Turn with me to Deuteronomy 18, Deuteronomy chapter 18. We're continuing along in our series that I began this morning. And the series is about the promised one. And this is a time of year where we think about the promise of Christ's coming being fulfilled when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And what a blessing that that is, that we can celebrate that today, or this season, that what God promised, He performed. And that is something that is good for us to remember at all times, that God keeps His promises. We think about Christ's first coming, but just as certain as the coming of Christ in Bethlehem is the coming of Christ in glory. And we can look and long for that day as well and pray, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. While we're thinking about then these promises about the coming Messiah, what he would be like, We think about Jesus, that baby in the manger. Jesus was born for a purpose. This morning we looked at the fact that Jesus was the promised victor. He was that warrior who would conquer Satan. Tonight I want us to think about the fact that Jesus is the promised prophet. The promised prophet. Follow along with me in your copy of God's Word. I'm going to read Deuteronomy 18 verses 15 to 19 and then we're going to jump ahead to Acts chapter 3. Deuteronomy 18 verse 15. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. According to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying, let me not again hear the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore lest I die. The Lord said to me, what they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in my name, I will require it of him. Now jump ahead with me if you would to Acts chapter 3 and verse 20. Acts chapter 3 and verse 20. And that he may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things and whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days." While we live, I'm understanding somewhat, even though I'm old, I'm understanding more and more that we live in an age of what is called influencers. There are people on social media who put up videos and put up comments, put up content, and they are spoken of as influencers. And one way or another, they garner a large following and they promote their views and their lifestyle. And the sad thing is that the more I see of these influencers, it seems that we as a society seem very willing to listen to a lot of people that don't have much to say. I don't have much valid to say. As we continue our series thinking about the promised one, Jesus, the one who's coming that we celebrate at Christmas, we need to recognize that Jesus is the promised prophet. Now we read in Deuteronomy 18 the promise of the prophet that would come. God said that he would raise up a prophet from among their brethren, that is from among the Israelite people, a prophet who is like Moses. Now in Acts chapter 3, as we read just a moment ago, Peter looks at Jesus and he says, Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. When God planned and promised to send his son into this world, he sent his son as a prophet. This is a prophet, of course, as the scripture says, that was from your brethren, that is an Israelite. We know that Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, an Israelite. God also said that the Lord would raise up a prophet who was like Moses. I was thinking about that this week, thinking about the ways in which Jesus was like Moses. Have you ever thought about that? ways in which Jesus was like Moses. I did some thinking about that and I consulted some other resources and one study Bible that I had listed several ways in which Jesus was like Moses. For example, Jesus would receive and preach divine revelation just like Moses did. Jesus would lead his people just like Moses did. Jesus was spared from death as a baby. You remember Moses? When Moses was a baby, there's a decree that goes out that all the Israelite baby boys to be killed. He's put into that little basket, put on the Nile River. God brings deliverance in the most unusual ways through Pharaoh's own daughter. Jesus was spared. He arose and went down to Egypt. His parents took him down to Egypt because he was warned by the angel. Because Herod's decree went out to the same thing. Wipe out the baby boys. I also think of Moses. Moses left the royal court of Pharaoh. Remember that? He chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. So Jesus left the royal court. He left the very court of heaven. It was said of Moses that Moses had compassion on the people. Many times Moses' compassion was incredible in light of how stiff-necked the people of Israel were. And yet how compassionate is our Savior? Moses made intercession for the people. On more than one occasion when the people of Israel sinned and deserved, pardon me, to have God's wrath poured out on them, Moses prayed on behalf of them. So of course, our Savior makes intercession for His people. He ever lives to make intercession for them. Moses was unlike other prophets in that he spoke to God face to face. Jesus, of course, spoke to God face to face, having existed in all of eternity past with God in fellowship as the part of the triune God. Moses was also the mediator of a covenant. He was a mediator of the Mosaic covenant. Jesus is the mediator of a much better covenant. That new covenant on better promises, on a better priesthood. Jesus is a prophet that was like Moses. But of course, Jesus is a prophet much greater than Moses. At some point, even as we're looking at all of these ways in which Jesus is like Moses, we recognize as we look at them point by point, that in every way, Jesus was greater than Moses. And of course, the supreme reason that Jesus is greater than Moses is because Jesus is the Son of God. Look with me, if you would, at Mark 9, verse 7. We're going to look at a few passages this evening together. Mark 9, verse 7. This is during what we call the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus goes up onto the mountain with Peter, James, and John. He's transfigured before them. They catch a glimpse of his glory there on that mountain. And Peter, who is one of those ones who had a tendency to just kind of say things because he felt like he needed to. He kind of put his foot in his mouth more than one time. On this occasion, there's Jesus. He is shining brightly. And Elijah appears with Moses talking to Jesus. So Peter, I guess probably not knowing what to say, he's scared, he's confused, he's always someone that feels like he has to say something. And what he says is, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. Sometimes when we don't know what to say, it's better not to say anything. What kind of a, it's almost a silly thing for him to say this. Why would they build three tabernacles when Jesus is the one that deserves the glory in that moment? Jesus is the one who is shining. Jesus is the one who is worthy of worship. But notice how God the father responds in this moment. And a cloud came and overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. If you have the King James version, hear ye him. Jesus is a prophet greater than Moses because he is the son of God. So Jesus is this promised prophet. As we think about Christmas and we think about what is happening as we marvel at the incarnation, we must remember that God has sent his son to this world to be that promised prophet. Why should we respond to this? Well, first, and I think perhaps most obviously, we need to hear him. We need to hear him. This of course is what the father himself says, this is my beloved son, hear him. Some of you might know that there is a woman in this area that yells at people if they park in the parking spot in front of her house. I don't know if you've encountered that yet. I hope you haven't. But there is a woman in this area, I won't tell you exactly which house it is, but there's a woman in this area that will yell at you if you park in that parking spot in front of her house. I'm not talking about blocking her driveway, I'm talking about in that parking that's allowed on the street. Of course, she doesn't have the authority to do this. Some of us who have encountered her have simply moved our vehicles in order to keep the peace. But other people in our area have basically just told her, I'll just say told her to get lost, put it that way. I've seen some encounters. She doesn't have the authority to prohibit anyone from parking in that spot. And so there's a sense in which people have the right to ignore what she's saying. because she doesn't have that authority. Jesus, however, had and has true authority. In fact, if we were to go back to the first chapter of Mark, in Mark chapter one and verse 22, as Jesus teaches in the synagogue, you might remember, they are astonished. Why? Because he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes and Pharisees. Not as the scribes, rather. It doesn't mention the Pharisees in that verse. And there's a question that I need to ask of all of us. And it's simply this question. Who are you listening to? The Father has said, I will send my son, that great prophet into the world. Hear him. Who are you listening to? Who are you hearing? Whose voice is motivating, influencing, and shaping your life? I find more and more professing Christians coming to adopt very unchristian attitudes. And I'm not here talking unchristian in the sense that they're just not nice. I'm talking about unchristian in the sense that they're not after Christ. They are not katakriston. They are not in accordance with Him. With His truth. Listen, I have a privilege and a responsibility to stand before you and proclaim the truth. to urge you to hear Him. But I know that for many of the people, and it's a sad thing, I report this with sorrow, that there are many people connected with this church that may come once a week at best, but often are not even there that often. And I know that some of you catch the services online, and I'm grateful for that. But here's the thing, I know that you are hearing a lot more voices, a lot of influence, a lot of perspective that is not according to Christ. I can't change your heart. I can't make you listen to God's Word, read God's Word. I can't make you hear Him. What I can do is encourage you by the very words of God the Father. Listen to Jesus. It seems, sadly, that professing Christians today listen to almost anyone but Jesus. We're afraid of silence. We get into our vehicles, pop on the, you know, pop, put on the radio and hear whatever we hear. We're afraid of silence. We go home, we turn on the TV. We listen to a lot of voices, but are we listening to Jesus? It's a mark of a true believer that they listen to Jesus. You know that? Jesus would say in John chapter 10, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Listen to Jesus. Listen to Jesus. Second, Jesus is that promised prophet. We must hear this prophet. Second, we must believe this prophet. We all, I think, any of us who followed the news over the last few years have encountered that term fake news. Seems like almost everyone was tossing that around. This is fake news. That's fake news. And sometimes you'd hear the conservatives say that, well, CNN is fake news. And then you'd hear people on the other side saying, well, Fox is fake news. And everybody's claiming fake news. And sadly, as it turned out, that a lot of the stories actually were fake news. A lot of stories have been fabricated, massaged, and manipulated to be something very different from reality. And many people, it's interesting, I saw something of a report recently that fewer and fewer people are watching news, the news networks, fewer and fewer people are watching them at all. Because they're like, these people are just so agenda driven, why should I watch any of them? What am I supposed to believe if even the ones that are supposed to be telling me an unprejudiced view of what's happening are found to be manipulating the news? They're not really trusted voices to many people anymore. What should we believe? Well, there's one voice we can believe. that voice who is truth. Think about Jesus. Jesus in the book of John alone uses this expression, verily, verily. He uses the word verily 50 times, 25 pairs. Verily is the rendering in the King James Version, New King James Version, it's truly. Basically it says, amen, amen. Jesus says, I am telling you the truth. We must trust Jesus who speaks the truth. Maybe there's someone in your life who you regard as an honest person. And it's not that you think that they're perfect. You just know that they have been honest with you over the years. And so if they tell you something, you know that they're not lying to you. They're not trying to manipulate you. But even that person, if you think about it, you might remember a time where they got something wrong. And it wasn't because they were lying to you or manipulating you. It was simply because they didn't have all the facts. There's someone that I think about, I'm thinking about right now in my life. Incredibly honest. That person has never, ever lied to me. Always told me what they believe to be true. But have they always told me the truth? No, because they've got some things wrong. Again, not because they're trying to be dishonest, but because they just didn't have possession of all the facts. Not so with Jesus. When Jesus speaks, pardon me, when Jesus speaks, He speaks the truth. He will not deceive you and He will not get it wrong. As God the Son, He walked the earth speaking those words that the Father told Him to speak. As the exalted Lord, He continues to speak through His word and we can trust Him. Do you believe that, brothers and sisters? Do you believe that you can trust Jesus? And here's the thing. There are all kinds of challenges to this these days. Can we trust Jesus? when his word tells us about how the world began? Can we trust Jesus? Do we need to modify it to keep in light of the latest scientific theories? Do we need to do that? Can we trust Jesus? Can we trust Jesus when Jesus tells us about how God has made us? and how we ought to live in light of his word, and how those commandments are for our good? Can we trust Jesus when it comes to issues of sexuality? Can we trust Jesus when it comes to issues of gender? Can we really believe that what Jesus says from the beginning, God made them male and female? Can we believe that? Can we believe when Jesus tells us for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and those two shall be one flesh? Can we believe that? I tell you we can. So many today who would claim the name of Christ feel as though the pressure of this age requires them to reinterpret or dismiss what Jesus says. As though the words of Prophet Jesus can somehow be set aside for the current sensibilities. Can we trust Jesus and what he says about the value of human life? Can we trust Jesus about what he says about what is in the womb? Can we trust Jesus when He tells us what is the right way to speak and the wrong way to speak? Can we trust Jesus when He tells us that we must be people of forgiveness? Can we trust Jesus when He says these things? Oh friends, we can trust Jesus. We must hear Jesus. And we must believe Jesus. His word is truth. But not only must we hear this prophet and believe this prophet, we must obey this prophet. Anytime the true prophets spoke in scripture, they spoke the words of God. words were not up for reinterpretation. It was not sort of a take it or leave it approach. In scripture, the prophet spoke infallibly because he spoke on God's behalf. If there was someone who claimed to be a prophet and the words that they said didn't come true, that person was a false prophet and they were to be stoned. Jesus is different in a sense from all of the other prophets. Yes, Jesus speaks the words of God, but Jesus speaks the words of God as God. Those prophets, as Peter mentioned in Acts chapter three, from Samuel onward, spoke of the coming prophet. Jesus does not need to speak of any future prophet coming. He speaks of his own second coming, but there's no other prophet beyond him for which we are to look. Jesus is the one who calls us then not only to hear his word and believe his word, but to obey his word. And he is in a position that is so much greater than the other prophets. The other prophets could say, hear the word of the Lord, obey the word of the Lord. Jesus would say, hear my word and obey my word. Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven. I want you to see just one example of this from Jesus' own lips. Matthew chapter seven, starting in verse 24. By the way, if you read through this section, this is what we call the Sermon on the Mount. But as you come to the end of Matthew chapter seven, Jesus' words are very, very, very pointed. He speaks about the narrow way. He speaks about false prophets. He speaks about those who will one day say to him, Lord, Lord, but will not enter the kingdom of heaven. those to whom he will say, depart from me. Look at verse 24 as he concludes the sermon on the mount. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, do you see that? Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew. and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall." We must hear Jesus, believe Jesus, and obey Jesus. When you obey the words of Christ, you build upon that rock, trusting in Christ, founding your life upon Christ, your life is eternally secure. But when you do not, when you do not begin with trusting Christ for salvation and then living your life in conformity with His law, Your life will be like that guy who built his house on the sand. I think we can all understand you don't build your house on the sand. Talk to Gabriel about that sometime. You gotta have a foundation. Even in our area, we have quite a few hills in this area. You drive on these streets, even just keep on driving down Ennerdale and up the hill, You look and you'll be like, man, that's pretty amazing. There's these pretty steep hills and there's these fairly sizable houses that are there and they're stable. Well, you know they put a good foundation there. They didn't just slap up some quick dwelling and figure that was gonna stand the test of time. What would happen if they didn't build a good foundation there and build that house on it? Those houses would just be washed right down those hills. And so it is for a person's soul. Your soul will suffer eternal loss. There's also a sense in which those who maybe who have trusted in Christ and yet fail to build their life upon what he tells them, walking in disobedience, what a mess that will make. What a fall that will produce. I've been listening recently to a podcast series called The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Talks about a church in Seattle that got very big very fast and fell very far very fast. Big reason why it fell so far so fast was because it was at least in part built upon bullying and domineering and abusive practices by the leadership. It fell. In many ways, that church was built upon the personality of the pastor. And when that pastor was revealed for who he truly was, that church fell. If you build your life upon the sayings of Christ and build your life upon Christ himself, That is the place of stability. I'm not saying that life will not be hard. What I'm saying is you're not gonna suffer loss. And again, I'm not talking here in financial terms. God's people have suffered financial loss over and over again throughout history. What I mean is you will not suffer spiritual loss. Great is the fall of those who do not build on Christ and his word. To put it the way that James puts it, we must be doers of the word and not hearers only. If you're looking for a reference, that's James 1.22. James words actually is, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. There are a lot of people who are self-deceived because they hear the word but don't obey the word. And having not obeyed the word, they think they're good, they think they're all right, they think they're spiritual, they think they're right with God, but they are self-deceived. It's not just about hearing the word. It's about doing it. Let me put it another way. Colossians chapter three, verse 16, Paul tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So I admit, perhaps some of you would join me in this admission that I have too much stuff for the house in which I live. We are blessed to have a house in the city that we're renting, and I'm very grateful for it. I also recognize we have too much stuff. One of the things that happens is that each December, and it's Sarah who is incredible, most incredible person I know, it's Sarah who's the one who digs all the Christmas stuff out from our storage spot under the stairs in the basement. Digs that stuff out, puts it up, Christmas decorations. I think sometimes that's the way that some of us deal with God's Word in our life. There it sits, in the basement, in the corner, and we pull it out once in a while. What we're commanded to do, though, is to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. The idea in that is, the idea behind that is that the Word is to have the best place. In fact, the Word is to have free reign in our lives. Dwelling in us richly means that it's dwelling in us abundantly. There's no corner of our life where we're saying, okay, Word, you can't live there. You can live in this part of me, for an hour on Sunday morning, but you don't live in this area of my life, that's mine. You don't dwell in my life at this time of the week, that's my time of the week. No friends, the word in us, the word should dwell in us abundantly throughout the whole of our lives. So brothers and sisters, Christmas approaches. And during this time, we remember the coming of Christ. We're tempted to think of Jesus only in terms of that little baby in the manger. But we must remember the full scope of the ministry of Christ. The one who comes in the manger, as we saw this morning, is not simply a little baby, but a warrior who would defeat the serpent. The one who comes in that manger is not just a little baby. but the one who is the promised prophet. So friends, we must hear this prophet. We must believe this prophet and we must obey this prophet. May God give us the grace of obedience, amen.