Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Deut. 18. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- There are many things in life which seem quite tame and benign, but which actually have tremendous power – whether for good or for bad. Take for example an electrical cord. It looks little different than a rope, or a thin tree branch. With it one can power tools, garage door openers, and lights. But if one touches the wire and is grounded, it can cause swift death.
- Or consider a vial of some deadly strain of bacteria. It looks rather harmless and small. It can be used to develop new antibiotics to save lives. However, if one were to break the vial and become infected, it could mean a certain and miserable death.
- The same could be said of the life of the church, and the ministry of God’s Word. It appears little different than other associations and activities of human beings. It looks like it can be abused and perverted and dictated to without any danger. But there is great power, God’s power, in the life and ministry of His church. Great good can come from this ministry – repentance, forgiveness, eternal life and salvation. But there is danger as well – if one abuses, misuses, or despises the church and God’s ministry.
- God made this clear to the children of Israel – and Moses reflects on this in our text. We also are to be clear in our understanding of this – both those who speak God’s Word to others, and also those who hear God’s Word through His servants, His prophets.
- Why God chose to do His work in human hearts and minds and souls in this way is also made clear in our text. The reaction of the children of Israel to the power and glory of God at Mt. Horeb should make clear to us that:
I. You Would Not Want To Deal Directly With God
Text: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, 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 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.’”
Statement: First, God gave them Moses – to speak His Word to the people in a softer, safer, and more gentle manner. Then He gave His people other prophets – like Joshua, Samuel, Nathan, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many others, for the same purpose. Finally, He sent Jesus, His own Son, as a human being to fully fulfill this promise of a “Prophet.” As we read in the book of Hebrews: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.” [Heb. 1:1,2] Of course, Jesus is the fullest revelation of God’s gracious love and mercy – providing all of us with forgiveness and salvation. This, so that we truly know and understand God’s love, and might no longer be afraid of Him, but confess our sins to Him and receive His forgiveness and love.
Application: Following His resurrection and ascension, Jesus has continued this same protocol – providing us with “prophets” from among our brothers to speak His Word to us. In His letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote: “He who descended is the One who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. – this is Jesus) And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” [Eph. 4:0-13]
Transition: The purpose is the same – that we not have to deal directly with God, which is terrifying to us. Still, the dynamics are the same today:
II. God’s Ministry To Us Is Still The Speaking Of His Word
A. There Are Still Dire Consequences To The Prophet Who Adds To Or Subtracts From God’s Word
Text: “I will put My Words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. . . . But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
Deut. 4:2 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”
Deut. 12:32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”
Rev. 22:18,19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
B. So Also There Are Dire Consequences For Rejecting God’s Word Spoken By His Servants
Text: “And whoever will not listen to My Words that he shall speak in My Name, I Myself will require it of him.”
Luke 13:3 “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
1 John 1:10 “If we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
John 3:36 “He that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
C. There Is Great Blessedness To Those Who Repent And Believe God’s Word Of Grace, Who Submit To God’s Word As Ministered To Them By His Servants
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
Statement: Again, the purpose for God’s ministry and the church is that His Word be spoken to us in an inviting, comforting, and compelling manner. Still, what may appear to be “safe” and benign actually contains the very power of God Himself. So the ministry and the life of the church can and does bring great and powerful blessings to us, from God Himself – forgiveness, life, and salvation. Yet this same ministry and church, if rejected, abused, or perverted, brings death and damnation – by the same power of God!
Application: It should be obvious what God’s intent and will is in all of this – to bring people back to Himself through repentance, confession, and the assurance of His gracious mercy and forgiveness. His desire is that we be restored to fellowship with Him, be one of His dear children, and enjoy the blessings of His love now and forever.
Conclusion: So as long as we are utilizing the ministry of His Word properly, there is great power, benefit, and blessing. However, if we reject the ministry of His Word there are dire and deadly consequences – imposed by the very power of God Himself.
This arrangement was judged ideal and preferable by the children of Israel back in the days of the Exodus, and God commended their wisdom and judgment in requesting that the ministry of God’s Word be conducted by human beings, our brothers. And so God has provided the blessing of this manner of the ministry of His Word to His people ever since. May we also agree – and wholeheartedly embrace His servants.
However, let us also remember – both prophets and people – the sacredness and the power of His Word, that we neither add to it nor subtract from it, for the consequences of such disrespect of His Word are catastrophic. May we all heartily receive the blessings of God’s ministry to us through His servants, and reject anything that threatens our spiritual health and well-being. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.