Hebrews chapter 3. The last time we were in the book
of Hebrews, I looked at verse 1 and I would like to just look
at really the first part of the second verse of this second,
the first part of that second verse, but I'm going to read
the first verse again and we'll just look at the latter I mean,
first part of that second verse. Tonight, wherefore, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him
that appointed Him. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for the time that You've given us, Lord, to just come
together and assemble in Your blessed and precious name. How
we ask You, would You bless this word to our hearts? Lord, may
what is preached be honoring unto You. Help us. We're so weak and needy how we
need desperately Your guidance. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your
presence. We pray that all that's said
this evening would redound to Your glory and honor. For it's
in the precious name of our Savior we ask these things. Amen. Holy Brethren, That's who Paul was writing to.
Holy brethren. Can you imagine the wonder of
that statement? Wherefore, holy brethren. Brethren. Born in the same family,
same source. Holy. Born of God. brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ, holy, sanctified, set apart,
that Almighty God would set apart a people because it pleased Him
to do so. Who will He set apart? Those
that He chose to set apart. Not those that He looked down
in time and saw would choose Him. His choice was found only
in Himself. Holy Brethren, cleansed by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, blood that the Father saw from the foundation of the world,
the Lamb that was slain, the Father who gave unto the Son
a people and trusted in His Son. He who entered into that covenant
engagement For all that He represented, I will redeem them. Holy Brethren, robed in the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, it amazes me I stand here as
a weak vessel that struggles through every message that I
stand and preach and I think to myself, I'm looking, I'm convinced
upon those made righteous, holy by Almighty God. That amazes
me. I'm just so thankful that God
Almighty would allow me to be here. For takers, participants,
of that heavenly calling, a personal invitation. Almighty God does
not call people any other way except personally. I know my
sheep. I call them by name. You know, I think how before
the foundation of the world, the names written in the Lamb's
Book of Life and how in the fullness of time, Almighty God who ordered
all these things and brought them about and put the parents
together. And then they're kicking around,
you know. Well, what are we going to name
him? Well, let's call him Gary. Almighty God knew that name.
God named him. Consider. Contemplate with a
degree of care. Consider. muse upon it, the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. He is the one that we profess. He's the one we believe. God
Almighty has given His people a new heart, and they go through
this world. They sit under the gospel. They
stay under the gospel. They listen. And the Lord teaches
them and He grows them in grace. Instructs them. Sends them a
pastor. He said, I'll give you pastors
after my heart. And they'll teach you and instruct
you. And He calls a pastor and He
teaches that pastor. And He gives a pastor a heart
to preach. And the pastor sets forth. The Lord Jesus Christ and the
Spirit of God takes that message and blesses it to their heart,
and they hear it, and they believe it. God's given them faith, and
they contemplate in absolute agreement with Almighty God in
His report. Consider the apostle, he who
is from God to man, and the high priest. The one from man to God
to represent man before God. The apostle is from God to man.
The high priest is from man to God. Consider him. Now, let me ask you this. What
are we going to consider? This is what we're going to consider
tonight in just a few minutes. Verse 2, Who was faithful to
him that appointed him. Almighty God appointed a high priest. He appointed a
high priest. And this high priest is our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I want you to turn over to
Hebrews 5. Just a second. Hebrews 5, verses 1 to 5. Now you think about the Apostle
Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, is saying
about the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest. 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. And for that
he himself also is compassed with infirmity. For by reason
hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself to offer
for sins. No man taketh this honor upon
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." God Almighty called a high priest. Taken from among men, the Lord
Jesus Christ was made flesh. Out of men, there was the appointed
High Priest. An Almighty God who loved a people
from before the foundation of the world and chose out of every
kindred tongue and people and nation a people that He was surely
going to save, but they had to have a high priest. They had to have a priest. He
had to be faithful. When I look back and I look at
that word, who is faithful, there's only been one faithful man that's
ever walked this earth. One. One faithful man. Man by nature, he's unfaithful. He's unfaithful in everything
that he does. The best of men. I mean, there's
men, women that even sit among us right here. And you think,
you know what? If I needed anything, I could
depend on them. They'd be there. Well, they'd
want to. They'd mean to. And they'd plan
to. But you know, there's always
circumstances that come up. There's always those, you know,
times that you just don't, you know, I got sick. You know, something happened
to my car. I just couldn't, you know. There's
only one. And when we consider Him who
is faithful, this is what we know. We can depend on Him. You
can depend on God. You can depend on what He says.
Almighty God is faithful. He's faithful to His Word. When
He purposed before the foundation of the world and chose in Christ
a people, here's the bottom line. All that He's chosen, He's going
to have. And everything depended on the
faithfulness of the high priest, one who was from God, made himself
of no reputation, made in the image of sinful flesh,
flesh and blood like his brethren. And this faithful high priest said, all that the Father has
given me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me, listen to this word of faithfulness, I will
in no wise cast out. What if I stumble? I will in no wise, not if you
stumble, when you stumble. But here's the thing about it.
He who is faithful, it says that his people that stumble, they'll
get up, they'll realize, they know what they are, somewhat.
And they rise up in thankfulness unto Him who is faithful. Lord,
You've kept me. I didn't keep myself. I would
have left. That priest, that great high
priest, it was required that he be found
faithful. And Almighty God watched him,
scrutinized, saw every thought. Think about when the Lord Jesus
Christ would tell those Pharisees. He said, why think ye in your
heart? He's omniscient. God Almighty. who knows. I've mentioned this before. Have
you ever found yourself trying to read or trying to pray? I had some men call me this week
after Brother Scott's passing, and I appreciated what they'd
say. I heard this statement more than
once. I was trying to pray for you. And I thought, you know
what, that's honesty. I was trying. I was trying. I
was thinking about you guys. We were trying to pray for you.
Believers, they know something of themselves. But oh, how frail
and how quick I am. Let my mind just go off somewhere. trying to read the Scriptures,
trying to speak to our blessed Lord, but here is one, listen
to this, who was faithful. Faithful. Never, never, never
deviated. This high priest, this is who
he is. He is God Almighty, sovereign God, And being God,
the office of our great high priest, what merit? What merit? I mean, you think
whoever lives to make intercession for you, who answers for you? I'll tell you who he is. He's
God Almighty. Oh. It's God Himself who has everlastingly
loved me and chose me and watched over me and cared for me. It's
God Himself. What merit, what honor. This is not Aaron. This is not
some other high priest. He ever liveth. He's God Himself. Without ceasing intercession,
it's God Himself who is the object of our faith. This is who answers
for us, the one in whom we have total hope, who is able, there's
another good word, He's able. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come unto God by Him. Who answers for you? I'll tell you who He is too.
He's one made likened to we are, likened to us. One was going to have to be acquainted
with us to answer for me, to speak for me, to plead his own
merit as my representative, he had to be one made like I am,
yet without sin. He had to be one that was acquainted
with my griefs. That's a high priest that's going
to approach Almighty God on my behalf. He must know something
of my frailty. of my temptations. And He was
in all points. I think about that. Man, I'm
telling you, when I think about some of the stuff that's gone
through my mind, temptations. The temptations obviously are
not the sins because He was tempted in all points like as we are
yet without sin. But see, my problem is that I
yield to them, and I can't help it. Oh, I say I don't want to,
and I don't want to. But I'm telling you, it's like
before I even thought about it. There's one that is answering
for His people, the faithful high priest, one appointed of
God, God Almighty and the God-man, He who is my true representative. You see, the law was broken by
man. God Almighty gave Adam this command,
ìDonít eat of this fruit. You eat of everything else. When
Adam disobeyed God, he disobeyed God's Word. He disobeyed God's
law. He disobeyed God's command. He
disobeyed God. And by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. A just natural generation. He
came out of a fallen nature. And a fallen nature produces
a fallen nature. I needed one who was made flesh
and blood without the blood of Adam flowing in his veins. And this holy thing that is conceived
within thee, conceived by the Holy Ghost, Son of God. And He came forth
and He had flesh and blood, a body was prepared Him. and a body
that had all of the weaknesses of our fallen nature. He aged. We age because of sin. And He
aged. He was made like unto His brethren,
yet without sin. There was no sin there. But He
aged and He got thirsty and He got hungry and He got tired.
Everything that happens to us. And He knew what it felt like.
He knew what it felt like to be hated as a man, despised and
spit on. And he knew what it felt like.
He knew what it felt like, Dan, to have to trust God, have to
walk by faith. He was a man. He was a God man. And he knew exactly what it felt
like. Nothing I'm going through, nothing
you're going through that he didn't. go through. He knew what
it felt like. All points. And this law, God's
law had to be fulfilled. It had to be honored. It had
to be honored by a man. A man disobeyed God. A man had to answer God's law
and fulfilled it. Justice had to be satisfied.
A man disobeyed God. Somebody's going to die. Somebody's
going to pay for that. I said before, God doesn't sweep
sin under the carpet. Man sets forth this thing of
forgiveness, and they portray it as just, you know, somebody
just coming up and saying, well, I'm sorry, I'm just, you know,
God said, well, okay, well, we'll just forget about it. He's a
just God. Sin is going to receive justice. I need for justice to be satisfied. Who is this here that's faithful? Well, he's the faithful God and
he's the faithful man. That was a man that was faithful
to God, a man. I needed somebody that would
die under the penalty of what I am by nature. My sin was going
to have to be dealt with. He was made sin. He was made what I am. And God
Almighty dealt with the God-man in my stead. And He put away
my guilt. And I think to myself, there
is a faithful, faithful, High Priest is answering for everyone
that Almighty God gave Him in electing grace. Can I find a part in that? Well, let me ask you this. Do
you believe God? Do you believe Him? He died under
the justice and the judgment of Almighty God. God forsook
him. And in that forsaking, the Lord
Jesus Christ was put in the grave. Where is the hope that I have?
Here it is. Three days later, he came out
of the ground. He came out of that grave as the representative
of all that He lived and died for, He came out of the grave
as the firstfruits of those that He hung upon that tree for. And just like He came out of
that ground, we're going to come out of that ground too, just
like He did. We talk about the resurrection
of Christ, and here's the wonder of it. We're going to come out
just like He did. Raised in newness of life. Raised incorruptible. All these things that are so
far above my little feeble mind to comprehend. It's like I can
almost seem to grasp it. And I believe it by faith, I
do. But can you imagine the glorious
sight of those that leave this world and all of a sudden realize
that they're catapulted into the very presence of Almighty
God? Queen Sheba, when she saw Solomon,
she said, I didn't even know half of it. I never knew it was like this.
What I heard, I heard and I believed it by faith. I just never... Lord, You're right. The eye has
not seen, the ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the
heart of man that which God has prepared for those that love
Him. Faithful. Faithful. Faithful in life. He came into this world and everything
that He did, everything that He said, One purpose. The honor of His Father. His
Father had chosen a people. His Father would have them. He
agreed. He agreed in that everlasting
covenant. I'll answer for them. They're
yours. All that You've given Me. Father, I will. Those that You've
given Me. Be with me where I am. Robert Hawker said this, when
the Son of God stood up at the call of His Father as the head
and surety of His church, He became her representative and
the servant of Jehovah. And as such, faithfulness was
demanded in her redemption and salvation. Eternal salvation for the myriads that Almighty
God chose rested on His faithfulness. Any deviation, God's honor, God's Word, everything. rested on his faithfulness. Faithful. Faithful. His faithfulness was declared
by the Father at His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And oh, how
those words ring with the joy and the hope and the peace of
God's people. Not as it will. We hear it right
now. And we've heard it so many times
that often those words go right over our head. And we believe
them, but not like we will in that day. The surety. The obedience. The Lord says,
He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone,
for I do always those things. that pleased Him. He was faithful
in life, faithful in death. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. The Father knoweth me, even so
know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. He hath made Him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Faithful. Faithful. Faithful. No deviation. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. And now, as we consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Consider this. He's faithful. When we take our
last breath, turn to Ephesians 5 while I'm closing this evening. Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians
5 is one we often read at a marriage concerning the faithfulness of
our Lord, Ephesians 5, 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy. and
without blemish. Think of all that he endured. And I'm talking about as a man. God-man. Totally God. We've heard Brother
Scott say that. Just as much God as he was not
a man. Just as much man as he was not
God. God-man. Everything rested on
his shoulders. He came into this world bearing
her burden. He walked through this world
every day knowing what He was doing. He was representing His
bride, loving her, and giving Himself for her every day. Our minds often go to the cross
when we think about His crucifixion. But you remember this. He was
30-something years old. He said when he was 12 years
old, he said to those professors and everything, don't you know,
after he talked to them, he told his mom and daddy, don't you
know that I must be about my father's business? He knew exactly
what he was doing. Vitally aware, faithful, that
we might be holy and without blame before Him. Oh, the beauty
of the thought. that all that He's done in absolute
faithfulness, you can rest your soul on that. And we ought to
rest on Him. Lord, help me to trust You. Help me
to walk after You. You're faithful. Lord, faithfully,
as You said You would faithfully, Keep Me. You're faithful. Lord, You promised. Your Word. Make much of the promises of
God. Make much of God's promises. When this world appears as it will, and it does,
to crumble, remember who sent that crumbling. He sent it to
draw His people to Him who is faithful. May the Lord add His
blessing on this Word and cause us to rest in Him that you can
depend on. The faithfulness of the Lord
Jesus Christ for His sake, His honor, His praise. Amen.