Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 7. We're going to be looking at several
verses, 12 down through verse 22, but my main text is going
to be found in verse 22. by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament, a better covenant. The title of the message
then this evening is Christ Our Priestly Surety Our Priestly
Surety. Now we have seen in our study
of this book We have seen the Lord Jesus Christ was made a
little lower than the angels for suffering. He was made flesh. He was touched with the feelings
of our infirmities, yet without sin. He is by his very nature
God, very God, and yet was made man, very man, for this purpose,
that he should taste death for every man. The Scripture says
he should taste death for every man. Now we know this was not
every man without exception, but rather every man without
distinction. All the types and pictures pointed
to this, that he should taste death for rich and poor, bond
and free, male and female, In other words, he should taste
death for all the elect of God. For all the elect of God, he
should die for them. Those given to him of the Father,
he should taste death for them as a man. And through his death,
he being made a captain of our salvation, perfect, by his perfect
work, he is the captain of our salvation. the champion, the
victor of our salvation to bring many sons to glory. And this salvation of God's elect
in the Scriptures is pictured, and we have been discussing this
for quite a few times together, concerning the priesthood of
Christ. This salvation of which Christ had come to accomplish
as a man is pictured in the Scripture through the priesthood of Aaron. And this priesthood of Aaron
was never intended, never purposed to remove sin, but rather only
intended to picture the person and the work of Jesus Christ
as our great high priest. And that Christ, as Aaron was,
he was taken from among men to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sin. But see, Aaron's priesthood was
only a picture, only a type, only a shadow. Those priests who represented that physical
nation, they were representatives of the physical nation of Israel,
were only a picture of the Great High Priest, who represents a
much larger group of people, His elect, from every nation,
kindred, tongue, tribe, and people. I tell you, I was reading this
week concerning the book of Revelation and the 144,000. We know that's
a picture of all of the elect. It is a large number. It is a
large number that we don't know. And usually, in any given generation,
the number of believers seems small. But I tell you, in the
end, the Lord says it would be as the sand of the sea for multitude. There are many that Christ represented. Those priests in the Old Testament
only represented that little nation, and no one else. The great high priest, Jesus
Christ, was ordained of God to be, as we have read, a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, Aaron's priesthood was a
good picture of Christ, but it was not perfect. It was not perfect. Not a perfect picture. Why? Well,
Aaron's priesthood began at Sinai. It had a beginning, his priesthood.
Aaron's priesthood only lasted until the priest died. And then
after that, somebody else would have to take the place of that
priest, and so on through generations. Aaron's priesthood was never
finished with its work. It was always working in the
tabernacle and in the temple. They, being sinful men, needed
to offer sacrifices not only for Israel, but for themselves. So Aaron's priesthood, though
good as a picture of Christ, was imperfect because all of
these are inadequate things that don't
picture Christ. Therefore, another type, another
picture was needed. you see this in verse eleven
of our of our text here in chapter seven he said there if therefore
perfections were by levi's priesthood under it the people receive the
law What further need was there of another priest that should
rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order
of Aaron? You see, the Lord prescribed
that he should be after another order because Aaron's order was
insufficient as a type, as a picture. And therefore he needed a greater
picture to show us Christ, and Melchizedek was that picture. Therefore another type, another
picture was needed to be given concerning the priesthood, and
that was Melchizedek. Now this priesthood, this priesthood
of Melchizedek is greater because it was before the law. Melchizedek,
you remember, came to Abraham, which is the father of Levi,
the father of Aaron. So this priesthood was before
the law. Even so, Christ's priesthood
precedes all things. It was from eternity. The priesthood
of Melchizedek was superior because Levi paid tribute to him through
his father Abraham. Remember, the lesser is blessed
of the greater. You see, so this puts Christ's
priesthood greater than that of Levi. And this man had no
recorded beginning or ending, so it pictures Christ who has
no beginning or ending. And you know what? I was thinking
about this. He only has one recorded offering.
Melchizedek has only one recorded offering in Scripture. Isn't
that a picture? Christ offered Himself once. Once. What a picture! He offered
Himself once. So then he is a greater picture
of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. For Christ was ordained a priest
forever. He had no beginning and no ending.
This man Jesus, though he was taken from among men, was not
from this world. He says, I am not of this world. He was made flesh and dwelt among
us. And He was a representative of
a greater people than that little nation of Israel. For Christ
has a people, and He has redeemed out of every kindred, tongue,
and nation. And as Melchizedek was a king
and priest, we also see that this is a type, a better type
than Aaron, because Aaron was no king. None of the Levites
were allowed to assume the throne. That was of the tribe of Judah. That was a tribe of David. And
you see Jesus Christ being of the tribe of Judah is a king. But as this shows, he is not
only a king, but a priestly king. And this is what we discussed,
this is what I preached last time, is that he is the King
of Righteousness. That's the name, Melchizedek's
name means King of Righteousness. And he was king of a place called
Salem. So he was called also the King
of Peace. What a type of Christ that is.
Christ who is King of Righteousness and King of Peace. You see, Christ is a good picture
of this because He Himself is righteousness. He Himself is
righteousness. What does God require of man?
Now, there's a lot of people running around with different
answers on this. The Bible is clear about this answer. God
demands righteousness. perfect, absolute righteousness. Scripture says without holiness
no man is able to see God. No man is capable of standing
before God except he be as holy as God is. This is immovable. This is not a bendable rule. This is an absolute truth. And yet, I know this, most men,
if you are outside of Christ, listen, you are ignorant of the
righteousness of God. You have no idea what God requires. You have no idea what God demands
of you. Otherwise, you would submit to
the righteousness of Christ. Go to Romans. Romans chapter
10. The apostle was dealing with
these Jews, his brethren in the flesh, and he makes this same statement. Verses 1 and 2, he tells us,
he said, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israels, they
might be saved. And he said, I bear them record, they have
a zeal of God. You see, Paul's not denying their zealousness.
He's not denying that they were zealous to try to obtain righteousness
by their obedience to the law. You see, but their zeal is without
knowledge. He said, not according to knowledge. being ignorant of the righteousness
of God. And here is the evidence of their
ignorance. Going about to establish their
own righteousness. If you are going about to establish
your righteousness, if you are supposing that by any measure
of obedience. You can obtain righteousness. You are ignorant of the righteousness
of God. You have no idea what God demands. Any man that supposes in any
measure, any work of the flesh, or obedience of the law, determination
of the will to please God, you are ignorant of the righteousness
of God. In the previous chapter, Paul
says there are people who obtain righteousness. Now, this is true.
There are people that obtain righteousness. Look, in the previous
chapter, he says this in verse 30. He said, what shall we say
then? This is what we're going to say. That the Gentiles, which
followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness. Well, now, that's good news.
Somebody attained righteousness. Somebody's got it. And you know
who got it? The ones that didn't even work
for it. The ones that didn't even understand
the law. The ones that didn't even know
the law of Moses existed. These are the ones that obtained
righteousness. These pagans, sinners, vile sinners. And they did it without even
trying. They did it without all that
work. And he says, what does he say of Israel? But Israel,
which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained
to the law of righteousness. Why? Wherefore? How is this? Because they sought it not by
faith. Faith in Christ. You see, you
must know if you cannot obtain righteousness, how can one obtain
righteousness? I tell you of one who has obtained
righteousness, Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, the King of
righteousness, having obtained righteousness, now gives righteousness. To who? The unrighteous. This
is all of grace. This is all of grace. No merit.
all of grace. They didn't seek it by faith
in Christ. They sought it by obedience to
the law. They were ignorant of the righteousness of God which
they could never obtain It could never be earned by human
merit, never be earned by will or determination or desire, no
matter how hard they worked or sincerely they sought it. Why? Because all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. The Scripture is so clear as
to the condition of the natural man, it cannot be missed. All your best deeds are filthy before God. Cannot be missed. And I tell you, this ignorance
is common to all of Adam's race because Adam, in Adam, all died. No man by nature could attain
such understanding of the righteousness of God by nature except God give
him life. You cannot attain it. You cannot
know this. And if you do know this, it is
because God has given you life. If you believe on Christ and
have, like those Gentiles, attain righteousness, it is all by grace. It is all by mercy, free mercy,
without merit, without the works of the law. This is salvation
that God requires and that God provides. Man by nature is dead
because the scripture hath concluded, wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for all have sinned. You can kick and spit at that
all you want to. When Adam sinned, you sinned. It's not fair. I don't care what you call it.
It just doesn't ring true. God said
it. Your fight's with God then. Not with me. And Adam all died. What's the proof of this? Scripture
tells us that the natural man, the carnal mind, is at enmity. You see, if you're kicking at
it, you've just proved the point. If you despise it, you've just
proved the point of depravity. The natural mind is at enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So what do you have there? You
have both will and ability. You won't and you can't. That's
natural. Jesus said no man can come to
me except the Father which has sent
me draw him. So how then did these heathen
Gentiles obtain righteousness that were born dead, incapable,
incorruptible, unwilling to merit and unable to merit? How did
they obtain it? Through faith in this priest, Jesus Christ,
King of Righteousness. through faith in another to obtain
righteousness on their behalf." The work of another by a priest
to perform and execute all the righteousness of God on their
behalf. And that's what it says in Romans 3. It says, "...now
then, the righteousness of God without the law is It's shown. It's clear. The righteousness
of God that God requires is manifest. Being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets. By all these types and pictures,
it was witnessed how righteousness should come. Being witnessed
by the Law and the Prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Oh, how did righteousness
come by the faith of Jesus Christ? You know, it didn't say by the
faith of J.D. Farmer. See, righteousness didn't come
by your faith came by his. Now, his righteousness that he
earned by faith as king, he gives it to you. You see, I'm righteous because
it's given to me to be righteous, because God would give it to
me, because Christ earned it on my behalf as my priest. Therefore, Jesus, my high priest,
our King of righteousness, has obtained the righteousness of
God, and as King gives us righteousness through faith, in His perfect
salvation. And as King of Peace, our priest
offered himself to God, he offered himself as a spotless, sinless,
holy, undefiled Lamb. And it was there upon that cursed
tree that God imputed our sins to Christ. It was there that
He was made sin for us who knew no sin. You find it repulsive to be a
sinner? You who are a sinner, now made
righteous by God's imputation, impartation of the new nature,
you and I are repulsed by our own sinfulness. How much more
was he repulsed who knew no sin being made sin for us? And then
on top of that, God pouring out hell all on him. our representative he was nailed to that tree marred
by whips and fists of his foes and it was God in sovereign mercy
into us imputing our sins our transgressions our iniquities
to him that we committed that we would commit And in just and righteous act,
God made him sin. And as our priest, he offered
himself as a sacrifice. He suffered a just reward and
punishment. He endured the fires of hell. The Scripture says he shall make
his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed. Now, is
that not wonderful? What did he see when he suffered? He saw you. You Shall prolong his days and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands You know what the
pleasure of the Lord is it is your father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom When you have a disobedient child
is it not difficult to give him something I mean, here you go. I can't even believe I'm giving
this to you. That's not how God is. It is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. It is his purpose to give you
the kingdom. Matter of fact, it was prepared
for you before the foundation of the world. Your father's good
pleasure. How could he do this? Because
he saw of the travail of his soul and was forever satisfied. That's why. Forever satisfied. It is the Father's good pleasure
that all that Christ died for shall come to Him. That's a good
pleasure of the Father. I know we get weary. We see not
many come. Is the Father discouraged? Is
Christ discouraged with the number of believers in our generation?
You bet He's not. Matter of fact, he is right on
time in bringing the next son. Wherever he is, he'll bring him.
He'll bring him. It is the Father's good pleasure
that all that Christ died for should come, because he is satisfied. by the righteous by the knowledge
of his righteous servant he shall justify many for because he shall
bear their iniquities therefore Christ our high priest after
he offered after the order of Melchizedek in a similitude being
far greater and far superior to Levitical priests now look
at look at your text again go back verse 11 it says paul then ask the question
why then was this symbol to needed why was he after that well because
the vehicle priesthood did nothing it did not it was not a perfect
priesthood if the priesthood were perfect then why did god
purpose that there another priest come after another order it was
necessary because of imperfections. And in verses 18 it says, For there is verily
a disannulling of the commandment going before, for the weakness
and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect. The law made nothing perfect.
Now, the law is perfect. Paul said the law is good. Nothing
wrong with the law. But what the law could not do
in that it was weak through our flesh. God sending his only son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh in Christ. The law could do nothing. How foolish and wicked then is
it for men to try to obey the law and keep it in some measure? I have read men who say that
Paul here was not talking about the law completely, just the
priesthood. They said, oh, oh, he didn't
mean the moral law. He meant the priestly law. I challenge anyone to find divisions
of the law in Scripture. You won't find it. You'll find
it in many books, but you won't find it in Scripture. Why? Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things, all things written
in the book of the law to do them. The Law is the Law is the Law,
and listen, the Law never made one sinner perfect. All the Law
can do is condemn you. All the Law can do is curse you. The Law cannot help you in any
way, shape, or form. The Law is only meant to show
you your sin. So many of those people that
say that the moral law is still remaining for the rule of a believer's
life. Ask them what they do on the
Sabbath day. Remember, that's part of the moral law. The Sabbath-keeping
is part of the moral law. They say, well, we do that on
Sunday. You missed it! It's Saturday. You've already broken your own
law that you say is the rule of our life. No, it's not. No. So then the law is incapable. And so he says this in verse
19, but, this is good, but the bringing in of a better hope
did make something perfect, by the which we draw nigh to God. Those priests in the Old Testament,
they were commanded to draw nigh to God for the people, They must
do so year after year after year. Clearly, they could not make
anyone perfect, otherwise they wouldn't have need to go back. That veil every year was in their
face, showing them the way to God was not yet opened. Which things continued until
Christ made that one offering and what happened when he made
that one offering what happened? The veil that separated was rent
from the top to the bottom from God to man He rent the veil in
twain and made the way open So that we could draw nigh to God
We could draw nigh to God Therefore We are able now to draw nigh
to God. Why? Because you have a better
hope. You have a better hope. A better confidence. A sure confidence. If you're a believer in Christ,
I know this, you have no confidence in the flesh. No confidence. We have no confidence in our
ability to please God by any works of the flesh, by any measure
of ceremony. My confidence rests only in Christ. That's it. My confidence to be
accepted and draw nigh to God is through this man of better
hope. Better hope. and to testify again
to us of this sure confidence, he says this, this was done by
an oath. He said, "...inasmuch as not
without an oath was he made a priest. For those priests were made without
an oath, But this with an oath by him that said unto him, the
Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much, by an oath, was Jesus
made, listen, a surety, a surety, a surety. When you speak of God's oath,
This should give you real comfort because God's oath is immutable
as God is. And this, this is God's oath.
I made him a priest. I made him a priest and much
more than a priest. I made him a surety. Now what
is that? What is a surety? Listen, a surety
is one who represents another. It is one who assumes total and
complete responsibility for the debt of another in the case he
is not able to pay. Now this office of surety is
most clearly seen in Judah. Remember in Genesis 43 when Joseph
demanded that Benjamin should come to Egypt. And he says to
his father Jacob, I have to bring Benjamin. And he says, I ain't
losing another son. If I lose him, I'll die. And
you remember old Reuben, he said, well, I'll be a semi surety. I'll lose my property. If I don't
bring him back, you can take my stuff. He said, oh no, he's
much more precious than my stuff. Precious than all you got. He's
more precious than that. And then Judah came and said,
I will be sure of it. If I bring the lad not again
to thee, let me bear the blame. What was Judah saying? Kill me. If I don't bring him again, I'm
going to bear the reproach, the shame, and you can kill me. He bore all the responsibility
for the lad. Even so, Jesus Christ, in the
covenant of grace, agreed to be the surety, agreed to represent
the souls of God's elect people. The Lord Jesus, as their representative
man, lays himself out by an oath under the obligation to represent
God's people and bring them holy and without blame before God. Isn't that what it says in Ephesians
1? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
Where? In Christ Jesus, according as he had chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. For what purpose? That we should
be made holy and without blame before him. In love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ
in that covenant of grace willingly became a bond slave. Isaiah 50 says, Thou hast opened
mine ear. Remember, that's what the bond
slave had to do to keep his family. He had to bore his ear through
with an all. And he said, and I didn't turn
my back from it. I didn't turn away from it. I
gave my back to the smiters. I set my face like a flint. Lord Jesus Christ came into this
world to save all he was made surety for. That's why he said
in John 10, other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them
I also must Do you see that the Son of God must
do something? Why? He, with an oath, obligated
Himself to be sure of that. Them I also must bring. And you can be sure of this,
He will bring them. Why? He laid down His life for
them. Believer, do you tremble at your
sins of unbelief and fear? Are you cast down, tears run
down like rivers? Stop looking at yourself. Look away from yourself and look
to your surety. Look to Christ. Look away from
the circumstances, your feelings. Look away to Christ, the surety
of a better covenant, a covenant of free grace and pardon for
sin. Consider the glory of His power.
Consider the greatness of His love, the perfection of His salvation. Hear His oath. I will be a surety
for you. I will be a surety for you. I assume all the responsibility
to get you to glory. You know how I'm going to get
to heaven? By that surety carrying me all the way to glory. All the way. My surety has said this, it is
finished. So then what depends upon you? What part of your salvation depends
on you? If you put one thing to it, you've
defiled it. The whole thing depends upon
Christ. Were the whole realm of nature
mine, Isaac Watts said, that were a present far too small.
There is nothing I can give him that would make up this debt
of grace that I owe. The work of Christ alone to me
doth pardon speak. Thy work alone, O Lamb of God,
doth this sore bondage break. No other work save thine, no
other blood will do. No strength save that which is
divine can bear me safely through. Therefore my faith looks up to
thee, O Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine. Thou hast died for me. Oh, may my love for thee, pure,
warm, and changeless, be a living fire. Believer, now how long
will this surety last? As long as the oath and covenant
promise of God shall endure. Have you been drawn near to God
through Christ? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Is your faith the substance of things hoped for, the reality
of things hoped for, expected, evidence of things not seen? What is my evidence? He's my
surety. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? don't despise the small thing
called faith because it is no small thing it is no small thing
your faith is a miracle of grace if you have any faith at all
it is a gift of God not of works if it was of works you'd brag
about it You would, but it's not faith. And faith is ever present, always
continuous, looking to Christ. Rejoice, then, believer, for
Christ is your absolute surety. He is eternal and his work is
absolutely complete. You see, for Jesus took the whole
of our obligation and not the part. You think of people signing
a loan. If I signed a loan for you, and
I'd be surety for you. And you pay half. But I would
be on the hook for the other half. Christ is no such surety. You see, He's on the hook for
the whole thing. Because you ain't got nothing
to pay. And now what he said to that,
he said, a man having two debtors, one owing 50, one owing 500 pence. And he frankly, freely forgave
them both. It's the only way to do it. There's
no way. They had nothing to pay, nothing to pay. Believer, this
is our surety. Jesus Christ, the King of righteousness,
the King of peace, Jesus Christ, the priest after the order of
Melchizedek, far superior to any of the priesthood of Aaron,
Jesus Christ has accomplished perfect salvation, complete. You are, not you will be, you
are complete in Him. You are And it says in verse 25 look
at this wherefore Because he's a surety because his priesthoods
unchangeable because it's done with the note because he's accomplished
the work wherefore he is Able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him now listen Why would you not come to God
by him? I? The only answer is utter rebellion
and depravity. I've just told you of a complete
salvation, a perfect salvation that needs nothing from you! And to reject that is just proof
of absolute utter depravity. Why will you not come? Spirit and the bride say come. Let him that is a first. Come. You know, election never kept
one soul from coming to Christ. Matter of fact, without it, nobody
would. But because there is election there are some. I come. Now. Why? He's my surety of a better covenant. That's a better covenant isn't
it? Free. You can't be free! Why won't man come? May God have
mercy. Draw men. This stand will be
dismissed in prayer.