering me and other sinful men into a kingdom which the Father shall recognize as His own? In answer to these questions,

7:56 Faith rejoices to see Jesus to be the Father's sent one. Him hath God the Father sealed, and to qualify His human nature for His entire office, He hath given Him the anointing of the Spirit without measure. Hence, He is the Christ, the Lord's anointed. And now, am I ignorant? Am I guilty? Am I wayward?

8:24 Do I see Christ the God-man anointed of the Father's good pleasure, coming with the Father's commission? Do I see Him as the prophet sent to teach, as the priest sent to forgive and intercede, as the king to rule? If so, then Hugh Martin goes on to say in a burning eloquence, then it is a matter of great concern to me to know Him as my prophet, my priest, and my king.

Statement of Aims

8:54 So as we move into this area of concern, may it be, I repeat, with the sense that each of us has the deepest concern in this subject. How then shall we lay out the biblical teaching concerning Christ in the majesty of His office as prophet? Well, all I propose to do this morning is is to first of all say something concerning the biblical concept of a prophet, and then establish the biblical basis for asserting that Christ is the great and final prophet of God. In subsequent studies, we shall contemplate him in his unique fitness to be a prophet, specifically how he conducts himself as a prophet, the implications for us personally and as a church, but all that will have to wait. This morning, I'll

9:49 two simple fundamental issues. Number one, the biblical concept of a prophet, and number two, the biblical basis for asserting that Christ is such a prophet. Now, if I were to direct the ushers this morning to pass out paper and pencil, and then direct you as a congregation to write down in fifty words or less The biblical concept of a prophet, what would you put on your paper with your pencil? Albeit borrowed, but what would you put down on your paper? The biblical concept of a prophet. Well, you say, Pastor, everyone knows what a prophet is. A prophet is a, well, you know, a prophet is a, well, sort of a, well, he's like, well, he's a, well, he's sort of like a preacher.

10:42 Well, I'd hope that some of your 50 words would be something more than, well, he's sort of like, and sort of like, and sort of like. What would you put? Oh, someone very smugly says, I would put a fourth teller and a foreteller. Why? Well, because I heard someone say that's what a prophet is. Granted. But now what do you mean if you put on your paper, he's a fourth teller? And a foreteller. A fourth teller of what? And a foreteller of what?

11:11 What is the biblical concept of a prophet? Do you have a clear, concise, succinct grasp upon that? Well, I hope you will after the exercise of the next few moments. And what I propose to do is to open up in your hearing and to have you consider with me three basic passages in the Old Testament which give us the bare bones of the biblical concept of a prophet.

Passage One: Exodus 4 — Aaron as Moses' Prophet

11:42 Now, if you grasp this, then something of the glory of what Christ is as the prophet to his people, I trust, will break in upon your understanding. Now, the first passage is found in the book of Exodus. Turn, please, to Exodus chapter 4. Nothing fancy this morning. This is just plain old meat and taters.

12:11 Study of the word of God, and I trust your heart will relish the bread of God, served up without much adornment, that I hope with much profit to your soul. In Exodus chapter 4, we shall begin our reading with verse 10, but just a word about the setting. God has announced to Moses his intention to deliver his people from the bondage of the Egyptians.

12:39 Now that's an announcement that would have made Moses glad. But then when God says, and I'm going to use you in a very special way in that deliverance, this caused poor Moses to shake in his boots. So now we find him at the stage of his shaking in his boots in verse 10 of Exodus 4. And Moses said unto the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant,

13:10 I'm small of speech into the slow tongue. You're telling me to go in and face this mighty ruler and announce with my mouth your intention to deliver your people and to command them to let them go. God, if ever human eloquence was needed, it's needed when you come to this man, old Pharaoh. Lord, I'm just not up to the task. And the Lord said unto him, verse 11, Who made man's mouth?

13:38 Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak. God says in essence, Moses, your objections will not be sustained. I am God, I might make a man slow of speech, quick of speech, I take away speech, I give speech, that's within my prerogative purpose.

14:05 Now I promise you that having told you to go and speak, I'll not shortchange you. I'll be with your mouth and I'll help you to speak. Now that should have satisfied Moses, but it didn't. Verse 13, and he said, O Lord, send I, pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. In other words, he says, Lord, it's great. Send somebody on that mission, but Lord, somebody else. Now at this, God got angry with him. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said,

14:34 Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well, and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. Now notice carefully the instructions of the next two verses. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

15:03 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people. And it shall come to pass that he shall be to thee a mouth. And thou shalt be to him as God. You see what God says? He says, all right Moses, though I am angry, I will accommodate myself to your request. Your brother Aaron, he will become...

15:28 the medium of communicating my words as I give them to you, you will pass them on to Aaron and he will be your mouth. He will not be an interpreter of what you say. He will not be an originator of his own thoughts. He will simply be the organ of speech on your behalf. Since you want to opt out because of your sense of inadequacy and you will not trust me to be with your mouth, I will give you another mouth in the person of Aaron.

15:57 Now, in so doing, what did God constitute Aaron? Turn to chapter 7 and verse 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh, that is, to execute the will of God, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet, that is, to speak forth the will of God.

16:27 So when God makes Aaron Moses' mouthpiece, God says, I have now made him your prophet, your Navi, the main word in the Hebrew language for a prophet. Now in that simple little incident, you have one of the most fundamental elements of the biblical concept of a prophet.

Passage Two: Deuteronomy 18 and the Horeb Background

16:55 Hold it in suspension while we move to the second passage, and that is Deuteronomy chapter 18. Now remember, we're only trying to do one thing. Establish the biblical concept of a prophet, so that we may appreciate what our Lord is in his office as a prophet. Deuteronomy 18.

17:24 Now in verse 15 we have the announcement of a wonderful promise. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, this is Moses speaking, unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,

17:51 Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore, that I die not. Now at this point we must understand the incident to which Moses is referring. He gives the promise that the Lord is going to raise up a prophet like unto himself from among the brethren, and that they are to give heed to him. And he says the reason for this is because God has responded to the request that you made in Horeb. Now what was that request?

18:20 Turn back to Deuteronomy 5, and we have the record of it. Deuteronomy 5, keep your finger there in chapter 18. Verse 22 of Deuteronomy 5. These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire of the cloud and of the thick darkness with a great voice, and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone and gave them unto me, And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he liveth. Now therefore, why should we die?

19:14 For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it. Now you see what the request was?

19:41 having experienced the direct voice of God, God Himself thundering out of the midst of that fiery mountain, over whose peak dashed lightning and fire, they said, we can't take this business of God speaking directly to us. Now, we want to have a word from God, Moses, but we want it to be mediated through one who is like us. Moses, you we can take. You go up into the presence of God. Let God speak in your ears. And then you speak the words of God to us with your voice, Moses. For your voice is a voice like unto ours, but the voice of God we fear, that if He speaks directly, it shall consume us. Now when we turn to Deuteronomy 18, God makes the promise that He shall indeed raise up a prophet like unto Moses.

20:36 And what will God do in raising up that prophet? Verse 18. Deuteronomy 18. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee. 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,

21:07 I will require it of him. So the promise of God is given that a prophet should be raised up, but notice the point of emphasis. God says, I will put my words in his mouth. There is nothing said about his mind or his heart. The emphasis falls upon the words of God are found in the organ of speech of the prophet. Words in the mouth. Now we know

21:37 that words do not leap upon the mouth bypassing the mind. But God is so concerned to underscore the biblical concept of a prophet that He bypasses the whole complex of the mental process by which the words come to the mouth. And God says, here is what I want you to know. When a man is my prophet, it is my words found in his mouth. That's the point of empathy.

Passage Three: Jeremiah 1 — Call to the Prophetic Office

22:06 Now, do you tie it in with what we found in Exodus? Lord, I can't speak. He says, I'll get a mouth for you. And Aaron will be your mouth to do what? Not to speak his own words, but to speak my words that I'll put in your mind and mouth, and now you put them into Aaron's mouth. Now, one other passage in the Old Testament, then I think you'll see it all coming together. Jeremiah chapter 1. Here we have the record of the call of a man...

22:35 to the prophetic office. And in that call, we have a wonderful exposition of the biblical concept of a prophet. Verse 4 of Jeremiah 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto me, saying... Pivotal phrase, the word of the Lord came. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying...

23:04 Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And if God regards Jeremiah as being his, even before he was fully formed in the womb, any thought that it is not a human being until it comes out of the womb is utterly unscriptural. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.

23:32 And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee. God doesn't set apart for himself little globs of protoplasm, little globs of a collection of cells that have no identity. And wherever possible, I shall underscore the biblical principles, even though it doesn't fit myself. in the exposition with regard to this glut of wholesale murder of innocent children in the wombs of women across our country. It is murder, and the blood of innocents cries to the God of heaven. And if there is not some form of repentance, God is going to answer with judgment. Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee. Now notice, I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

24:27 Now, Jeremiah knows immediately if I'm a prophet, that has to do with talking. And he says, Lord, I wonder if he had steeped his mind too much in Moses' pattern. Oh, Lord God, I know not how to speak. I'm a child, you see? Prophet, he says he knows immediately I've got to speak. He doesn't say, I know not how to think profound thoughts. He says, I know not how to speak immediately. Prophet, speak. I know not how to speak. I'm a child.

24:57 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, Emma, child, for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. Jeremiah, to be my prophet does not mean that you have come to great maturity of personal insights. It only means that you are willing to go where I send you and say what I tell you. That is God's answer to his objection. To whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid because of them, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. Here we come back again. He doesn't say, touch my heart, touch my head. He touched my mouth, the organ of speech. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Three Principles of the Biblical Concept of Prophet

25:59 see it all coming together? What is the biblical concept of a prophet? Well, the biblical concept of a prophet can be understood as we trace out these three passages and pull them all together and boil them down and see the principles. Here they are. Number one, it is God who takes the initiative to make known His will through a prophet. The word of the Lord came

26:29 It was God who came to Moses in the burning bush and spoke to him. We must never think of the prophet as the man who struggles up the mountain of great spiritual effort and toward the summit breaks through the misty clouds which only common people see and suddenly sees the peaks of God's revelation blazing in light and glory. No, no.

26:57 It is never the thought that the prophet struggles upward to come to insights of God. It is always that God comes down to speak and reveal himself to the prophet. Always the word of the Lord came. So we must never think of the prophet as the man who has unusual mystic sensitivity, unusual capacity to somehow prove penetrate the veil that keeps the common people from seeing what he sees. No, in no instance is this in any way related to the biblical notion of a prophet. It is God who takes the initiative to make known his will. Secondly, God lays hold of a man to be the instrument of conveying his will to other men.

27:51 The authority of the prophet lies in his appointment by God and his equipment from God. I have put my words in thy mouth, Jeremiah. That's all that matters. The fact that you're a young man, probably only 30, the fact that you may indeed be natively shy and slow of speech, it's totally irrelevant. I've appointed you. I've put my words in your mouth.

28:20 And then the third thing we see in the biblical concept of the prophet is that God imparts the very words which are to be the medium of communication. And the Scripture does not satisfy our inquisitiveness with regard to the question, by what means did God make his words known? Hebrews 1 says he used many means, and there are dreams and visions. And what sets Moses apart from other prophets is that God spoke to him face to face. But you see, the emphasis in Scripture is not in this area of satisfying our curiosity as to how. The emphasis falls upon this. God imparts the very words which are to be the medium of communication, so that when the prophet speaks, the end result is this. The words of God have been conveyed to the ears and the eyes of men, if it's in writing.

29:18 So to summarize, we may say that according to the scriptural concept of a prophet, a prophet is a person supernaturally instructed in the will of God and sovereignly commissioned to make known the will of God to men in the very words of God. So he is supernaturally instructed in the will of God and

29:47 Sovereignly commissioned by God to make known the will of God in the words of God. That's the biblical concept of a prophet. Now do you see why again and again you read through those prophets in the Old Testament you find these words coming up almost to the point where it's redundant. The word of the Lord came to me saying. The word of the Lord came to me saying. The word of the Lord came to me saying. Why is that so much the emphasis?

30:16 Because the prophet was very conscious that what he delivers is not the result of his own native insights, his own native inquiry. God came with his word. And you find that carried over right into the New Testament in the last of the prophets of the old economy. The word of the Lord came to John the Baptist in the wilderness. And not until then did John come preaching.

30:42 And there you have a beautiful description, a summary of the whole concept of the prophetic office. When the word of the Lord came to John, then and only then did John come preaching. So there is this concept again and again underscored. The word of the Lord came. Another phrase you find throughout the prophets. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Why? The prophet was very conscious.

Refutation of Modern Prophetic Fakery

31:10 That he was not sharing his own insights. As a teacher, I do not say, Thus saith the Lord! And then speak in the first person. There are some fanatics who do that. Put a little quiver in their voice and lift their eyes up to heaven and make it look like they're under some powerful afflatus. Thus saith the Lord! And then they so-called give a prophecy. That's rubbish. It's rubbish. It's rubbish.

31:39 too far better to come down to earth and spend a little time less shaking and shivering and studying their Bibles, and they'd know more of the will of God. But the prophet didn't say, I stand before you to give you the fruit of my consecrated prayerful labors. No, no, the prophet came saying, Thus shuff the Lord, and he spoke in the first person. Why? His mouth was the organ of speech in the name and authority of the Almighty.

32:06 Because of that, the prophetic word was always a sovereign act, and it was always a gracious act. It was always an authoritative act. Now you say, Pastor, that all sounds well and good, but what in the world does that have to do with me sitting here this morning? My friend, if you ever miss hell and make heaven, you'll be within the orbit of that blessing because Jesus Christ has assumed for you the office of a prophet.

Basis One: Christ Explicitly Designated a Prophet — Acts 3

32:34 saves in the way of exercising not only his priestly office, but his prophetic office. Now, do you have the basic concept of what a prophet is? I trust you do. Now, let us move to consider, secondly, the biblical basis for asserting that Jesus Christ actually fulfills that office of a prophet. How do we know that he is a prophet? Is it because the old Westminster Confession says he is? No, no.

33:03 No human confession is the final touchstone of our faith. The Word of God is. And we assert that Christ executes the office of a prophet for two basic reasons. He is explicitly designated such, and secondly, He is repeatedly described as exercising prophetic functions. Jesus Christ is explicitly designated such.

33:28 a prophet. Will you turn now to the passage in the New Testament that is the most pivotal portion concerning Christ's office as a prophet, and that is in the book of Acts chapter 3, or that is to be found in the book of Acts chapter 3. Peter is preaching, and typical of the kind of preaching that has been described for us in the adult class,

33:57 He has set forth the facts concerning Christ. He has referred those facts to their Old Testament prophecies. And now Peter brings his sermon to the point of application and says in Acts 3.19, Repent ye therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

34:23 And that he may send the Christ who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive till the times of the restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old. Moses indeed said, now you see what he has done? He has proclaimed the necessity of repentance and faith. He has announced repentance and faith against the backdrop of the coming day of God when this Christ shall return again. And now he is going to buttress this assertion from the Old Testament. Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren like unto me. To him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.

35:16 And it shall be that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days. So you see what he does? He takes this prophecy that was well known by all the Jews,

35:42 And he says that prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now you and I can't appreciate the depth to which this consciousness had worked itself into the fabric of Jewish thought. In John chapter 1 we have the record of how some people came to John and said, Who are you? Are you the Messiah? He says, Are you the prophet? He says, I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. But you see...

36:12 In the messianic consciousness of the Jew, though the average Jew apparently did not identify Messiah with the prophet, there was this expectation that the promise given through Moses would be fulfilled. Are you the prophet? There was that undergirding awareness that God would send this prophet who would exceed Moses in his greatness. Now think what that meant for a Jew.

36:38 There was none greater than Moses. Moses, in that sense, was the father of the theocracy. God is going to raise up a prophet who stands head and shoulders above Moses? What a mighty prophet this one will be. Peter tells us that promise has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now look at the particulars. We know, first of all, that it will be a prophet like unto me, says Moses.

37:06 In what sense would he be like unto Moses? Well, as Moses stood head and shoulders above all the other prophets, because not only of the extent of prophetic revelation, but the manner of prophetic revelation. What set Moses apart from all the other prophets? Well, you say the extent of his influence, yes, but there's something even more significant. God himself underscores it in the Old Testament. I want you to turn to Numbers chapter 12.

37:36 It is this that sets Moses apart from all the other prophets of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Fourth book of Moses. Fourth book in the Old Testament. Numbers chapter 12. Notice, beginning with verse 6. And he said, Hear now my words. God is speaking.

38:05 Speaking to two people who have challenged the authority of Moses. And they said, you've taken too much on yourself. It was just professional jealousy. Ministerial jealousy. Ah, that man's a pope. He's so pompous. Well, that's nothing new. Moses got it. So God comes to vindicate him. And he said, hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision.

38:35 I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches. And the form of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? You see what God says?

39:02 He is a prophet of eminence. Why? Because only with him do I communicate my mind and my word face to face. Other prophets? I speak in visions. I speak in the dream. But not so with Moses. Now that's not an isolated reference. It's repeated in Deuteronomy 34 and verse 10. Deuteronomy 34 and verse 10. And notice the point of emphasis.

39:29 In verse 9 we have the record of Joshua and his place now in the purposes of God. But then by contrast, and there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. Now Peter says, this prophecy, the Lord God will raise up a prophet like unto me, is fulfilled

40:00 Christ. And what is it that sets Jesus Christ as a prophet even above Moses, with whom God spoke face to face? And oh, here is the glory of Christ as our prophet. At a certain point in time, commencing with a revelation at a burning bush, God began to speak face to face with Moses.

40:29 The greater than Moses was in face-to-face communion with the Father from all eternity. And it brings us right into the orbit of John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was prostantheon, was face-to-face towards the God, and the Word was God.

41:00 So that our Lord Jesus Christ is the prophet like unto Moses, but of much greater supremacy than Moses. For he could say as he did in John 8 and verse 36 in a way that Moses could never, never say.

41:31 Yes, John 8, 38. I speak the things which I have seen with my Father. Moses could say, I speak the things which I have seen and heard in communion with God upon the mount. Jesus could say, I speak the things I have seen and heard with my Father, not from His baptism in Jordan's river, but from eternity.

42:00 as the eternal Word who was always the recipient of the Father's mind. Who could say as he did in Matthew chapter 11, No one knoweth the Father save the Son. A prophet like unto me, like Moses. But the second thing Peter says about him in identifying this prophet with Christ is that he shall be taken away Out from among the brethren. Among his brethren. Notice in Acts chapter 3. Quoting the passage from Deuteronomy. He shall raise up unto you. From among your brethren. This prophet therefore had to have bloodlines. That would go back to that theocracy. Bloodlines that would go back to Moses. Back further to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

42:56 And therefore is it not significant that in the opening of the Gospel of Matthew, in the opening of the Gospel of Luke, we have those, quote, dry genealogies? Dry? No, no, my friend. They are God's affirmation that Jesus Christ is no false prophet. He is the prophet who would be raised up from among the brethren of Moses. His bloodlines are truth.

Basis Two: Christ Repeatedly Exercises Prophetic Functions in John

43:25 He is the true prophet. And then God says, I will put my words in his mouth. And if anything comes through in the ministry of our Lord, it's that self-consciousness that his very words have been placed in his mouth by the Father himself. Very quickly now, run through some references with me in the Gospel according to John. We're simply establishing the fact that Jesus Christ is a prophet. Why? He is called such by Peter in this watershed passage in the New Testament. And he fits every part of the description. He's like Moses, though greater. He is taken out of the brethren. God's words are put in his mouth. John 8 and verse 26. John 8 says,

44:18 And verse 26, I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, howbeit he that sent me is true, and the things which I heard from him, these speak I unto the world. Christ here claims no independent insight. He says, I merely speak what I have heard of my Father. Verse 28 in this same chapter says, Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things. My speaking is the result of the Father's teaching. Verses 46 and 7 of the same chapter. Which of you convicteth me of sin? If I say truth, why do you not believe me?

45:16 He that is of God heareth the words of God. Here he equates hearing him and believing him with hearing and believing the very words of God. For this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God. Chapter 12, verses 48-50

45:38 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my sayings hath one that judges him. The word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day. Why? Why shall the word of Christ judge men in the last day? Here is his answer. For I spake not from myself, but the Father that sent me. He hath given me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.

46:05 And I know that His commandment is life eternal, the things there for which I speak, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Do you see that self-consciousness? Christ is saying in these passages, in essence, I am but a mouthpiece. My mouth is the sounding board of the teaching of the Father. He repeats it more in chapter 14 and verse 10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me?

46:35 The words that I say unto you, I speak not from myself. I have no independent insights. I am no originator of a new religion that finds its origin in my own mental processes or my own spiritual experience. No, he says, I am speaking that which is given to me of the Father. Chapter 15 and verse 15.

47:00 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my Father. I have made known unto you. And then perhaps the climactic passage, John 17, verses 6 to 8. 17, 6 to 8. I have manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world.

47:29 Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word. Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee, for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them, and they have received them, and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and believed that thou didst sent me.

47:54 Do you see how our Lord again and again in the Gospel of John alone speaks out of this consciousness that he is a prophet whose responsibility is not to originate thought, but to convey the thought of the living God as given to him in the very words of God. Therefore, if we give any credence whatsoever to the testimony of Scripture, we can arrive at no other conclusions. than that Jesus Christ is that prophet, prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18, said by Peter to be indeed that prophet who perfectly fits all of the categories of that prophetic utterance. And then very quickly, he is not only explicitly designated a prophet, but he is repeatedly described as exercising prophetic functions.

48:48 His forerunner John says this of him in John 3 and verse 34. Not only does he announce Him to be the Lamb of God, not only does he announce Him to be the Son of God, but he says this, For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for he giveth not the Spirit by measure. John points people to a Savior who is not only a Lamb, who is not only a priest, offering and offering, who is not only the Son of God, but He is God's prophet who speaks the words of God. And for this very reason, the Spirit was given to Him in plentitude without measure, that He might be the supreme prophet endowed by the Spirit with limitless measure. So He is described by the forerunner as performing this prophetic ministry and function

49:45 He is described that way by a humble, albeit discouraged disciple. We read in the record of Luke chapter 24 and verse 19, of one who in his dejection feels that all his hopes are dashed, not knowing that it is the Lord Himself who is speaking with him, being queried concerning his despondency, he says, verse 19, and he said unto Jesus, Then what things? And they said unto him, The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. He is called a prophet in his function by John the Baptist, called so by a humble, albeit discouraged, disciple. He is described as such by the writers of the New Testament letters, Hebrews 1, 1-3, God says,

50:43 who in times past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us in a Son. John calls Him in Revelation 1 the faithful and the true witness. And so we bring together the testimony of all these lines of biblical truth, and we can come to no other conclusion than that Jesus Christ is indeed a prophet. Now, as I intimated earlier in subsequent expositions, we'll direct your attention to how it is that he's uniquely qualified for the office, how he discharges the office, the implications for us. All we've done today is establish the biblical concept of a prophet and demonstrate that Jesus Christ is indeed that prophet. Now you say, what's all that say to me? Well, may I remind you of that word that was given today.

Application: Hearken to the Prophet or Be Destroyed

51:38 In the original prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 and quoted again in Acts chapter 3. This is what it says to you my friend. Listen carefully. And it shall be that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet. Verse 23 of Acts 3. Shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Now do you see how it comes around full circle to your own bosom this morning.

52:07 God has constituted Jesus Christ, His final, His supreme prophet. And those who will not hearken to Him, and listen, the word hearken vividly does not mean simply to give Him the favor of listening to what He says. To hearken is to hear with the ear, to believe with the heart, and to obey with the feet all that that prophet says.

52:33 The Scripture says, whosoever shall not hearken to him shall be utterly destroyed. My friend, listen. As surely as you will perish if Jesus Christ is not your priest, if you do not own your sinfulness, your wretchedness, and flee from your sin, and embrace Christ as your only priest to bring you to God, you will perish just as surely. If you do not embrace Christ as your prophet, subjecting all of your thinking to His Word,

53:04 interpreting all of life by His Word, governing all of life by His Word, you will be utterly cut off. This is the language of the Scriptures. You shall be utterly destroyed. That's serious business, my friends. Jesus Christ is not out pleading that you somehow give Him a little attention so that He may tickle your ears with a few lovely little thoughts about life and death and the world to come. All of God's prophetic utterances through the Old Testament, all of them by bits and pieces, were leading to that time when the great prophet would come who would be the fulfillment of all the hopes and aspirations based upon the prophetic utterances of that old economy, who would be God's final word to men.

54:02 But what's it mean to hearken to Him? It means to listen to Him when He tells you who you are. That you're a creature made in the image of God. When He tells you what you are as a sinner. When He says, out of the heart of men proceed. And He describes sin as a problem of the heart and of the nature. Listen to Him when He says, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Listen to that prophet when He says, except he repent shall perish.

54:30 Listen to him when he says, whoever does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Listen to him when he says, he that confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father. He that denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father. My friends, hearken to that prophet or you'll perish. That's why preaching is such a solemn exercise. To stand not clasping.

55:00 proclaiming prophetic inspiration, but simply to open to you the words of that final prophet, which if not received will result in your damnation. I don't believe in hell, my friend. God will make you believe in it. Oh, may God help you to see, dear unconverted man, woman, boy or girl, you better start taking that prophet seriously. You better blow the dust off that Bible. You better begin to read its pages and say, Lord Jesus, Teach me who I am. Teach me who the Father is. Teach me how much I need you. Teach me how I may come to know you. But dear child of God, and I want to close on this positive note, what a privilege is ours. That Almighty God should come with any prophet, in any age, with any utterance, when because of our sin we had plunged ourselves in spiritual dark

55:59 And God could have pulled the veil over and not allowed one ray of prophetic light ever to penetrate that darkness and allowed us to be like the fallen angels of whom the Scripture says they are kept in chains, in darkness, awaiting the judgment of the last day. But wonder of wonders, God has not only come with the rays of light through Moses, the rays of light through Isaiah, the rays of light through Jeremiah, They were all fellow mortals. But one day God Himself came and joined Himself to humanity in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He who from eternity knew fully the Father's mind, who had access to the Father's mind and heart in that unique inter-Trinitarian relationship, He has come to do what? To fully exegete the Father to us, to unfold all of the Father's heart

57:00 toward needy sinners. And wonder of wonders as we shall see in the case of all of his own. Jesus Christ is a prophet who not only announces the word of God to the outer ear, but he speaks it with power to the ears of the heart. He said, he that hears the voice of the Son of God shall live. Thank God that our prophet has found us. Some of us who heard his word on the outer ear

57:31 What made the difference that that word seized upon the heart? Because our great prophet put forth that word of efficacious power. We are here today, wonderfully privileged, to sit at his feet as he speaks to us in his word. Do you see now why neglecting the scriptures is such a terrible sin?

57:56 It is regarding with indifference the only place where Christ as prophet now speaks. Do you see the wickedness of being careless with regard to the Word? Do you see the wickedness of allowing yourself to be drowsy and distracted in preaching? Christian, do you see what a privilege to have Christ as our prophet? May we fall at His feet, not only loving Him and trusting Him,

Closing Praise and Prayer

58:25 And in the highest sense admiring him in the glory of his office as a priest. But oh in these next Lord's Day mornings may we come to love him and admire him and extol him. In his glorious redemptive office as the great prophet of his people. Let us pray. Oh Lord Jesus Christ we worship you this morning.

58:55 We extol and magnify your name as the great and final prophet. We thank you that you have spoken the words that the Father gave you to speak. And we thank you that many of us bowed in your presence here this morning, have embraced those words. We have been enabled to hearken to you as our prophet. And your word has led us to embrace you as our priest.

59:23 And gladly to submit to you as our King. O Lord Jesus, speak with that voice of heavenly authority. Even this day to some who are strangers to grace. May your prophetic voice find them where they are. Unmask them, we pray. And bring them broken and believing to your own feet. O our Father, seal the word to our hearts.

59:52 Grant that our minds may relish the thought that we have one who infallibly declares to us the mind and the heart of the Father, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear us and receive our thanks for your presence with us this hour, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.