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Well, it's good to see you folks
this Lord's Day morning, and hopefully you should have some
notes in front of you that say, Of Christ the Mediator, chapter
eight, number two. Begin our thinking this morning
and kind of move our mind in that direction. I wanna encourage
you to turn to Isaiah chapter 53, if you would. Isaiah chapter
53, and we're gonna continue thinking in terms this morning
of Christ as the mediator between God and men. And Isaiah chapter
53 is a very rich chapter that draws our attention to some of
the implications of that. So I thought this would be a
good place to begin. So just Isaiah chapter 53 and
then beginning in verse one, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew
up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched
ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look
upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. And unlike one from whom men
hid their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely
our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we
ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed
for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being
fell upon him, for by his scourging we are healed. All of us like
sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his
own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall
on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
like a sheep that is silent before its shearers. So he did not open
his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he
was taken away. And as for his generation who
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. His
grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man
in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there
any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush
him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as
a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong
his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his
hand. As a result of the anguish of
his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge,
the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he
will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a
portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the
strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered
with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of
many and interceded for the transgressors." And shall we pray. Father, this
morning I thank you so much for your precious word. We thank
you for the glorious Redeemer we have. in your pure and holy
Son. I thank you this morning for
the precious privilege and fellowship with the saints. I thank you
for each one that is here this morning and their love for Christ
and their desire to be pleasing to thee and grow in the knowledge
of thee. So I would pray these moments
for the clear assistance of your precious Holy Spirit to bring
glory and honor to you to bring glory and honor in particular
to his son and to have our own awareness of his work in our
behalf especially enhanced in our own souls and might that
be enriching to our hearts and edifying to our souls. So we
just commit our time to you. Might you be glorified now and
throughout this morning, throughout this day in our midst. We ask
these things in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we noted just by
way of very, very brief review, we noted the importance of the
chapter is brought out at least by the number of paragraphs that
is found both in the London Baptist Confession as well as the Westminster
Confession. Kind of two of the main areas
that we focused on. One is the nature and necessity
of a mediator. The nature and the necessity
of a mediator. And the need for a mediator,
it's a combination of really two factors that come together.
On the one hand, the need for the mediator was because of the
fall of man, and secondly, because of the character of God. So you
have those two things together, the fall of man and the character
of God. The fall of man, which was a
revelation of man's sin, and how that interacted with the
fact that God is an infinitely pure and holy God. So those two
things together, man's fall, man's sin, and how God, as an
infinitely pure and holy God, would have to deal with that.
And this morning, we want to notice, in the first paragraph
that is in your notes, that under this larger title of mediator,
Christ is referred to in his threefold office here, as prophet
and priest and king. And so let me just read this
paragraph, or reread it in your hearing in particular, That's
going to be our focus this morning, his threefold office as prophet
and priest and king. But it reads this way, it pleased
God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus,
his only begotten son, to be the mediator between God and
man, the prophet, priest, and king, the head and savior of
his church, the heir of all things and judge of the world, unto
whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed
and to be by him in time, redeemed, called, justified, sanctified,
and glorified." So it's this threefold designation of Christ
I want to consider with you for a few moments this morning. I
think it's going to be centered around some general thoughts
that include all three of these offices. And then more particularly,
at least the plan would be next day to look more specifically
at Christ's role as a prophet. But prior to that here, before
I get to even some of the notes that are in front of you here,
well, part of these are in the introduction, I want to suggest
some reasons why it's valuable to consider the person of Christ,
especially in this three-fold office. I have three reasons
here why it's valuable to consider him in this three-fold office.
One is it helps to think about Christ in a way that comports
with the reality of his person And especially in terms of his
ministry, considering his threefold office as prophet, priest, and
king, it helps us, especially as we look at texts of scripture,
to think in terms of what Christ is like in particular, in terms
of what we might call his ministry and his activity. Then in the
second place, the more we know about the person of Christ, it
seems to me that the more we will trust in him, the more we'll
depend upon him, In an experiential kind of way, it might turn to
John chapter 14, you might have it memorized, but nevertheless,
John chapter 14 and verse 1, it's actually one of those texts
that you will hear read. It's not uncommon for it to be
read at a memorial service. John 14, verse 1, do not let
your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also
in me. Do not let your heart be troubled.
Believe in God. Trust also in me. And a great
challenge of the Christian faith is just trusting in the person,
relying on the person. Christ. And the more we know
about the various facets of his ministry, it will help, I think,
in just entrusting him, relying upon him. And then thirdly, the
more accurately, the more accurately that we think about Christ, the
less in kind we are to grieve the Holy Spirit. whose chief
ministry is to glorify the person of Christ. So I'm suggesting
the more we know about the person of Christ, the clearer our thinking
is about him, the less inclined we'll be to grieve the Holy Spirit
whose great ministry was to bring glory to the person of Christ. And here, I actually have text
in your notes. In 1 Corinthians 12, three, therefore
I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
says, Jesus is a curse. And no one can say, Jesus is
Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Obviously anybody can utter the
word, Jesus is Lord. But no one can say Jesus is Lord
in a saving way, in a way that brings glory to God, except by
the ministry, except by the work of the Holy Spirit. And then
in John 15, 26, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you
from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, he will bear witness of me. Or your version
might say, he will testify of me. And then John 16 13 is especially
helpful, but when he the spirit of truth comes he will guide
you into all truth for he will not speak on his own initiative,
but whatever he hears he will speak and he will disclose to
you what is to come. He shall glorify me for he shall
take of mine and shall disclose it to you and I would especially
have you underscore in your minds that the ministry of the Holy
Spirit according to our Lord Himself is He shall glorify me. He shall bring glory to me. So, I mean, I think one of the
ways that you and I know that we're being led, we know we're
supposed to be filled with the Spirit and directed by the Spirit
and led by the Spirit. And I think one of the ways that
we know that is true is if we're increasing in our appreciation
for the person of Christ and especially what He has done for
us. The more accurately we can, in
our minds, and we're always going to be growing in this, of course,
but the more accurately we can think about the person of Christ
and his ministry, I mean, it just seems to me the less apt
we are to grieve the Holy Spirit, whose great purpose is to bring
glory to the person of Christ. So now just some general thoughts
I want to share with you this morning about this threefold
office of the person of Christ. And the first one, and one might
ask where this came from in terms of these particular designations.
In church, from a historical perspective, the first major
theologian to bring this about was John Calvin. Wayne Grudeman, a very helpful
systematic theologian, cites this in connection with the Institute
of Christian Religion. So just from a historical perspective,
he was the first kind of well-known theologian that was able to put
these into categories. And then, secondly, from a biblical
perspective, there were three major offices among the people
in the Old Testament. Three major offices. The prophet,
the priest, and the king. And I have in your notes here
the prophet, such as Nathan, 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse
2, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell
in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent
curtains. And then a priest such as Abiathar
for Samuel 37. Then David said to Abiathar the
priest, the son of Ahimelech, please bring me the ephod. So
Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And then a king such as
David, 2 Samuel 5, 3. So all the elders of Israel came
to the king. at Hebron, and King David made
a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron. Then they anointed
David king over Israel." So three major offices among the people
of Israel in the Old Testament. Of course, there are multiple
examples of all three of these, prophet, priest, and king. These
are just three. So there are many of those examples
in the Old Testament. Then, in the third place, these
three offices were distinct. And that is, they each had a
different emphasis. The prophet spoke God's word
to the people, and the priest offered sacrifices of God on
behalf of the people. So the prophet is from God to
the people, so to speak, and the priest is from the people
to God. And then the king ruled over
the people as God's representative. The king ruled over the people
as God's representative. And then some of the text that
I have in your notes here As a prophet, he reveals God to
us and speaks his word to us. As a priest, he offers a sacrifice
to God on our behalf, and he is himself the sacrifice that
is offered. I'm moving ahead here to number
four. These three offices foreshadowed
the work of Christ in different ways, prophet, priest, and king.
the work of Christ in three different ways. As a prophet, he reveals
God to us and speaks his word to us. As a priest, he both offers
a sacrifice to God on our behalf And he is himself the sacrifice
that is offered. And this is what really makes
it unique, because he both offers a sacrifice to God on our behalf,
and he himself is the sacrifice. Hebrews 7.27, who does not need
daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices. for his
own sins and then for the sins of the people because he did
this once for all when he offered up himself. So unique in terms
of his office as a priest because it was a once-for-all sacrifice
and he offers up himself. And then as king he rules over
the church and he rules over the universe as well. Ephesians
1.20 which he brought about in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the
one to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet,
and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is
his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." So as
a prophet, he reveals God to us, he speaks God's word to us,
And it's important to recognize he is the exact pure representation
of God's nature. He reveals God's word to us and
he is God. And I, you might just turn here
to, you know, the text, but if you turn back to John chapter
one and verse one, as a prophet, he reveals and speaks God's word
to us. John chapter one and verse one
says in the beginning was the word. and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was, in the beginning, with
God. Also, in Hebrews 1, verse 3,
he's the radiance of his glory, and we're told he's the exact
representation of his nature. So it's in a very unique way
that he reveals God to us. It's what he says, but it's also
who he is. He's a pure expression. He is the Word, so he's the pure
expression. He conveys the character of God
to us, not only what he says, but by what he is. Next observation,
these three offices which were divided in the Old Testament,
they're united in the person of Christ. They were divided
in the Old Testament, but they are united in the person of Christ. from Francis Turretin. This is
not in your notes, but he writes very helpfully, I think. These
Christ sustained not separately, but conjointly, which is granted
to him alone. For what in others were divided
on account of their infirmity are united in Christ on account
of his supreme perfection. Since the dignity and burden
of these functions were so great that no mortal could alone discharge
them. There could be kings and priests
as Melchizedek, there could be kings and prophets like David,
but we never meet with anyone who alone perfectly fulfilled
these three. Okay, and then the next observation,
I'm jumping actually to number seven, and then we'll end with
number six. So I'm just kind of skipping
ahead here to number seven, and then we'll end with number six. This is a little bit of a further
development of what we talked about last Lord's Day morning,
but the misery introduced by sin necessitated this threefold
office on the part of the person of Christ. The misery introduced,
not only the fact of sin, but the misery introduced by sin
necessitated this particular threefold ministry or threefold
office from the person of Christ. First of all, and What is it
about sin that makes man miserable? Well, the first thing is ignorance.
It is ignorance. And here, turn, if you would,
to Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 18. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
18, the effect of sin on man, he is ignorant of God. He is
ignorant of the character of God. He's ignorant of the character
of Christ. He is ignorant of his own situation,
of his need for salvation. And so one of the great needs
for this ministry on the part of the Lord, the effect of sin
and ignorance on the part of men and women. Ephesians 4.18,
the Apostle Paul writes, being darkened in their understanding,
excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that
is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. And this is a
theme that is really hammered on quite a bit in the New Testament.
Just a few other texts. Go back to Acts 3.17. Acts 3.17, and now brethren,
I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also. And then if you go from there
to Paul's address on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17 in verse 30,
this is when he's kind of concluding his address on Mars Hill. Therefore,
having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring
to men that all people everywhere should repent. And if you move
from there to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 8, very helpful text,
it says, the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age understood. For if they had understood it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And the idea
is these prominent people were complicit in the crucifixion
of the holiest man that ever lived. And the point is they
can only do that because of their ignorance of his nature and the
ignorance of his character. And verse 14, In the same chapter,
the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,
their foolishness to him, he cannot understand them because
they are spiritually appraised. And then one more text, if you
go to 1 Peter 1 and verse 14. 1 Peter 1 and verse 14. Peter writes this, as obedient
children, do not be conformed to the former lust, which were
yours in your ignorance. So ignorance is a term that describes
people's spiritual understanding. It doesn't matter how much education
they have in this world, but in terms of their understanding
of spiritual things and their own state, their understanding
of their own character, their understanding of the character
of the being of God. Men and women, because of sin,
because of the effect of sin, they're in this miserable condition.
They're ignorant of these realities. Well, then there's also guilt.
There is ignorance, but then secondly, there is guilt. And Romans 3.23, well, I'll tell
you what, we don't need to turn to it. For all have. Thank you,
sir. All have sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God. Man is guilty. And the idea of guilt is liability
to punishment. So this misery, it's ignorance,
then it is guilt. And then there's the tyranny
and corruption of sin. And here, Romans 6, verse 12. Romans 6, verse 12. Paul writes, therefore, do not
let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its
lust. Verse 14, for sin shall not be master over you, for you
are not under the law, but under grace. So unsafe people have
nothing to oppose the tyranny of sin. or the corruption of
sin. So man's misery that is caused
by sin is marked by ignorance, by guilt, and then tyranny. And the threefold ministry of
Christ in these offices corresponds to that. The ignorance is addressed
by the prophetic ministry, which is the word that enlightens the
mind. The guilt is addressed by the
priestly ministry, where the The guilt of sin is taken away
by the Lord's sacrifice. And then the tyranny and the
corruption of sin is taken away by the kingly ministry, especially
administered by the Holy Spirit in our souls, overcoming the
rule and reign of sin. Now, Turretin actually goes on
here, I think, somewhat eloquently, and he puts it like this, prophetic
light scatters the darkness of error. And then he says, the
merit of the priest takes away the guilt and procures a reconciliation
for us. The power of the king removes
the bondage of sin and death. And of course, when we're thinking
about these particular ministries, we continue to need them. We
continue to need the prophetic ministry of Christ. Light scatters
the darkness of error. We need that all the time, do
we not? We need to be enlightened as to what the truth is like,
and we need to have something that opposes error, the darkness
of error. And so we continue to need the
prophetic ministry of the person of Christ. Could go on and just
kind of, in a sense, restating the same things in a different
way. The prophet enlightens the mind by the spirit of illumination. The priest, the spirit of consolation
tranquilizes the heart and conscience. And the consolation is because
there's confidence that Christ has indeed removed the guilt
of sin. So the consolation of his priestly
work comes from understanding what he has done on the cross.
And then the king, by the spirit of sanctification, subdues rebellious
affections. So you could think of it in terms
of education and consolation and subjugation. And then in
the last place, Number six final thought These particular offices
have to do especially with us as sinners, especially with us
as sinners as a prophet He teaches sinners and calls them to faith
and repentance. He teaches sinners and calls
them to faith and repentance. I don't think this is in your
notes, but Matthew chapter four and verse 17, with respect to
the ministry of Jesus, Matthew 4, 17, from that time, Jesus
began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. As a prophet, he teaches sinners,
calls them to faith and repentance. And then as a priest, he gives
himself as a ransom for our sins. He gives himself as a ransom
for our sins. And you might turn here to the
text that is listed, 1 Timothy chapter two and verse six. who
gave him, there's one God, one mediator, also between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus. Then verse six says, who gave
himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper
time. Next, he prays for transgressors.
Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12, And then really all of John chapter
17, the high priestly prayer speaks to that as well. And then
as a king, he governs his people and defends them against the
devil, the world, and the flesh. He governs his people and he
defends them against the devil, the world, and the flesh. And
here we can end our thinking by turning to Romans chapter
eight and verse 35. who will separate us from the
love of Christ with tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. Verse 38, for I'm convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And let us pray. Father, this morning we thank
you for these considerations. We thank you for your son. And
we thank you for the revelation of the complexity that was caused
by sin and the necessity of a Savior that met the manifold difficulties
caused by sin. We thank you for your son. We
thank you for his role as a prophet and as a priest and as a king.
We thank you that you have condescended to our helpless estate and you
have considered these things. And so we thank you for your
pure and precious and holy son, for his obedience, for his suffering
in our place. And I pray that you might be
pleased to apply these considerations to our own hearts for your honor
and your glory. And as we would prepare our souls
for worship this morning, I pray that you would prepare us for
that as well. Might you be honored? Might you
be exalted? Might you be glorified? We would
pray for deep, pure working of your Holy Spirit as we gather
together for worship. And might you be exalted, continue
to be exalted in our hearts and our minds this day. We ask these
things in Jesus' name, amen.
Of Christ The Mediator Pt 2
| Sermon ID | 1026182119378 |
| Duration | 26:40 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday School |
| Language | English |
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