Let us look in Hebrews chapter
five. And trust the Lord will bless the
service, the message this evening as we are studying more about
our high priest. Hebrews chapter five, and beginning
with verse one, we'll read down through verse 10. For every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, who
can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself also is encompassed with infirmity.
And by reason hereof, he ought, as for the people, so also for
himself, to offer for sins. No man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also
Christ glorified not himself to be made in high priest, but
he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten
thee. As he saith also in another place,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. who
in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though
he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,
called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. To this point, to this point
in the letter of Hebrews, the writer has spoken of the Lord
Jesus Christ as high priest three times. Three times he's referred
to the Lord Jesus Christ as the high priest. And I would remind
us that the term high priest was never used, never found in
the word of God until the covenant that God made with the nation
of Israel at Mount Sinai. Now there had been priests since
Adam, but they had been the heads of the families. They had been
the priests. It was Abel here in Hebrews chapter
11. When we read about Abel, what
we read about him is something that he did when he was acting
as a priest. By faith, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And all of us are
familiar with Job, the first chapter of Job, where we read
about him being an upright man and the fact that he offered
sacrifices for his children. We're told that just in case,
just in case one of them may have cursed God in his heart. He offered, he was a head of
the home. He was a priest, acted as a priest. And I want you to look back in
Exodus with me just a minute. Exodus chapter 19. Remember the
law is given in chapter 20. So what we are reading about
here in Exodus chapter 19 is something that took place before
God gave the law, the covenant. The covenant. Remember the Ark
of the Covenant. What was in the Ark of the Covenant?
It was the law. The law was a covenant that God
made with Israel at Sinai. But this happened before that. God told the people, He told
Moses, now you put a boundary around Mount Sinai and you make
sure that no man, no beast, no animal is able to come up on
that mountain. Because if they do, they're going
to be destroyed. God is coming down on this mountain.
Notice in chapter 19, if you will, beginning in verse 21, And the Lord said unto Moses,
go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord
to gaze, and many of them perish. Now notice, and let the priest
also. You see, there were already priests,
but God had not chosen Aaron and his children at this time
to be the high priest, to be the priestly family. But there
were priests. God said, and let the priest
also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest
the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for thou chargest
us, saying, set bounds about the Mount and sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, away,
get thee down, and thou shalt come up thou, and Aaron with
thee, but let not the priest and the people break through
to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. Beginning with chapter five here
in Hebrews and going through chapter 10, the writer speaks
about the Lord Jesus Christ as high priest. But I want to go
back now and point out once again, emphasize once again, there were
priests before the law was given. But when the law was given, the
covenant was made with Israel at Mount Sinai, then the office
of the priest The tabernacle, the sacrifices was all set forth. And there became a high priest. Aaron was the first high priest. And then of course it passed
to one of his sons and to his son. So there never was a high,
there were priests, but there were never high priests before
the giving of the law, giving of the covenant. And the office
of the high priest was all important. was all important in that old
covenant. And as I said, now with chapter
five and the next six chapters, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
and 10 here in Hebrews, the writer is going to deal with Christ
as a high priest, but he's also going to bring in the fact that
there's a new covenant. There's a new covenant. And Christ
is a mediator of the better covenant, the new covenant. He's a high
priest. This letter was originally written
to Hebrews. That's the reason it's called
Hebrews. That is Jews who had professed faith in Christ and
in confessing faith in Christ, they had confessed that he was
their high priest. That that high priest that officiated
in the temple in Jerusalem was no longer their high priest because
they had accepted, confessed, the Lord Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior. And they are under temptation
and under persecution to look back, to turn back, to go back
to that old system, that old system that had everything that
you could see and touch and feel. And that's what man wants. That's
what the natural man wants. He wants to go into a religion
that's beautiful as far as pageantry is concerned and the music and
the incense and the show, the ceremony, everything that appeals
to the flesh. That's what the natural man wants.
And they were under pressure, under duress, no doubt, to turn
back, to look back. If you look in chapter four and
verse 14, the apostle said, let us, notice the last part, of
verse 14, saying then that we have a great high priest that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us, let us
hold fast our profession. Let's not turn back. Let's not
let loose. Let us hold fast our profession. Now, in these verses that we're
looking at tonight, I want to point out to us four must. M-U-S-T-S. Four must concerning
Christ as High Priest. Four must. First, that which
must be true of Christ as our High Priest in verses one through
three. He must be taken from among men. He must be taken from among men. Notice what he said, for every
high priest taken from among men. He must be a man, an angel. An angel could not serve as a
high priest, just as Aaron of old was taken from among men. So our high priest, he must be
taken from among men. Just as the work he is to do
is for man, he himself must be a man. Now it was necessary in
order for Christ to be a mediator. A mediator, Paul said, is not
of one, but of two. We have God, we have man. For
Christ to be a mediator, he has to be one with man and one with
God. He cannot just be God. You know,
that was one of the heresies that some people, because of
the Greek philosophy that anything tangible was evil, was wicked,
then there was those who came into the early church and said,
well, he just looked like a man. He really wasn't a man. Oh, yes,
he was. Oh, yes, he was. Look at 1 Timothy
with me. Paul points this out in 1 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 5. when he said, for there is one
God, one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man,
Christ Jesus. Very important, isn't it, that
we point out and recognize that he is a man. Yes, he's God, absolutely,
but he's also man. Great is the mystery of godliness,
the apostle Paul said. It is a great mystery. Our faith
is a great mystery. The gospel is a great mystery.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So the office of the high priest,
it required that Christ be taken from among men. In Psalm 89 and
verse 19, God said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out of
the people. You say he's mighty? He's the
mighty God. I have laid help upon one who
is mighty. But at the same time, he is one
who is chosen out of the people. He is God-man. So that's the
first thing that we see, he must be taken from among men. Second, he must offer both gifts
and sacrifices for sins. For every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that
he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. The high priest, the
first high priest and those who followed him, they offered gifts
of incense upon the altar. Remember there was a brazen altar. If you had approached the tabernacle
when you went through that outer or into that outer court, the
first thing you would see would be the brazen altar. That's where the animals were
sacrificed. That's where the blood was poured
out at the bottom of that, of that altar. And then you would
have seen the laver where the priest washed. And then when
you entered into the holy place, you wouldn't enter, but the priest
would enter. You would see the table of showbread. You would
see the lampstand, which was the only light inside of that
tent. Christ is the light of the world. Christ is the true bread, which
came down from heaven. Everything in the tabernacle
pictured Christ in some way. But also, you would have seen
a golden altar, and on that golden altar, the high priest would
burn incense every day. He would take a live coal from
off the brazen altar, and he would bring it in, and upon that
golden altar, he would burn incense. So he offered gifts. The gift
that Christ offered was his life himself. He is that sweet-smelling
savor unto God. Incense is sweet-smelling, isn't
it? Personally, I don't care for
it. I've been in some places where they burn incense. And
I didn't much care for it. But the incense that was burned
in the tabernacle, I know it was sweet smelling, don't you?
In fact, it was a capital offense to make that incense. God gave
the recipe of what went in, the mixture that went into that incense. And for anyone else to make up
that incense, they were under sentence of death. But that incense
was burned, and it is a picture, of course, of his prayers, of
his intercession. But also, Christ, when it says
here that the high priest was was ordained of God that he may
offer gifts, I think of his life, first of all, a sweet smelling
savor, even though it is true that sacrifices are also referred
to as gifts, but he offered himself first of all. And unlike the
sacrifices that Aaron offered for sins, which could not remove
sin, We know that he offered that one sacrifice that has forever
put away sin. The third thing, so first of
all, he must be taken from among men. Second, he must offer both
gifts and sacrifices for sins. And third, he must be compassionate. He must be compassionate. Notice
that. who can have compassion on the
ignorant and on them that are out of the way. For that he himself
also is compassed about with infirmities. He must be one who
is capable of sympathy. When we think about our great
high priest, he is compassionate, isn't he? He has to be. have compassion on those who
are ignorant. Many times we're ignorant of
the things of God. We're all still learning, aren't
we? And it seems like we learn slowly. We're slow learners.
We're all still learning about Christ. And we're all always sometimes
out of the way. We just mess up. That's all you
can say. We're just out of the way. Well,
what does he do? Does he just shun us? Does he
just put us off? Does he just cast us out? Oh,
no. Oh, no. He's a compassionate
priest. The sum of what is said, according
to John Calvin, the sum of what is said is that Christ is a brother
to us, not only on account of unity as to flesh and nature,
but also by becoming partaker of our infirmities so that he
is led and as it were formed to show forbearance and kindness,
the kindness of Christ. Now to this point, To this point
in these three verses, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ meets
all that the high priest must be, but now here is one exception. Notice, verse three, and by reason
hereof he ought as for the people so also for himself to offer
for sins. That is not true of Christ. It was true of the high priest.
Look back with me to Leviticus chapter 16. It was true of every
high priest under the law. He had to offer a sacrifice First,
for his own sins, on the Day of Atonement, the only day that
the high priest entered into that most holy place with the
blood of an animal as an offering, before he carried the blood of
the goat, which was a sin offering for the nation of Israel in there,
he took the blood of a bullock. And whose sin was that to put
away? Typically. His sin, the high
priest's sin. Look at that in Leviticus 16
and verses three and six. Thus shall Aaron come into the
holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram
for a burnt offering. And then down to verse six, and
Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is
for himself. and make an atonement for himself
and for his house. Now, here in Hebrews chapter
five, speaking of Christ as our high priest, he was taken from
among men. Yes, he was a man. He offered
gifts and sacrifices for sins. Yes. He has compassion upon those
who are out of the way, but he never had to offer a sacrifice
for his own sins. Why? He had no sin. He had no sins of his own. And
if you look here in Hebrews 7 and verse 26 and 27, this is emphasized
to us For such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, separate
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needeth
not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first for
his own sins, and then for the people's. For this he did once
when he offered up himself. He did offer one sacrifice for
the sins of the people, but he offered no sacrifice for his
own sins because he had none. He's holy, harmless, separate
from sinners. He did not partake of a fallen
nature like you and I have. Now that's the first must. Now
here's the second must, that which must be true of the calling
of Christ as our high priest, verses four through six. No man
taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God,
as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He must be called of God. When the covenant was given there
were those who disputed about Aaron being the priest. When
that old covenant was given and the first high priest was set
up, you know, there were some of those Israelites who said,
Moses, you and your brother Aaron, you're just taking too much upon
yourself. We're all holy. We're all holy. Well, God said, well, let's just
settle this matter. Look with me in Numbers, you
remember this, Numbers chapter 17. Let's just settle this matter
and see who it is that I have chosen, that I have appointed
to be the high priest. Numbers chapter 17, in verse
1, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, and take And take of every one of them a rod according
to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according
to the house of their fathers. Twelve rods write thou every
man's name upon his rod, and thou shalt write Aaron's name
upon the rod of Levi. For one rod shall be for the
head of the house of their fathers, and thou shalt lay them up in
the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony. where I
will meet with you. And it shall come to pass that
the man's rod, is it going to be Reuben's? Is it going to be
Judah's? Is it going to be Simeon's? Is
it going to be Naphtali? Who's it going to be? Well, you
take Levi's rod and you put Aaron's name on it. And you lay those
12 rods up before me in the tabernacle. And it shall come to pass that
the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom, and I will make
to cease for me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby
they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children
of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece. Now I want you to remember a
rod, what a rod was. It was a tree, a small tree that
had been cut and it was dead. It was just as dead as it could
be and it was dry. No life in it whatsoever. And
all 12 of them were equal in that sense. They were dead. It was like a piece of wood that's
been dried out. Now they're laid up, all 12 are
laid up in the tabernacle. And Moses laid up the rods before
the Lord in the tabernacle of witness and it came to pass that
on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness and
behold the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and
brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms. and yielded almonds."
That's amazing, isn't it? It's amazing to us, God did it. Nothing's impossible with Him. It's all dry, dead, raw, just
like those dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, remember? They were very
white, very dead, very dry. But when Ezekiel began to preach
the gospel to them, What happened? He prayed and spoke to the wind,
to the breath, and life came. God brought life, just like he
did. That's what God does when he
saves a sinner, isn't it? By nature, all of us are dead. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. We're dry. We can't produce fruit
unto God. Anything we touch is contaminated
because we are contaminated with sin. And then God comes. Amen. God comes. And God does
something for us that we cannot do for ourselves. He gives us
life. Life. Eternal life. And we live unto the Lord. God
settled this issue, didn't he? With the Israelites of old. To be the high priest, a man
had to be called of God. God called Aaron. He didn't call
any of these other tribes, men from these other tribes. He called
Aaron. And God was jealous. God is a
jealous God, and He was jealous over the work of the priest. Remember, two of Aaron's sons,
even, they were destroyed. Why? Because they offered strange
fire. Where did they get that fire?
Evidently, they didn't get it off the brazen altar. They got
some fire somewhere, but it wasn't from God's altar. And they brought
it into the tabernacle that day, and both of them were destroyed.
You remember King Uzziah. He decided he was going to do
the work of a priest. He's going to burn some incense.
And God smote him with leprosy. And until the day of his death,
he was a leper living in a separate house. God was jealous over this
office of the high priest, of the priesthood entirely. Now the writer here in our text,
he quotes two verses from two Psalms, from Psalm 2 and from
Psalm 110, to show how that the Lord Jesus Christ, he was called,
it was necessary, it was a must for a man, a man did not just
go to, what do they call it, in school when they have days
and they have people come from different professions and talk
to the students and you make a decision what you want to be.
Man didn't just decide, well, you know what, I think I'd like
to be a high priest. No, man had to be called, had
to be appointed. It's very important for us to
see that Jesus Christ, he was appointed, he was called to this
office. That's what the apostle tells
us. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made a high priest, but this is the way he became
the high priest. God said unto him, this day have
I begotten thee. What day? He took the eternal
day. He has always been the eternal
son of God. And God also in another place
took an oath another time. God took an oath. And thank God
he did. He swore and he said thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And we'll say
more about Melchizedek. But the fact that he was appointed
that he was ordained to this office, tells us that in him,
you and I in him, just as he has acceptance and right into
the most holy place, so that in Christ we too are accepted. Paul said in Romans 5, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen, by whom also by whom
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. In other words, in Christ we
are accepted, just as he was appointed to be the high priest,
and he is accepted and the Holy of Holies at the Father's right
hand. So in Christ, we too are accepted. Now the third must, that which
must be true of the conduct of Christ as our high priest, verses
seven and eight, he must be faithful in the discharge of his responsibilities. The apostle, the writer says,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared,
though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things that
he suffered. He must be faithful. He must
be faithful in the discharge of his responsibilities as a
high priest. We've all read, we've all heard
of men in this life, in this world who have been promoted,
who have been placed in places of responsibility, and then they
proved unfaithful to their trust. proved unfaithful. They did not
discharge the work that they were given to do. But that is
not true of Christ our Lord. Even though His faithfulness
involved sufferings and even death, He was faithful. And I believe this verse refers
to what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane when it speaks
about who in the days of His flesh when He had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto
him. We know that he sweat as it were
great drops of blood, and I think it's only natural we assume that
there was tears also that he shed there. And notice he was
not praying to be saved from death. Sometimes people read
this and they say, well, he was praying and asking God to save
him from death, dying. No, this verse tells us he was
heard. He was heard and that means God
answered his prayer, but he did die. He wasn't praying to be
saved from dying. That's not what he was praying
for. Now, there's no doubt in my mind that as he saw what was
going to take place, or maybe in that cup, think of the sins,
all of the sins of you. If you are a child of God, all
of your sins, and not just yours, but all of his elect from the
beginning to the end, All of those sins were going to be laid
upon him. And he was going to experience
what no other man has ever experienced, and that is the wrath of God,
the full wrath of God was going to fall upon him. God's justice
was going to be meted out unto him. And the father's face would
be turned from him. There's so much in those things
for a holy person as he is holy, eternal son of God. So many things,
to be made sin, to experience the wrath of God, to have the
Father forsake him, whatever that means. There's so much in
any one of those things that would have caused him to shrink
back from that, yes. But nevertheless, he prayed,
not my will, but thy will be done. One writer said the chief
object of Christ's agonized prayer was that his sufferings might
be effective in the salvation of the lost. That his prayer,
his sufferings, his strong crying and tears, The chief object of
Christ's agonized prayer was that his sufferings might be
effective in the salvation of the lost. And what does it mean
when we read here, he learned obedience by the things that
he suffered? Well, this just reminds us once
again that he was a man. As God, he knows all things,
always has, always shall. He's omniscient, but he learned
by what he experienced. We've all heard someone make
a statement something like this. He has a lot of head knowledge,
but he doesn't have any practical knowledge. I've heard people
say they got a new boss and he's got a lot of head knowledge,
but he doesn't have any practical knowledge. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he learned obedience by suffering what he suffered. He learned
what it is by suffering. what suffering is, experimental
knowledge. And the last must, that which
must be true of the work of Christ is our high priest in verses
9 and 10. He is the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. Being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. It's interesting that the word
perfect here, the word became the author, and being made perfect,
the word perfect here, it means complete. complete. And listen, it's the same Greek
word, which is translated finished in John 19 and verse 30, when
Christ upon the cross said, it is finished. It's the same Greek
word, which is here translated perfect. In John, the truth of
the finished work of atonement is declared. It's finished, made
perfect, complete. And here, the finished or perfect
Savior is presented to us. Eternal salvation. You know the
scripture here in Hebrews speaks of eternal redemption, eternal
inheritance, eternal covenant, and here of eternal salvation
for everyone that obeys Him. And to obey Him is what? is to
trust Him, to believe in Him, first of all, and then to serve
Him. That's the reason the scriptures
always show that a person receives Him as Lord and Savior. Not Savior and Lord, but Lord
and Savior. obey Him, He becomes our Lord
when we trust Him and obey Him. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here tonight.