Hebrews chapter 5. Title of the message, The Priesthood
of Jesus Christ. I believe I said to you last
week that we really don't have the real concept of the need
of a priest, a high priest, as these Hebrews had. They grew
up under this. But it would do us much good, spiritual good, if
we would really learn something of the priesthood, the high priesthood
of Jesus Christ. Without a high priest, you and
I cannot come before God. Without someone to represent
us, without someone that has the proper sacrifice and the
blood the offering of Himself. Without that, we can't come before
God. We can't do it. And I realize today, in going
over this, how much more I need and you need to really, to really
get a hold of this, get a grip on the priesthood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now back in chapter 4 verse 14,
we learned that we have, we have right now, a high priest
that's of God. And this high priest that's of
God, he's been provided by God for us. And this high priest,
is passed into the heavens, into the holy of holies. This is where our high priest
is. And we know who this high priest is. It tells us Jesus,
the Son of God, not a son of Aaron. Not even of the tribe
of Levi. Not even of that tribe. He was
of the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. That's where the kings
came from. Which tells us that our high priest is a king. Our
high priest is the king. He's not just a high priest,
he's the king. No one held those two offices, but our Lord does. He holds both offices. He's king,
priest. He's the king priest. He's the
king high priest, is what He is. Jesus, the Son of God. This priest is a real man. His name is Jesus. It's written
in the Scriptures, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus. For He shall save His people. And it's astounding to me to
know that I'm looking at some of His people. You know, one
of the weightier things that weighs on me is that I'm pastoring
a church, I'm pastoring a group of people for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died for. When I think of that, when that
thought comes to me, and I think of it often, I feel something
of the weight of it that I'm pastoring a church for whom the
God of glory came into this world, became incarnate, and died for
you. That makes my responsibility
great. It makes it great. He shall save
His people from their sins. That's good news. But He's no
ordinary man. Jesus, the Son of God. What's this saying? This is saying
that this man is God in the flesh. That's who he is. And this makes
his priesthood far superior to that of Aaron's. Can't even really
compare it, hardly. Aaron's priesthood was of God,
but Aaron himself was not God. Jesus Christ's priesthood is
of God and He is God. God, now listen to this, God
became my priest. God Almighty became my high priest,
that He might represent me before God. You say, that sounds confusing. This is over our head. This is
way over our heads. And this being so, let us hold
fast our profession." That's what he says back there in chapter
4. Let us hold fast our profession.
Let's not get discouraged. Let's not get sidetracked, which
is easy to do. But keep on following Him. Keep
on following on, as the Scripture says, to know the Lord. Following
on to know the Lord. And here's a note of encouragement
concerning this high priest. He can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities, though he's God. Though this one is God,
he can be touched with the feelings, not just... You can sit down and talk to
me about something. And it's something I've not experienced.
And to a point, I can go with you, but there's a point where
I can't. There's a point where experience cuts me off. I've
not been there. But there is no point where our
Lord cannot go with us and identify with us. He was tempted, tried
in all points as we are, yet without sin. Whatever it is. Whatever it is, I don't care
what it is, whatever it is, our Lord can identify with us. And
it said he can be touched with the feelings. He's not disconnected. He's not disconnected. It's his body, you think he could
feel it, don't you? You know, I feel what my body
feels, don't you? If my finger hurts, I feel it. If my foot
hurts, I feel it. If my head or whatever part of
my body hurts, I feel it. We have a high priest that no
matter what part of the body hurts, he feels it. It's his
body. He's not disconnected. He has
experienced what we experienced. He can truly in every way sympathize
with us. That's why it says in verse 16,
Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I wish we would make more use
of this. I wish I would make more use of it. I wish I would. Now, in chapter 5, the writer
of Hebrews begins to set forth the qualifications of the high
priest, and he's going to apply those qualifications to the Lord
Jesus Christ. and show us that He is qualified
to be our high priest. And we truly need to lay hold
of this. It's a great comfort to us, especially
in time of need, if we can really lay hold that we have a high
priest that can represent us, that can be touched, that we
can sit down and talk to. We can sit down and talk to.
I don't care what it is, the most private conversation can
be held with Him, whatever it is, whatever it is. Now, he shows us the qualifications
here. He said, now every high priest, in verse 1 of chapter
5, is taken from among men, not angels. No angel could ever represent
us. They don't know what sin is.
They don't know. Michael or Gabriel could not
be touched with the feelings of my infirmities. Can't do it.
They cannot enter in in any way, shape, or form what you and I
are going through in this life. So every high priest is taken
from among men. He must be one of us in order
to represent us. It must be one who can identify
with us, like us. It says, Every high priest is
taken from among men, ordained for men. And what this is saying
is that Jesus Christ was ordained for us. For us. Ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that He may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Does this man, Does this man, Jesus Christ, does he meet God's
requirements for being a high priest? Let me get a drink of
water here. Does he meet the requirements?
Does he have what God requires? Well, first of all, being a real
man, he can be taken from among men. He became what? Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. He was taken from among men.
Pilate said, Behold the man, a real man, a man with flesh and bones and
blood, a man with a real soul and spirit, a real man. And this man also had gifts and
sacrifices to offer. It says he must have gifts and
sacrifices for sins. He must be able to offer gifts
and sacrifices for sins to God. Not to us, but to God. Calvary,
you know, Christ dying on Calvary's tree was not an offer to me and
you. He was offered through the Lord. It was always offered before
the Lord. It was His. It was to Him. Does he have that? Does he have
the sacrifices and the gifts? that you and I need? Absolutely. He had a perfect life and a perfect
sacrifice Himself. Himself. He has the blood required
for atonement. His. It was flowing through His
veins for 33 years. That blood that atoned for our
sins flowed through His veins. And then one day, one day, the
Lamb of God was taken to Calvary's tree, and there he was sacrificed. His blood was shed, and his blood
is the atonement for our sins. Yes, he has the qualification. Yes, he has the sacrifice. He
has the proper sacrifice. He has the proper blood. He has.
He has. Now, to be a fit high priest,
he must have compassion also. It says there in verse 2, 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.
Without compassion, the service of the high priest
would be nothing more than a cold, dead service. for men to God. It'd just be mechanical. It'd be dead. There'd be nothing
in it. You know, it's written in Lamentations 3.22. It's of
the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions
fail not. They fail not. God's compassions
fail not. When you and I fail, they fail
not. His compassion. And it's required
It's required that the high priest be taken from among men, ordained
for men in things pertaining to God, and it must be one that
can have compassion on those who come to him. Those who are,
it says here, ignorant. Ignorant. You say, that's a harsh
word. It's a true word. Because that's exactly the way
we were before God saved us. Ignorant. ignorant as to who
God is, ignorant of ourselves, and ignorant of Jesus Christ,
spiritually ignorant. And the reason he was taken from
among men here is that he could have compassion. He himself,
it says, was compassed with infirmities. Aaron was compassed about with
sin like the people he represented. I was reading in the Greek and
it says that he was surrounded. He was just surrounded with sin,
his own. Aaron could have compassion on
someone who came to him with a sin offering because he knew
what that guy was going through. Now, our Lord, as it says, can
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He can have
compassion on us. But here's where the difference
is. Christ knew no sin. Aaron did. Christ knew no sin,
but he was tempted. He was tried in all points, as
you and I are, yet without sin. He never failed. You see, if
I'm tried, if I'm tempted, if I'm tried to sin, there's one
of two things going to happen. One of two things going to happen.
Either God's going to remove it, or I'm going to give in to
it. It's going to be one of those two things every time. If God
doesn't remove it, John's going to give in to it. But when it
came to Christ, God never removed it, and He never gave in to it. He never gave in to it. He exhausted
it. He exhausted it. He overcame. He won the victory. He won the
victory. And He can have compassion on
us. The Lord Jesus Christ can have compassion every time we
come to the throne of grace. I don't care if you have to come
to the throne of grace every other minute. He can have compassion
every other minute. And He will have. I promise you,
every time you come. In sincerity, you're gonna get
grace. You're gonna get forgiveness.
You're gonna get mercy and help in time of need every time you
come. Now concerning this priesthood,
he said, no man takes this honor, this high honor, this is probably
the highest honor that could be bestowed, to be a high priest,
to represent men to God. You know, back in the Old Testament,
only the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies. He was
the only one allowed in there. And he was only allowed in there
once a year to offer the blood of atonement. And you know, when
he went in to the Holy of Holies, they tied a rope on his ankle.
In case he died, they could drag him out underneath that curtain.
Because if anyone went in there besides him, they was going to
die. No one was allowed in there. And so this is such a high honor
to be made a high priest. And he says here, no man takes
this honor to himself, but he that's called of God, as was
Aaron, a man is called to it. Aaron was called to it. Aaron
didn't make himself a high priest, God called him. He was appointed
to it by God. So also, He's showing us here
the fitness of Christ to be our high priest. So also, Christ
glorified not himself. He honored not himself. He didn't
make a reputation for himself here to be made a high priest. But he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. He was appointed of God
to be our high priest before the world began. He's our eternal high priest. That's what he is. That's why
he's being compared to Melchizedek. They couldn't, you know, Melchizedek
didn't have a genealogy. They couldn't find his beginning
in the days or end of days. But we'll get to that later.
We'll deal with that a little later. But he was appointed of
God to be our high priest. He was appointed by God who said,
you are my son. Today I begotten you, and you
are a priest forever." You'll find that over in Psalm 110.
You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. After the order of an endless
life. You see, there were many priests and many high priests
back under the Old Testament because of death. Aaron would
die, and another would take his place. And he would die, and
another would take his place. But our Lord is a high priest
Forever. Forever. Because he has an endless
life. You know that you and I have
before God a living sacrifice. John said, I saw a lamb stand
before the throne of God as it had been slain. Every sacrifice
that Aaron offered died and stayed dead. When they took those lambs
and they cut them up, they shed their blood, every one of them
died, and they never came back. So they'd have to get another
one, and another one. You know the millions? The millions
of lambs that were offered, and it died until God's lamb came. When God's lamb came, that put
an end to it. And they put an end to it because
he's alive. He's alive right now. My sacrifice for sin, your sacrifice
for sin, if you believe the gospel, your sacrifice for sin is living.
It's living before the throne of God. It's a living sacrifice. But this also, the reason it's
so important is it validates his priesthood. Now the apostle is going to argue
here. He's going to argue the legitimacy
of the Lord Jesus Christ priesthood by the way he diligently went
about fulfilling his office. You know, it's one thing to hold
an office. It's one thing to hold an office. It is a completely
other thing to fulfill it. And he fulfilled it. right down
to the jot and tittle. He says in verse 7, Who in the
days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications,
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death, and was heard in that he feared, he had a godly
fear. Now this is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This verse right here, verse
7, is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think it's speaking
particularly of the garden of Gethsemane. When he sweat great
drops of blood, he was in such agony over sin. Over sin. Sin has never caused me to bleed. Sin has never caused me to sweat
blood. I've never been that agonized
over my sins. Have you? Have you been so agonized
over your sins that they made you sweat drops of blood? No. No. But that's how, I don't even
know what words to use, sinful sin is. to the Son of God. He sweat great drops of blood
when He was made to be sin. And I have no doubt there's also
speaking of His whole life. His whole life was one, He says,
He was acquainted with sorrow and grief. They were His daily
companions. Do you know why they were to
his daily companions? Because of me and you. That's
our life. If we really understood life, if we really understood
sin, we would understand. We really have an understanding
of sorrow and grief. The sorrow and grief that he
bore daily was mine. It's mine. You know why I have
a happy day? because he took all my grief
and all my sorrow and took them away, and took them away. And God in his wisdom from time
to time, he allows me, gives me sorrow and grief, but not
like my Lord had, not like my Lord had. I'll never experience, by God's
grace, I'll never experience that level of sorrow and grief. And you won't either, not if
you're His. And it says, He was heard in
that He feared, someone said this, He was heard for the holiness
and righteousness of His life. And He was heard in that He feared
God with a godly fear. A true godly fear. And the strong
crying shows the weight of our sins. Strong crying. It says in verse 8, Though he
were a son, though he were the son of God, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered. Our Lord always obeyed his Father
perfectly. The Scripture says that our Lord
grew in wisdom and stature. And all the reading I have done
on this verse, this is probably the best I've come up with. One writer said, as a man he
learned through his sufferings, or through his experience, the
results of true obedience. He learned through his experience
the results of true obedience. And brethren, he was obedient
all the way to the end. And being made perfect. And verse
9 is a verse that's a real blessing to us if we understand this.
And being made perfect or complete, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. In John 19, he said,
Father, I have finished the work. which thou gavest me to do, I
have finished it." Here, in this verse, he is finished
as the perfect high priest. We now have, this is why he said,
we now have a perfect, complete high priest in Jesus Christ.
Never had that in Aaron. Never had that in his sons. Never
had that in any high priest after Aaron. But in Jesus Christ, we
have a perfect, a complete high priest. For in Christ, we have
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. I have everything
I need in Christ. For Christ to be the perfect
Savior of sinners and to be the perfect representative of you
and me, He must suffer, He must suffer what I deserve. He must suffer what my sins deserve,
what my rebellion deserves. He must suffer that. He must
die. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Have you sinned? Have I sinned? Well, that's a death sentence.
That's a death sentence. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. And he died. He died. You know, here he is,
the sacrifice. His blood is the blood of atonement.
And at the same time, He's the high priest offering Himself
as the sacrifice. He's the high priest officiating
at the service where He's dying. Isn't that amazing? He has to die, then He's got
to be buried. He's got to be buried. and he's got to rise
again for us to have a complete high priest. And now we have,
listen, we have in Jesus Christ a complete, finished high priest
who is our Savior. He's our Savior. And now that he's a complete
and perfect high priest, He's the author of eternal salvation. This salvation that we have in
Christ is forever and ever and ever. I don't have to worry about
falling again. I don't have to worry about sin
again. I don't have to worry about any of that. He's the author
of eternal salvation. It begins and ends with Him.
It begins and goes on. Let's put it that way. It begins
and goes on in Him. It began with Him and it continues
with Him. Aaron could not claim this. The old priesthood could not
claim this, but our Lord did. Christ is the author of eternal
salvation. We have a high priest passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, Let us hold fast that profession.
Let's not neglect it. I urge you and me to lay hold
of the Lord Jesus Christ and let's learn of Him and what we
have in Him and what He is to us and not be so wrapped up in the
things of this world. We have a high priest. Isn't
that good news? We have a high priest. God's given him to us.
God provided him. And God's the high priest. It
doesn't get any better than this. Okay, Billy.