Jesus: Our Prophet, Priest, and King

"Jesus spoke these solemn words to Simon Peter directly after He had instituted the Lord’s Supper. It’s as if Jesus said, ‘I’m seeing, Simon, that Satan is ready to attack you. Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation.’ That’s what He tells all His disciples, but especially Peter. ‘Satan wants you. He wants to attack you. He wants to destroy you.’" [00:03:40]

"You see as the Omniscient Prophet, Christ knew that Satan was trying to promote division among the disciples. Verse 24 says, they were arguing among themselves, who was the greatest. You see, the frightening truth was that the disciples didn’t realise what was happening, but the comforting truth was that Jesus did." [00:04:11]

"And because Jesus did, and Jesus warned them prophetically, instructing them about what Satan was about to do, we have life and hope in Christ. Because, if Christ wasn’t there also to warn us as a Prophet and to teach us as a Prophet, our life would also go in wrong trajectories." [00:04:40]

"And so we need these warnings – these loving, prophetic warnings – with emphasis, because Satan has declared Jihad against us, holy war against us, and particularly those of us who are leaders in church, or in ministry or fathers perhaps in our homes, or pastors in particular." [00:07:10]

"You see, Satan knows how to attack us at our weakest points. He studied our nature. He knows what makes us nibble, and one of the most embarrassing things for every Christian sitting in this room today, or standing, is how easily we can fall over even some of the worst bait of Satan." [00:07:50]

"But you see, what would become of you, what would become of me, if that was the end of our text? It would be hopeless without the life of Christ there would be no hope. Without the life of Christ as a teaching Prophet, as an interceding Priest, Satan would always be one step ahead of us." [00:13:04]

"And the beauty of His Lordship is that He is a Priestly Lord. And so, He says in verse 32, “But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” You see what’s happening here is that Jesus knows the battle of all battles is about to take place." [00:14:48]

"Because, when we come to our wits end and Satan seems too strong for us, the fact that Jesus ever lives – that means moment by moment, every tick of the clock – He’s living to make intercession for you dear believer. That fact is another great underestimated doctrine in Reformed theology." [00:16:25]

"And because He has gone into the sieve before you, and gone deeper into the sieve of Satan than you ever have to go – 40 days tempted in the wilderness, tempted in Gethsemane, Golgotha – Satan, one Puritan said, let all the traps of hell and every devil in hell came down upon Him." [00:17:37]

"And so you see, the ground of Jesus’ intercession, His Priestly intercession, is based on His Priestly obedience. John Calvin called it ‘a double obedience.’ And that’s really what we need to be saved. There is two things that we need to do that we can’t do for ourselves, or have done for us, if we are really going to be saved and really have life, and abide in life forever." [00:21:44]

"So Christ’s passive obedience – by the way the word ‘passive’ comes from the Latin verb ‘patior’, meaning to suffer, to endure – means that He redeems us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And His active obedience means that He has perfect law-fulfilling capabilities, and actually does it." [00:24:36]

"And so, I want to ask you in closing this afternoon, have you been restored from what you lost in paradise, because we were pre-fall, of course prophets, priest and kings to God. We had a right knowledge of God – prophets. We had a right sense of righteousness – priests. We had a right sense of holiness – kings." [00:34:19]