So, our scripture reading this evening is from the book of Hebrews, chapter 1. But as I said earlier, we're going to be going through Lord's Day 12 through our sermon. But I chose this verse to help get our mind pumped for the ideas that are in it. And as we go through this sermon, we can think about what the author of Hebrews says here. And at the end, I'll read it again, and then we'll see the beauty that's there after we understand what's going on in the Catechism. So the book of Hebrews, the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 1. These are God's very words. 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, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. And there ends the reading of God's word. We have found the Messiah, which means the Christ. When you hear that, what goes through your mind? We have found the Christ. The world hears that, and two things pop into their mind. Either they think, well, yeah, that's Jesus' last name, isn't it? Christ, yeah, I understand what you're saying. Or, mostly, they use it as a curse word when they hit their hand with a hammer. But as Christians, we know that there's so much more to the word Christ. The word Christ in the Greek is Christ, but in the Hebrew it's Messiah, meaning anointed. And if you know the Old Testament, you know that only certain people were anointed for certain tasks. In John chapter 1, it is Andrew who goes and finds his brother Simon and tells him, We have found the Messiah. When someone in the first century Israel heard of that, they got up and was like, what? The Messiah, really? And they ran to see who it was. When they heard, we have found the Christ, it perked up their mind because they knew all the promises behind the word. The people of Israel in the first century were looking for someone. They were looking for someone to redeem Israel. That's why the people over the entire gospel are always talking about it. Who's the Christ? They asked John the Baptist, are you the Christ? The woman at the well, she runs and tells the city folk, this man told me my whole life. Could he be the Christ? People want to know where he's from. What's he like? They want to know whose son is he? You see, the word Christ is much more than a name. It is a title given to the one who would be anointed to complete a task. What's that task? To bring salvation to the world. This task, this mission, it has a three-fold office that needed to be fulfilled. The office of prophet, priest, and king. Notice how I didn't say the office of prophet, the office of priest, and the office of king. At one time in the Old Testament, we needed three separate offices, but now we have found one who can fulfill all three at the same time. back then we remember to be a priest you needed to be from the tribe of Levi to be a king you needed to be from the tribe of Judah to be a prophet well to be a prophet you could be from any tribe but that's okay tonight we're going to look at the Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 31 and 32 and it will help us break down and understand why Jesus is called to Christ and how it affects our lives as Christians. Why Jesus is called to Christ and how it affects our lives as Christians. By the time we leave tonight, we should be able to understand the main idea that Jesus was given a task of being a prophet, priest, and king. and now we being united to Christ we share in that anointing and we have been given a task as well so I want to hold on to that reading of Hebrews like I said and at the end we'll read it again we'll see what we've learned from the Heidelberg from that text one thing we see right away in the Heidelberg is that this task is Trinitarian nature Just as in creation, all three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation as well. The first person we see is God the Father, ordaining, or we could say, as appointing the Son to a task. In the Old Testament, we get a glimpse of something like this happening in eternity past. And the author of Hebrews picks this up when he writes, So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by Him who said to Him, You are my Son. Today I have begotten you. Jesus tells the people in John 7 about this task. He says, I did not come on my own accord. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, now the incarnate Son of God, was given a task to save a people for himself. And the Heidelberg not only tells us that he's ordained for this task, now we see the third person in the Trinity anointing Jesus for this task. We can see this plainly in Jesus' baptism. In Matthew 3, we read, And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. What makes this scene so important and so different from the Old Testament is that in the Old Testament, when they were anointed, they were anointed with oil. But Christ is anointed with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the oil represented the Holy Spirit, but now we have someone that doesn't need the representation anymore. It's strictly the Holy Spirit. Think of David in 1 Samuel when he gets anointed as king. When Samuel comes, he anoints him with oil. I want to read the verse real quick so we get an idea of how this looks. 1 Samuel 16.13 reads, Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, rushed upon David from that day forward. So we have this picture of what his brother saw, the anointing with oil, symbolizing the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But God gives us a view behind the curtain, so to say, and it says that the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. Now, if we jump back to Jesus' baptism, we don't need oil anymore, do we? We have the Holy Spirit himself coming down from heaven and resting on Jesus, anointing him for the task at hand. And Jesus tells us this is the case. After the temptation in the wilderness, when he's out there dealing with the devil, he defeats the devil's temptations. He wins. Then he goes back to Galilee, to Nazareth. And he goes and he's preaching in a synagogue. And it just so happens that this day's reading is Isaiah 61. Like, who would have thought that, right? Isaiah 61, on this day, Jesus shows up. Must be providence. This is what Isaiah 61 says. So they hand Jesus the scroll. He opens the scroll. And this is what he says. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recover the sight of the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolls up the scroll, hands it back to the attendant, sits down, looks at the congregation and says, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. that moment Jesus told everyone that he was anointed for the task, that now is the time to go. Now is the time for the mission to begin. And this brings us to our second point. The task given to the Christ. Before we break each one down, if we look at them as a whole, we'll see something that stands out right away. something that we look at and it says wait a second this is for us this is for you and me it says he is our chief prophet and teacher he is our only high priest he is our eternal king and why is he doing this for our salvation how awesome is that you never have to feel alone with Christ he's ours we are his the first task the Heidelberg list is to be our chief prophet and teacher who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance the thing we need to bring to attention here is our chief prophet that's important As one pastor put it, this is one of those things that makes Christianity Christian. You're like, hmm, that's kind of a bold statement, James. Well, let me explain. In Islam, they hold Jesus as a prophet, don't they? But he's not the last or greatest prophet. No, for them it's Mohammed. Or for the Jews, they would say, oh, Jesus, yeah, he was a great teacher. He could have been a prophet. but no way is Jesus greater than our Moses. He's not even second-ranked to Elijah. And you're like, oh boy. But what's great is Peter takes Moses' words and puts it back at them about Jesus. In Acts chapter 3, Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18, and he says, Moses said, the Lord God 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. That's their prophet. They didn't listen to him. But as Christians, Jesus is our chief prophet. And what's the job of a prophet? Isn't it to make God's will known so that we can live? Holy lives? And is that not what Jesus has done? Not only did Christ come to make God's will known, but he taught them God's will as well. Think of the Sermon on the Mount, right? The prophets would say, thus says the Lord, and tell them what God wants them to hear. But not our chief prophet. He could say, but I say to you, no other prophet could do that. John 1 says that no one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He, meaning Jesus, has made him known. He's our chief prophet. The task he was given to make God known. And not only is he our chief prophet and teacher, but he's also our high priest who sets us free by the one sacrifice of his body and who continually pleads our cause with the Father. In the Old Testament, God gave the people priests. And did you hear how I said that? Priests with an S, plural. Why? Because they die. we have a high priest that never dies. He'll live forever. And what's the main role of the priest in the Old Testament? He would intercede for the people by killing animals over, over, sacrificing them to God so that God wouldn't strike His people down for their sin. But this is what the book of Hebrews says. It tells us there's no more need for sacrifices. It tells us, for it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily. For for his own sins, first for his own sins and then for those of his people, since he did this once and for all when he offered up himself. If we had time, it would take days to go through Hebrews to see all the treasures there about our high priest. Literally, days. Since we don't have days, and you guys want to go home soon, I'm only going to read three verses from Hebrews. Listen to this. But when Christ appeared as our high priest of the good things that have come, Then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctified for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Treasures in Hebrews about our Christ, our high priest. Not only was his death on the cross, once for all, to cleanse the world of its sin, but he's also sitting at the right hand of God right now, this very second, interceding for every single one of his people. He's always praying for you. He's always defending you. Always. It doesn't stop for eternity. And finally, he's our eternal king who governs us by his word and spirit and who guards and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us. As king, as eternal king, Christ does two things for us. He governs and he defends. It says he governs us and rules us, not only by his word, but his word and spirit. This is great, his word and spirit. He didn't leave us alone, did he? He gave us two things. He gave us this, the will of God right here. And to help us understand it, he gave us his spirit. Think of the Great Commission. Jesus tells us, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. We obey all that He commanded us. Every week we hear God's Word taught to us for our sanctification. And with the help of the Spirit, every day we become more and more like our Savior Christ. Not only are we ruled by our King, but He guards and keeps us. He helps us stay free from the tyranny of the devil and the bondage of this world. We look out at the world every day. The world's trying to get us. Think of that. Every time you turn on the TV, go on the internet, look at just the world around you. The world is trying to get you. But guess what? Our eternal king guards and keeps us safe. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Come on, we know. But what it does mean is that he will preserve us until the end. We never have to worry that he will not preserve us and keep us safe. It's fact. It's truth. It's promised in his word. You can take that to the bank. As we've seen in this question in the Heidelberg, Jesus has fulfilled the task of being the Christ by being our chief prophet and teacher, our high priest, and our eternal king. But the Heidelberg didn't stop there, did it? Lord's Day 12 had another question and answer. Why are you called a Christian? Now all of a sudden, it's test time, right? Why are you called a Christian? Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in his anointing. Think of that. Wait a second, we share in Christ's anointing? You see, it is by faith alone that we are a member of Christ. And we know that faith isn't something we just made up. It's a gift. We didn't join Christ by our decision. We are Christians because of our union with Christ. And we receive through Christ and become like Christ by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And like Jesus' baptism, when the Spirit came down and rested on Jesus, the church was baptized by this same Holy Spirit at Pentecost. For what purpose, you might be thinking? Well, Heidelberg tells us we are anointed as prophets for the purpose of confessing His name, for one. Not only do we confess His name to be saved, as Romans says. Roman tells us if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved. But like Christ, it is now our job to reveal God to the world. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us, hear that again, entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, God making his appeal through us. And we've been anointed for this job. We are now prophets to tell the world about Christ. We're anointed to be priests, as priests, to present ourselves to him as living sacrifices of thanks. Romans 12 tells us this, doesn't it? To present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And we know this isn't for redemption for us. We don't do this to earn anything. No, we do this because of it, for gratitude, back to God. we're also anointed to be kings that may kind of scare us a little bit but it's true we fight to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation get this, for all eternity it's a long time Peter tells us to abstain from the passage of the flesh, the passions of the flesh, which wage war against our souls. And only with the help of the Holy Spirit is this even possible. And so we will reign with Christ. That's a scary thought. Reign with Christ. Reign over creation for eternity? Really, Jesus? Yeah, that's what we get to do. You know, 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us, he's talking to the Corinthians, but he says, don't you know that you're going to judge angels? Whoa, judge angels. In 2 Timothy, he says, if we endure, we will also reign with him. It's a promise. We've been anointed for that. That's our goal. One day we'll sit with Christ and reign over creation for eternity. Beloved, the work of Christ and the life of the Christian can be summed up in three words. Prophet, priest, king. Now I want to go back and read Hebrews. I want us to hear the beginning of this. And I want us to think about prophet, priest, and king as we read. And I'll give us some hints along as I read it. Long ago, and 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, our chief prophet, whom He appointed heir to all things, through whom He also created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, our high priest, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, our eternal king, having become much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited, Christ, is more excellent than theirs. Prophet, priest, king. That is Christ. That's the task he completed for us and is still doing. And that's the task that we've been given and anointed for for the rest of our lives as well. He will preserve us to the end, shall we pray? Father God, your son is amazing. He is our prophet, our priest. Our King, our Savior. Lord, let us never forget it. Help us to understand that we've been given a task as well. That we need to have boldness to go into this world, this dark and evil world, and share your light. Help us do that. Give us the strength to do that this week. Lord, help us not to be afraid. Help us to put that light out so the whole world could see. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.