Christmas Eve 2009

Good Evening!

I want to briefly draw your attention to Deuteronomy 18:15-18. These verses are found in the midst of a sermon preached by Moses as the Israelites were perched at the edge of the Promised Land after wandering for some forty years in the wilderness!

15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 "This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die.' 17 "And the LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well. 18 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Our Lord we thank you for sending the Lord Jesus Christ as a baby so many years ago. He is God incarnate: the Word made flesh! Oh how we need the Word of God to guide us! We praise You for not leaving us to meander without guidance! So many years ago, You sent us a Prophet! A Prophet who would bring the words of life! We praise You for that and for Him! It is in His name, the name that is above all names, that we pray now, Amen!

In this passage, Moses reminds the people of the time at Mt. Sinai (or Horeb) found in Exodus 19 and 20 when God descended upon the mountain and gave the ten commandments to Moses. It was a fearsome sight that caused the people to fear for their lives! They understood their sinfulness in light of a holy and righteous God and realized that they needed someone to speak for them lest they die!

In these verses, Moses tells the people that God will raise up a Prophet from among them to intercede for them! I want YOU to know and understand that this prophet is a VERY specific Prophet…I want you to know that He is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ who was born among the Israelites in the little insignificant town of Bethlehem on the first Christmas over 2000 years ago. According to Luke 2, this little baby Jesus grew in wisdom and stature among them. This God man Jesus Christ was raised up from among them…He was the Prophet spoken of by Moses! God knew ALL His people including us needed a Prophet so He gave His own Son: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tonight, I want to briefly give you six reasons why we needed Jesus Christ to be our Prophet:

I. Jesus represents God to us [God will raise up a prophet like me]
a. Notice the text, God will raise up a prophet “like me”! The work of a prophet is to bring the words of God to the people! In the Old Testament, we see many prophets who were raised up by God; but the prophet described in this text is a prophet who will be like Moses; but not only like Moses, He will be even better than Moses. This particular Prophet, the Lord Jesus, will speak only the Words of God. Jesus Himself said in John chapter 12 that He speaks only the words that the Father gives Him to speak! He said that the Father’s commandment is everlasting life! In other words, Jesus gives us the words of everlasting life that emanate from the Father! So, Jesus represents the Father from Whom flows life eternal! So we see that Jesus represents God to us! We also see that:

II. Jesus can be Trusted [you shall listen to Him]
a. Again, notice the text! It says “you shall listen to him!” Jesus Christ only speaks the Father’s commands! He is totally obedient to God the Father. In other words, He speaks the words of life that spring forth from the Holy God of Israel! These words are righteous words and can be wholly trusted! The writer of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 13 that He would never leave or forsake us! We can boldly live without fear because our Lord Jesus Christ can be trusted! Now we have seen that Jesus represents God to us and that He can be trusted, now we see that Jesus is truth!

III. Jesus is the Truth [I will put My words in His mouth]
a. Going back to the text, we find the promise “I will put My words in His mouth!” In John chapter one, John says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth! Jesus Christ said in John 14 that He is the way the truth and the Life! Later in Deuteronomy 18, we see Moses warn the people about false prophets who will “presume to speak in the name of God but will speak false words!” Moses tells them that false prophets will arise speaking perverse things! Paul warns the church of this very thing in Acts 20 when he says that false teachers would arise from among you! But Jesus’ words are words that come from the Father and are words of truth because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life! So we see that Jesus represents God, Jesus can be trusted, and that Jesus is the truth! Now we see number 4…

IV. Jesus brings Conviction [you shall listen to Him]
a. Again, we see in the text, the words “you shall listen to Him!” Moses tells the people that this prophet will say words that they will listen to. His words will bring conviction to the people! In John chapter 6, John tells us that many of Jesus’ disciples had turned away and walked with Him no more; but when Jesus asked the 12 if they wanted to go away also…Peter answered that Jesus had the words of eternal life and that they had come to believe that He was the Son of the living God! One side note, we should not miss the fact that Jesus brings conviction through changed hearts. No one, including these twelve disciples, truly believes unless their hearts have been changed by Christ Himself! In Acts 2 we see the Word convicting the people spoken through Jesus Apostles. Peter stood before the people and told them that God had raised up this Jesus whom they crucified and made Him Lord and Christ! The people were pierced to the heart and three thousand souls were added to their number! Peter references our passage in Deuteronomy 18 while preaching his second recorded sermon in Acts 3. He tells the people that they killed the Prince of Life instead of a murderer and many of those who heard these words believed! There were 5000 more saved! So we see that Jesus represents God, Jesus can be trusted, Jesus is the truth, and Jesus brings conviction. Now we see #5…

V. Jesus is our Refuge and Hope [16-18, safety from God’s wrath and led by His Word]
a. Let’s take a further look at the text! Notice the people said that they didn’t want to see the great fire anymore lest they die. In light of the fearful wrath of a holy God, the people understood their sinfulness and their position before God. Isaiah said in Isaiah 6 “woe is me” after seeing the Lord sitting on His throne. He said that he was a man of unclean lips living amongst a people of unclean lips! We are a sinful people who need protection; our only refuge, our only protection, from the wrath of God is found in Jesus Christ! Outside of Christ we have no hope because this world is passing away; but in Christ we have a hope as an anchor to the soul. The writer of Hebrews describes the true believer’s hope in Jesus Christ as sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil. Jesus represents God, Jesus can be trusted, Jesus is the truth, Jesus brings conviction, and Jesus is our Hope and Refuge. Lastly we see #6…

VI. Jesus is our Righteousness [he shall speak to them ALL that I command him]
i. We see in the text that He shall speak to them ALL that I command Him. In other words this Prophet, our Lord, would be perfectly righteous in all His words and deeds. He is the sinless Lamb of God! We can never be righteous because we are a sinful people. The righteousness of God is required to enter the kingdom into the presence of God. Those who try to enter on their own righteousness will fall short. Romans 3:23 states that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In short, we need the righteousness of Christ to enter the kingdom of heaven. We need to understand that we fall short of God’s glory and need to have faith in Jesus Christ and His righteousness as our substitute. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says that He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. In this we see the great exchange. Jesus bears the curse for our sin and His righteousness is imputed to us so that we may be called sons of the living God!
Conclusion:

We have seen six reasons from this passage why we needed Jesus Christ to be our Prophet. I have some questions for you on the night before Christmas in light of this passage of Scripture:
1. Is Jesus Christ your representative before the Lord Your God?
2. Have you placed your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
3. Do you understand Jesus Christ to be the Way, the truth and the life?
4. Do you see Jesus Christ as your only hope and refuge?
5. Do you see your total need for the righteousness of Jesus Christ?

I am certain there are a lot of you who answered no to these questions. Please understand that you are undone before a holy God and need the righteousness of Christ! Don’t let a moment go by without taking heed to these truths!

I trust that some of you answered yes to these questions because you have an anchor for your soul in the Lord Jesus Christ. I urge you to meditate on these truths as we celebrate Christmas. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us in other words God eternal visited us…that is the glorious truth of Christmas!