Are You Listening to Your Prophet?

So Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 14. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 14.! The Lord said to me, What they say is good.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words, and that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.

But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name, anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, you must be put to death.

You must say to yourselves, how can we know? You may say to yourselves, how can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.

That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. Well, that's where the book of Hebrews has been leading us, hasn't it, as we've studied Hebrews 11 and 12.

We ended up, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. We've been studying for several months. Hebrews chapter 11, that great hall of faith, and the few verses before it and the few verses after chapter 11.

We've seen something of the importance of faith, that all the righteous live by faith. We've seen the working definition of faith, being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.

We've seen examples of faith, men and women who did amazing things by faith. And then we saw the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal God.

So let's say that as a result of that study, that you're convinced that your faith is to influence every single thing that you do in life. And that you see that your faith needs to grow and needs to permeate your life more.

And so you're praying, Lord, increase my faith. And I believe, but help my unbelief. And so you come to my bookstore and you're shopping for a book to help you.

And you find a book, and it's book number one, How to Grow Your Faith. And then you find another book, The Person and Work of Jesus Christ. And you bring these two books up to me at the desk, and you share with me your desire to grow in faith.

If you had to pick, which one would you? I've only got enough money for one. I'd like to buy them both, but I've only got money for one. Which one would you pick? How to Grow Your Faith or The Person and Work of Christ?

Well, I would counsel you to purchase the second book, The Person and Work of Christ. Yes, you could learn many things, I'm sure, about faith in the book, all about faith.

But at the end of the day, faith grows by looking at Christ. Who He is and what He has done, what He is doing.

It's not by talking about faith that faith grows. It's by looking at the great object of faith, Jesus Christ, that faith grows.

That's like pouring miracle grow on your faith. That's real faith food. And so with this in mind, I want to further focus our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ by a study of the three offices of Christ.

If you have the handout, you see that first question. What offices does Christ have? And children, we don't speak of offices as a building where Dad goes to work, perhaps.

Rather, the offices are the positions, the jobs that Jesus has. And those three positions are prophet, priest, and king.

And it's my prayer that as we look upon our Lord Jesus Christ, that our faith in Him will grow. And we will start to relate to Him more and more according to all that He is to us.

That we'll relate to Him as our prophet. We'll relate to Him as our king, our priest. Indeed, this is what He is for us. And as we focus on Him, may our faith lay hold of Him in His offices.

So I challenge you to memorize those first three questions from our children's catechism. What offices does Christ have? Say it with me.

Christ has the offices of prophet, priest, and king. Now under each one of those studies, this morning we're studying Christ as our prophet.

And under each one of these offices, there are two more questions that I want you to be memorizing. This week, the first question is, how is Christ a prophet? And the answer is, He teaches us the will of God.

So say it with me. How is Christ a prophet? He teaches us the will of God. And the next question is, well, why do I need a prophet?

And the answer is, because I am ignorant. So say it with me. Why do you need a prophet? Because I am ignorant. That's quite a confession.

We'll look more at that next week. But it's necessary if we would value our great prophet, Jesus Christ. So today, Christ our prophet.

Now, in order to appreciate Christ's work as a prophet, we need then to understand the role of a prophet in Israel. What was a prophet in Israel? And the answer is, he was a spokesman for God.

His job was to receive supernatural revelation directly from God and then to proclaim it to the people to whom he was sent.

And so, he stands as a middleman. Indeed, the Bible calls him a mediator. That's the middleman. Someone standing between God and men.

And so, he stands as the mediating middleman. And he's got two parts to his office, his work. As a prophet, he receives revelation from God.

God speaks to him. Dreams, visions, voices. God gives him words to say. He then turns and speaks, proclaims that word to the people to whom God sends him.

So, children, you might think of the prophet as a man in the bucket brigade. Long before we had engines, fire engines, and powerful pumps to shoot water on a house that's on fire.

If a house was on fire, all the people of the town would come to the fire and would form a line from the house that's on fire to the nearest source of water.

And that's where all the buckets would start. And they would scoop up a bucket full of water and hand it to the next guy. And he would hand it to the next guy until we finally got the water on the fire.

Think of a prophet as standing in the middle of this line. He's a middleman, a mediator. He's between two. And God is on this side.

And people are on this side. And so, he receives revelation from God and he proclaims it to men. He passes it on.

But he doesn't have anything to pass on unless God first speaks to him. Okay? That's the prophet. A spokesman.

He speaks for God. So, for instance, Jeremiah was a prophet. And you can find in Jeremiah chapter 1 the emphasis upon receiving revelation from God.

Chapter 1, verse 2. The word of the Lord came to him. Verse 4. The word of the Lord came to me saying. Verse 7.

Say whatever I command you. The Lord's speaking. Verse 9. Now I have put my words in your mouth, Jeremiah. So, speak them.

The word of the Lord came to me. The word of the Lord. That's repeated some half dozen times in chapter 1. That's what a prophet is. In the first place, he's receiving a word from the Lord.

And the New Testament emphasizes this as well. That a prophet has nothing to say unless the Lord gives him fresh revelation. Second Peter 1, 20 and 21.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man.

But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So, what the prophet said to the people was not his own thoughts.

It wasn't his own invention. It wasn't even his own spin on the current situation. I think this is going to happen. No, what he said to the people is what God put into his mouth.

I put my words in your mouth. Now speak them to the people. That's a prophet. And so we see Jeremiah standing in the bucket brigade.

Receiving from God. Passing on what God gave him. But he did need to proclaim it to the people. What God said to him was not said to him alone.

And not meant just for his own benefit. God intended the people to hear his word. And so he must proclaim it to the people. We're back on the bucket brigade. When somebody hands you a bucket of water.

It's not to stop there. You're not to start piling buckets up at your feet. No, what was given to you was meant to be passed along. And what God gave to the prophet must be proclaimed.

Unchanged to the people to whom he sent. And so you find that in chapter 2 of Jeremiah. After the word of the Lord came to me. It said, he said, go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem.

And that's what he does. He goes and he starts proclaiming. And he says, this is what the Lord says. And then when he's speaking a while of what the Lord says. He says, declares the Lord.

Declares the Lord. The Lord Almighty. It's like he breaks into whatever he's saying. Doesn't go long before he reminds his audience. That these aren't my words. I'm speaking.

But it's what the Lord says. The Lord Almighty. And so though I am nothing impressive. And I am weak.

You must know that what I am saying is the very word of God. That's what a prophet is. And it's God's word no less.

Than if God himself spoke it directly to the people. So a prophet is a spokesman for God. That's why the greatest Old Testament prophet is referred to as a voice.

A voice. Of one calling in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist. A vocal cord. A box. A voice box.

To pass on the word of God. Now that's what a prophet is. He speaks for God. All that God gives him to say.

Why did God choose to speak to people through a mediating prophet? Why didn't God just speak directly to everyone that he meant to speak to? And when and how did the office of prophet begin?

Well. For some time God did speak directly to the heads of home. And so he spoke directly to Adam. Told him what trees he could eat of and which trees he couldn't.

He spoke directly to Abraham. Leave your home. He spoke to Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. Joseph. But then as the family of God began to grow into a nation with over a half a million families.

A change came as to how God would speak to his people. Instead of speaking to the heads of a half a million people individually. God would choose to speak through a mediating prophet.

But here's how it came about. We go back to Mount Sinai. God has delivered his people out of Egypt. He's brought them through the Red Sea. He's brought them out to Mount Sinai where they are to worship him.

And there he enters into a covenant arrangement. You will be my people. I will be your God. And here's my moral standards for you. So at the heart of this covenant are the Ten Commandments.

And you remember how God gave those Ten Commandments to them. The Lord descended upon the mountain in fire and thunder and lightning.

And a thick cloud covered the mountain. A loud trumpet was blaring and it got louder and louder. Smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace.

The whole mountain was trembling violently. It's like an earthquake. And then out of the fire, cloud and darkness, the Lord spoke to them face to face.

That's right. In a loud voice, he proclaimed the Ten Commandments. And the effect was that every Israelite was then trembling with the mountain that was trembling.

They were scared to death. They came and pleaded with Moses, terrified. No more of this. They said, we'll die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.

You go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. And we will listen and obey. Well, the Lord heard what they said.

And he said to Moses, I've heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. So tell them to return to their tents. But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees, and laws that you are to teach them to follow.

And so we see the beginning of the mediating office of prophet established in Israel. It was by God's gracious condescension.

How kind of God to stoop, to speak to his creatures in a less fearsome manner, in a form more suitable to their weakness.

Because from this point on, they were to hear God's voice, God's word, from a frail human voice box of a brother.

A human being just like that. Can you see the kindness of God stooping? Instead of all the accoutrements of the glory of Mount Sinai and the booming voice and trumpet and smoke and fire.

Now it's to be an ordinary brother. Weak man speaking the word of God. And yet, they were to hear it as if God himself thundered it from Sinai.

It was no less the word of God for having passed through the mouth of a human mediator. It loses none of its authority because it came through a middleman. Disobedience would be no less serious.

You found that in Deuteronomy 18. The reading that was done for us here in this passage where the Lord made a promise through Moses to his people. Where he says that the Lord your God will raise up for you.

Moses says, a prophet like me from among your own brothers. And you must listen to him for this is what you asked of the Lord your God on horror of that day and so on. And the Lord said, it's good.

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 will tell them everything I commanded him. But if anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call them to account.

No less authority. Simply because it comes by way of a middleman, a mediating prophet. That's why Paul continually was thanking God about the way the Thessalonians received God's word.

He says, I continually thank God that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of man, but as it actually is the word of God.

God, that's something to praise God about. That though weak men speak as the instruments of God's word, they receive it as from the one who speaks from Mount Sinai.

So Moses then is the first of a whole line of prophets that will arise on the stage of history that God would appoint. You see, there's no self-appointed prophets because if God hasn't chosen him and spoken to him, he has nothing to say to the people.

Now, there were a lot of self-appointed false prophets, but none that were true prophets. God chooses who he will speak through. He gives the message and they passed it on. Many within Israel followed Moses.

Now, just this brief word about the topic of prophecy. Prophecy. Sometimes people think that prophecy is all about the future. For instance, if you saw a flyer in the newspaper and it said, Prophecy Conference held at Grace Fellowship Church this Friday night, 7 o'clock, and you came in all night long.

You didn't hear one thing about Israel and the end times. You just heard about God's commands, decrees, and laws. You'd protest and say, well, I thought this was a prophecy conference.

And I'd say, exactly, it is a prophecy conference. Because prophecy in the first place does not have to do with the future. Prophecy in the first place is simply foretelling.

It's the prophet speaking, proclaiming the word of God. Now, sometimes the word of God has to do with what will happen in the future.

That's foretelling. But always, prophecy has to do with foretelling what God says. So we need to remember that as we think about a prophet.

He's not somebody that just speaks about the future. Indeed, what is stated in chapter 18 of Deuteronomy of what he said to the people was all the laws and decrees that they were to follow.

So, prophecy. Forth telling. Sometimes, God's word told has to do with the future.

And in those cases, it is foretelling. Well, many prophets came and went.

And they spoke about one who was coming to proclaim God's truth to the nations. And so the Old Testament led to an expectation of a unique prophet that would be like Moses, whom God would raise up as the ultimate fulfillment of the prophetic office.

One in whom God would put his words and whom everyone must obey. But not a prophet just like all the rest of the prophets, but a unique and final prophet.

Indeed, it was said of Moses that he was not like all the other prophets. You'll see that in two ways in Scripture. In Numbers chapter 12, God says that when I speak to a prophet, I reveal myself to him in dreams and visions.

But not so with Moses, my prophet. I meet with him face to face. There was an intimacy between God and Moses that none of those that followed enjoyed.

To that extent, in the very manner of transmission of God's word to the prophet. But Moses met with him face to face. And when he got done, his face was aglow with the glory of God as he came back to the people.

There was an intimacy between Moses and God that the other prophets did not arise to. And at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, when Moses dies, the word is that there was not another prophet in Israel that was like Moses.

To whom God spoke face to face. And who demonstrated such awesome power. And all the miracles that Moses did.

So there's intimacy, special intimacy between God handing off the revelation to Moses. And the power of God displayed along with his proclamation. Think of the ten plagues and the mighty miracles that Moses did.

Well, the promise was that God is going to raise up another prophet like Moses. And all these other prophets were like him a little bit in that God spoke to them and they passed it on.

But there's coming one prophet to whom God will speak so intimately to and whose power will be such that all will see that he's like Moses in a way that all the other prophets were not.

And it led to a general expectation in Israel that there is one single last ultimate prophet that is going to come from God in this long line of prophets. And so you find that expectation appearing in the ministry of John the Baptist.

Remember, for 400 years, there's been silence from God. God has not been giving any revelation from heaven. 400 years. And suddenly in the wilderness, God is speaking again through his prophet, John the Baptist.

A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord. Repent. The kingdom of God is at hand. God is again speaking. And oh, it stirred up excitement in Israel.

Could this be the prophet? There was silence for 400 years. Part of God's judgment. We didn't want his word, so he quit speaking to us. Now he's talking again. Could this be the prophet?

So the Jews in Jerusalem sent scribes and Pharisees, scribes to John to ask him who he was. And he did not fail to confess, but confess freely, I'm not the Christ.

They thought he was the Messiah. Well, they asked him then, are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? You see the expectation? Are you the prophet? He answered, no.

I'm just a voice in the wilderness saying, get ready for the Lord. He's coming. He's the one you guys need to get to know. Soon after the Lord Jesus began his public ministry, and immediately people could not help but notice something unique about his preaching.

It struck them with amazement. What was it? It was the authority with which he spoke. And so we're told at the end of his Sermon on the Mount, that when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

It was the authority with which he spoke. That they said, this guy is different from all the others. Now, it doesn't mean when it says he spoke with a... It doesn't mean that he was louder than all the others.

It doesn't mean that he yelled. Indeed, Isaiah 42 tells us and assures us he did not yell. But whereas the rabbis and scribes and Pharisees were forever quoting earlier rabbis, as Father so-and-so said, as Rabbi so-and-so said, they would be grounding their preaching in something that another rabbi said.

Jesus didn't do that. Rather, six times in that Sermon on the Mount, you remember it. He says, you have heard that it was said, and he would quote the rabbi's interpretation of the law, but I say to you.

This is what they say, but I say to you. As if his own words were the final authority on whatever the issue was.

And notice Jesus doesn't even use the common prophetic formula that the Old Testament prophets use. Thus saith the Lord. Jesus doesn't say, you've heard it said, but thus saith the Lord.

No, he says, you've heard it said, but I tell you. Do you hear authority in that? No other teacher in Israel ever dared to talk like that.

I tell you. Those are not the words of a mere man, a mere teacher, another prophet. No man spoke this way. No scribe, no Pharisee, no prophet.

And so his hearers could not possibly miss the authority with which he spoke. And they were amazed because he spoke for God. Now that's something different.

A prophet who is himself God. More on that later. John chapter 7, Jesus was teaching in the temple courts. And the people were amazed.

How did this man get this learning without having studied? He didn't study in our schools. Where did he get this teaching? Well, Jesus claimed to have come from God.

That's where he got the teaching. And he says, my teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. And he says, these words are not mine, but his.

So here he is in the bucket brigade. My teaching, what I'm passing on. They're not my words, but his. He gave them to me. And that's what you're hearing.

His word. God's word. So some in the crowd were whispering to one another. Could this be the Christ? The Pharisees heard it. And together with the chief priests, they sent their temple guards to arrest Jesus.

So here come the guards. And they've come to arrest him. And they made the mistake of listening to him first. For after hearing him, they finally went back empty-handed to the scribes and Pharisees who berated them and says, why didn't you bring him in?

And all they could say is, no man ever spoke like this man. There was authority. No man dared to say the things that he said.

What had he said? What had they heard? Jesus had stood and said in a loud voice, if any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

And whoever believes in me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Oh, prophets and scribes and teachers and rabbis, they might have said, if anyone's thirsty, let him go to God and drink.

And now here's a man standing on the planet Earth and he's saying, if anybody has soul thirst, come to me, believe on me, and I will satisfy it. They forgot why they came.

They went home empty-handed, struck with the authority. Who else can stand before men and say, I am the bread of life. If any man eats of me, he will never die.

I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. He was saying things that no man ever dared to say. So was it any wonder that upon hearing his words, we read there in John 7, 40, that some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet.

The general expectation, there is coming the prophet. One unique last prophet that will be like Moses. Well, the crowd could be fickle, but they had it right here, didn't they?

Because Jesus was that prophet like Moses that God raised up and put words in his mouth that he might proclaim them to the people. And yes, he was like Moses. You talk about face-to-face intimacy between Jesus.

He receives the revelation from God as a son from a father, face-to-face. The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. And so from the father, he received an instructed tongue as he listened to his father.

And talk about power. Look at the miracles that Jesus displayed along with his intimate receiving of revelation. He was this unique prophet. And he says to the people over and over and over, my teaching is not my own.

It comes from him who sent me. I do nothing on my own. I just speak what the father has taught me. I told you the truth that I heard from God. These words you hear aren't mine.

They belong to the father who sent me. I did not speak of my own accord, but the father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know that his command leads to eternal life.

So whatever I say is just what the father has told me to say. Intimate face-to-face revelation received from the father to the son. So Jesus is the unique prophet.

He is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 that God would raise up one like Moses, especially like him in his intimacy with God and powerful deeds.

And if there's any question that Jesus is the fulfillment, you can read in Peter's sermon in Acts chapter 3, the end of the chapter, he quotes Deuteronomy. This is after Jesus has died, risen, and gone back into heaven.

And Peter says in Acts 3, 22, For Moses said, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people. You must listen to everything he says. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.

And Peter says, This was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. For when God raised up his servant, there's that language, God will raise up a prophet like, And when God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.

So from one perspective, we see Jesus as a prophet in the bucket brigade, receiving the word of God and passing it on to people. But he's different than just another prophet.

Rather, he stands at the end of the line of prophets. He's the last prophet. Yes, he receives information from God directly.

And then he gives it to the people. There's no more prophets. For when the mediating prophet between God and man, when the prophet that's bringing God's word to man is himself, both God and man, then the need for any other mediating prophets disappears.

No more need for mediating prophets. He's here. The God-man. The purpose for the office of prophet is fulfilled.

It's completed in our prophet Jesus Christ. He's the one who uniquely speaks for God as God. And yet he does so with a human voice as man.

For he is one of us. And so now there is but one God and one mediator between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2.5. Well, many of the applications must wait till next week. but let's, let me just draw to a conclusion with four. The first one is this, there are no more prophets today other than Jesus Christ.

And our day needs to hear that loud and clear. If anybody ever comes up to you and taps on your shoulder and says, I have a word from God for you. Meaning, I have received direct revelation from God, something to say to you from God, run for your life.

There are no more prophets. He has come. He has come. For in the past God spoke to our forefathers, Hebrews 1.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son.

The son who is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being. So Jesus is the final revelation from God.

He is the last word. God has no more to say to us than what he has said in Jesus Christ. And he has now had it all written down, bringing to remembrance of his apostles all that he said and writing it down so that now God's word is written.

It doesn't change. It's on page. You can read it. That's the only word of God for us Christians.

Everything we need to know about God, to know how to live this life in a way that's pleasing to God, to know how to be saved, it's all right here.

There are no more prophets. God has spoken finally in his son and has written it down and it's here for us to read.

So Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain where he's transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as the light.

The veil was drawn back so that they could see who this Jesus of Nazareth is. He's God. And they see his glory and suddenly Moses and Elijah are there, two great prophets from the past representing the law and the prophets.

And here they are with Jesus. The three of them are talking and Peter as often doesn't know what to say so he says something. That shouldn't happen. If you don't know what to say, don't say it. But Peter, impetuous Peter, says, Lord, if you want, I'll build three shelters.

One for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Won't that be nice? And the voice from the cloud spoke. Say, that's like Sinai.

They're up on a mountain and a cloud envelops them and a voice speaks and it's a word directly in response to what Peter is saying as if, here we have three wonderful prophets.

Let's build tents for each of them. This is my son. whom I love. With him I am well pleased.

Listen to him. And when Peter has the guts to look up, he sees Jesus only. Do you see the message?

Jesus is God's last word to mankind. All that we need is found in this last prophet who speaks and brings to us the full revelation of Christ.

And so the whole prophetic office finds its fulfillment in Christ, finds its end, its purpose fulfilled to bring God and man together. And so when our prophet is none other than God and man, the prophetic office is at its pinnacle and therefore there is no earthly prophets left.

Now remember, there's three offices. Do we have earthly priests left? No. Do we have earthly kings left in the church? I'm talking about the church. No. You see, with the coming of Jesus, he perfectly fulfills these offices so there is no earthly prophet, priest, and king.

That's the first. And again, you'll find many today claiming to have a word directly from God. If it's not in the book, if it can't be pointed out and referenced by chapter and verse, it is not from God.

Secondly, Jesus Christ is still our living prophet. Yes, he's still our priest and he's still our king in the present tense and in the same way he's still our great prophet.

And he still teaches us the will of God. And this is where our faith needs to look to Jesus and see him as our great prophet. To lay hold of him as our prophet to teach us the will of God.

What does this mean day by day? More on this next week, but surely this, that every day this week as you open your Bibles, you have the opportunity to listen to him.

To listen to your great prophet. He's come from God. He is God. He's man. And he comes to bring to you the word of God. So wherever you're reading, it's all the word of our great prophet.

There's just one lawgiver. And it's Jesus. And this is his book. So as you read your Bible, as you hear it preached, you're listening to him.

Make the connection. This is no dead letter somehow detached from our living prophet. No, he is speaking it each time we read it or hear it. Speaking wonderful words of life.

So get to him. Listen as to your great prophet as you read and hear his word. He still speaks. And it's as his word is preached that Christ in his word draws near.

So don't miss him. Listen to him. That's the word from heaven. He's speaking. Are you listening? Are you reading? Are you hearing? Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word.

You see, he's our prophet. And so we call on him. We look to him by faith. Come and speak now. Great prophet Jesus to my heart. thirdly, treasure your prophet.

You know, many don't want his word. Many would rather have some proclaimed word of a present revelation from heaven. And oh, if I can get a direct revelation, then what do I want with this old wordy thing?

Treasure your prophet who speaks in his word. Many don't want to hear his word. Even his followers don't always want to hear his word.

Read John 6 again. It was his disciples that from that point on quit following him. Why? Because some of the things he says to you in here are offensive to human pride.

And it sorted the crowd out. Many were following. Suddenly, Jesus said something. And it thinned the crowd at once. And many of his disciples turned and followed him no more.

And Jesus turns to the twelve at that point and says, you don't want to leave also, do you? Again, it's Peter who speaks for the rest. And he says, Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life. you're the great prophet. We're listening to you. There's nobody else who has words of life.

Words that point us to the way of salvation, the way to live eternally. Words that revive our spiritual life. You alone have this. And they stuck with him.

Treasure Jesus as your high prophet. And treasure his word. Peter says, we can't imagine life without you and your words.

And then lastly, there's a warning in this, isn't there? There's a warning. If disregarding Moses' word brought such judgment, what of Jesus' words?

Hebrews 2 verses 1 to 4, we must pay more careful attention therefore to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, the message that came through angels and some way to Moses was binding.

And every violation and disobedience received its just punishment. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? This salvation which was first announced by the Lord, you see, the great prophet has come and he has announced this great salvation.

And if disobeying his word that came through the prophet Moses, received punishment, what will happen to us if we ignore the great prophet himself and ignore his salvation that he came to reveal to us?

There's no salvation in any other. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He has words of life, only him. And it's only through him that we come to the father.

So he's come to turn you from your wicked ways. How kind that he wouldn't just let us go on our wicked ways to hell. How kind that he comes as the great prophet. He was sent to us to bless us by turning us away from our wicked ways.

And so he comes to us and he says, come to me, believe on me, and you will have eternal life. Have you heard him? Have you answered your great prophet?

it? Well, Jesus, our prophet, to teach us the will of God, to teach us the way of salvation.

How kind of him to come as God and man to us. We're going to sing a song that blesses him as our great prophet, and I trust you'll have dealings with him today.

Some of you need to go to him and take him at his word for the first time and just believe him. Trust in him. Receive those words of life and be saved. We all need to treasure his words of eternal life.

Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for raising up your son and sending him to be our prophet, mediator between God and man, who is himself God and man, to tell us things that we otherwise would never know.

How can we be right? with the one we have sinned against. Thank you for bringing to us the word of salvation. Thank you for warning us that the way that we were on was leading to destruction.

Thank you, Jesus, for coming and pointing out that the only way is through you. Now, help us to treasure you and every word that we have from you and to have dealings with you as our prophet as we hear your word and read it ourselves.

Change us by that word we pray as we honor you, the one who has brought the truth from heaven for our needy souls. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Amen.