Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] So back in the day, I tried a number of things to stop using my cell phone as much as I used to.
[00:00:11] So you guys might relate to this. Maybe not.
[00:00:15] I was in this very early part, my generation of having smartphones just ubiquitously, everyone had it and nobody really knew the effects. We kind of know more long term effects. But I was in sixth grade when it was a thing that now Everybody's got smartphones. 6th, 7th, 8th grade. A very important time of my life. And so, like many people, I struggled with being too glued or addicted to my phone. And I didn't have nearly enough restrictions on how often I could use it. And so in college I was like, I just, I can't. I hate this thing, but I can't really get rid of it. So what I would do is I would put it on grayscale. You ever done this on your phone? It makes everything gray, black and white, but really just gray. Someone told me this would help because it just makes it horrific to look at. It is so absolutely terrible to just look at this gray thing. No colors. I mean, it really does ruin the experience. And so it worked a little bit. My screen time went down whenever I did this, but it was horrid to look at. I hated looking at that gray screen. And sometimes I would cave. I would need to see something in color, whatever it might be. And when I would turn that color on, it would be magnificent. It was like all the little different shapes and colors and shades and you know, it was like textured. Everything in the phone was just made beautiful. And that's really. I mean, they, you know, cell phone companies, I have iPhone that are really good at the visual stuff and it really worked. You know, it was like there are parts of the iPhone that I just had not appreciated until I had gone so long without being able to see it clearly.
[00:02:04] And I think this is similar to what we learn when we study this topic. That's right. You might not connect these things, but the offices of the Son of God, what they are, I think helps us to see God and salvation in a new light and appreciate it in a way that we may not usually think of unless we have been starved without understanding them. So hopefully when we look at these, we will love and appreciate Jesus for his salvation, for his people all the more.
[00:02:41] I know that when I started to study these things, even as I was studying them for today, I just felt love for the Lord increasing.
[00:02:50] He wasn't merely a guy who died on a cross and rose from the dead, though. That is amazing. That is the pinnacle of redemption that is so important. But he was also amongst that, a prophet, a priest and a king.
[00:03:07] More than that, we can say he was the prophet, the priest and the king. These are the offices. There are three, the three offices of the Son of God, which is reflected in our main idea. So the offices of the Son are prophet is that first blank, priest and king according to his threefold work of salvation.
[00:03:34] So that's right. All three of these offices are key in salvation. Hopefully we'll get a better idea of how.
[00:03:43] So we're just going to study all three of the offices while we have time.
[00:03:48] So we're going to start with the first one which is prophet.
[00:03:54] Jesus was and is the prophet.
[00:03:59] What is a prophet?
[00:04:09] Someone who prophesies. But what is prophesying? So you can say, yeah, what does that mean? Yeah, yeah. Someone who God speaks through. And that's exactly right. Prophets, they speak very directly God's words. So you could say someone, Ryan, preaching this morning is speaking God's words. But prophets did this in a unique way in which the words they're speaking are directly God's.
[00:04:40] If they are true prophets, they're not making errors when they're speaking on God's behalf. Whereas a preacher can make errors and say things a little inaccurately. But when they're being faithful and preaching rightly, they're preaching God's words. So it's similar to a preacher, but very direct in the words coming from their mouth. Go to Deuteronomy 18.
[00:05:04] This will help us with this idea.
[00:05:11] We're going to look at verses 15, 18.
[00:05:15] So I'll give you a second Deuteronomy 18.
[00:05:18] That's towards the beginning of your Bibles. Big number 18, little number 15.
[00:05:25] We read this.
[00:05:28] The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you. So this is Moses speaking from your brothers. It is to him you shall listen, just as you desired of the Lord your God. At Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die. And the Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
[00:06:04] What are these verses about?
[00:06:07] Or who are these verses about?
[00:06:13] Jesus. I think that's true. Would anyone say a different answer?
[00:06:20] I think you can say a different answer.
[00:06:24] I think there's a little bit of double meaning going on here. I think Jesus ultimately fulfills this in the immediate context. He's also referring to Joshua, who comes after Moses as a prophet, speaking for God to the people and leading them. And he comes from among their brothers, from the people of Israel. But we know ultimately there is a future fulfillment that Christ does, being a prophet, coming from among the brothers of Israel to lead the people to speak on the Father's behalf.
[00:06:58] Now we're going to flip to the New Testament and see what this looks like. So go to Acts, chapter 3, Acts 3, Acts 3, 1826.
[00:07:17] Acts 3, 1826 says this.
[00:07:22] And this is Peter speaking, by the way. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
[00:07:34] Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you. Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets. Long ago, Moses said, the Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed. These days, you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
[00:08:36] So Peter is. If we're unclear, if we're thinking. No, that Deuteronomy part is really just about Joshua. He's making it clear. No, this did have a second meaning. And it's fulfilled in Christ.
[00:08:48] He was the prophet. Fulfilled. Deuteronomy 18.
[00:08:54] He was the prophet. Now we say prophet.
[00:08:58] Does anybody else, you know, besides Christians, does anybody else say that Jesus is a prophet? And who.
[00:09:07] Yeah, Muslims. The religion of Islam is probably the major one we would think of. They say he's a prophet. Are we saying the same thing?
[00:09:16] Why are we not saying the same thing?
[00:09:22] I'm sorry, Yeah. A prophet. He's the prophet. What were you going to say?
[00:09:30] Yeah, both of those are absolutely right. He's the prophet. So the prophet of prophets. And he's not just a prophet. Right. This is not the office of the Son of God. It's the offices. There are three, and they're all important. So he's not merely a prophet, but he's the prophet. And as the foretold prophet, Jesus perfectly does three things that all prophets did. He first spoke God's own words to the people. So that's one thing all prophets did. He spoke God's words to the people. In Matthew 5, for example, he repeatedly quotes the law and then expands upon it and explains it.
[00:10:12] Second thing he did that all prophets do is he acted out the works of God. So he spoke things, but he also acted them out physically. Old prophets or Old Testament prophets did this. Can anyone think of an example of an Old Testament prophet acting out a prophecy?
[00:10:33] Yeah.
[00:10:37] What did he do?
[00:10:41] I think that. Yeah, I think that's acting it out, I guess. Yeah, that's a good example. Does anyone have other examples? Would Noah technically be. I don't know if Noah would be considered a prophet, maybe in some sense, but I'm thinking, you know, there are a lot of examples. The one that I was thinking of was that the prophet Ezekiel, he laid on his side for 390 days and then switched to his other side for another 40 days to represent how many years Israel and then Judah were living in error before their exile occurred, which is true, 300 from the splitting of the kingdom. 390 years before Israel was exiled and 40 years more before Judah was.
[00:11:33] So we see Old Testament prophets acting it out by literally laying on his side. He is, for that many days, he's acting out a prophecy. Jesus said in John 5:36, the works that the Father has given me to accomplish are the very works that I'm doing. The things he was doing were proclaiming the Father who sent him.
[00:11:55] So he acted out the works. Third, he revealed God to the people. That's what prophets do. They reveal God to the people. Jesus did this ultimately, and he tells us as much in John 14:9. He says, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[00:12:12] He revealed the Father more clearly than any prophet ever could. So in this prophetic office, Jesus speaks God's words to the people and affirms the scriptures as God's word. He also does the works of God as the one who's called the words of God. And in being God himself, he reveals the one true God as well. He is the prophet, but he's also the priest. That's our second one. He is the priest.
[00:12:45] What did the priests do?
[00:12:53] What did the priests do?
[00:13:12] The priests of Israel? Anything.
[00:13:16] We might just have to Turn to Leviticus and read until we learn something about what the priests did.
[00:13:25] Anyone they sacrificed, they interceded for the people before God, for the sins that they had committed. They were those who came to God via sacrifice and prayer. They also prayed for the people.
[00:13:43] Leviticus 16 tells us of a holiday called the Day of Atonement, or you might hear it nowadays, or in the Jewish language called Yom Kippur. But that is the day of Atonement. It was the one day a year the high priest could enter the holy of holies, the most holy place where God's presence dwelled.
[00:14:09] But as Hebrews 10, 3, 4 says, referring to these sacrifices, he said, but in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
[00:14:26] So the high priest or the priest would sacrifice animals to atone for the sins of the people. And on the day of the Atonement, it was the pinnacle of all the sacrifices. The one day he could come before God himself.
[00:14:41] But these didn't actually forgive sins. That's right. The sacrifices didn't actually do that at all. They were imperfect. They were temporary.
[00:14:55] 1st Samuel 2. 35. I'm going to flip there. You don't have to, because we're just going to read that one verse. But 1st Samuel 2. 35 says, Sorry, I think I wrote the wrong verse.
[00:15:13] I can't find the verse.
[00:15:15] But this verse tells us of that there will be a certain priest that is to come.
[00:15:22] It is not just, oh, I'm in the wrong Samuel. That's what it is.
[00:15:28] First Samuel, which I think I said, right. Did I say first or second?
[00:15:33] I flipped to second.
[00:15:35] There was no verse 35. First Samuel 2. 35 says, yeah, this is it. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.
[00:15:56] So this verse tells us there is a certain priest to come who is Jesus. We know that Jesus fulfills this verse. He's raised up. He is faithful.
[00:16:09] He does according to what is in the heart of God, because he is God. He has a house built for him, which is the church, and he goes in and out interceding for the people freely. There's not a day of Atonement where Jesus comes before the Father to beg forgiveness for the people. No, he is always there because he is one with the Father. He does what none of the priests could have ever done. He does it perfectly.
[00:16:38] Psalm 110, verse 4 expands on this prophecy and says, this he has shown and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek, Jesus will be this eternal. Melchizedek, that's a name of a person. In the Old Testament, he was a real person. But the story of him is a little mysterious. And it's designed to point us to Christ, who is our priest forever. Meaning he intercedes for the Church. He comes on behalf of the people of the Church to the Father, and he prays for the Church as the high priest. As he does in John 17, he prays for his disciples.
[00:17:26] Jesus is the great high priest. If you have faith in him, then you can boldly approach the throne of God knowing that you have the perfect priest whose own blood has covered your sins.
[00:17:41] You cannot do that. Apart from Christ. Coming before the throne of God. Apart from Christ leads to death because you are unholy. In the presence of a holy God, you must not rely on your own works, but trust only in the perfect high priest. And he's doing this always. Even as we come to Christ in faith and continue to sin, he intercedes for us. His blood continues to cover your sins.
[00:18:10] He is a priest forever. It doesn't stop. Just as Melchizedek was a priest forever. In the sense that he has no father or mother recorded and he has no death recorded.
[00:18:22] Of course, he was a real person, but we don't know those things. And in a more real way, Jesus has no death, but lives. He did die, but he lives now. Melchizedek's name is interesting, and it actually brings us to the third point. His name is a combination of two.
[00:18:43] Melek and Zedek, which means righteous king or king of righteousness.
[00:18:51] And that's what Jesus also is. He is the righteous king, a prophet priest. I wrote priests, plural.
[00:19:00] He is a king.
[00:19:08] Who are some famous kings? I think we know what a king is. Who are some famous kings in the Bible or not in the Bible. And it could be in the Bible. But what are some famous kings, real or not?
[00:19:24] You said George David. Yeah, King David. King George. Yeah.
[00:19:33] Aragon. Yes, yes, yes.
[00:19:38] Any other kings?
[00:19:46] King Peter.
[00:19:48] King Peter. Very good. Yes.
[00:19:53] What, Simba? Doesn't he become the Lion King? That's a king, right?
[00:20:03] Yes. Mufasa as well. Yeah. So there are lots of kings that we know of. So I think we get what a king is. We even get what a great king is. But Jesus is the best eternal king. The king of righteousness.
[00:20:19] Now we're going to 2 Samuel and I'm sure of it this time.
[00:20:23] Chapter 7 and you can flip there and follow along. I think that will help. 2 Samuel 7.
[00:20:32] We're going to look at verses 12 through 16. 2 Samuel 7, 12, 16 says, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring. After you.
[00:20:49] You shall come. Who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
[00:20:55] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
[00:21:06] I'll stop there.
[00:21:11] What will this future king and child of David do? What were some of the things we just read? He lists a few just in those verses.
[00:21:28] What's at least one?
[00:21:44] Someone can start reading verse 13.
[00:21:47] He shall build a house for my name. Yeah. He shall build a house for my name. What does he say after that?
[00:21:56] So his throne will be established forever.
[00:22:03] Yeah. And if you go on to read, we see the house and the kingdom shall be made sure forever. The throne is established forever. It's repeated. So this is God making a covenant with King David. This is the Davidic covenant. You might hear that term now. And then the Davidic covenant, very important covenant.
[00:22:24] And now this is in another sense, it's talking of two people.
[00:22:30] So immediately we think of Solomon, David's son, the next king of Israel, who builds the temple. He builds a house.
[00:22:42] But we learn through scripture that God does not made in houses built by man, but God lives and dwells amongst his. His people, the church. This is what we learn in the New Testament. And so while Solomon is in view more ultimately we're looking to Christ, who is the son of David through generations, but is also a perfect and eternal king who again dwells within his people, particularly when they gather together to worship him. So when Jesus was born, we know he was the king. And it is clear, some people argue he wasn't trying to be a king, he was just trying to be peaceful. And, you know, he wasn't trying to start wars and all this, but he was trying to establish his kingdom when he was born. We know this because King Herod was worried. King Herod was worried that he was the king of the Jews. And this made King Herod jealous, which is why he sought to kill all of the baby boys.
[00:23:47] And Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem as a king would. Though he has his own markers, riding in on a donkey rather than a horse, he is still doing the act of a king.
[00:24:00] And at the end of the ages, at the end of it all, we read in Revelation 17:14, they will make war on the lamb. This is Jesus, and the Lamb will conquer them. For he is lord of lords and king of kings.
[00:24:16] And those with him are called, chosen and faithful. So Jesus intended to be a king, and he will be the king forever. Why is it good that Jesus is king?
[00:24:32] I do think this is a good question for you guys to think about for a second. Why is it good that Jesus is king?
[00:24:38] Sometimes, and I definitely grew up this way, I thought, you know, monarchies are dumb. That's why we left it and made a democratic republic.
[00:24:47] And I think that's a great system of government. I'm glad we left the British Empire.
[00:24:54] They still have a king, kind of. And so we kind of, you know, mock it a little bit, like I do just now, but. But it's good that Jesus is a king. This eternal monarchy is a good thing. It can definitely be troublesome for humans to be kings with all of that power, but it's good for Jesus because he is the righteous ruler. He is the savior. Jesus, being a prophet, speaks for God. So as a king, we know the things he does, the words he speaks are holy, true and righteous. Being a priest, even though he's a king, he's an advocate for us before the Father. So he's a loving and compassionate king. And then being king, he has authority over all things of the world, everything.
[00:25:45] And so with these three offices together in the one God, man, you can have total confidence in the Word because of Him. You know the Bible is completely true. You can have total confidence in salvation because he's eternally interceding on your behalf before the Father if you have faith in Him. And you can have total confidence in all of life and in eternity because of his power and authority as the king, the ruler with all authority over everything, nothing moves, not one atom moves without his permission.
[00:26:19] So we can have total confidence in all of these areas because Jesus is not just, you know, one singular guy. He is the God man first and foremost, but he is the prophet, the priest, and the king. All of these are important and so helpful in helping us see what salvation is.
[00:26:38] But to gain access to these benefits of being saved by the prophet, the priest and the king, you must turn from your sins. You can't hold onto those and take them along with you as you walk arm in arm with Jesus and then have your sins in your other arm. You can't do that. You can't have two masters.
[00:26:59] We must trust the words of the great prophet. So when you read your Bible, trust them. Earnestly seek to understand what it means. Put your faith in the great priest who takes away your sins and bore the punishment that you deserve. Something no priest did was sacrifice himself. It would have been pointless, but Jesus did that and granted salvation to all who would believe.
[00:27:27] And also we must worship the great King because he's worthy. We can see. I mean, you probably didn't watch the recent coronation of the British King. But when we see all of the ritual and all of the beautiful things and music and the ceremonies that nations do for kings, that should be but a fraction of what we want to do to the great and eternal and true king when we worship Him. So consider that even as we go to worship him now.
[00:28:00] And try to look for all of these three offices as you hear the word preached, when you hear the Gospel explained, look for these different offices and see how he's fulfilling those in all of these acts.
[00:28:16] With that, let's close in prayer and then we can walk over together.
[00:28:22] Father, we thank youk that yout sent yout son, Jesus Christ, not just as a lonely man with no jobs, but a man with three offices that are all important for our benefit and good and salvation. That the heat is the prophet who speaks your word, the priest who intercedes for us, and the King who rules over all the world.
[00:28:44] God. We pray and ask that we would see him more clearly. Today. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
