Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Hebrews chapter 5. We're going to take up where we left
off last time. Last time we looked at verse
1 of this 5th chapter. We'll pick up in the next verse.
But let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, how we thank You
for another day, another day that we can come together and
worship, assemble ourselves in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and know that, Lord, You're here. As surely as Your Word is so,
You're here. We pray that the message tonight
might be that which is honoring unto you. Help us, Father, as
we worship. Help us as we hear. Help me as
I preach. Speak, we pray. Cause the Word
to be taught to our heart by the Spirit of God. Give us faith
to see, to hear, to know, and to believe. For Christ's sake,
Amen. The Apostle Paul, as we've said
numerous times, he's talking to some converted Jews. Jews
that came up, children, sat under the Scriptures,
sat under the law, out of the Old Testament Scriptures,
the promise of the Messiah coming. And what Paul is doing is he
is showing these Jews how much greater the Lord Jesus Christ
is than all of the types that came before Him. All of the types. greater than
Moses. Oh, how much stock they put in
Moses. That was God's preacher. But the Lord Jesus, greater than
Moses, greater than Abraham, greater than the angels. Even the Sabbath day, that's
what we're looking at in chapter 4. We're talking about the rest,
the rest, the rest that believers enter into right now. These Jews,
the Sabbath day, that Sabbath day of that law, how much stock
they put. You can't do that on a Sabbath.
You can't pick up a stick. All of the stock that they put
in the Sabbath, they never realized it was a picture of Him who is
our rest. Our day of rest. He's greater
than the Sabbath, the day of the Sabbath, greater. Well, here
we are. We're now in the fifth chapter
and he's now dealing with the priest, the high priest. Oh, that beautiful and glorious
picture of that great high priest One day a year, the Day of the
Atonement, how He would go in, not without blood, and go into
the Holy of Holies and sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat.
The Day of Atonement, God would roll ahead. Oh, the blessed picture
and how that high priest was so important. That was God's
picture, God's high priest. And we looked last week, verse
1, 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. You know this. This is what Paul
is teaching them. You know this. We have a high
priest right now. One, the Scripture says, made
like unto His brethren. One who was made in the form
of sinful flesh. One who was compassed about with
the infirmities, yet without sin for Him. We have right now
one who is our peace at this moment. the Lord Jesus Christ,
our great High Priest who has entered, not by the blood of
bulls and goats, not by sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice
that was given back in the Old Testament. One sacrifice. And
by that one sacrifice, He has perfected forever those that
are sanctified, set apart by Almighty God. must have a high priest. We must have one who will intercede
for us. We must have an intercessor,
one who will mediate God Almighty. Man, here is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who had come into this world, redeemed His people, died
in their stead. Live for them, die for them,
rose for them, and now intercede for them. Now, in the Old Testament,
they had those high priests. Now, here's verse 2. It's talking
of 2, 3, and 4. It's talking about what those
high priests were in type. Now, they were men. They were
men. They were taken from among men. That's what the first verse
says. And here is what they were to do, verse 2, that who can
have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. Now realize, Paul is telling
them this is the way the Old Testament priests were. They
were, by reason, verse 3, herein he ought as for the people, so
also for himself to offer. for sins. He would go in and
he had to make a sacrifice. But he had to make a sacrifice
for himself because he was a sinner too. No man, verse 4, taketh
this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as
was Aaron. So I know that verses 2, 3, and
4, Paul is talking about in type. I mean, the actual figure who
was the type of the Lord Jesus Christ. These were actual men,
compassionate men, one who acted on the behalf of the people. But I want to look deeper. Let's look at the fulfillment
of what those priests were but in type. Who can have compassion
on the ignorant? I know those Old Testament priests
were compassionate men. They knew what those people were
going through because they were just like them, dug out of the
same pit. That's why I know I can stand
here and I can tell you how I feel because I know how you feel.
But we're out of the same pit. I can tell you of the struggles
that I have. And I've told you before, I mean,
you think it's not so, but you might think, well, you know what?
A preacher, he never thinks anything. He never kind of deviates or
anything like that. Let me tell you something. Preachers
do exactly the same thing. Frail creatures struggle. I know, I know how you feel. I got an email today from a dear,
dear lady. She asked me, she said, how do
you repent? How do you repent? And I thought,
what a tender, tender question. What a question that's wrought
out of a heart. that's truly, I believe, been
touched by God. One that's even concerned about
it. That Philippian Jadah, what must
I do to be saved? You get a question like that.
Almighty God speaks to His people. Repentance. What would you do?
I know repentance is a change of mind, but who changes that
mind? Who gives a new mind? Who gives
a new heart? You know what my answer would
be? What must I do? How do I repent? Stay under the
Gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. What
do I do? Listen to the Gospel. Hear the
Word of God. Listen to the preaching of Christ.
Don't leave. Don't leave. with one, in verse 2, who can
have compassion on the ignorant. One who acts with gentleness. One who is moderate in his passion
toward us. One who can have compassion on
the ignorant. Who in this place would not readily
admit, oh, how ignorant I am. Paul the Apostle, blessed of
God to pin so much of the New Testament, he said, oh, that
I may know Him, that I might know Him, that I might understand,
that I might hear. How often must we hear? We're so ignorant. You sit, you
listen, you hear the Gospel of God's free grace preached and
you think, that's what I wanted to hear. And we just heard it
here the other day. That message right there stirred
my heart because we're so prone to forget how quickly. Who can have compassion on the
ignorant? on those that are desiring fellowship
with Him. I want to follow. My sheep hear
my voice. Now, you take that Scripture.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me.
And as often as we've heard that Scripture, when we hear those
words, my sheep hear my voice, immediately the heart of a believer
He says, Oh, I want to listen. I want to hear His voice. It
just quickens your mind, your heart. I want to hear from God. I want to hear. I know that He's
interceding right now, praying for His people in this place
and every place where He's being honored. Praying right now for
the ignorant that their faith fail not. That's an amazing thought
to me. Praying right now that I don't
quit believing Him. Giving me faith right now. Right now. Remember, faith cometh. It comes and it comes and it
comes and it comes. It's not you've got it and you
just got it in your back pocket. Always have it when you need
it. It comes now. It's now. It's fresh. It's alive.
It's now. It's now. I need faith now. Faith from above, given to belief. How compassionate He is because
I'm so ignorant. Have compassion on the ignorant,
on them that are out of the way. out of the way. Let me tell you
what that means. Hymn number 17. Prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. Can it be? Can it be? Truly,
truly, can that be that all that I've been taught by His Spirit
in these Scriptures, can it truly be that I have a nature about
me that would leave Him in a second. I've got a spirit about me that
has no love for Him whatsoever. That which is flesh is flesh.
It's always flesh. It will always be flesh. I struggle. And that's the real me. That's
me. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am. I am. Not that I used to be. There's
nobody in here that used to be. You know, that's what we are
right now, out of the way. That nature that would lie to
me, deceive me, seduce me, just that old nature. Being made flesh. Our blessed Lord Jesus as the
fulfillment of those, it says in verse 2, for that He Himself
also is compassed with infirmity. The Old Testament priest was. There's no doubt about it. But
I'll tell you this, our Lord Jesus Christ made flesh. All of the frailties of this
flesh, He hurt, He thirsted, He hungered, tempted. Remember, we talked about that.
The devil tempted him. Tempted him to not believe God.
Tempted him to commit suicide. Tempted him. Tempted him. Yet
without sin. We have one who can have compassion
on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way, for that
he himself also compassed with infirmity. The Old Testament
priest? Yes. But our blessed Lord, too. It's comforting to me. He knows
what I feel like. He knows how I think. He knows
how I struggle. He was in all points tempted
like I am. Him, no sin. But He knows what
that temptation feels like. Never yielded to it. He didn't.
And I do every time. We have a high priest. There
was no guile found in his mouth, no error, no infirmity. Now, when he comes to the high
priest back in the Old Testament, by reason, verse 3, here, he
ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for
sins. The high priest was not a perfect
man. He was a type, he was a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest. But that Old
Testament priest needed the same atonement that the people needed. Picture. He needed the sacrifice
just like the sacrifice that he was sacrificing for them,
he needed it too. He needed to be covered. No doubt
he had a heart for the people. No doubt that he knew their infirmities
and had compassion, but he could go no further than that. He was
a type. He was a picture. All the hope that the people
had was in the one that that high priest in the wilderness
pictured. had to have one greater than
him. That's what Paul is telling his
Jews. That high priest that they looked at and thought so, had
reverence for him. They respected that office, but
he could do nothing for them. Frail. But concerning the one he pictured,
there was no failure in him. He needed no sacrifice. for Himself, perfect God Almighty,
deity, perfect humanity, the beloved Son, Christ Jesus. You think of Him now as one who
stands between you, me, God Almighty, one that loves His One that died. One that intercedes. One that
pleads His own merit. Compassionate. And here His body,
the church, here we are right now, totally dependent upon Him. He had no sin to answer for. But He answered for every one
of ours. Made what we are. Look at Hebrews. 727. Hebrews 727, who needed not daily
as those high priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own
sins and then for the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. The one who was offered The one
who was the sweet-smelling savor of satisfaction. He stands right now in the very
form in which he ascended into heaven. Never to leave that form,
our brother, our great high priest, our husband, our surety, the
One who has given His Word, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake
you. You'll never perish. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. He that cometh. How many times
have I thought of that passage? I've told you what I heard Brother
Henry say. It's a continual, present action. He that cometh
and cometh and cometh. God's people don't come one time
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He that cometh and cometh. He that believeth on Me shall
never He that trusts, trusteth. He that loveth Me. This is right now. I'm so thankful for all the times
that we've had together. I've been here now, I guess,
seven and a half years, and I'm so thankful. for every service
that we've been able to have. I'm so thankful that the services
we had together and those with Brother Scott and the precious
moments of all of that fellowship that we enjoyed. But I'll tell
you what, I'm glad we got it right now. This is now. As Brother Scott used to say,
now is now. Now. There is now. Therefore, no condemnation. Now is the day of salvation. Verse 4, No man taketh this honor
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. This office of a high priest, oh, what an honorable office
it is. The man that stands in that office,
that's God's priest. That's God's priest. And he's our priest. God's priest, our priest. God's satisfied in him. And by
the grace of God, we're satisfied and thankful. Thankful that there's one that's
going to answer for me. Why? Because I'm so ignorant.
I'm so out of the way. I'm a sinner. And there's one who knew no sin, who knows no
sin, made sin, answered for my sin, made what I am by nature,
and put it away. God cast it as far as the East
is from the West. And right now, This is how secure
I am. The Father's well-pleased in
Him. And being found in Him, the Father's
well-pleased with me. And it takes all the responsibility
off of me. Now, let me ask you this. Does
that cause me to have an attitude of, well, there's no possibility that I'll
be lost. Well, then it just doesn't matter
how I act. Oh, no. On the contrary, it has
the opposite effect. I'll tell you what it does. Number one, it makes you respectful
to Him. Number one, you fear God. You respect God. And it makes
you see something of yourself. And you stay in a perpetual state
of embarrassment. Yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. David said, my sin is ever before
me. I'm telling you, the very presence of sin, this old frail
creature right here, causes me to just continually ask God Almighty,
Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, I'm so sorry. Forgive me
for Christ's sake. And for Christ's sake, He's faithful
just to forgive us. Put away the debt of our sin
and forgive us. But that honor, that high priestly
honor right there, no man taketh this honor unto himself, but
he that is called of God as was Aaron. Aaron didn't call himself.
God Almighty called him. God Almighty appointed the tribe,
the family from which that high priest was going to be taken. Aaron and his sons were chosen
of God to fill that office. And when one died, the next one
took his place. He died and the next one took
his place out of that family. But I'll tell you, there's one.
that was chosen. So also Christ glorified not
Himself to be made an high priest. You know, we are walking on holy,
holy ground right here. I mean, just to stop and you
are looking at a Scripture that sets forth that the Father chose
the Lord Jesus Christ, glorified Him to be the High Priest, chose
His Son. I will tell you that we are so
far over our heads right here. Here is the blessed Son of God. who entered into an everlasting
covenant chosen by His Father. God's elect, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we elect in Him. God Almighty appointed Him to
be our great High Priest, God's High Priest. God chose Him. He that said unto him, Thou art
my Son, today have I begotten thee." Oh, who can enter in to
the depth, the wonder of the Holy Spirit's revelation that
would teach us something of our great High Priest. Chose Him
to be the High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, faithfully. took
that office given to Him of His Father and in agreement to that
everlasting covenant came into this world to redeem those that
His Father had given Him, flesh and blood. How would we
have ever known that? Christ Himself. equal with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, the Son of the living God made flesh and did not magnify Himself.
He didn't render that majesty to Himself. The Father chose
Him to do it. Glorified Him. And as the obedient
servant, The Father chose Him to that office, and He came into
this world, Him who was appointed to that office, He that was sworn to that office. Hebrews 7.21 says, For those
priests were made without an oath, the swearing of an oath,
but this with an oath by Him that said unto Him, The Lord
swear, and I will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek." We're going to look at that, Lord willing,
next time. God Himself united with flesh, perfect flesh, a body as thou
made me. has prepared me. And here, deity,
humanity, perfect union. Walked this earth absolutely
obedient. A man obeyed God on our behalf,
behalf of his people, his elect. before His Father obeyed every
jot and tittle of the law is our High Priest. We have a High Priest right now
that has an unchangeable priesthood. And He is answering for His people. And He will never forsake them.
Here is the warrant. for us to believe the record
that God has given concerning His Son. This is who He is. He is His Son. Thou art my Son. Today have I
begotten Thee. Here is all my hope. This is all your hope. If you've
got any true hope, The one who stands as the appointed
great high priest who is answering right now. Answering for his
people right now. One who is compassionate toward
his people who in this frailty of this flesh, ignorant and struggling and longing to follow, striving
after, He who knows that we are dust and frail and needy and
compassionate. The one who loves his people
and gave himself for them. Thanks be unto God. I don't have to answer for myself.
Aren't you glad? All false religion believes that they're going to
be able to answer for themselves. And I have no earthly idea. I
have no earthly idea of the depth of what I would have to answer
for. I am so ignorant. You talk about ignorant. Here's
the ignorance right here. Do you honestly think that you
could answer for yourself when there's none righteous,
no, not one? And He who is the righteousness
of His people, the righteousness by which you stand before God
accepted in the Beloved, the righteousness of God imputed. to all those that believe. And as I've said before, His
righteousness imputed to you, I'll tell you what evidence is
that, is that you believe Him. Salvation is by grace through
faith. And that not of yourself. It's
the gift of God. We have a great high priest,
compassionate, whoever liveth. to make intercession for us.
Amen.