TEXT: Deuteronomy 18:15-19

SUBJECT: Watson on the Offices of Christ #1

Tonight, with the Lord’s help, we’ll commence a new Puritan study. It’s called Thomas Watson on the Offices of Christ. The word, "offices" does not refer to the cubicles in which many people work, complete with desk, phone, computer, and so on. No, it means a Position, like "the office of the President". It refers to what the Lord is called to be and do.

Theologians usually apply three offices to Him: Prophet, Priest, and King. By doing the work each office requires, Jesus Christ saves His people from their sins.

Before we get to what Watson has to say about our Lord’s prophetic office, let’s be sure we know what a prophet is.

The word, "prophet" means someone who speaks for another. Rarely, it’s another man; often it’s an idol, but most of the time, it’s one who speaks for God. A prophet is the Lord’s spokesman or ambassador. He’s not called to say what he thinks, but to announce what God has said.

Thus, in the Old Testament, the prophets were always saying "Thus says the Lord" or "The Word of the Lord came to me, saying…" and so on. II Chronicles 20:20 equates the words of a prophet with the Word of God,

In short, a prophet is one who receives the Word of God and accurately passes in on to other men. As an Apostle, Paul was also a prophet. What he said of himself, applies to every true prophet,

Is our Lord a prophet? Thomas Watson says He is.

Most of what he says here will be developed later in the chapter. But for now, underline the point: Jesus Christ is a Prophet—and more than that, He is the Prophet.

Without all the fakery and posing of so-called prophets, the Lord made this impression on people, both those who barely knew Him—and those who were closest to Him.

At the well in Sychar, He struck up a conversation with a woman, and before you know it, she was saying, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet".

His best friends felt the same way about Him. Not knowing they were talking to Him, they called Him

One reason the Lord wasn’t arrested sooner than He was was because the Rulers were scared the people would riot on them because—

They were right. Jesus Christ is the Prophet whom Moses said God would send.

But this brings up a problem. Maybe you haven’t encountered it yet, but based on the changing demographics of the Bay Area, it won’t be long before you do. Muslims claim to believe the Bible as firmly as we do—I mean our Bible, not just the Koran. They read Deuteronomy 18:15 as a true prophecy—fulfilled in…Muhammad.

But without going all over the Bible, theology, Church History, and the life of Muhammad, I can disprove their take on the verses with an obvious comment:

a Prophet like me from their midst…

you, from among their brethren".

Whoever the Prophet is, He is from Israel and is a Jew! I wonder what would be more offensive to Islam—to say its prophet is no prophet at all or that he’s a Jewish prophet!

"There is One God—but Jesus is His prophet".

How does the Lord teach us? Watson says He does it in two ways,

Word and Spirit. Some Christians equate the two; others pit one against the other. But Watson knows better: the Bible is the Word of God, but it does not teach you what you need to know without the Spirit’s work. In the same way, the Spirit is our Teacher, yet He does not teach apart from the Word.

As the Prophet of the Church, our Lord gives both Word and Spirit to teach us the way of salvation and how to please Him. If you want to listen to Christ, you must study the Bible carefully and pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

How does the Lord’s teaching differ from other inspired men? Let’s be clear on this: His words are no more inspired than the words of Moses, David, or Hosea—

--Not just the part in red letters!

No, the Lord is no more inspired than Habakkuk, but He’s a greater prophet than the other man—Watson says-- for two reasons: (1) Because He gives not only the word—but also the understanding of it, and (2) because He not only enables us to understand the Word, but also to act on it!

The Puritan has a lot to say here. Here’s some of it,

Note the contrast: the best teachers teach the ear—Christ teaches the heart; they tell us to love the Word, He makes us love it; they teach us to obey; He enables us to obey; they urge us to be willing, He makes us willing; they make our duty plain, He moves us to do it.

Only Christ has this power! Elijah could call fire down from heaven, but he couldn’t bring his nation to repentance. Jeremiah could weep rivers, but he couldn’t break the heart of his people. Moses could threaten the judgment of God, but he couldn’t get his people to quit their idols in the Wilderness.

Who ever set a better example than Paul? Yet the more he did for the Corinthians—he said—

The hardest-working, holiest, and most knowledgeable preachers have always had to say with Paul,

Only Christ. Only He can both teach the Word and make us believe, obey, and love it!

According to Thomas Watson, that’s the great difference between the teaching ministry of Christ and everyone else—prophet, Apostle, sage, pastor, theologian, you name it.

I agree with the Puritan, of course, but I think he left something out. In fact, I’m glad he did, because if he had addressed it—in my opinion—he would have gotten it wrong.

There is one more thing that makes Him the greatest prophet of all—incomparably greater than Moses, David, or John the Baptist.

It’s this: He has the last word on everything. What the prophets said was true—every word of it. But it was not complete! The Final Word would be spoken by Christ (and His Apostles). This is what He means—I think—by the bold words in the Sermon on the Mount,

Greg Bahnsen said He fulfilled the Law by ratifying it—but it was already ratified—and nobody in Israel thought otherwise! Walter Chantry (whose work I like very much, except here), says He came to fulfill in the sense of obeying it. That is true, of course, but it doesn’t fit the Sermon on the Mount—which, after all, is not an act of obedience, but a teaching!

What the Moses and the Prophets started to say about God, salvation, and the life that pleases Him, Jesus Christ finished! Some of it, He taught Himself; the rest He turned over to the Apostles.

Jesus Christ is the greatest, both in power and in wisdom; in giving us the whole mind of God and enabling us to love it.

That’s the doctrine of our Lord’s Prophetic Office.

Watson closes the chapter with four uses or applications. In light of our Lord’s teaching ministry—he says—

1. You ought to admire Jesus Christ.

Wise men have always admired wisdom. The man who sneers at knowledge says more about himself than he does about knowledge. If we admire others for their wisdom—theological, technological, financial, or otherwise—we ought to really admire the Lord Jesus Christ!

People came from all over the world to bask in the wisdom of Solomon, yet in Christ,

1. You ought to pity those who don’t know Christ.

"See the misery of man in the state of nature.

Before Christ becomes their prophet, they

Are enveloped in ignorance and darkness".

Are men willingly blind? Yes they are. But, even so, we ought to feel sorry for them. When witnessing to people, we sometimes become exasperated—they contradict themselves, look for loopholes, criticize us unfairly, blame Christ for every bad thing that has ever been done in His name, and so on. Yet, we ought to be patient with them because—even though they’re stubborn and stupid and unfair—they’re also blind—really, truly blind.

"The god of this world has blinded the eyes

of those who are perishing…"

We ought to be patient and prayerful and compassionate toward them.

2. You ought to be thankful.

"If you have been savingly taught by Christ,

be thankful. It is an honor to have Him for

your teacher!"

If you’re sincere, you know what you used to be: You know how blind you were to the truth, how you held it down because you didn’t like it, and how crooked you were in your thinking. The Bible used to bore you to tears and you’d get nothing out of it when you read it. Sermons were even worse! But now, you see things as they really are, the Word has become your joy and sermons are looked forward to!

How great the change has been in your life! It’s all due to Christ. He has taught you. You ought to thank Him for it!

3. You ought to learn from Him.

To teach you…use the means of grace (i.e., read the

Bible, pray for understanding, go to church, listen

To sermons, read good books, talk to people

Who know more than you do, etc.)…and walk

This speaks for itself. I’ve heard adults say if they had known what good teachers they had in school, they would have listened better and tried harder in class. You have the best teacher in the world—Jesus Christ is eager and able to teach you what you need to know. Now, will you sleep through His lessons? Will you skip class? Will you take it all in, but then do nothing about it? If you do, you’ll be sorrier than the adults who missed so much in school!

One last word; it’s meant to encourage:

Maybe you flunked every class in school and dropped out in Kindergarten. Maybe you can’t add two and two or spell "cat". If I were going to teach you, we’d both be bad off! But it is not I who teaches God’s people, it is Christ, who loves a challenge and can teach the worst student lessons worth more than all the wisdom in the world.

Don’t be embarrassed! Don’t be shy! Don’t be afraid! Just go to Christ willing to learn, and He’ll teach you. His school is in session—now get to class!