WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to New Sun Churches Podcast. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.359 We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.399 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.920 Our first lesson this morning is found in Deuteronomy chapter 18. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:35.119 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.679 It is to him you shall listen. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:49.600 Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.719 And the Lord said to me, They are right in what they have spoken. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:06.000 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:15.359 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:17.519 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:19.280 Thanks be to God. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:29.599 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet, like Moses, from among you, from your brothers. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.280 It is to him that you shall listen. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:36.000 Let's pray. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:49.040 Lord, we come to you always needful of your word of grace. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.200 Your word is perfect. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:53.439 It revives our soul. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:55.760 It is sweeter than honeycomb. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:59.760 Lord, it gives us life and truth. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:05.359 Would you speak to us today by your word, by the illumination of your Holy Spirit? 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:17.120 Would you impress this truth upon our hearts such that we would be, we would rest assured in who Jesus is and what it is, Lord Jesus, you have done for us. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:26.639 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be always pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:27.520 Amen. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:29.439 Please be seated. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:41.680 If I may, I'd like to ask you to indulge me in a silly little scenario here. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:44.879 So fair warning. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.879 Imagine for a moment, uh boy meets girl. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.840 And we're smiling already. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.479 And uh boy and girl, they fall madly in love with one another. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:02.080 And the question is asked, and the answer is yes. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:20.240 And in just this moment of just swelling affection, and and they've got their whole lives ahead of them, you know, uh, this lovely young woman says to this handsome young man, she says, Darling, I am so pleased for everything that you know is ahead of us for our whole future. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.240 I've I've been waiting for this moment for so long. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:38.400 Since I was a little girl, and and I sang along to one day my prince will come, and and ever since I was a teenager and had my heart broken by boys and was comforted by my mom and my dad, and they assured me that the right one would come. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:45.360 And then into my young adulthood, you know, into university and into my career, I was searching, but but here you are. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:49.039 And we have our whole lives ahead of one another. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:50.879 And I see it all now. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.680 I see the significance of each and every moment, and I'm so happy. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:04.159 And imagine this bridegroom to be, leans in and he says, Oh, darling, I really don't care. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.960 Don't get me wrong, I love you, he says. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:14.400 I love you so much, and I'm so excited for the future that we have ahead of ourselves. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:20.959 But as far as I'm concerned, the significance of your history, my history, our history began on the day that we met. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:24.480 And whatever else preceded it, that's great for you. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:32.079 But our history began that day, and it'll go on, it'll go into the future, but whatever happened before, that's that's in the past. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.360 Let's focus on the now, let's focus on the future. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.600 Now, a lot of you are looking at me confused. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:38.560 That's a good thing. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.199 What is it that you'd want to say to that young man? 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.399 What would you want to say to that young man if that were your daughter? 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:47.759 Amen. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:49.199 Truer words. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.279 We can't just not care, right? 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:57.680 What's your point, Friedrich? 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:58.560 Here's my point. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:06.079 Every generation of the church seems to come up with what they think is a new, bright idea. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.800 And the bright idea is something like this. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:16.639 This Old Testament part of our scripture is so dense, it can be so confusing, it can seem so muddled. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.199 Maybe we would do well just to just to focus exclusively on Jesus. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.600 Yeah, and everything that Jesus commands us to do. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.519 And maybe we can just, we would do better by just pushing this Old Testament stuff. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:28.720 Let's push it out the door. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.000 That's all in the past. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:32.399 And maybe we don't have to care about that so much. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.000 It's Jesus and our lives with Jesus and our future with Jesus. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.079 That's that's kind of what matters, right? 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.920 Here's what uh this is not a fringe idea, so I'm sorry to say. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:06:03.439 This is an idea that seems to get propagated with every generation of the church, and most recently in the last couple of years, a very prominent uh name-brand, uh recognizable, highly visible uh pastor advocated uh that we ought to unhitch the Old Testament from the Christian faith. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:10.160 Unhitch it as a stumbling block to the faith, is how this name brand pastor described it. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:17.759 He writes this Jesus' new covenant does not need propping up by Old Testament scriptures. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:28.079 It's liberating for men and women who are drawn to the simple message that God loves you so much he sent his son to pave the way to a relationship with you. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:42.399 And it's liberating this message for people who find it virtually impossible to embrace the dynamic, the worldview, and the value system depicted in the story of ancient Israel. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:54.480 So, in other words, it's like when we meet Jesus, we say, it's now that matters, and our future matters, and whatever happened before in this story doesn't really matter so much. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.319 Let's focus on the now. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:03.439 Jesus is stepping into a story that God has been telling through the whole of Scripture. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:10.319 And it's why we read from the whole of Scripture, represented in our Old Testament reading and our Psalm and our New Testament reading in our gospel. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:16.079 The whole of Scripture forms a unity and it all points us to Jesus. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.000 And so whatever takes place before Jesus is not something we just get to say, well, we don't really care about that so much. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:23.519 We have to embrace it. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:34.399 And in embracing it, we will not only come to understand the Old Testament in a fuller way, we will come to understand our Lord Jesus in a fuller way. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:40.560 We will come to understand the significance of who he is and what he's accomplished for us. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.000 And that's the goal for this sermon series as we move forward. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.959 There's probably a few ways we could slice this cake. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:54.319 We could do a survey of the Old Testament, look at some of the major events that make up our Old Testament scriptures, this bulk of the Bible. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.879 Rachel's been doing a reading plan this last year where she's been reading from the Bible, the whole Bible, sequentially, which is very impressive. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.560 Guess when you switch from Old Testament to New Testament? 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.959 Because it's not June halfway through the year. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.800 It's in late October. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:12.800 Like the Old Testament is that much of a bulk of the Bible. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:14.560 So we could do a survey of it. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:27.759 We could talk about creation and God's light in creation, this good creation he's made, and the fall of our first parents, their rebellion and rejection of God's will in favor of their own and the destruction that follows, the self-destruction. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:44.960 And of course, God's pursuit in grace, where he calls Abraham and Abraham's family and the nation of his descendants to be a royal kingdom of priests that will represent God and his character and speak his word to the nations. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.519 They will be a blessing to the whole world. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.320 And then, of course, we could talk about the Exodus. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.120 We could talk about their going into the Promised Land. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.399 We could talk about the monarchy that gets established. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.559 We could talk about its collapse and their eventual exile from the Promised Land due to disobedience. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:06.399 We could do a survey of the Old Testament, kind of like I just did. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.120 But here's what I want to suggest. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.519 Here's another way we could slice this cake. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:24.480 If we wanted to look at the Old Testament and draw deeply from its significance and understand Jesus in a fuller way, here's a suggestion offered to us by the church that's come before. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:38.399 Church reformer John Calvin writes that in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ and thus rest in him, this principle must be laid down. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:44.399 The office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists in three parts. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:49.759 For he was given to be a prophet, a king, and priest. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:56.080 Yet it would be of little value to know these names without understanding their purpose and use. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:57.440 What's Calvin saying? 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:01.519 Calvin is reiterating something that the church has said from generation to generation. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:11.200 That if we look at the Old Testament, we see God establishing three sacred offices, divinely appointed offices, with officers that act on his behalf. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:17.039 And those three offices are those of the prophets, the priests, and the kings. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.720 And they don't execute their offices perfectly, do they? 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:27.360 But they are offices that are divinely appointed, intended to do God's will. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.440 Prophets reveal God's character and God's will. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:44.240 Priests minister reconciliation between God and his sinful people, and kings execute reign and rule over God's people on God's behalf for their protection and for their benefit. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:11:00.240 All these three offices that we find woven through the pages of the Old Testament ultimately conclude, ultimately culminate in Jesus, who is the ultimate prophet, priest, and king, all in one. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:08.639 And so therefore, when we go into the Old Testament and we read about these offices, we see anticipations of who Jesus is. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:17.840 Anticipations that help to give clarity and context and history that help us grasp who our Lord is more fully. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:25.279 And grasp the significance of what He's accomplished for us with great assurance. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.440 So here's what I want us to do today. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:32.960 I want us to zoom in on that first office that we mentioned, that of prophet. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.799 As the prophet, Jesus reveals God to us. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.919 That's the main idea for this sermon. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:48.320 As the prophet, Jesus Christ reveals God to us. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:53.279 So I want us to probe that main idea with a couple of questions. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.320 I want us to ask, what is a prophet? 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:01.440 I want us to ask, how is Jesus Christ the prophet? 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:09.360 And finally, I want to ask, what difference does Jesus Christ's revelation make to me? 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:10.879 What is a prophet? 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.559 How is Jesus the prophet? 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:14.639 And what difference does it all make? 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:40.960 And my hope for us in today's sermon and in the next three weeks or the two weeks that follow, we will grasp in a deeper way the significance of Jesus Christ's person and work, but we will also be left with a greater assurance of what he has accomplished on our behalf, a greater delight in the gospel that we behold all through Scripture and in the Old Testament. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.440 Let's come and let's listen to him. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:45.440 Okay, question number one. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.799 What is a prophet? 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.720 This word prophet's a bit of a loaded word, isn't it? 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:55.759 Probably when we hear the word prophet, a couple of images come to mind, perhaps from popular culture. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:01.519 I'm a big Star Trek DS9 fan, and prophets play a prominent role for those who are Star Trek fans. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:09.919 Here's the thing about prophets in scripture: prophets are not gurus or enlightened spiritual figures, right? 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:18.720 Who've got, let's say, you know, pithy wisdom or have ascended the spiritual mountain and now communicate to mere mortals their great wisdom. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.720 I'm actually struck by often how unenlightened the biblical prophets are. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.480 They are uneducated and unenlightened often, right? 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:31.759 Amos is a simple shepherd who gets called to speak God's word to his people. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:34.720 Jeremiah is still wet behind the ears. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:38.639 Jonah is a complete blockhead. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:45.600 Like it's amazing what the biblical prophets do given their credentials. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:52.720 Biblical prophets, it does not mean an enlightened spiritual figure like some religious traditions. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.879 But neither does it mean simply fortune or future teller. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:13.279 Now, prophets can speak God's word in such a way that it foretells God's purposes and what God will accomplish, but it's not merely telling the future, as in most movies where a prophecy has been given and that gets kind of fatalistically fulfilled. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.399 When we hear this word prophet, within a biblical worldview, here's what we need to think. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:26.639 A prophet is someone who is chosen by God to proclaim God's word to God's people. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:35.200 Chosen by God to proclaim God's word to God's people or to God's intended audience. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.120 In this way, a prophet is a lot like God's spokesman, right? 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:46.320 We hear statements on the news all the time, like, you know, Microsoft responded to this in such and such a way, or Ottawa has this to say about you. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:51.600 It's obvious that the whole city of Ottawa did not get up and make one unanimous statement or something like that. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:57.200 It's an authorized person speaking on behalf of the government or on behalf of a corporation. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:04.159 And prophets are authorized by God Himself, by God Himself, to speak God's word to God's people. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:14.879 So we read in the commission of the prophet Jeremiah the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I've put my words in your mouth. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:15.519 Right? 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:21.519 Jeremiah, along with the other biblical prophets, have been authorized to speak God's word to God's people. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:27.120 They operate as God's spokesmans, but they also operate as something like an attorney figure. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:38.399 Start like a prosecutor on the basis of God's covenant law, calling God's people out for their transgression and calling them to repentance and to turn back to God. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:16:00.639 We say that we see that later in the book of Jeremiah, in chapter 25, when Jeremiah is addressing God's people on God's behalf, and he says, You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants, the prophets, saying, Turn now every one of you from his evil way. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:14.799 The prophets are like God's attorneys who step into the life of God's people and call them out for covenant transgressions and call them back to a faithful, fidelity relationship, right relationship with God. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:16.399 Does that make sense? 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:25.440 So the prime example of all this, the kind of template for all prophets that follow, so to speak, in the imagination of God's people, is Moses. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:38.720 And we read a portion of Moses' sermon in the book of Deuteronomy, which is like one long or a couple long sermons given by Moses towards the end of his life, and as God's people are getting ready to head into the promised land. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.960 Moses is kind of the template of a prophet, called by God, right? 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.360 We can remember the burning bush episode. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.600 He was called by God to proclaim God's word, right? 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.679 That's what he's sent to do to God's people and to God's intended audience. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:17:14.000 First, Pharaoh to, you know, release his people from captivity and slavery, and then, of course, to the people themselves, to the people of Israel at Mount Horeb, where he brought the Ten Commandments down and where he gave God's law to God's people that was going to govern their life together and draw them into loving fellowship with God. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:19.839 Moses acted as both God's spokesman and God's eternity, uh attorney. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.079 Not eternity, attorney. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:23.599 Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.480 Okay, let me sum all this up. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:42.559 Prophets, like Moses, like the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, just some of the examples, prophets reveal God, his will, his purposes, his character, his moral requirements to God's people. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:50.400 One theologian, Michael Horton, writes that biblical prophets are God-centered, not human-centered. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.200 The message they bring is for us, not about us. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:03.119 I wonder if that helps distinguish biblical prophets from other sorts of prophets that might come to mind. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.000 Let me just point out some of the significance of this. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:11.119 All of this means that true knowledge of God is possible. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:16.400 We can have true knowledge of God as God's creatures. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:17.519 It is possible. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:35.599 One thing I know is an intellectual wrestle, maybe this is a question that you've had for yourself, is how can we, finite, small little creatures in this little corner of an enormous universe, how could we claim to have knowledge of God who created everything, who sustains everything? 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:44.079 How can we even begin to think that we can fathom a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of who God is? 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.160 And that's a fair question to ask. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:54.319 Because the truth is there is an infinite difference between infinite God and finite creatures like us. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:00.799 But we can claim true knowledge of God only on this basis, that it's on God's terms and not ours. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:09.200 If God is the one who condescends to us, who comes down and speaks his word to us, then we can receive his word as his creatures. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:18.079 It would be foolish for us to think that we can ascend the mountain on our own intellectual or moral capabilities and grasp onto God. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:23.920 God has to come to us, and that's exactly what the prophets are entrusted to do. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:34.160 So notice Deuteronomy 18, where Moses identifies himself as a prophet, where he recites some of the history of God's people here. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:47.920 Notice that this acknowledgement comes with a promise that the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers, and it is to him that you shall listen. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:58.319 See, Moses, the template of a prophet, though he is, understands that his prophetic office, his ministry, is only pointing forward to a greater prophet to come. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:05.119 And so too does every biblical prophet that follows Moses understand there will be a culmination of all of this. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.200 There will be a greater prophet to come. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:12.559 And this promise has a way of just hanging over the rest of the story of the Old Testament, right? 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:15.920 Through the promised land, into the monarchy, into the exile. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:22.640 And will God will God ever fulfill this promise to send us an ultimate prophet? 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.359 And this is where Christians respond. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.400 Yes. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:36.000 So if prophets are those who speak God's word to God's people, then we want to consider Jesus Christ as the ultimate prophet. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.440 Let's look at Matthew 17 briefly. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.000 Here's where we see promises being fulfilled. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:50.960 Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain, kind of like Moses ascended the mountain, right? 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.000 To meet with God. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.880 And on the mountain, Jesus is transfigured. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.279 His face shines with the glory of God. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.000 His clothing becomes white as light. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:06.160 And he's meeting with, this is very interesting to me, Moses and Elijah. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:16.559 Moses, the template of what it means to be a prophet, and Elijah, perhaps the best known prophet in the Old Testament, certainly one of them, are talking with Jesus. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:29.759 It's as if they are surrounding Jesus, pointing to Jesus, suggesting that their whole prophetic ministry has only ever been an anticipation of the fullness of Christ. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.640 Peter says, I love Peter. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.319 Peter's always, you know, act quick and ask questions later. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:38.480 Lord, it's good we're here. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:39.920 If you wish, I'll make three tents. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.480 One for you, for Moses, one for Elijah, right? 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:44.720 So, one, we're going to make one tent each. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:45.839 It's all going to be equal. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:50.559 And two, we're going to invite people to come and check out this thing that's happening. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:59.759 And as Peter's saying these things, he's interrupted by the voice of God Himself, who says to Peter and those gathered, This Jesus is. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.680 Is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.559 He's already said that Jesus' baptism, but he wants it known. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:07.920 He wants it repeated. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:09.519 And then he gives imperative. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:10.640 Did you notice that? 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:12.720 Listen to him. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.279 I wonder where I've heard that before. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.920 Well, we heard that in Deuteronomy 18. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:23.920 When Moses has said, there's going to be a greater prophet to come, and it's to him that you will listen. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:28.880 Because his will be the conclusive, the full revelation of God. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:35.440 He will speak God's word to God's people conclusively, finally, completely. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:37.359 Listen to him. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.400 Jesus therefore takes priority over all other biblical prophets. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:05.119 Jesus then is not just the fulfillment of the prophetic office anticipated in texts like Deuteronomy 18. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.559 He is greater than Moses, greater than Elijah. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:12.480 Indeed, he is greater than any prophet. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:19.440 This is exactly the significance that we've been drawn out of Jesus in Hebrews chapter 1. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.559 The key word in the book of Hebrews is superior. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:31.119 The author of the book of Hebrews wants us to know that Jesus' ministry in person excels, is superior than anything else we could consider. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:36.160 And so here's how the author opens up this epistle. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:42.000 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.200 The author's audience at this point would go, yeah, yeah, for sure. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:46.000 We all agree on that. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:47.440 Tell us something we don't know. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:24:02.480 And the author goes on to say this, but in these last days, most recently, right, he has spoken to us, God has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:08.160 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:12.000 And he upholds the universe by his power. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.599 I'm going to stop there. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.400 We're already catching some of the significance, aren't we? 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.720 God once spoke by the prophets, but the prophets only ever pointed forward. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:31.279 And now we have the conclusive revelation of God in Jesus Christ, who is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:36.400 Jesus is not like a photocopy that suggests the original. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.480 He's not similar to God. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:44.960 He is the exact imprint of God's nature revealed to humanity as a human being. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.480 Jesus, in other words, is God incarnate. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:51.839 He's not simply God's spokesman who talks about God. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.799 He is God's living word. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:00.000 Jesus is not simply God's attorney, right, acting in God's interest. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.759 He is God, the advocate himself. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:13.680 This is what makes Jesus a prophet, unlike any other prophet, because he is himself both messenger and the message. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:18.079 He is the one who fulfills all prophecies up to that point. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:28.400 And it makes a Christian understanding of Jesus' prophetic office unlike any other religion's understanding of who Jesus is, even as they consider him a prophet. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:40.960 Jesus is considered a prophet in many other religions, in the Baha'i faith and Buddhist faith, Sikh faith, Muslim faith, Jesus is all identified as a prophet in these faiths. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.200 But for Christians, Jesus is not simply a prophet who talks about God. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:51.440 Jesus is God, revealing himself as the living word. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:57.519 And therefore, when he speaks, he's not simply talking about God in an especially enlightened way. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:01.440 He is speaking as God, addressing his creation. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:09.039 Other prophets say, Thus saith the Lord, Jesus can say, You have heard it said, dot, dot, dot, but I say to you. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.200 You see the difference? 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:22.480 Jesus Christ, the prophet, reveals God to God's people as God incarnate among his people. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:33.440 One theologian writes, Jesus is greater than the prophets because he is not only the messenger but the message, not only a prophet, but the prophecy. 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:39.039 Not only a word spoken in time, but the only begotten word from all eternity. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:44.559 Not only truth proclaimed, but truth in the flesh. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:57.359 So because of the incarnation, because God has become human in Christ, we can claim confident, sure knowledge of God when we go to Christ. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:02.079 We have no other grounds for confidence, do we, in terms of our knowledge for God. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:04.079 We could always be holier, right? 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:05.440 We could always be more moral. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:08.400 We could always be a little bit more intellectual, couldn't we? 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:13.039 This has a way of undermining our confidence that we could ever behold something of God. 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:15.599 But in Christ, God comes to us. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:19.680 And when Christ addresses us, he addresses us as God. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:25.039 And therefore encountering Christ is encountering God Himself. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:33.519 We therefore, as Christians, have to reuse all seeming knowledge of God devoid of or departing from Christ. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:38.640 And we have to consider the force of what God is revealed to us in Christ. 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:46.960 In Christ, we have a full revelation of God's covenant love for us, a love that goes to the cross and back. 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:51.200 We have a revelation of God's forgiveness for sinners. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.319 There are even the worst. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:28:00.079 The worst sin committed in Scripture, the worst sin committed in my own life is a sin known to God and forgiven by God in Christ. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:04.559 And in Christ we have a God-given hope for restoration. 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:09.759 Christ will return in glory and he will bring his kingdom with him. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:23.680 When we consider the wonderful knowledge of God that we have when we go to Christ, why would we go anywhere else to try and find knowledge of God in any other way outside of Christ? 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:25.440 Okay. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:31.519 Jesus as God reveals God to God's people. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.000 That is his prophetic office. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:36.799 So, very briefly, let's ask this third question. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:38.960 What difference does this all make to me? 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:41.759 What difference does Jesus' revelation make to me? 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:43.119 It's nice to know that he's God. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.720 It's nice to know that he was among us. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.400 But what does that all mean? 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.319 I want to suggest at least two things. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:53.680 Number one, the first difference that it makes is that we listen to him. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:55.039 Did you notice that? 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:02.799 That is the imperative for the Christian to listen to Jesus. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:05.680 He is not just a prophet, but the prophet. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:09.839 And when he speaks, he speaks as God himself addressing us. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:12.880 We therefore receive what he has to say. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:15.359 We listen to what he has to say. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:21.599 And I want to suggest that we know we're listening to Jesus when hearing his words results in at least three things. 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.599 Number one, obedience. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:26.640 We desire to do what it is that he says. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.200 Number two, confession. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:34.079 Because in light of God's word, we recognize that we do not always do the things that Jesus asks. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:36.400 In fact, we often do the very opposite. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:50.160 And so, therefore, if we're going to hear God's word and do business through in Jesus, we have to acknowledge our transgression and we have to come to Him with humble hearts and asking for forgiveness. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:51.599 We have to be obedient. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:55.599 We're full of confession and repentance when we're listening to Jesus. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:02.400 But none of this is an anxious activity because number three, the thing that characterizes listening to Jesus is assurance. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:09.279 Because we know when God has spoken his word to us in Christ, it is a word for us and not against us. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:14.400 We are assured that God does not forsake us, but he has a plan for our lives. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:18.720 He has a plan brought to its fullness through the cross and the resurrection. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.039 And he will not abandon us. 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:24.400 So therefore, we listen to him. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:29.680 And as we listen to him, we share, number two, in Christ's prophetic ministry. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:31.759 The prophetic office is complete. 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:38.559 There is no greater revelation than God could make than God Himself becoming human and dwelling among us, right? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:40.480 That's Hebrews' point here. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:54.480 And so therefore, I get really wary of any self-proclaimed prophet who suggests that he has revelation from God that goes beyond what Jesus has to say, or is devoid of content or points away from Christ Himself. 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:58.079 There is no greater revelation of God than in Christ Himself. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:08.000 But even as the prophetic office is complete and full in Christ, Christ still speaks his word to his people through his Holy Spirit. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:13.599 And that means that our prophetic ministry as the church is empowered by Christ. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:19.200 One theologian describes the church as Christ's prophetess, and I love that. 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:33.279 We are called by Christ to proclaim his word, to be trained to handle God's word rightly, to preach and proclaim the whole counsel of God, and to share the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:40.079 That is our prophetic ministry to a world that needs to hear the word of God. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.799 Maybe we can see why we don't want to unhitch the New Testament to the old. 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.200 Maybe we risk losing too much. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:59.519 We risk losing too much when we say, I just don't care about what came before, because God has been speaking his word this whole time, and that word leads us right to Christ. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:07.200 As the prophet, Jesus reveals God to us. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:12.400 Therefore, let us listen to him, church. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:16.319 Let us share in his prophetic ministry. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:24.400 Because what a joy it is to know his word, his sure and certain word, to us in Christ. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:25.359 Amen. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:32.000 We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today. 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:37.519 If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:41.279 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:46.240 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:51.680 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:32:51.839 --> 00:33:00.000 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:02.960 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.