The following message was delivered
on Sunday morning, November 6, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist
Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me in
your Bibles to the book of Hebrews this morning, the book of Hebrews. And I shall read in your hearing
verses 11 through 25. Hebrews chapter 7 verses 11 through
25. In this portion of the epistle
to the Hebrews, the writer is setting forth the ministry of
Christ as a high priest after the order, not of Aaron, but
after the order of Melchizedek, and in the midst of a rather
intricate yet blessed argument and development of thought, he
writes, now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood,
for under it hath the people received the law, what further
need was there that another priest should arise after the order
of Melchizedek and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For
the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a
change also of the law. For he of whom these things are
said belongs to another tribe from which no man has given attendance
at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord
has sprung out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing
concerning priests. And what we say is yet more abundantly
evident if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another
priest who has been made not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life. For it is witnessed of
him, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. or there is a disannulling of
a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
the law made nothing perfect, and a bringing in thereupon of
a better hope through which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as it is not without
the taking of an oath, for they indeed have been made priests
without an oath, but he with an oath, by him that said of
him, And the Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest
forever, by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a
better covenant. And they indeed have been made
priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered
from continuing. But he, because he abides forever,
has his priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also he is able to
save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him. seeing he ever lives to make
intercession for them. Now those of you who come regularly
to this place of worship and have been doing so for at least
a period of several months are very much aware of the fact that
we have come through a period of intense and sustained self-examination
in the ministry of the Word a period in which I preach some 23 messages
under the heading, Are You For Real? And what I am doing now,
before we take up our verse-by-verse studies in the book of 1 Peter,
is seeking to give some balancing truth from the Word of God by
focusing on pivotal texts of Scripture which constitute the
very meat and potatoes of the true Christian's confidence as
he continues in that compressed, that restricted way which alone
leads to life. And thus far we have examined
Philippians 1 and verse 6, Psalm 37, verse 24, and 1 Thessalonians chapter 5
verses 23 and 24. Now the text upon which we will
focus our attention today is Hebrews 7 and verse 25. Wherefore also he is able to
save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him
seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. Now as we look at the text it
is obvious that we cannot responsibly understand it without spending
at least a few moments seeking to catch at least the overarching
drift of its connection with what goes before, for you'll
notice our text begins with the connective word, wherefore. And as I was instructed as a
very young Christian, that whenever I found the word wherefore in
scripture, I should ask the question, why for? And this connective,
wherefore, at the beginning of our text, one of the favorite
connective words of the writer to the Hebrews, points us to
what goes before as laying the foundation to which this text
is a glorious conclusion. Now those of you familiar with
the overarching theme of the book of Hebrews know that it
is an epistle in which the writer, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
is setting before us again and again the better things of the
New Covenant. He is seeking to persuade Hebrew
Christians who are under tremendous pressure to go back to those
things of the old covenant, to abandon the realities of attachment
to Christ and the blessings of the new covenant. He is seeking
to show them that to do so is to go from the better things
to those things that are designated by a number of terms all of which
show that they are inferior to the realities that are now set
before us in Christ and in the gospel. And perhaps the best
way to summarize the immediately preceding emphasis is simply
to read a few sentences from Charles Spurgeon, who when he
began to preach on this text, introduced his sermon with these
words, When handling the Jewish types and figures with which
he was so familiar, the author was charmed to point out how
far superior the Lord Jesus Christ is to any and all of the priests
of the Old Testament dispensation. In this case, he is dwelling
upon the special honor of our Lord because his priesthood is
without end, seeing he himself is not put forth from the priesthood
by reason of death. A common priest under the Old
Testament served from 30 to 50 years of age, and then his work
was done. Priests of the house of Aaron,
who became high priests, held their office through life. Sometimes
a high priest would continue in his office, therefore, for
a considerable length of time, but in many cases he was cut
off, as other men are, by premature death. Hence, there was priest
after priest in the order of Aaron to go within the veil for
the people. But our Lord is of another race,
being a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, having
neither beginning of days nor end of life. He was made a priest
not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power
of an endless life. He continues to make intercession
for the people of God by virtue of his eternal life and perpetual
priesthood. In this respect, the true Messiah,
the Lord Jesus Christ, rises above all former priests. They were indeed but heights
and shadows of himself. And here, if you were listening
at all to the reading of the Word of God, you would acknowledge
that Spurgeon has captured the essence of this part of the development
of thought in the epistle to the Hebrews. Now in the light
of this glorious conclusion with respect to the unchangeable priesthood
of Christ, whose priesthood never changes because he is a priest
after the order of Melchizedek, A priest with endless life in
the light of this reality, the writer to Hebrews then pens the
words, wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them
that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives to
make intercession for them. And as I attempt to open up and
apply this text in your hearing this morning, I shall do so under
two major headings. We have, first of all, the assuring
affirmation. Wherefore, he is able to save
to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him. That
is the assuring affirmation and then in the latter part of the
verse we have the satisfying explanation seeing he ever lives
to make intercession for them. First of all, then, we begin
with the assuring affirmation, and there are three things that
I would have you note from the text that constitute this assuring
affirmation. First of all, the subject of
it. Our text abounds in pronouns,
wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost them that
draw near unto God through Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercession for them. But who is the subject of these
pronouns? Well, the subject is obviously
none other than the one designated in verse 22 by the proper name
and title, Jesus. By so much also has Jesus become
the surety of a better covenant, and they indeed have been made
priests, many in number, because that by death they are hindered
from continuing, but he, referring back to Jesus, because he, Jesus,
abides forever, has his priesthood unchangeable, wherefore also
he is able. So the subject of this assuring
affirmation is Jesus Christ himself, but not Jesus in abstraction,
but Jesus in his position and activity as a never-dying High
Priest. And it is important, as we seek
to examine the text, to remember that the reference to our Lord
Jesus in the words, those that draw near unto God
through Him, seeing He ever lives. These are not generic references
to our Lord Jesus, but they are references to Jesus, particularly
with respect to His position and activity as the never-dying,
ever-living High Priest. of his people. When we are confronted
with him in the preceding context, it is in terms of this great
reality that he has a priesthood that can never pass on to another,
because that which necessitated the passing on of the priesthood
in the Old Testament will never be true of him. It was by reason
of death, verse 23, that the Old Testament priests and the
high priests were hindered from continuance in their office. But because He will never die,
because He is possessed with an unending life, The subject
of this assuring affirmation is Jesus in his position and
activity as the never-dying High Priest. Now let me pause to say
by way of application that as the people of God we must learn
and relearn and relearn again that our increasing strength
and stability in the life to which God calls us in that restricted
way is in no little measure a life that will be stabilized and strengthened
and established in an ever-growing knowledge of the person and work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will take more than little
shots of happy feelings along the way to keep us in the way. And very, very early in this
epistle, The writer says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a
heavenly calling, consider, that is, exercise your mental faculties
under the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit in the presence
of truth. Consider the apostle and high
priest of our confession. We are to consider Him. We are
to think of Him. We are to exercise our minds
with respect to His person and work, particularly in terms of
His being our never-dying High Priest at the right hand of the
Father. So the subject then of this assuring
affirmation is Jesus Himself. but Jesus in his position and
activity as the never-dying High Priest of his people. But now,
in this assuring affirmation, having identified the subject
of it, what is the essence of it? What is the essence of this
assuring affirmation? Well, according to the text,
it is nothing less than his ability to save his people to the uttermost. Wherefore also he is able to
save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him. Now the key words are obviously
these. We'll take them in the order
in which they occur in the original text. to be saving, to be saving. What does that mean? Well, in
this passage To be saving means nothing less than to actually
impart to all of the people of God everything essential to their
complete rescue from sin and its consequences unto the total
number of the blessings of redemptive grace purposed by the Father
purchased by the Son and ultimately made the internal personal possession
by the work of the Holy Spirit. The essence of this assuring
affirmation is that in some way in connection with our High Priest
We are to be assured that He is able to save, to rescue from
all of our dangers, and to confer upon us all of the blessings
of His grace. And here the word uttermost is
used. Puntiless. The only other use
in the New Testament is Luke 13 and verse 11, and it may give
us a clue as to its meaning. Luke chapter 13 and verse 11. What does it mean to save to
the uttermost? Describing our Lord's ministry,
he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen
years, and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself
up. She could not completely come
to an erect position. She never had the posture of
someone completely or fully whole. She carried about in her very
body the visual evidence of her malady. That's the word that
is used here. And if that's the sense of the
word, then what it is saying is, He, that is, our great High
Priest, the Lord Jesus, is able to save to the uttermost, that
is, completely, fully, wholly, and there the focus would be
upon the extent to which his saving work will be accomplished. Others suggest that the Word
inevitably gathers to itself the idea of duration, not just
completely as to extent, but forever as to its duration. And some of the most astute linguists
and students of the Greek language say that probably both ideas
are inseparably bound up in the use of this word. But whatever
the precise nuance is and was in the mind of the Spirit of
God, this much is clear. This affirmation points us to
the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the
uttermost, that is, with a salvation that leaves nothing lacking,
that will be holy and totally complete in all of its parts,
in the hearts and lives, even the bodies of His redeemed ones. And in the original, the word,
he is able, comes at the end of the phrase. Wherefore, to say to the uttermost, he is
able. He is able. Do not I. He has the power and the will
to bring this work of deliverance unto its full completion. There is no want of power in
this never-dying High Priest after the order of Melchizedek
to save to the uttermost those that draw near unto God through
him. Let me pause and say by way of
application, as we have contemplated for these few minutes the essence
of this assuring affirmation, isn't this the great concern
of the true child of God? Having established it by the
grace of God, I have come through the narrow gate. By the grace
of God, I am found upon the restricted way. By the grace of God, I have
been kept upon that way to this hour. Yet knowing his Bible,
he knows that there are many who were persuaded that they
came through the narrow gate and were upon the restricted
way who ultimately apostatized. The great problem here in Hebrews,
there were those who tasted the good word of God. and the powers
of the age to come and openly profess a faith participation
in the virtue of the blood and righteousness of Christ and yet
they fell away. One of the sad things about growing
old is to see how many of whom at one time we would have, if
it were an ethically proper thing to do, we would have bet every
last nickel in our possession that so-and-so surely has come
through the narrow gate of due conversion. Having observed them
over a period of months or years, we would have said, surely so
and so is on the restricted way that leads unto life. There are
the ongoing evidences of attachment to Christ alone as the ground
of their confidence. There is evidence that they are
not living unto self, but unto Christ and others. There are
manifold indications that sin no longer exercises lordship
over them, and that they are not presenting their members
as instruments of unrighteousness, unto sin as the pattern of their
lives. And abundant indications that
they've divorced the world and thrown the ring away. Yet! Yet! We live long enough to see them
ultimately turn aside and out of the way. And as far as we
can see, irrecoverably, irretrievably, they live out the rest of their
days and die. And we have little reason to
believe they are anything but miserable apostates. And the
true child of God who sees this horrible, frightening reality
in Scripture, who observes it validated in the scope of his
own limited life's experience, his great concern is this, having
once established, am I through the gate and on the way, shall
I make it to the end of the way? Shall I be found at the end of
the way, crossing the river, and being ushered into the celestial
city, and there see my Saviour face to face? Well, you see,
for that child of God, the text like this is indeed a comforting
affirmation because it takes all of his attention away from
those who seem to come through the gate and be upon the way
and have since turned aside. It takes all of his attention
away from what he knows is in his own heart. the horrible potential
within his own breast, the actings of which he lives with day by
day, and it puts all of his attention upon a mighty and an able Savior. Wherefore, he is able to save,
to the uttermost, completely, he is able to save to the realization
in our own experience of every facet of being rescued from sin
and its consequences unto the full scope of all of the blessings
of His grace. So having considered the subject
of this assuring, comforting affirmation, the essence of it,
now look at the objects of it. Who has a right to claim this
passage for himself? That's a very, very vital question.
Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw
near unto God through him. Here the objects of this affirmation,
this assuring affirmation, are described not in terms of a general
description of all mankind. It doesn't say he is able to
save to the uttermost all of humanity. all the sons and daughters
of Adam because he's come to reveal the heart of a God who
so loves all of his creatures in all places in all ages and
to his so much all love and pure love undiluted love that he could
do nothing with any of his creatures but ultimately at last save them
all that's the vicious damning lie of universalism And it has
many, many forms, but our text lends no basis to it, nor does
our text give any encouragement to people who simply go through
the motions of a profession, of a decision for Christ. Notice
our text does not say, He's able to save to the uttermost them
who at one time professed faith in Him. Those who at one time
raised a hand, walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, There is nothing
here that points to anything that applies to all men in general,
or to a specific group of men who have made a profession of
faith, who have taken the name of Christ, who have gone through
some religious ritual associated with coming to Christ, but notice
the precision of the language. They are described as those literally
who are continually drawing near unto God through him. Now that's the description of
a true Christian. A true Christian is the man or
the woman who is continually drawing near unto the living
God through Christ, not again some nebulous Jesus, some Jesus
who is the concoction of the best insights of philosophers
and philanthropists. No, no, the Him is the Jesus
of the passage. He is God's only appointed and
final high priest after the order of Melchizedek, the long-promised
Messiah, God's final prophet, priest, and king. And the saints,
the true people of God, are described as those who are drawing near
unto God through him. Now let's take a moment to focus
upon those words. The word draw near. What does
it mean? Well it's the word used in a
passage we often quote. I trust we do in our personal
prayers. It's quoted quite frequently
in our prayer meetings back in chapter 4 in verse 16. For the
writer to the Hebrews saying, having a great high priest who
has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession, and then, reminding us that that
high priest can empathize with us in our trials and in our infirmities,
we have another exhortation, verse 16, let us therefore draw
near with boldness unto the throne of grace, Now in that setting,
the word drawn near, the meaning is obvious. Let us consciously
and deliberately seek to enter in to a present experience of
heightened, intensified communion with God. That's what he's saying
when he says, let us draw near to the throne of grace. Let us
truly pray. Let us enter into conscious,
deliberate, intensified approaches unto God in the light of the
fact that at his right hand is a sympathetic, understanding,
empathetic high priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities. So the term legitimately can
refer to the conscious action of the heart and soul of a believer
who is drawing near to God privately, or it can have reference to drawing
near to God in stated corporate worship. Look at chapter 10,
verse 1, for the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not
the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices
year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them
that draw nigh." Same word. Here the word draw nigh is found
in a very specific setting of the formal rubrics of old covenant
worship by which the priest in his activity, in the presence
of the congregation acting on their behalf, they were a people
drawing near to God. In the ways of his own appointment,
they were seeking to engage their hearts and minds and souls in
heightened, intensified avenues of heart communion and fellowship
with the living God. Now here, the objects of this
marvelous, this encouraging, this assuring affirmation are
true Christians. And how are true Christians described? They are described as a people
who are continually drawing near unto God. They have tasted and
seen that the Lord is good. They've come to possess that
eternal life which is described by our Lord Jesus in its essence
as follows. This is life eternal, that they
may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. To be a possessor of eternal
life is to have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. It is
to have known internal, real, heart communion with God and
with His beloved Son. And therefore, having tasted
and having seen the pattern of the disposition of the soul of
a true believer is one of drawing near unto God. But notice, it is those who draw
near unto God through Him. Through Him. That is, they do
not deal with God nakedly without the interposition of a mediator
and a redeemer. For they know that God outside
of Christ is nothing but a consuming fire to a sinner. They have no
silly notions that they can trip into the presence of God like
that stupid, spiritually blind Pharisee, and stand in the nakedness
of his own native Adamic ugliness, thinking that he was beautiful
in the sight of God, saying, Oh God, I thank you, I'm not
as ugly I don't do this, and I don't do that, and I am not
this, and I am not that, and I'm not even like this publican. No, no. A Christian is one who
does not merely draw near to God. If that made everyone a
Christian, then the way would be broad. There are many who
have great religious experiences that they would describe as experiences
with who will speak of being overwhelmed with a sense of the
majesty and the awesomeness and the love and even the kindness
of God. But when you speak to them, do
you know anything of a Redeemer? Have you seen yourself to be
so lost, blind, dead, and vile in and of yourself? that to draw
near to God you need one who can, by his activity, deal righteously
with the problem of your guilt, deal powerfully and effectively
with the problem of your defilement and your pollution, which makes
you odious to God? I look at you like you are talking
in a foreign language. No, The objects of this promise
are true Christians, and true Christians are described as the
ones who continually draw near to God, but always draw near
to God through Him. That is, through the mediation
of the Lord Jesus, through Him who is described in verse 27
as the One who offered up unto God this once for all sacrifice
of Himself. And the name of Jesus is not
something they tack on to the end of their prayers, because
that's something they picked up by osmosis being around Christians. No, they are conscious that if
they are to draw near to the one true and living God, who
is a consuming fire, Before whom sinless creatures bale face and
feet and cry one to another, Holy, holy, holy, surely they
must draw near. to the One who came from the
presence of the Father and brought to His work of redemption all
the power and the virtue of deity, joined Himself to a true human
soul and body in the womb of the Virgin that He might bring
to His work all of the essential qualities of a real but sanctified
and holy humanity. that in that humanity he might
live the life we should have lived, so that the Father could
say of one human being as he could say only of one from the
moment Adam fell, this is my son, my beloved, in whom I am
well pleased. Only one human being who could
say in truth, I do always the things that please my Father. And it is that one who in obedience
to the Father after the wrestlings of Gethsemane, not my will but
Thine be done, willingly, voluntarily in His position as High Priest,
made Himself the very offering that was presented up to God
and consumed by the fires of God's righteous judgment while
He hung upon the cross. feeling in his soul the abandonment,
the dereliction, the unleashed fury of God, causing him to cry,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Having been placed
in a tomb, the third day came forth in resurrection power,
Scripture telling us, raised through the glory of the Father,
yet he himself saying, I have power to lay down my life, I
have power to take it again. That mysterious yet glorious
Savior, bringing to His work all of the virtue and the power
of deity, and all of the necessary elements of a true humanity,
it is that One, who having been raised from the dead, is seated
at the right hand of the Father, there embodying in His person
and by His presence, there securing our access unto the very God
who sent him into the world. And every Christian says, without
mental reservation, without any equivocation, without any reservation,
I want no approaches to God, but through Him. But through
Him, I glory in the privilege of approaching the God of heaven.
calling him my father, knowing that his heart is towards me,
and all the engagements of his covenant mercy are towards me. This is the description of those
for whom this assuring affirmation is given. Not every Tom, Dick,
and Harry that names the name of Christ. Not all men and women
in general, but those who are drawing near unto God through
Him. Now I ask you, is that you? Could you be described as a man,
a woman, a boy, or a girl who as a pattern of life draws near
to God? through Him? Answer in your own heart, not
outwardly, but inwardly, with the honesty that you'll be forced
to reckon with in the day of judgment. When you pray, whether
it's giving thanks for your food, whether it's, quote, having your
devotions, if indeed you have them, Do you draw near to God? Do you seek to have true communion
with God? Not do you say your prayers,
do you have your devotions, but do you attempt to draw near? You see, bound up in that very
verb is the concept that there is an experiential going out
of the heart in affections and desires to God Himself. I'm not saying do you feel you
are able to draw near every time you seek to. I'm not saying do
you have the same felt awareness of having drawn near to the same
degree every time you seek to. That isn't my question. My question
is simply this. Do you seek to draw near to God? Do you even know what I'm talking
about? Or are you sitting there respectfully looking at me, but
in your heart of hearts saying, what is God's name? Is that what
I'm talking about? I say my prayers, I have my devotions,
I have family worship, but drawing near to God? That's what you're
talking about, my friend, if you don't know. And you've never
drawn near. Oh, once you've drawn near, and
you have known what it is to experience something of that
which is of the very essence of eternal life, to know God
and His Son, having tasted and seen that the Lord is good, the
Spirit of God is implanted within you, a disposition by His own
presence, which according to the words of the Apostle in Romans
8 and verse 16 and 17 in Galatians 4, 6, is ever moving. compelling, stirring us up to
draw near and to call him, Abba, Father. He has sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. In the language of Romans 8,
16, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are the children of God. And if the children of God then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, we've
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father! We know what it is to
draw near. And we know what it is, sometimes
with a more heightened awareness than others, that it's only through
Him when we consciously sin and our consciences are in a state
of turmoil because of the awareness of a specific sin, the angry
word, the lustful thought, the blatant act of insensitivity
or indifference, whatever the sin may be, in those times there
is a more heightened consciousness, O God. I hardly dare use your
name without fixing the gaze of my soul upon your Son. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. There are other times when we
may be so full of joy that we come right into the presence
of God with praise and adoration, and we are not consciously thinking
at that moment, I have access only in and through the mediation
of Christ. Dear people, why am I giving
all the qualifications? Because I don't want to load
any true child of God with a standard that goes beyond the Scriptures.
But at the end of the day, I didn't write these words. He is able
to save to the uttermost those that are coming to God through
Him. And if that's not you, then Christ
is not saving you to the uttermost. He'll damn you to the uttermost. Unless you repent and find refuge
in the blood of His cross. but a marvelous but succinct
description of what a true Christian is. He desires dealings with
God, but knowing himself to be a sinner, he knows he can only
have them in and through Christ. But his relationship to Christ
makes him God-hungry, God-thirsty, God-seeking. Bunyan has a marvelous
sermon on this passage. It's been a long time since I
read it, but when I was preparing, I remembered one point that he
made that has stuck with me through the years. He said, this passage
marks out very, very powerfully the line between true and false
religion. He said, in false religion, people
say they are having dealings with God, but it's not through
Christ. They say they're having dealings
with Christ, but it doesn't lead them to a life of devotion to
God. In either case, it's false religion. True religion finds
us drawing near to God, and ever and always through Christ. Well, having considered together
in greater fullness the assuring affirmation, much more briefly
now, look at the satisfying explanation. Why is it true that he is able
to say to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through
him? The word seeing or any substitute
for it is not in the original. It's very clipped language, but
it does set before us the satisfying explanation. How can these things
be? On what grounds does his ability
to save to the uttermost operate? And the satisfying explanation
sets before us two simple facts. The reality of his endless life
and the efficacy of his perpetual intercession. First, the reality
of his endless life. Look at the text. Seeing he ever liveth, he always living,
able to save to the uttermost, because he always lives. Now think of the contrast with
the Old Testament high priest. There would be a day in Israel
when a trusted, faithful, godly high priest would die. And those who had come particularly
in those most solemn, sacred days, the day to look upon that
particular high priest with unusual reverence and almost awe that
he would go into the immediate presence of God behind the veil,
going in with the blood on the day of atonement and come forth
and be able to say that sins are passed over for another year
and raise his hands in priestly blessing. What a horrible thing
it must have been when word would make its way through the camp
of Israel. Did you hear? So and so the High
Priest has died. How many times an Israelite who
lived a length of years might have known that experience. Well
you see the satisfying explanation of Christ's ability to say to
the uttermost All who draw near unto God through Him is, first
of all, the reality of His endless life. He ever lives! Our High Priest will never die! All of the authority with which
he has been invested, all of the work that he has accomplished
to make his priestly work in heaven efficacious, it will never
be frustrated by death. He ever lives! That's the great
emphasis of this whole section, where we are being taught that
he's a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. who having
no beginning nor end of days we have no record of his genealogy
he appears on the scene we have no record of his death he moves
off the scene and in so doing is a bit of a picture of him
who is the ancient of days who has no beginning as the second
person of the Godhead for in the beginning was the Word but
the Word became flesh Though he died, he was raised from the
dead never to die again. And in all the virtue of the
work accomplished in his life and death here upon earth, he
ever is living. It's the reality of his endless
life that explains the virtue and the power of his salvation. But then The focus is secondly
upon the efficacy of his perpetual intercession. An amazing statement. Seeing he ever lives. And you
Academy students, you have one of these constructions that indicates
a purpose clause. You have the preposition ice
or ace with the infinitive. And it indicates a purpose clause. Why does he ever live? Well,
if we were to turn to other passages with respect to himself, he ever
lives that he might ever enjoy the adoration of the host of
heaven as the reward of his suffering, as the reward of all that he
undertook on behalf of sinners. He ever lives to receive the
adulation and the praise of the host of heaven, the spirits of
just men made perfect. He ever leaves to carry on His
ongoing work of redemption, asking of the Father and receiving the
nations for His inheritance in the uttermost part of the earth
for His possession? And let me by a little aside
throw this out. Christian, you ever wondered
why did God send forth His Spirit at the precise time and in the
precise circumstances in my life that resulted in my conversion?
I believe the answer lies here in the parallel passages in John
17, when the Lord Jesus said, Father, that one is part of my
inheritance among the nations. Send your Spirit to get it now. When it pleased God, Paul said,
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. When it pleased God to reveal
His Son in me, God did it. Dramatically, yes, and in many
of us, much less dramatically. But if we are indeed those who
are coming unto God through We are the fruit of one dimension
of the ever-livingness of the work of Christ. But you see,
the emphasis here falls upon an amazing reality. He ever lives
in order to. If this is the only verse we
had, we would think this is the only reason Christ now lives
at the right hand of the Father, is to make intercession for us. Now this word intercession is
not a common word used as one of the many synonyms for prayer,
but a good illustration of its significance is found in Acts
chapter 25 and verse 24. And surely you're not weary in
trying to find out precisely what your Lord is doing for you.
Acts 25 and verse 24 And Festus said, King Agrippa
and all the men who are here present with us, you behold this
man about whom all the multitude of the Jews made suit unto me. There's our word. They made request
unto me. They presented a specific petition
or request with respect to this man. And then it is used in a
context where we would associate the concept of prayer in Romans
8.27, the Holy Spirit making intercession. Romans 8.34, Christ
died and risen from the dead, who is also at the right hand
of God who makes intercession for us. Now does that mean that
Christ is specifically making petitions to the Father? as we think of intercession here?
Does it mean that by his ever-living presence he himself is the embodiment
of all of the virtue of the saving work accomplished on earth, and
his very presence is the intercession? Well, it may surprise some of
you to know that godly—I'm not talking about speculative intellectual
religious eggheads, I'm talking about godly Christ-loving people,
have wrestled with that question, have written reams on that question,
and have entered into very serious debates about the question. And
I'll not weary you even to sketch in those debates, but one thing
is clear. If this text is given to those
original Hebrew Christians, pressured by affliction feeling the reality
of the pressures of their own sin, the pressure of their peers
to turn back, to turn away, to save themselves. If the writer
to the Hebrews wants to put that gleam in the eye by which they
seize the prize with their eye, surely he's conveying things
that ought to be to their comfort. And I believe we can draw our
comfort from this. without being dogmatic, since
Scripture is its own infallible interpreter, it is safe to say
that whatever it means that Christ, at the right hand of the Father,
as our abiding, ever-living High Priest, lives in order to pour
His risen life into interceding for us, that surely the contours
of His intercession are to be taken from the two great examples
of how he did that here on earth. There you have John 17 as the
broad outline of the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus on
behalf of his people, where he prays for their preservation
from evil and the evil one. He prays for their sanctification,
he prays for their unification, and he prays for their But then
you have that specific instance in the case of Peter, familiar
to most of you. In the interest of time, we cannot
turn and look at it in detail, but you remember in Luke 22,
31, Peter, Satan has desired all of you to sift you as wheat.
But I pray for you, specifically Peter, that your faith fail not,
and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. See,
if our Lord Jesus were not God, possessed in his divine mind,
with all of the knowledge of all of his people and all of
the earth, in every place, at any given moment, he could never
perform this task. But think of it. With his divine
mind, his intercession is as extensive as the unlimited omniscience
of God. But because he carried into heaven
the nature that he had here on earth, in which he was suffering,
in which he was tempted, in which he was distressed, in which he
was maligned and misunderstood, there is a reservoir in the heart
and mind of Jesus. For he still possesses that human
mind and human affection. He can join to all of the knowledge
of omniscience, all of the tenderness and the compassion and the empathy
of one who is in our state. Isn't that the teaching of Hebrews
2 and Hebrews 4? We have not a high priest who
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. One who has
been, not is, has been in all points tempted like us. We are
yet without sin. Well, if he shed the memory of
all of that when he left the earth, what comfort does that
give me? But if he's carried that with
him into heaven, ah, what consolation to know he ever lives to intercede
for me. But if he's not God, be so busy
with a lot of his other children who are doing far more important
things in the kingdom than I am, how could I ever expect to get
a hearing? Dear child of God, here's the
satisfying explanation for why he's able to save us to the uttermost! to the complete end of all that
He purchased for our redemption by His intercession, He secures
for us, His people, all that He purposed for us and purchased
on our behalf. I know, sitting there, you say,
Pastor, thoughts like that, they blow my mind. They blow mine,
too. to thank God that faith may sway,
where reason may only wane. And I say to every true child
of God sitting here this morning, who can say by the grace of God
I'm one of them, I do draw near to God through the Christ of
biblical revelation. That's the overarching disposition
of my soul. It has all of its variations
and vicissitudes and degrees of intensification. Yes, yes, but basically, that's
me! That's me! Then, dear child of
God, listen to this word. He is able. He is able. Able to say to the uttermost,
to the complete impartation of all that He purposed, the complete
deliverance of everything that has to do with sin and its influence
upon you. The explanation for it is the
reality of His endless life and the efficacy of His perpetual
intercession. Learn to look to Him as your
Say to him in prayer, Lord Jesus, why you would ever live. For
the purpose of giving yourself to intercede for me, I'll never
know. But you've said it, and it's
your statements of reality that will frame my faith in my expectations
and shape my prayers as I press on in that restricted way that
leads unto life. If there are any among us who
have come from a background where you believe the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church, I hope you've already seen how utterly
faceless it is. How in the world can marriage
intercede for you? unless she's God. And if you
make her God, then you're an idolater. And no idolater, she'll
enter the kingdom of heaven. Repent of your idolatry or you'll
perish. Oh, she's not God. She's just
a saint. Well, if she's just a human being
elevated above all other human beings, then she doesn't possess
the attributes of deity. She's not omniscient. How can
she intercede for the millions who this very moment are saying,
Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus, and then address petitions to Mary? Ask
her to intercede for us? Is there something wrong with
Christ's intercession that Mary must come along and make it up?
Shall the creature supplement the intercession of the mighty
Creator? Oh, my dear Roman Catholic friend,
begin to suspect all these darkness that have not a shred of evidence
of life. I say that not to get you upset,
but to get you to flee from everything that Christ has the hope of your
salvage. And my unconverted friends, boys
and girls, men and women, don't ever consider yourself a Christian
who you can be described this way. You are one. It draws me
unto God and Christ. But you can begin to be one here
and now, today, because Christ invites you to himself and says,
Him that comes to me, I'll in no wise cast out. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. But the flip truth is, from other
passages, any man, woman, boy or girl may come to the Father
through Him. If you will come, He is ready
to receive you. Dear child of God who has gone
through searchings of heart in recent weeks and months, may
God help you to lay into your heart this marvelous promise
of God's Word. Therefore, he is able to say
to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
lives, to make intercession for them. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for
your holy word. We pray that your spirit would
take of the things of Christ and write them upon our hearts
with power. O Lord, graciously rip away every
false hope of every man, woman, boy, or girl who is not coming
unto you by Jesus Christ. Grant our Father that the day
of judgment will reveal that the things preached today were
indeed owned of you for the edification of your own and the salvation
of those other sheep whom you said you must also bring. We ask these mercies through
our ever-living High Priest, the Lord Jesus. Amen.