The sermon by Eric Bechler delves into the necessity of the number and order of Christ's offices—prophet, priest, and king—as outlined in the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. These offices are essential for addressing human ignorance, alienation from God, and spiritual adversaries. The Old Testament provides a typology of these roles, with prophets delivering God's word, priests mediating between God and the people, and kings ruling over Israel. Christ fulfills these roles perfectly and their functions are interdependent. The prophetical office enlightens humanity, the priestly office reconciles humanity to God through sacrifice and intercession, and the kingly office secures believers by conquering sin and death. The sermon emphasizes that these roles are exclusive to Christ and essential for complete redemption.

Our reading this morning from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 this morning comes again from chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator, paragraph 10. This number and order of offices is necessary, for in respect of our ignorance we stand in need of his prophetical office. And in respect of our alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our services, we need his priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto God. And in respect to our averseness and utter inability to return to God and for our rescue and security from our spiritual adversaries, we need His kingly office to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to His heavenly kingdom. Last week we discussed the office of mediator as being proper only to Christ.

He is the only mediator between God and man. We spent a little time looking at the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings and how they were a type of the Christ to come. The final point of our paragraph was that the three functions of that office, prophet, priest, and king, none may be transferred to any other, either in whole or in part. This week our paragraph focuses on the necessity of the number and order of the office of mediator, and we touched on some of this last week regarding Christ being the prophet, priest, and king. This week we'll go a little more into that with specifics.

This number and order of offices is necessary. The first part of this paragraph speaks of the number and order of offices or functions within the office of mediator. Why is this here? Why is it important for us to confess the number and order of offices? First, let's look at the number of offices or functions.

What we find in the Old Testament is three, prophet, priest, and king. God used the prophets to speak to the people. They brought God's word to the people, words of truth, words of revelation, words of indictment, words of hope, and words of power, even to the point of healing or other miracles from God. God established priests from the tribe of Levi. The priests served as mediators between man and God.

They offered sacrifices, They prayed, they led worship, they taught God's law. And finally, God established kings over Israel to rule his people, to administer justice and equity, and to conquer their enemies. To emphasize God's placement of someone into one of these roles or functions, they were typically anointed or consecrated. Here are examples of each in 1 Kings 19.16, And Yehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shabbat of Ebal Mahola, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And in Leviticus 8.12, and he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him to sanctify Him.

And what is the purpose of this anointing? It is to set apart, to make holy, to stress that they were sanctified rather than common, set apart for the service of God. As A.W. Pink states, these three functions are not three separate offices, but are the varied activities of the one office of mediator. Nor are they separate functions capable of successive and isolated performance.

They are functions distinct yet interdependent and so together constitute one life, and together they accomplish one redemption, to which they are equally essential. The exercise of this three-fold function of the meditorial office was requisite for the complete deliverance of Christ's people by the circumstances in which the fall had placed him. In other words, the moral condition in which they lay as sinners makes it evident that not one of the three branches of his mediatorial office could be dispensed with. His people were immersed in ignorance, in guilt, pollution, and bondage. All three functions we see are necessary.

And what of the order? Why is the order necessary? Two things came to mind as I thought about it. There may be more and some may disagree, but first we see the introduction of each function progressively through the Old Testament. First we see the prophets bringing God's Word to his people, starting as early as Adam.

God gave Adam a command and he passed it along to Eve in the garden not to eat of a specific tree. We see Noah in Hebrews 11, 7. By his faith he condemned the world. We have other examples, Abraham and Moses, and there are many, many more. Next we see God's introduction of priests, first with the appearance of Melchizedek, and then after the Exodus, appointing the priests from the tribe of Levi.

Then later as we progress through the Old Testament we see God instructing Samuel to anoint Saul as Israel's first king, setting the pattern for each of the subsequent kings. The second thought is the progression of what each function actually does. As a prophet, we learn about God. As priests, sacrifices are made for our sins. And a king conquers sin and death.

We see this laid out in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 130, and because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteous in sanctification and redemption. If we look at that, who became to us, us those who now believe but were formerly ignorant and foolish, who became to us wisdom, the wisdom from teaching us by His word and spirit and making us wise unto salvation. We see Christ here as the prophet. Who became to us righteousness and sanctification. We are guilty, liable to just punishment.

Christ is made righteous in our great atonement and sacrifice. We are depraved and corrupt and He is made sanctification. Christ as our priest. And who became to us redemption before we were dead in sins, but praise God Christ has conquered death and saved us from our sins, and we see here Christ is king. So not only do we see the importance of the threefold functions, complete and not separated, but also we see the order in which they appear progressing from awareness to redemption.

Now let's move on to the practical working of each of these functions of Christ fulfilling the office of mediator between God and man. For in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical office. We'll look at some verses from the Gospel of John. In John 1, 4-5, in him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." Matthew Henry has some comments here.

The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word seems to be that as our words explained our minds to others so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal the Father's mind to the world. What the evangelist says of Christ proves that He is God. He asserts His existence in the beginning, His coexistence with the Father. The Word was with God. All things were made by Him and not as an instrument.

Without Him was not anything made that was made, from the highest angel to the meanest worm. This shows how well qualified He was for the work of our redemption and salvation. The light of reason as well as the life of sense is derived from Him and depends on Him. This eternal word, this true light, shines, but the darkness comprehends it not. Let us pray without ceasing that our eyes may be opened to behold this light, that we may walk in it, and thus be made wise unto salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

We can turn to John 1 verse 18. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. In John 1.45, Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. We can look at Deuteronomy 18, 15 through 18. That thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more that I die not.

And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Christ came not just proclaiming the word of God, He is the word of God. We see in John 1, 1. He came to the world to save His people from their sins. Matthew 1, 21.

He proclaimed our need to repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1, 15. And he proclaimed redemption through his blood and forgiveness of sins, in Colossians 1.14. Secondly, in respect of our alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our services, we need His priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto God. Christ again is the only mediator between God and man.

How does Christ execute the office of priest? Answer Christ executes that office of a priest and is once offering himself as a sacrifice without spot to God, to be a reconciliation for the sins of his people and in making continual intercession for them. We read in Hebrews 9, 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God. Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Paul tells us that we were aliens, we were enemies, strangers from the covenants of promise, without hope, without God, yet now we have been reconciled by the priestly work of Christ our Savior.

We read in Colossians 1, 21-22, And you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unprovable in his sight." Ephesians 2, 12-13 that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, made nigh by the blood of Christ. As mediator Christ as our high priest is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. In Hebrews 7 25, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

And in Romans 8 32 through 34, he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

And finally, in respect to the averseness and utter inability to return to God and for our rescue and security from spiritual adversaries, We need his kingly office to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Revelation 19.16. He has the name that is above every name, Philippians 2, 9-11. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28, 18. Jesus conquered sin and death, 1 Corinthians 15, 54-57.

We are helpless and we are hopeless without Him as Christ our King. We read from the prophets, even when God tries to get our attention and sometimes in very dramatic ways, we still do not return to him. Why? Because we're unable to do so on our own. In Amos 4 11, I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze.

Yet you have not returned to me declares the Lord. Hosea 7 10, though the pride of Israel testifies against him, yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, nor have they sought him for all this. It is only when God calls us to Him that we can return to Him. We read from Jeremiah 24-7, I will give them a heart to know me, for I am the Lord, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart. It is Christ our King only who has the power to conquer and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies.

It is Christ the King only who has conquered sin and death. From Psalm 110 verses 1 and 2, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou in my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. In Luke 1, 74 and 75, that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life And 2nd Timothy 4 at 17 and 18, notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever amen AW pink writes with regard to Christ the King First he was so before his incarnation during the Old Testament, it was from whose right hand went the fiery law when he spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.

He was the angel that went before them to guide and direct, to rule and govern them, whose voice they were to obey in Exodus 23. He it was who appeared to Joshua with drawn sword in his hand to be the captain of the Lord's armies. Fight their battles for them and settle them in the land of Canaan in Joshua 5. It was he who said to Samuel, They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. In 1 Samuel 8.

Christ was the King in the days of his humiliation. He was born King of the Jews, Matthew 2.2. Nathaniel made the following noble confession of faith concerning him. You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel, John 1.49.

When he entered Jerusalem in a very public manner, he was greeted with, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord. Luke 9.38. He displayed his kingly power by commanding the elements, rebuking disease, expelling demons, all of which were subject to His imperial will. He exercised His kingly prerogative by displaying His legislative authority, I say unto you in Matthew 5. Before He left this earth, He appointed ordinances and commissioned his ministers in Matthew 28.

Upon his ascension to heaven, he was made both Lord and Christ in Acts 2.36. That is, he was both publicly declared to be so and made more manifest as such. He was highly exalted and given a name above every name, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." 1 Peter 3 22. He then received the promise of the Holy Spirit and its gifts from the Father, which He plentifully bestowed upon His apostles, whom He sent forth into all the world, preaching His gospel with great success and causing them to triumph in Him in every place where they came." The Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following Mark 16 20. Ever since his ascension he has been upholding all things by his word, by the word of his power.

Hebrews 1 3. Today He is the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, 1st Timothy 1-17, but He is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, 1st Timothy 6-15. So what does it mean to us that Christ is prophet, priest, and king? Christ as prophet reveals to me who is God. He removes my ignorance and He brings me out of darkness and into the light.

He gives me ears to hear and a heart to understand. Christ as priest brings me near to God. He lived a perfect life and died for my sins. My guilt has been removed and His righteousness has been imputed to me. Christ as King redeems me, He renews me after the image of God.

My pollution and my corruption has been removed and I have been delivered from the bondage of sin. Can you truly say this of yourself? Are you living in ignorance, preferring the darkness? Are you in bondage to sin? Are you sinning in private, saying and looking all the right ways and saying the right things.

Are you loving your neighbors as yourself? These can be parents, these can be in-laws, it can be siblings, it can Be people on your street, people at work, strangers. Are you loving them as yourself? Have you set idols in your life that take the place of God? Pray that God would give you a new heart and that he will be your God and you will be his child.

Amen.