We turn for our text to the portion
we were reading in the prophecy of Malachi Malachi chapter 2
and verses 5 and 6 where we read of the priestly covenant Malachi
2, 5 and 6 My covenant was with him of life and peace And I gave
them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid
before my name. The Lord of truth was in his
mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me
in peace and equity, and he turned many away from iniquity. And then also in verse 7, For
the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek
the Lord at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord
of hosts. The priestly covenant spoken
of then in this portion and you may have observed as we read
through the first chapter and also the first part of this second
chapter how the prophet very much addresses himself to the
sins of the priests. What does he say there in chapter
1 at the end of verse 6? O ye priests that despise my
name, and ye say wherein have we despised thy name? And then again, here at the end
of verse 10, we read of them profaning the covenants of our
fathers. How the Prophet then very much
comes now to rebuke them. We find something similar in
the book of the Prophet Ezekiel there in the 34th chapter. How
he addresses himself, against all the shepherds, the spiritual
shepherds in Israel. And those spiritual shepherds
were to be found in the offices of the priests, and the prophets,
and the princes, or the kings. How God had raised up these three
offices, and they were to be those who were, as it were, the
spiritual fathers of his ancient people Israel they were to minister
to them but there in that 34th chapter of Ezekiel how God has
to rebuke them because they failed so so miserably he goes on to
promise how that he will yet raise them up I fight for shepherds
and that faithful shepherd of course none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ himself and remember how Christ is spoken of there
as David although his equal ministers all those years after David had
reigned and then died but the promise is in verse 23 of that
34th chapter I will set up one shepherd over them and he shall
feed them even my servant David he shall feed them and he shall
be their shepherd and I the Lord will be their God and my servant
David a prince among them I the Lord have spoken it. God would give them a true shepherd
in him who comes as the great priest and the prophet and the
king Christ the fulfillment of those three covenant offices. But here Malachi is particularly
addressing himself to those who were the priests. And from verse
6 in chapter 1 right through to the 10th verse here in chapter
2, he speaks of the many sins that these men were guilty of. And we can observe three things
initially. How they were those who dishonored
God. Again in the opening chapter
in the first part of that 6th verse, the Prophet has got mouthpiece
says, the son honoureth his father, and a servant his master. If
then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master,
where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto
you, O priests that despise my name. Or they were guilty of
dishonouring God. The Son honoureth his father,
Remember the commandment, the fifth commandment that God gave
to Israel? Honor thy father and thy mother. It's the first commandment with
promise. And if they are to honor their
earthly parents, how much more should they honor God? And yet
these men who were given this great privilege to be the priest
in Israel, how they dishonored the name of the Lord God. They despised the name of the
Lord God. Why? What did they do? Instead
of honouring God, they disobeyed. They disobeyed God with regards
to their offerings. Verse 7 of Chapter 1, Ye offer
polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say wherein have we polluted
thee? In that ye say the table of the
Lord, that is the The altar of the Lord is contemptible. And
if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer
the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy
governor. Will he be pleased with thee,
or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts?" Oh, they disobeyed
God. They were told quite specifically
what they were to bring in their offerings, they were always to
bring the very best of the flocks. That was the law that God laid
down to them in the book of Leviticus, that book that contains all the
instruction with regards to their sacrifices, be they burnt offerings,
or sin offerings, or trespass offerings, every sort of offering.
And God says there in Leviticus 22, Verse 22, blind, or broken,
or maimed, or having a wane, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall
not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire
of them upon the altar unto the Lord, either a bullock or a lamb
that hath anything superfluous or lacking in his parts. How
they were not to offer that that was in any way inadequate they
were only to bring and sacrifice the best of their herds and the
best of their flocks but they disobeyed as they dishonored
God so they were disobeyed and as I said they also despised
God how did they despise him? well look at the language there
in verse 10 of chapter 1 He's speaking to the priest, remember,
who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought. Or they wouldn't even shut the
doors of the temple for nought. Neither do you kindle fire on
mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your
hands. Or they wanted payment, they
wanted some reward for everything that they were doing. as they
pretended to offer sacrifice and to worship God. He says at
verse 12 in that opening chapter, But ye have profaned it, in that
ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof,
even his meat, is contemptible. He also said, Behold, what a
weariness, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts. nor they found the service of
God a wearisome thing. It was the last thing they wanted
to be doing. These are the solemn words then
that the Prophet is commanded to bring and said particularly
before the priests in his day. And they have this commandment
from God in the second chapter. And now, O ye priests, he says
this commandment is for you. And going at verse 4, ye shall
know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might
be with Levi Seth, the Lord of hosts. And then we come to the
word that I announced as our text. These verses 5, 6, and
we can also include verse 7. My covenant was with him, that
is, with Levi. Because the priests were taken
from the tribe of Levi, they were the descendants of Aaron,
of course, who with Moses was of the tribe of Levi. My covenant was with him of life
and peace, and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he
feared me and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was
in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked
with me in peace and equity, and he turned many away from
iniquity. For the priest's lips should
keep knowledge, and they should seek the Lord at his mouth, for
he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." Let us consider for
a while something of this covenant. The priests Covenant. It was a covenant of peace. Now historically we are told
this covenant of peace was made with a man called Phinehas who
was the grandson of Aaron. He was a man who stayed the plague
in Israel when they were guilty of a terrible sin. They committed
whoredom and idolatry with the Moabites. And we read of the
incident in the book of Numbers. You turn back there to Numbers
chapter 25. And we have the particular incident,
the account, the historic account of it is found in this particular
chapter, chapter 25. You can read the chapter at leisure
but he says there Verse 10, How the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
Phinehas, the son of Aliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest,
hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while
he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consume not the
children of Israel in my jealousy. God would consume them because
of their whoredoms and their idolatry. Wherefore say, Behold,
I give unto him that is unto Phinehas my covenant of peace,
and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant
of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his
God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. Read
the opening part then of that chapter and see how nobly and
how boldly this man acted on the part of the Lord God, even
against those Israelites who were guilty. It was then the
covenants of peace. And we see then that there was
a certain glory in the priesthood. What was the task of those priests
in the Old Testament? Many ways we see how in the book
of Leviticus they were ministers of the gospel. Because Leviticus
is a gospel book. It's full of remarkable types
and foreshadowings of the Lord Jesus Christ and that great sacrifice
that he came to make. What did the priests do? Well,
firstly, of course, they were to offer the sacrifices. And
they were not doing what God required. They were bringing,
it says in verse 7 of chapter 1, polluted bread. He offered
polluted bread upon mine altar, not literal bread, but the sacrifices,
or as it were, the bread of God. When they offer these animals
that are blind, lame, sick, they refuse to bring the very best
of the flock, He says here at the end of chapter 1, Cursed
be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth
and sacrifices unto the Lord a corruptible thing. For I am
a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful
among the heathen. Oh, they had this great privilege,
they were gospel ministers offering the sacrifices, but in the days
of Malachi, how they failed so miserably. and didn't live up
to that honor of bringing the very best to the altar of God. But those priests, they didn't
just make sacrifices. They also were those who were
to present prayers. Priestly office wasn't just that
of sacrifice. They also interceded on behalf
of the people. And what does he say there in
chapter 1 and verse 9? Now I pray you, beseech God that
he will be gracious unto us. This hath been by your means. Will he regard your persons,
saith the Lord of hosts? All he, in a sense here, is bidding
them to pray. Here is Malachi, you see, and
he's the Lord's servant, he's the Lord's prophet. and he's
addressing himself, he's addressing himself in this passage as I
say in particular to the priest and he says to them and now I
pray you beseech God that he will be gracious unto you that
was their great privilege they didn't just serve at the brazen
altar making the sacrifices they also served God at the golden
altar where they burned incense and remember how the golden altar
and the incense is clearly a type of prayer, and it's brought out
for us in the book of the Revelation, that last book of Scripture that
is so full of signs and of symbols. What
do we read? There in Revelation chapter 8
and verse 9, we read of the golden censer. The golden censer, it
says it was given It was given unto him much incense, that he
should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden
altar which was before the throne." The golden altar where they burn
the incense, it's indicative of the offering up of the prayers.
And that was the privilege of the priests. They were not just
sacrificing. But they were to be those who
would be pleading and praying for the children of Israel. And
of course when we come to the New Testament, when we come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, we see Him clearly as that One who is
the Great High Priest. He doesn't just make sacrifice. But He also prays. We have the
record of His high priestly prayer there in the 17th of John. And
now having accomplished His priestly work upon the earth in the sacrifice
he has entered into that within the veil and he ever lives now
in heaven to make intercession for all that would come to God
all the priests were so privileged they offered sacrifices yes they
presented prayers and they also pronounced the blessing and we
often use those words the Aaronic Blessing. Those lovely words
that we find at the end of Numbers chapter 6. And the significance
of what they do when they pronounce such words upon the tribes of
Israel. We're told at the end of that
6th chapter, the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, Speak unto Aaron.
Mark that. Speak unto Aaron and unto his
son saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel.
saying unto them the Lord bless them and keep them. The Lord
make his face shine upon them and be gracious unto them. The
Lord lift up his countenance upon them and give thee peace. And we see that it is, it's a
threefold blessing. It's the Lord, the Lord, the
Lord. It's Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And then it says, and they shall
put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. Three lords, and yet my name,
not my name, it's not a plural but a singular, that's the name
of God. When we think of baptism, they had to be baptised, it says,
by Christ in the name. of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. God is a triune God, and we see
it here in the blessing. But what is it that they do in
pronouncing this blessing? They are putting God's name.
They are putting the name of God upon the children of Israel. But what does God say as He rebukes
them? Here in verse 6 of chapter 1,
no priest, he says, that despised my name. All the blessing was
to pronounce the name of God and to declare that name over
the people. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make
his face to shine upon them and be gracious unto them. The Lord
lift up his countenance upon them and give thee peace. But they despised they despised
the very name of God. All these priests, these highly
favoured men, these gospel ministers as it were there in the Old Testament,
offering sacrifices, presenting prayers, pronouncing blessings. But then fourthly, they were
men who were also to teach the people. All they were to teach
the people. Verse 7 of the second chapter, the priest's
lips, should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Lord
at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. The priest, you see, in a sense,
they were also teaching. When we think of these offices
in the Old Testament, the threefold office of the priest, and the
prophets and the king well in a sense it wasn't just the prophets
who were speaking the word of God the priest also as it says
here in the seventh verse they should seek the Lord at his mouth
he is the messenger he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts
and how the Lord himself did speak unto Aaron concerning this
There in Leviticus 10.11, that ye may teach, all the children
of Israel which the Lord spake unto Moses, they were to teach.
All that the Lord God had given to Moses, the first five books
of Scripture, the Pentateuch, the writings of Moses, speaking
under the inspiration of the Spirit, it was the priest's task
to instruct the people In the Word of God they taught. They
taught the people of Israel. And we see it. So remarkably,
there in the book of Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter 8, where
we read of Ezra the priest. Ezra the priest is the one who
is there before the assembled company of the children of Israel.
And what does he do? Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah 8 at verse
2 following, you'll see him reading the Lord of the Lord. He reads
the Lord of the Lord and he expounds the Lord of the Lord. He tells
them the sense of the Lord of the Lord. Oh, what privileged
men these priests were. And then finally, they were men
who were also to make judgments amongst the children of Israel. The law of truth was in his mouth,
we're told here in verse 6. And iniquity was not found in
his lips. They were men who were to judge,
write judgments. and we see it again when we go
back to those books of Moses in Deuteronomy and there in the
17th chapter of Deuteronomy's book Moses' writings Deuteronomy
chapter 17 verse 8 it says if there arise a matter too hard
for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea
and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of
controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and get
thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto
the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall
show thee the sentence of judgment. You see, the priests of the tribe
of Levi were to be there making judgment. Again, in chapter 19
of Deuteronomy, verse 16, If a false witness rise up against
any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both
the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord,
before the priests, and the judges which shall be in those days
they were men who were given great discernment to understand
controversies and to make judgments and now we see again that it
was the judges of course who were to make the judgment in
the matter of leprosy there in Leviticus chapter 13 If someone
was suspected of having that highly contagious, that strange
disease which has a spiritual significance, he is to be brought
to the judges. And the judges examine the man,
not the judges, the priests. The priests are the ones who
make the judgment and decide whether it is or is not a plague
of leprosy. But all these great privileges
that was granted to these men, the princes, all was treated
with utter contempt. And so what does God say to them?
Here in verse 8, that ye are departed out of the
way, ye have caused many to stumble at the law, ye have corrupted
the covenant of Levi. saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore
have I also made you contemptible and base before the people. All the privileges, my covenant,
God says, was with him, with the priest, of life and peace. And yet, what did they do? They
corrupted that covenants of the Lord God. But let us turn from those Old
Testament priests and recognize that in a sense what we have
in the words that I read as our text is a prophecy. And it concerns of course the
Lord Jesus Christ. It concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that One with whom God
has made a covenant. If we go back to the previous
book, in Zechariah chapter 6, and at the end of the chapter,
well verse 12, we have these words, Speak unto him, saying,
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose
name is the Branch. That's the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He is the Branch. and he shall grow up out of his
place and he shall build the temple of the Lord even he shall
build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and
shall sit upon his throne and he shall be a priest upon his
throne and the council of peace shall be between them both. All the council of peace is between
this one who is called the branch now in the historical context
of course Zachariah is their ministering at the time of the
rebuilding of the temple of the Lord in the days of Ezra the
scribe and the priest. And he's encouraged them in the
rebuilding of the temple of the Lord. But when we read here in
verse 12 of this sixth chapter of him who is the branch, there's
a spiritual significance. It has a greater fulfillment
in Christ. Christ is that one then who is
to build the temple of the Lord. That is his church. I will build
my church, he says. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord. And he shall bear the glory and
shall sit and rule upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon
his throne. And the council of peace shall
be between them both. We have the council of peace
and also here in the text we have the covenant and it's a
covenant of peace it's the same thing my covenant was with him
of life and peace and I gave him to him for the fear wherewith
he feared me and was afraid before my name the Lord of truth was
in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips he walked
with me in peace and equity And he turned many away from iniquity,
for the priests' lips should keep knowledge. And they should
seek the Lord at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord
of hosts. Of whom does the prophet speak these things? We might
well ask. Remember how the Ethiopian eunuch
asks Philip that question as he's reading there in Isaiah
53. Of whom is the prophet speaking?
And here in our text tonight, who do you think it is that the
Prophet is really speaking of? Is he speaking only of the priest
of Aaron, or are we simply to see it in that historical context,
or is there a greater here? Isn't this passage really speaking
to us concerning the dispensation of the Gospel? Again, you see,
if we go back to chapter 1, look at what it says in verse 11.
For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the
sun, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place
incense shall be offered unto my name, and the pure offering
For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of
hosts. Now, clearly verse 11 there is speaking of this day
in which we're living, the gospel day. It's not just speaking in
Old Testament terms of the children of Israel and the Levites and
the priest of Aaron. It's speaking of God's name being
great among the Gentiles. and incense prayers being offered
in his name. It speaks of the gospel day. And it speaks therefore of the
day of Christ and so to our text. Christ is the priest. He is a
different priest to those priests of Aaron. Psalm 110 and verse 5, the Lord
hath sworn and will not repent that thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. He is a priest after that order
of Melchizedek. The priesthood has changed. Oh,
there's a change in the priesthood. Isn't that really the great message
that he said before us when we read in the epistle to the Hebrews? That's a great theme really.
There's been a change now. And there in Hebrews 7, Hebrews
7 and verse 11, If therefore perfection
were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law, what further need was there that another priest should
rise after the order of Melchizedek? and not be called 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 spoken pertaineth to another tribe of which no
man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Judah of which tribe Moses spake, nothing concerning
priesthood. Or there is a change from the
law of Moses. There is a priest now after the
order of Melchizedek. Who is that priest? Who is that
great priest? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the mediator of a better
covenant. That is a covenant that is better
than that that we have in the Old Testament. The law and all
that pertains to the law, every part of it. The ceremonial law
is all gone. Christ is that one who has come
and As the mediator of a better covenant, so we're told, it is
established upon better promises. Oh, there was great privilege
there for the priest in the Old Testament, but what of this priest?
Why we read of him concerning him of better sacrifices? So,
read through Hebrews and notice how time and again we have that
word better, better. better promises, a better sacrifice,
a better priesthood. All we read then of the Lord
Jesus Christ and how as a priest he never despised his priesthood. The difference you see between
what we have here in Malachi as he has to come with God's
solemn message rebuking those priests of Aaron who fell so
far short of the glories that belong to their various functions. But what do we read concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, how He fulfilled, how He fulfilled all
His priestly office? Oh, we often speak of those words
in Hebrews 5, who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered
up prayer, and supplication 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 the obedience by
the things that he suffered how he learned obedience how he was
obedient how his prayers were heard it says in that he feared and there you know in Hebrews
5 7 heard him that he feared, the
margin says he was heard for his piety he was heard for his
reverence how he is ever that one who seeks only to be obedient
to all the will of the Father and to finish the work that the
Father has given him to do how he is obedient obedient to all those undertakings
in the eternal covenant, and obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. And what does it say? My covenant
was with Him of life and peace, and I gave them to Him for the
fear, wherewith He feared me and was afraid before my neck.
He was heard in that He feared. And this covenant of peace, why?
What has He done? In His obedience unto the death
of the cross He has made peace through the blood of His cross.
What is His sacrifice? It's the propitiation for our
sins. Now I know that propitiation
is a long word, it's a technical word, it's a theological word,
it's a biblical word, and we do well therefore to consider
the significance of it, but what does it do? It speaks of peace. It speaks of God's wrath, satisfied. How the Lord Jesus Christ has
come, you see. Oh, there's that Godward aspect
to His great sacrifice. He is the priest. And He has
offered a better sacrifice. And what is that better sacrifice?
He's the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And
what did He do there upon the cross? He had visited upon His
Holy Soul all the wrath of God, God who is angry with the wicked
every day. How the Lord Jesus Christ has
made that great sacrifice, the propitiation, peace with God,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. all my covenants was with him
of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith
he feared me and was afraid before my name and as a priest Christ also prayed to
God as I said we have it there in the 17th of John that remarkable
chapter where we see him previously as a prophet, instructing the
disciples. Chapters 14, 15 and 16, those
blessed discourses. He teaches them, he speaks of
the great promise of the coming of the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
How it is expedient that he go away from them, if he goes not
away The Comforter will not come, but as He finishes His work,
as He is exalted at the Father's right hand, so is the One who
sheds abroad the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. But having
given all that instruction in those three chapters, then we
turn to the 17th and there we see Him praying. Oh, how He prays,
how He prays to the Father. After He had offered that one
sacrifice for sins, That's what he will do next after his high
priestly prayer. We see him as a sacrificing priest
in the following chapters 18 and 19. Then we come in the last
two chapters to his resurrection from the dead. And then he ascends
on high. After he had made that great
sacrifice, one sacrifice for sins forever, he sits down on
the right hand of God. He enters heaven now to appear
in the presence of God for his people wherever lives to make
intercession for them. Oh, this is that precinct that
we are to look to, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And as
he is a priest, so he is a prophet. The Lord of Truth was in his
mouth. Iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me
in peace and equity and He turned many away from iniquity, it says. Oh, how grace was poured into
His lips in the language of the Psalm, Psalm 45, that Messianic
Psalm speaks of Him, does it not? Grace poured into His lips. Oh, the law was given by Moses,
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And here is that one,
you see, that we see, as I said back in the 11th chapter, 11th
verse of chapter 1. God's name is to be great among
the Gentiles, it says, and in every place incense shall be
offered unto my name, and a pure offering. And where to present
that offering, you see? We're in holy priesthood, if
we're the lords, we're in holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, it says. Were these men in the Old Testament,
these priests of Aaron, highly favoured, blessed men? Yes, they
were. But every believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ knows greater blessings we present to God spiritual sacrifices. That's what we should do. Again,
Peter speaks of believers as that chosen generation. He says, a royal priesthood,
and holy nation of peculiar people that you should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light. That's the calling. of those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's what we come together for, is it not? On the Lord's
Day we come together to show forth His praises. To set forth the glory that belongs
to Him as the Great High Priest of our profession. Who are we?
Those who do avail ourselves of all that Christ is. the fulfillment
of all those offices. He is the Prophet. He is the
King. He is the Priest. He is that
David that was promised there in Exodus 34 and it's our privilege, it's
our blessing to come and to come to God by Him and to know that
we have an interest in that blessed covenant that He has sealed by
the shedding of his precious blood. God says of Christ, my
covenant was with him of life and peace and I gave them to
him for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before
my name. The Lord of truth was in his
mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me
in peace and equity and did turn many away from iniquity. For
the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek
the Lord at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord
of hosts. Oh, the Lord then bless these
words to our souls tonight. Amen. We're going to close as
we sing the hymn 121. The tune is Beatudo. Number 97, what is him contrasting
the priests of Aaron and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus in their
eyes behold a thousand glories more than the rich gems and polished
gold the sons of Aaron wore. The hymn 121. Jesus, in Thee arise, behold,
A thousand glorious more, Than the rich gems and polished gold,
O sons of heaven o'er. They forced their own burnt offerings
brought to cut themselves from sin. My life was pure without
a spot, and Lord, I need You to lead me. God is constant as the day As
from the altar spills But Thy one offering takes away Forever
all our ills It could run through several
hands, could not cross their ranks, by never changing of its hands,
eternal was that grace. Come a year, with lots of lotties
o'er, There a-breathin' ever appears, Before the golden throne. But Christ, by His own powerful
blood, ascends above the skies, and in the presence of our God,
shows His own sacrifice. Jesus, the King of glory reigns
On Zion's heavenly hill Looks like a lamb that has been slain
And wears His priesthood still He ever lives to intercede before
His Father's face. Give Him, my soul, thy cause
to plead, nor doubt the Father's praise.