Good to see you here this evening and looking forward to our time of worship together. Let's take our hymn books and turn to hymn number 46. Hymn number 46. Oh, for a thousand tongues or languages to sing our great Redeemer's praise. O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace. Breaks the power of cancelled sin, He sets the prisoner free. His blood has made the foulest cling, His blood availed for me. Hear him ye deaf, his praise ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ. Ye blind, behold your Savior come, and leap ye lame for joy. Let's take our Bibles for our scripture reading and let's turn to Genesis chapter 21. Where the Lord willing, we will finish up the reading of this chapter from last time, Genesis chapter 21. And my text is gonna be verse 22 down to verse 34. Here we come to a very pivotal moment in the life of Abraham. This passage primarily concerns a covenant that Abraham made with Abimelech, who was actually a king of the Philistines. You say, well, why would he make a covenant with Abimelech? Remember, this was the promised land. So the Lord was directing him to lay the foundation for what he would give to Abraham and his seed as a land, taking it away from the Philistines and the other Canaanites that dwelt in the land when Joshua would be raised up many, many years later. But this is the foundation being laid for what God had promised, that he would give to Abraham not only a seed that would come from his loins, that is Christ, but also a land from which that seed would come. All of this is foundational here, that we know that as you go through the revelation of scripture and the history of it, that these cities that did not particularly exist at this time would later come into the foray, into the story, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem and all these places. where Christ was to be born, where Christ would be ministering. So on the surface, this appears to be just a simple legal agreement regarding a well of water, but from the perspective of the redemption of history, water being a type of Christ and that which the Philistine, the king, laid claim to, now God would be laying claim to this for what would follow. Abraham's story from beginning to end is one of God's sovereign grace, we know that. And his calling out of Ur that we saw in Genesis 12 to his covenant, this covenant that God made with him in Genesis 15 and how the Lord continued to keep his faith looking to that promise in spite of everything that appeared not to be taking place. But here in this passage that we're going to read, God's hand is evident, not only in Abraham's dealings with Abimelech, a wicked king, by the way, the Philistines were ruthless. but in how he would continue to bless Abraham despite the many challenges that he would face. God's hand was on Abraham, not because there was anything righteous in Abraham, but because God had purposed that from him should come forth that seed, that chosen seed, Christ, and those that Christ would come and redeem. But here we have the relationship between Abraham and Abimelech in verses 22 to 34. And it really shows how God is a God of the nations, not just a few, but ruling over all. And he's faithful to his promises and governs his dealings with his people, no matter where they may be. So here in verse 22, It says, and it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the chief captain of his host, spake unto Abraham saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest. Remember back here in Genesis chapter 20 and verse two, how the same Abimelech, Abraham in essence had lied to saying that Sarah was his sister and yet the Lord refrained Abimelech from touching her because she was to be the mother of the seed, the promised seed from which Christ should come. That's the whole reason why God kept him from touching her and that was a very remarkable dream that he had that this was not just any woman And so from that, he acknowledges here in verse 22 that God was indeed with him in a way unlike he had ever seen with regard to his little gods, G-O-D-S. Here's Abimelech, a pagan king, acknowledging that Abraham's prosperity And success were due to God's presence and favor upon him. Sometimes we don't think that the world notices who we are as God's children. And for the most part, they probably don't, but every once in a while, you'll get somebody come along and tell you, you know, it seems like God's hands on you in some way that I've never seen. Not that we're drawing attention to ourself, but if anybody speaks favorably, what we do, we give God the glory. We say anything I am is by the grace of God. But here with regard to God's grace, what was the greatest grace at this point that God bestowed on Abraham that this King recognized? It was where he said, God is with thee. I can't think of any greater blessing than that, that God would be pleased to favor a people by His electing grace and that that favor means that His presence is with them. I wonder how much we think about that. The fact that God's presence is with those that He has chosen. But at the same time, we can see how LORD RULES EVEN IN THOSE THAT AREN'T PART OF THAT COVENANT GRACE. THERE'S NOTHING HERE THAT INDICATES THAT ABIMELECH WAS AN OBJECT OF GOD'S GRACE, BUT HE RECOGNIZED IT IN ABRAHAM. AND SO IN VERSES 23 TO 27, WE SEE HOW GOD PURPOSED THAT ABRAHAM SHOULD DEAL WITH ABIMELECH. IT SAYS In verse 23, now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son, but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear. And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I want not who hath done this thing, neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech, and both of them made a covenant." Abimelech here is seeking a covenant with Abraham. And it's interesting that he appeals to his faithfulness. In other words, God's faithfulness to him, even though he had already dealt falsely with Abimelech to begin with in regard to Sarah, his wife. But here he appeals to Abraham based on who he saw was Abraham's God. And Abraham then agrees to the covenant. But first he reproves Abimelech over a matter of the well that had been unjustly taken from him. In verse 25, I don't know what the background of that was, but water was scarce. especially if you had a lot of cattle and sheep and other things, then a well was vital and somehow this well that had belonged unto Abraham, Abimelech's servants had violently taken away and for that reason, he wasn't going to settle with him until this matter had been dealt with. Here we see where the Spirit of God in directing Abraham, even in the face of an evil king was going to deal uprightly and honestly with him. And I believe that's one of the things about the Lord's people. We're not perfect, far from it. But when it comes to matters of peace and justice in a fallen world, just like Job, he was upright in all that he did. In other words, when there were bills to pay, he paid them. He dealt in an upright manner with those of the world. There were not to be scoundrels in their dealings with others. And we see that here with Abraham, thanks to the spirit of grace in him. So Abraham's actions show how God in his sovereignty works even through human agency, that justice be established and that the grace of God being with Abraham would cause him to live a life of uprightness with all those that were given over to idolatry. That's how we stand out in the world. It's not because we have any perfection in ourselves, far from it. but we represent God. And when we talk about His righteousness having been imputed to us, His justice being satisfied by Christ on our behalf, then justice matters in how we deal with others, knowing how God has been merciful in dealing with us. But in verses 28 through 30 then, we find here seven lambs being given as a witness to this covenant. It says, and Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what mean these seven ewe lambs which thou has set by themselves? And he said, for these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well. This sealing of the covenant of Abraham with Abimelech took place with seven new lambs as a witness. The seven lambs were not only a sign of Abraham's commitment to the covenant. You know, the word covenant means to cut. And when there was a covenant made, they would take and sacrifice animals and cut them. in two and lay them out as a sign of the commitment to the covenant. So here was a picture of Abraham's commitment to this covenant with this otherwise evil king. And the number seven is often associated in scripture with perfection or completeness. And certainly by Abraham offering these seven new lambs, he was in reality thinking of God's covenant with him and that God's favor with him would be with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world, which is what the lambs represent. And that because of the faithfulness of Christ, accomplishing the salvation of Abraham, these seven lambs were offered to this pagan king as a forward-looking to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ would come and complete the work. His work being the perfect work. And that was a testimony. Abimelech couldn't understand it, he said in verse 20, what mean these seven new lambs which thou has set by the people don't in the world don't understand the significance of what the cross of Christ means to one of the lords but it means everything to God because that's how he has justified sinners and therefore it means everything to his children, those that he has purposed to save. And that's really what Abraham was doing here as a witness. It's like you say, God, be my witness in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Here are the seven new lambs. My eyes looking on that sacrifice that's to come. He's not offering this sacrifice to a Bimelech, but it's a witness. You see that unto me that I have digged this well. and therefore he's looking to his blessing in Christ. And then verses 31 to 34, wherefore he called that place Beersheba, because there they swear both of them, thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up and Phichol, the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines." That's an amazing statement right there, isn't it? That he had no interest in how those lambs look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. All he wanted was peace. And when it was all said and done, he got up and went his way. It's like so many today, when they hear of Christ and him crucified, they have no interest or urgency in who he is. As long as they can have some measure of peace and live peaceably, successfully in their lives, they're content. And it says there, they returned where? Into the land of the Philistine. They go right back to their idolatry. And as far as we know, that's how he died. But through this, Abraham was a witness to how God had set him aside in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. When it says he built a grove, it wasn't that this was be like the high groves of pagans where they built, but a place of comfort and rest. And when it says there, he called on a name of the Lord, it would have been through continuing the sacrifices. unto the everlasting God and Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days. What is the significance of Beersheba? It's interesting if you just take your concordance, it's mentioned many different times throughout scripture. And it's particularly a place of significance because this, when Joshua went into the land was a place that was given to Judah. And I find it also significant that Beersheba was only 45 miles from Mount Moriah that we're going to study in chapter 22, where Abraham was called on to offer up his son. Here he'd offered seven new lambs as a type of Christ, but God would further establish him in that land, in this place where many thousands of years later, God himself would offer up his son. so I see great significance here with the name Beersheba, it means a well of the oath and you stop and think about the Lord Jesus Christ being the well of salvation, a water of salvation and God's oath with His Son that His Son should come and pay the sin debt of a people. So this covenant serves as a reminder of the peace when it says there, even in the midst of the enemy in verse 34, Abraham sojourned in the land many days. That shows settling down, thinking of him being brought from her all the way to this point. We have a picture here of that peace through the covenant that God has established through the sacrifice of his son. And that peace is not based on any human merit. but on God's sovereign grace and the work of Christ, who was the promised seed that should come from Abraham's loins. A lot more we could look at here, but certainly here we see a picture of how God deals mercifully with his own and that through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Gracious Father, I thank you for your word. Thank you for the reading. And I pray for the understanding by your spirit and ask that you would bless this word to our hearts and cause us to ever look to Christ, no matter where we are, no matter who we are dealing with, that it always be a testimony and witness to your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how you've been merciful to sinners such as we are because of his shed blood unto death. And we give you the praise and glory and honor in his precious name. Amen. All right, let's take our handbooks. Hymn number 199. Sinners, Jesus will receive. Sound this word of grace to all. Through the heavenly pathway leap, all who linger, all who fall, sing it o'er and o'er again. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive a sinful man. Amen. He will give you rest. Trust him for his word is plain. He will take the sinful last. Christ, receive a sinful man. Sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ, receive a sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive a sinful man. Now my heart condemns me not, pure before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot, satisfied its last demand. Sing it o'er and o'er again. receive a sinful man make the message clear and plain Christ receive a sinful man Christ receive a sinful man even me with all my sin purge from every spot and ♪ Sing it o'er and o'er again ♪ ♪ Christ, receive a sinful man ♪ ♪ Make the message clear and plain ♪ ♪ Christ, receive a sinful man ♪ Thankfully, that is so. All right, well, let's take our Bibles And for this message, we're gonna turn back to Genesis. I'm sorry, Deuteronomy. Get my notes straight here. Deuteronomy chapter 18 to begin with. And I wanna speak with us about Christ the prophet. I know that we began the last time looking at this And there was so much here that we weren't able to get through it all. So I wanna come back to this and begin with Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, where even Moses spoke of the Lord raising up a prophet from among them. And this would be several hundreds of years before Christ actually came. but the spirit of Christ being in Moses, he foretold as a prophet. You would expect Moses being the prophet. He says here in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, capital P, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken. And then down in verse 17 and 18, and the Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken, I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto me, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. So there's the Old Testament. portion of scripture that speaks of Christ's coming as God's prophet. A prophet is one who speaks on behalf of God. He's the word of God. And so it's not just any prophet, but the very prophet of God. Anything that God has to say to sinners, he's gonna speak through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. And then like last time, turn over to Luke chapter 24 and verse 19. This was the portion that we began with the last time where Christ, after his resurrection, establishes this truth that what was spoken him there by Moses those hundreds of years before now was being fulfilled. In Luke chapter 24 and verse 19 when he was walking along the road to Emmaus and there were these two disciples that he walked with they didn't recognize who he was and when he asked them what they were talking about He said, art thou only a stranger in verse 18 in Jerusalem and has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, what things? Again, it wasn't that Christ was ignorant, but asked the question to get out of them the confession. And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Notice, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. These were some disciples that would have been taught in the synagogues understood that there was a prophet that was to come. The problem wasn't in the fulfilling of the prophecy by Christ, but the Jews refused to hear him because he didn't fit the narrative that they were looking for. they were looking for one who would come and speak well of them and establish an earthly kingdom, much like many today are still looking for, still prophesying, still saying that when Christ comes again, he's gonna sit on an earthly throne over there in Jerusalem, and somehow man has to have an earthly kingdom, even though Christ said, my kingdom's not of this world. If it were, then would my servants fight, He said his kingdom was that which was promised him that when he had finished the work and he ascended on high, he would sit down on that throne of David. It's the way it's described in Acts 2. All of that we saw a little bit of last time, but here in Luke 24, 19, after Christ's resurrection, these two disciples referred to the Lord Jesus as what? Jesus of Nazareth, that was the hated name. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? This is how God purposed that his son be brought into the world, not come down from heaven on a white stallion to conquer the world, but to be conceived in a womb of a virgin, would not take on him sinful nature of Adam, he was of the seed of the woman not the man and that he would indeed be as it's described here a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. So here the disciples acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy, the problem was they didn't recognize that the one walking with them was none other than that one who had died and risen again. ascended on high, but he is that promised prophet and he has come to lead his people. He did that indeed, when it says a prophet indeed, everything he prophesied that he would do, he did. That's how you know he's a true prophet. The Old Testament tells us that if someone comes and presents himself as a prophet, But in the end, what he says does not come to pass, then he's a false prophet. He's to be stoned. But everything that Christ prophesied concerning his coming into the world and what he would accomplish that they would take him and they would crucify him and slay him and three days he'd rise again. Well, the proof is that he did just that. And therefore, as God's prophet, he not only leads in deed, but in word. to reveal God unto those sinners that He came to save. So the connection, that's why I began reading in Deuteronomy chapter 18, between these scriptures highlights how the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of what Moses declared in Deuteronomy and really embodies the whole nature of what it was for Christ to be the prophet sent to guide, that's what a prophet did, he guides the people but also to deliver them according to God's promise and that he did through his death on the cross. So I want us to look at these again as we come back to this subject of Christ the prophet, this is part two and he was powerful indeed And in word, when the Pharisees sent their Hussians to go arrest him and they came back empty handed, and the Pharisees asked them why they didn't arrest him and bring him, what was it that they said? Never a man spake as this man. Just his mere word was the very power of God. And none could touch him or do anything to him apart from what he determined. That's how we see him as the prophet of God. Even when they came to arrest him in the garden and he asked him, who do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. He didn't say I am he, he just said, I am. He is the I am, he's God in the flesh. And they fell backward. They could not have even laid hands on our Lord Jesus Christ had he not been this prophet in both word and deed. our Lord performed many signs and wonders. That's the reason He did those miracles, it wasn't to try to win people over to His side but rather as a demonstration according the Old Testament of how they would recognize Him as that Messiah, as God's prophet and it pointed to His divine authority as a prophet. that everything he spoke was according to what the father had given him to do and so he healed the sick. That was a picture of how he had power to deliver from sin because the greatest sickness that we have is our sinfulness and yet as God's prophet, he came to pronounce the condemnation of sin and all that pertain to the fall on behalf of his people, casting out demons and even raising up the dead. Why did he do these things? To demonstrate without question that he is indeed that prophet. Look back in Luke chapter 7 and verses 11 to 17. These are just a few examples where we see how our Lord was powerful indeed, doing things that no mere man could do, but Christ did because he was God in the flesh. Here in Luke chapter seven, we have an example in verses 11 through 17, concerning this widow of Nayan, and it says it came to pass, verse 11, Luke 7 verse 11, that the day after that he went into a city called Nayan and many of his disciples went with him and much people. You can see, imagine the crowd following him. What was he doing? Was he just trying to gather a crowd, win a popularity contest? No. He's going to demonstrate that he is indeed that prophet of which Moses spoke, that God would raise up from among them, hear him. Now, when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow and much people of the city was with her. You have this whole crowd around her and yet none could help her. It's like if the Lord takes a child, you might be able to speak some words of comfort to that mother, but you don't have the power to give life to that child, to give the child back to the mother. But the Lord did. This is how he's mighty in deeds because he's the Prince of life. Life is in him. He's the creator of the universe. And he's the one in the beginning that spoke, let there be. And it was. And so when the Lord saw her, that's how it always happens. It's when the Lord sees the needy sinner. He had compassion on her and said unto her, weep not. Now he wasn't just speaking words, simple words here. Well, everything's going to be all right. No, weep not. Why? Because he was about ready to do something that she wasn't even anticipating nor could. And he came and touched the beer, and they that bear him stood still. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak." Can you imagine that? We read it rather quickly, but here's a weeping mother now suddenly watching her son arise from this funeral beer. and he delivered him to his mother. Who's doing the acting here? It's God, it's Christ. He delivered him to his mother. He didn't say, all right, your son's alive now go get him. He did everything that was necessary for her comfort. And there came, verse 16, a fear on all and they glorified God saying, what? That a great prophet is risen up among us and that God hath visited his people. That's quite a testimony, isn't it? When it says they glorified God, who were they glorifying? Christ. because they declared that a great prophet is risen among us. Not just any prophet, certainly these would have been Jews having been to the synagogue would have known the prophecy of Moses. It would have been taught many times over in the synagogue, but never did they realize that it was this very Jesus of Nazareth who was foretold by Moses. and that God, notice hath visited his people. It wasn't that he just sent his son to visit his people, but God himself was in this prophet visiting his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region roundabout. So there's an example. Then you keep going, this seems to be a theme for Luke. representing Christ as the son of God, as the prophet of God. Look in Luke chapter eight and beginning with verse 49, here he had just spoken to this woman who had touched the hem of his garment and was healed. Nobody could help her. She'd spent, it says verse 43, all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any. It sounds like our modern medicine today, you keep going back, they keep you coming back and no one really gets cured. It's just put you on more medicine. Well, that's what they were doing with her back in the day. Nothing new. And when he spoke to her about that virtue that gone out of him, it says in verse 47, when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him. This is what the Lord does, draws to himself everyone that he came to save and she she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately and he said unto her daughter that shows right there she was one of the lords all along she just hadn't known it he wouldn't be calling her daughter sons and daughters of god unless this would have been one that the father had given him even before the foundation of the world be of good comfort Thy faith hath made thee whole." When he says thy faith, he's talking about him who is the object of thy faith. It's not her believing, she had no belief. She came trembling, but him who is the object of thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace. There again, we see him as God's prophet, the father's prophet speaking the word of comfort. not to do that just to anybody but the Lord knows those that are His and therefore He speaks according to who He knows already in His sovereign grace. But here in verses 49 down to verse 56, while He yet spake there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him thy daughter is dead trouble not the master But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, fear not, believe only and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter and James and John and the father and the mother of the maiden and all wept and bewailed her. But he said, weep not." Same thing as he'd said to the widow there had lost her son. She is not dead, but sleepeth. How did he know that? Well, again, this would be one that he came to deliver. He knows those that are his and they laughed him to scorn knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out and took her by the hand and called saying, maid arise. And her spirit came again and she arose straight way and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished. but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done." Here again, we see Christ acting not only as prophet, but we could say as praised in King, because it was through his intercession that she was given her life. And King, in the sense that he rules over all of his creation to do with his own what he will. So that's the significance of powerful indeed. His miracles were a testimony to that prophetic authority and his ability to demonstrate that indeed God's kingdom had already come into the world. When he began to preach at the beginning of his ministry, he said that. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When it says it is hand, it's like you're standing at the door waiting for someone to arrive and you go, oh, there they are. They're here. That's what Christ was declaring. All that had been foretold of Him in the Old Testament is prophet, priest, and King. Now was come, whether people believed it or not, but He would cause those He came to save to believe and the rest would be hardened in their unbelief, just like bees that mucked. He sent everybody else out of the room. He didn't do this for show. He came for this one purpose to raise this girl from the dead and give life. And that would be the demonstration that life is in him, but not only powerful in deeds, but powerful in words. Our Lord taught with authority, not as the religious leaders of the day. And I referred to this earlier, but you can look in Matthew chapter seven. and verses 28 and 29. Here we read that, and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, this was his, what they call the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, but it was all one message to glorify him and to show that indeed he had come to establish his kingdom. Anybody that tells you that his kingdom is still future because we haven't physically seen it established on the earth, they've never been given eyes to see. All that he did, all that he said was to demonstrate that indeed his kingdom was come. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were what? Astonished at his doctrine or at his teaching. Well, what was his doctrine? It was pertaining to himself. showing from the old testament scriptures, that's what he taught. We know that from Luke chapter 4 when he went into synagogue and he read out of Isaiah and then said, this day this is fulfilled in your ears. They were astonished at his doctrine and here it is verse 29, for he taught them as one having what authority and not as the scribes. scribes were all divided over the interpretation of scripture. It might mean this or might mean that. They were the bobbleheads of the day. Could mean this, could mean that. I went through school that way with professors, they wouldn't take a position but well, it could mean this or it could mean that. We went through all of that and never did get to Christ but here the Lord Jesus speaks as one with authority because He was given authority by His Father. and spake as the father gave him utterance, as a man. And his teachings, such as we have here, what they call the Sermon on the Mount, they're the teachings of Christ concerning his kingdom. They reveal that truth, that when Christ came, it was to establish his kingdom and that his kingdom had come. And so he's a prophet, not only to speak words of grace to his people. But as any prophet did, it would be to speak also judgment. That's the part people don't like to hear. They want a little Jesus that is kind to everybody and wants to save everybody and loves everybody, wouldn't harm a flea. That's the popular Jesus being preached. If you come to him, this is what he's gonna do for you. Everything has to do with what he's gonna do for you. but he came to glorify his father in what his father gave him to do and he was conscious of that from his youth up. When he stayed behind there in Jerusalem and his parents went ahead and thought he was with some other families and then came back looking for him and found him in the temple engaging the religious leaders. These were lawyers and yet there he was talking to them and answering their questions, even as that age of 12, when the parents said, well, don't you know, you'd worried us? What did he say? Don't you know that I must be about my father's business. That was his one purpose in coming to satisfy the father. But at the same time as being a prophet of salvation, he is a prophet of judgment. That's why we see him condemning hypocrisy. He condemned religious rituals. He condemned false righteousness. He called the Pharisees, he said of the Pharisees that they were like whited sepulchers. It looks pretty on the outside, but what's inside of a whited sepulcher? You can whitewash it all you want to, but inside it's still dead men's bones. And when you go over and read in Matthew 23, That's why Christ could speak as he did with authority, that this whole chapter has to do with woes. So he was a prophet not only to speak salvation to those the father had given him, but woe to all others. Verse 13, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for he shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. So he condemns every false way. Woe unto you, verse 14, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows houses. They were interested in taking the money and for a pretense, a pretense, make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive what the greater damnation. This is a Christ of authority. He's not reasoning with men or negotiating with them. He's telling them straight up, unless he has come and paid their sin debt and turned their heart to him, they will be condemned. Woe unto you, verse 15. It's all the way down through. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte. They're zealous. That'd be like the modern missionary movement. Preachers and people and all kinds of missionaries from religious organizations crossing land and sea to make one proselyte. And when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Why? Because you've given them false hope, number one, and you've made them think that somehow by something they've done has given them acceptance before God. We can continue all the way down through Matthew 23, but I believe you see here how Christ being the prophet of God spake with authority. And then secondly, not only in word and deed but we see Christ being God's prophet in the nature of his death and I believe this is the heart of it right here. You can talk about words and deeds and things he did during his life but The proof that he was indeed God's prophet was in the nature of his death, but also in the nature of his resurrection. And really, this is why I wanted to come back to this portion. This is the heart of it right here, that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all that he prophesied concerning himself. He actually prophesied his own crucifixion. It wasn't that people overpowered him and suddenly now he's a martyr, no. He prophesied it and actually explained that it was necessary for the salvation of that people that the father gave him. Look in Mark chapter 10. There's so many of these scriptures we could consider, but Mark chapter 10 in verses 33 and 34. We'll go up to verse 32. They were in the way going up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the 12 and began to tell them what things should happen unto him. Why were they afraid in following him? Because the rumors were building that they were looking to arrest him and kill him. But what did our Lord say about that? Verse 33, saying, behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the son of man shall be delivered under the chief priests and under the scribes and they shall condemn him to death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles and they shall mock him and shall scourge him and shall spit on him and shall kill him and the third day he will rise again. All of that he prophesied. right on down to the scourging and the spitting upon, the mocking. As you read ahead, you find out that's exactly what took place. Not one detail went undone. So we see Christ here as the prophet declaring his own death. And his death was to be a sacrifice unto his father. thereby again fulfilling all that the Old Testament sacrificial system described concerning him. We see that in Isaiah chapter 53 where everything's written in the past tense. I heard a preacher say one time, well it was in the past tense because it was already done eternity no it's put in the past tense that's what it is in the Hebrew language when you state something in the past tense it speak even though it's still future it's speaking of the sureness or the surety of it coming to pass and you have to say Isaiah prophesied 500 years before Christ came and yet look at the detail This was the spirit of Christ that was in him where it says that he would grow up in verse two as a tender plant and as a root out of the dry ground and no form or comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected a man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteem him not. So he's in identifying with those that turn thumbs down on him. But verse four, surely he hath borne our griefs. It's put in the past tense because of the surety of, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we were healed. That whole chapter. foretells what the Lord Jesus Christ would come to accomplish in his sacrificial death. And that's why he could announce it here as God's prophets with such certainty and surety. He knew the Old Testament scriptures because he was the author of the scriptures. He's the word of God. He was with God, was God, but he's also, and he's the incarnate word, but he's the inspired word. This whole Bible that we hold in our hands has to do with him. But it's not just the nature of his death that he prophesied, but also of his resurrection. He not only announced as God's prophet, his death, but his resurrection. Look in Luke chapter nine and verse 22. These are the testimonies of the gospel writers. And here in Luke chapter nine and verse 22, We read here saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain. That's what was required for him to be the just sacrifice in order for God to be just and justify, but what? Be raised the third day. He specified that it was indeed to be the third day. And that's why he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. To identify with this Christ is going to be facing the same hatred of the world as he faced. And yet if he paid our sin debt, our life is saved in him and salvation is completely in him, but it's not only in his death, but his resurrection, his resurrection, affirmed his identity is that true prophet fulfilling everything that was prophesied concerning him and that's really, we talk about his death, that's essential but the gospel message throughout the book of Acts and throughout all of scripture has to do with his rising again from the grave as being that proof that everything he said he came to do was indeed true. It was what validated his message and confirmed that he spoke the truth about God's kingdom more than any other matter that you could point to. That's what we see over in first Corinthians chapter 15. This entire chapter of first Corinthians 15 is dedicated to the importance and significance of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. that how he was buried, it says there in verse four, and that he rose again the third day, how according to the scriptures, that means it was prophesied. And so the Lord prophesied it, but here in verse 17, if Christ be not raised, let's say that you just stop at his death. that he never came out of that grave. First of all, he had been a liar because he said he was coming forth the third day and secondly, that means he would have just died a martyr. There are a lot of people that have founders, they follow them, they died martyrs and they build shrines and they follow after him, but that's not what we do. We serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today. You ask me how I know He lives? It's written in His Word and that's what we read here. If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. There's nothing to look to then for any hope of life. And if he be not raised, you are yet in your sins. You see the importance of the resurrection? That's what Paul wrote about there in Romans chapter four, verse 25. He was delivered for because of our offenses, but was raised again for or because of our justification. That when he raised, that meant that God had once for all justified those sinners for whom he died. and you can't find anything clearer as to the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ that He's God's prophet. That's why we trust Him today. You say, what does all this mean for me that Christ is God's prophet? Well, even though His earthly ministry is complete, it's not just history that we're going over here, but He continues today to speak through His word that is the scriptures. Holy Spirit and the church, all of that is the outflowing of the work of Christ and what he accomplished. His words and deeds in the gospels that we're just reading here are the ultimate revelation of God's will for his people. That's how he speaks today. And those that the Lord sends forth. to preach in His name, that's what they do. They speak of Him and the glory that belongs unto Him. He is the true hope of salvation, God's prophet. Well, we've just scratched the surface, but we've got to move on. And I pray that that is a blessing to our hearts and a comfort knowing who Christ is and what He came to accomplish and did accomplish. Let's turn in our hymn books now M number 226, 226. I am not skilled to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know that His right hand is one who is my Savior. I take Him at His word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this I read. For in my heart I find a need of Him to be my Savior. that he should leave his place on high and come for sinful man to die. You count it strange, so once did I before I knew my Savior. And O that he fulfilled, may see, the travel of his soul in me, and with his work contented me, as I with my dear Saviour. All right, well, that will be dismissed and look forward to the next time. Lord willing.