Table of Contents:
a) Jesus speaking giving harmony to the Old and New Testaments:
Early in the Bible God speaks about the coming Messiah (Jesus):
I will put My words in His mouth, and He will tell them everything I command Him.”
Deuteronomy 18:18
Does that ring a bell with Jesus Speaking? Yes, He said:
My teaching is not My own. It comes from Him who sent Me.”
John 7:16
See how much harmony there is in God′s Word and how the Old and the New Testaments are woven together!
Moses told the people: “You must listen to Him.”
And we read in Matthews account, when they were on top of the mountain, where Jesus′ appearance became like the sun in all it′s brilliance, and God the Father spoke to them, and said:
This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.
Matthew 17:5
Listen to Him!”
Are we listening to Him? Where do we hear His voice?
b) The whole Bible has Jesus speaking and it has his Spirit in it:
In the Apostle Peter′s first letter, he tells us that all of God’s prophets had the spirit of Christ within them:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.”
1 Peter 1:10-11
So, whenever we read the Bible, we are hearing the Spirit of Christ speaking to us.
Christian unity is based on us being united around Jesus’ teachings.
Moses told the people: ‘You must listen to Him.’
God the Father said on the mountain: ‘Listen to Him!’
Surely that is the most important thing for us to do, to listen to Jesus, the Word of God?
c) Listen to Jesus speaking
In Deuteronomy, there is a warning to those who do not listen to the Prophet.
That is, that God Himself would call them to account, that God Himself would deal with them.
See an article on the importance of not having a wishy washy doctrine.
In the New Testament there are warnings also.
For example Jesus said:
Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?”
Luke 6:46
He then goes on to explain what happens to those who are obedient, who are like those who build a house upon a rock.
But the ones who hear His word, who don’t put them into practice, are like those that build a house on sand and the torrent struck it and it was totally destroyed.
John the Baptist said:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
John 3:36
That is a hefty warning.
Basically, those who choose not to listen and who are disobedient to Jesus Christ are under God’s anger.
So often the non believers are told that God loves them.
This is true, but when that′s the only thing they are told, it is deceiving them if they aren’t given this clear warning.
What should the Gospel message actually be?
d) A Prophet is a revealer of Divine things:
That is the original meaning of a prophet and Jesus Christ, as the prophet, does reveal things.
Who or what does He reveal?
1) Firstly Jesus reveals God Himself
In His prayer to God the Father, Jesus prays:
I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the world.”
John 17:6
Jesus reveals the invisible, Almighty God, as our Heavenly Father to us.
2) Secondly, Jesus as Prophet reveals what God’s will and purpose is
Or in other words He reveals what is on God’s heart.
And how does He do this? It is by teaching.
Teaching dispels the darkness, which is ignorance.
Peter speaks of the word of the prophets being as a light shining in a dark place:
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place…”
2 Peter 1:19
And see how strongly Paul writes to the Ephesians:
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Ephesians 4:17
They are darkened in their understanding, and separated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their hearts.”
Notice Paul associates darkness with ignorance.
The presence of Jesus walking around Galilee is described as LIGHT.
Matthew wrote:
..the people living in darkness have seen a great light;
Matthew 4:15-16
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
And why should the light shine there?
Because the next verse says:
From that time on Jesus began to PREACH.”
Matthew 4:17
A whole Psalm about Jesus, but there’s a lot of hate without reason.
Jesus is greater than Moses, both were lawgivers, both lead out of slavery and both created new worship.
Jesus sees our hearts, thoughts and desires. He knows how hollow the things of this world are and how excellent the unseen things are.
Our weak efforts in worship and the High Priest inspected the offerings, so what about our wrong attitudes during worship?
Preaching and teaching should bring light, and it should drive out the dark ignorance.
Someone who is blind cannot appreciate the beautiful view from on top of a mountain.
So someone who is spiritually blind cannot appreciate the beauty of Jesus. Paul wrote:
The god of this age, that is Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…
2 Corinthians 4:4
God … made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
See what Jesus teaches in:
God at war with mankind?
Jesus the Prophet Part 1 Wild prophet?
How the justice of God was satisfied – High Priest 1
Jesus the Prayer Warrior 3
Jerusalem Times: ‘Galilean won’t rise from the dead’ says authorities