In this message, Pastor Matt talks about the importance of seeking the truth about Christ at all times, especially with so many distractions in our world today.

One of the realities of modern life is that eventually everything becomes a commodity. Last year I visited the Bell Barn near Indian Head—a fascinating place I highly recommend. Among other things, it was striking to see the old blacksmith tools and realize that, not much more than a hundred years ago, if you needed something made of metal, you went to the blacksmith. He would heat and hammer the metal into the tool or implement you needed. When it broke, you took it back to him, and he would repair it so you could keep using it.

Today, when I need something, I pull out my phone, order it from Amazon, and it arrives two days later. When it breaks—as it often does, thanks to planned obsolescence—I simply throw it out and order a new one. Every product has become a disposable commodity.

This same dynamic extends far beyond physical objects. What do platforms like Facebook and other social media companies actually sell? They sell your attention to advertisers. Every second you spend scrolling is a second they auction off to the highest bidder who wants your eyeballs. Your attention has become the commodity.

Be careful, little eyes, what you see. Be careful, little ears, what you hear.

We must be vigilant about what we give our attention to. Just as there were many false prophets in the days of Israel, there are many today—on talk shows, YouTube channels, and TikTok. In our adult Sunday school class, we saw how Solomon fell because of where he directed his attention. In an attention economy, we must be all the more vigilant to fix our gaze on Jesus Christ.

The Prophet Like Moses

Our text today comes from Deuteronomy 18:

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

We have worked through some of the more challenging sections of Moses’ speech—food laws, political organization, and festivals. Now we come to a passage that bleeds Jesus off the page. This text formed part of Peter’s central argument in his Pentecost sermon, declaring that Jesus is the Prophet we must listen to.

The immediate context is important. In Deuteronomy 17 we read about the future king of Israel. Early in chapter 18 we read about the priests. At the end of the chapter we find the institution of the prophet. These three offices—king, priest, and prophet—would shape Israel’s life, and all of them ultimately point to Jesus Christ: the true King, the great High Priest in heaven, and the Prophet we are to hear.

God raised Jesus up as this Prophet. After Jesus raised the widow’s son, the people declared, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” (Luke 7:16). Peter later preached, “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). Jesus is the Prophet who was raised up.

He came from among His brothers. “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?” (Matthew 13:55-56). The people took offense at His ordinary background, but Jesus replied, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household” (v. 57).

Jesus was like Moses in remarkable ways: protected as a baby from an evil king, called out of Egypt, baptized in a river, tested in the wilderness, speaking with God face to face on the mountain, giving God’s law, providing bread for the people, and being rejected again and again. Yet He was greater than Moses. On the Mount of Transfiguration, while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5).

How Shall We Listen?

How do we listen to this Prophet? First, we listen to His Word. In some discipleship circles it has become popular to treat hearing God’s audible voice as the normal Christian experience. The New Testament never commands this as normative. While the Pharisees, Pilate, Judas, and Herod all heard Jesus’ physical voice, most of them did not truly listen. Hearing sounds is not enough; we must obey what we hear.

What a treasure it is to have God’s Word in our own language! When the Scriptures are read, it is as if Jesus Himself is speaking to us. Every morning we can open the Bible and hear from God—if only we will listen.

We do not limit how God may speak through dreams, visions, or inner promptings. Yet any claim to speak for God must be tested. Moses gave us the standard: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22). Many today claim prophetic insight yet are proven wrong again and again. We should not listen to them.

Jesus is God’s final and greatest Word. “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” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The things written in the Gospels are so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name (John 20:31). To listen to Jesus first means to believe in Him and receive eternal life.

We also listen with the help of the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth and makes Christ intimately present with us—closer than any external voice. Through the Spirit, Jesus dwells in our hearts, guiding us day by day in joyful fellowship with Him.

Why a Prophet?

Moses explains why God would raise up this Prophet:

“Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ … ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.’” (Deuteronomy 18:16, 18)

The people were right to fear; they could not bear God’s holy presence in their sinfulness. A mediator was needed. Man cannot climb the mountain to God. So God, in the person of Jesus Christ, came down the mountain. Jesus died so that the separation could be bridged and we could draw near to our holy God (Hebrews 10:19-22).

This is the heart of the gospel invitation—even for the struggler, the broken, and the weary. God does not demand that we clean ourselves up enough to ascend the mountain. Instead, He came down and died so we could enjoy intimate, joyful fellowship with Him.

A Joyful Warning

There is also a serious warning: “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:19). Those who rejected Christ’s words faced judgment in AD 70, and all who reject Him will face His word as Judge on the last day (John 12:48).

Practical Response

Church, in a world that constantly beeps, buzzes, chirps, flashes, and dings for our attention, let us fix our gaze on the Word of God. A small practical step: buy an alarm clock. Put your phone in another room at night so the first voice you hear in the morning is not the world’s—but God’s. Open the Scriptures and let Psalm 1 or any part of God’s Word shape your day.

Meditate on His Word until it becomes the voice that echoes in your heart—greater than any other influence. When anxiety rises, let His promise sound loudest: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” When temptation comes, let His Word rise up: “I have made a covenant with my eyes…” When sorrow presses in, let His comfort speak.

Jesus is the Prophet we must listen to. Let us listen joyfully. Let us listen in faith. Let us listen in obedience.