Now, my text this morning is
that passage that Brother Mark just read in Hebrews chapter
5. But I want to begin by reading
a verse in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Before I read that verse,
let me just say this. We're going to be talking about
the greater and eternal priesthood of Christ. The title of this
message and probably a few messages after this will be Our Greater
and Eternal High Priest. Because that's the subject of
the bulk of the book of Hebrews from this point on that Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Great High Priest of
His people is much, much greater. And He is eternal over and above
any earthly priesthood, specifically here the priesthood of the Old
Covenant of Aaron and his sons. And that's what we're going to
talk about. And I want to say this, every believer needs to
study this subject as revealed in God's Word. I was going through
these verses and preparing for this and spent a lot of time
on it and I found myself trying to condense it And then it just
dawned on me, the Lord speaking to me, this doesn't need to be
condensed. We're not in a race trying to
say, well, how fast can I get through Hebrews 5? And I was
just coming up on these points, so I'm gonna take my time through
this, but it's something that'll bring so much comfort, so much
assurance, and so much motivation for worship and service to God
in this subject. of Christ our greater and eternal
High Priest. And in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and
verse 5, let's start there. It says, for there is one God
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now that word mediator, you know
what a mediator is. One who stands in between two
parties, properly appointed and properly representing both parties
to each other, bringing those parties together on a common
ground. And of course, this speaks of
Christ, the one mediator. And I suppose that's one of the
most offensive truths of the gospel that we preach today,
that there's only one way to God. You see, pluralism, even
amongst false Christianity, is the word of the day. There's
many ways to God. There's no many ways to, there's
one way to God. And that's by this person, the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he fulfills the need of both
parties, God and sinful human beings. God's need to be glorified,
to be honored, to be worshiped. Man's need to be saved by God's
grace from our sins. Christ fulfills both of those
needs. He represents God to men and
men to God. And that's what this is about.
Now when we speak of Christ as mediator, we're speaking of,
and this is the way you learn it in theology class, three offices
basically. You speak of Christ, our great
prophet. And we've already seen in the
book of Hebrews how Christ as our prophet is the communication,
he's the embodiment of the word of God to his people. And he
is our prophet. He is the one through whom God
speaks to his people by his word. This book is a book of Christ
from Genesis to Revelation. It's not an old Bible and a new
Bible. It's not the God of the Old Testament
as contrasted with the God of the New. No, it's one God, one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus that held
true in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, all the way through Malachi,
and all the way through the New Testament. Christ is our prophet. If you want to know who God is,
If you want to know the revealed will of God, you must see it
through the glorious person and the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then secondly is his office
of high priest. That's what we're going to be
talking about in the next several messages. Christ is the one and
only high priest of his people. He stands in between. He represents
us to God. He offers sacrifices and gifts
unto God, it says here. And the common ground upon which
he brings God and men together is the ground of his blood. The
blood of Jesus Christ. Satisfying the justice of God. Enabling God to be both a just
God and a savior. Washing away the sins of his
people. Purging our sins. Remember back
over in Hebrews 1 it spoke of this. He purged our sins by himself
and he sat down at the right hand of the father. Righteousness
established, that's what that is. Daniel spoke of it in prophecy. Christ made an end of sin. He
finished the transgression. Doesn't that just send chills
up your spine? We're sinners saved by grace,
based upon that one ground. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, not of yourself. It's the gift of God, not of
works. And grace reigns through righteousness. That's his right,
that's the merit of his finished work, the accomplishment of redemption
that God has imputed to us, whereupon we are accepted and received
and stand not guilty, forgiven of all of our sins. Based on
Christ, the work that he did as our high priest. And he died
and he was buried, he arose again the third day and he ascended
unto the Father. And now he's seated at the right
hand of God. And right now he's making intercession
for us as our high priest. That's why we can't be lost.
Once saved, always saved. Well, of course, if you're saved
by God's grace in Christ. He right now is standing as our
high priest before the Father. Presenting the merits of his
blood, his righteousness, as our only ground of salvation.
And that's the assurance that we have. that Christ is our High
Priest. And then the third office is
Christ our King, which means that all things have been delivered
into His hands to work out as He sees fit according to the
glory and purpose of the Father and the good of His people we
studied this morning. All things work together for
good. To them that love God, who are the called according
to His purpose. You see, that's not just saying that all things
work together for good. That means God is working all
things together for our good. His glory and our good. So He's
our prophet, He's our priest, and He's our King. And that's
a glorious truth. The Bible says we're sinners. And if we sin, which we do, we
have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And
so we understand that. Well, what he's beginning to
speak of here is what we call the greater and eternal priesthood
of Christ, showing that the high priesthood of Christ is much
greater than that of Aaron, who was the first high priest under
the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the law. and all who descended
from Aaron, those human high priests under that old covenant,
Christ's priesthood is greater and Christ's priesthood is eternal. That's what he's showing. Now
he'd already mentioned the priesthood of Christ back in Hebrews chapter
2 and verse 17. Look at this, Hebrews 2, 17. He says in verse 17, wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren.
Remember that word behooved is the Greek word for debt. In other
words, Christ having all of the sins of God's elect, imputed,
charged, accounted to him, he was indebted to be made like
unto his brethren. He had to take into union with
his deity sinless human nature. He had to be the word made flesh
And the reason he had to be God and man in one person, that he
might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. And he did it to make reconciliation
for the sins of his people. Now, that's important. We're
gonna see that again in Hebrews chapter five. In other words,
his work as the representative, as the surety, as the substitute
of God's elect, was because of things pertaining to God. Because
God's justice had to be satisfied. God is merciful. God is loving. God is gracious. But His justice
has to be satisfied. His holiness has to be maintained. His truth has to be honored.
So it's in things pertaining to God. God must get the glory
here. That's what He's saying. God's honor is at stake. And
that means this, if God's honor is at stake, it's certainly not
up to us or conditioned on us because that would be failure.
But it's all on Christ, it's on his shoulders. The government
is on his shoulder, the government of grace. And so there's no possibility
of it ever failing because he's God in human flesh without sin. And then it was for this purpose
to make reconciliation or propitiation for the sins of his people. What
is propitiation? It's justice satisfied by a proper
substitute. And that's who Christ is. And
then, over in Hebrews chapter four, well, actually in Hebrews
chapter three, he mentions this. Verse one, the high priesthood
of Christ. Verse one, wherefore, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Now just consider this. And boy, I'll tell you what,
there's no greater joy and peace and assurance that a believer
can have than considering Him, thinking about Him, learning
more about Him. And then in Hebrews chapter four,
it says in verse 14, this is, He is the basis upon which we
pray, upon which we worship, upon which we praise God, His
high priesthood. Look, verse 14, seeing then that
we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Now,
what does that mean? That means Christ died, buried,
was raised, and ascended unto the Father as our high priest. He went unto God. You see, we
can't go unto God on our own. If we appear before God on our
own, it's nothing but damnation and eternal death, isn't it?
Eternal damnation. But Christ went before the Father. He went unto the Father. He passed
through into the heavens, into the very presence of God as my
high priest, as my surety, as my substitute, as the Lord, my
righteousness. And it says, Jesus, the Son of
God, let's hold fast our profession. Then he says in verse 15, for
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are yet without sin, and then let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. Think about that. In Christ,
because of the merits of his blood, the merits of his righteousness,
We who believe can have boldness, confidence, liberty, to enter
the very presence of God, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Now that ought to perk up our
ears. That ought to give us cause to say, you know, I need to listen,
I need to learn more of this. Well, in chapter five, that's
where he begins. You know, he talks about every
high priest, verse one, taken from among men, is ordained for
men. I'll get into more details, but
listen to this. He's comparing and contrasting
here the human high priesthood that descended from Aaron, Moses'
brother, who was the first high priest under the old covenant,
and all those high priests that descended from him. He's comparing
that human priesthood to the priesthood of Christ. Contrasting,
actually. And so he's shown us that the priesthood of Christ
is much greater than that of Aaron and all who descended from
Aaron. Christ's priesthood is eternal.
You see, and think about it this way. Everything in Israel, the
nation Israel under the old covenant, was founded upon and centered
around that priesthood. Did you know that? The descendants
of Aaron and the tribe of Levi. You had Aaron the high priest
and he was a picture of Christ. That's what he was. You know,
there's one of my favorite chapters. If you don't want to turn there,
it's in Zechariah chapter three. But write this down and look
at it. Read that whole chapter. I've
preached many times on that. Zechariah chapter three. But
one of my favorite passages in this is where this is Zechariah
the prophet, and he was given a vision of the high priest at
that time whose name was Joshua. And in this, it says in verse
eight of Zechariah chapter three, it says, hear now, oh Joshua,
the high priest, thou and thy fellows. Now that's Joshua the
high priest, and then there were other priests under him. And
that was the priest of the tabernacle. The high priest, and then you
had many priests from the tribe of Levi that were under the high
priest. The high priest alone could go
into the holiest of all on the day of atonement with the blood
of the lamb. But these other priests, they served the tabernacle,
the duties of the tabernacle. And you remember, if you look,
when Israel was traveling, when they were not, when they were
nomads, they would sit down at camp and that tabernacle and
the priesthood would be in the center of the camp. Everything
was based on it, surrounded by that. And those other priests,
they would serve the duties of the tabernacle. They'd go into
the outer court, and then they'd go into the holy place, where
you had the table of showbread, and you had the golden laver,
and the candlestick. But only the priest could go
behind the veil. You remember the veil? Only he
could go in there one time a year on the Day of Atonement with
the blood of the Lamb from off the altar. What it says here
in Zechariah 3a, it says, Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest,
thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they are men
wondered at. Do you see that? They are men
wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant to branch. You know what he's saying there?
If you've got a concordance, it might go something like this.
They are men who are a sign. In other words, their office
was a type, a picture, of something greater to come. And what was
that? The branch. And who's the branch? That's
Christ. Aaron and the high priest, they represented Christ. And
then the other priest that served under the high priest, they represented
the people of God, who are made kings and priests under God.
You ever heard the term the priesthood of the believer? When I was growing
up in false religion, I used to think that meant, well, we
all have a right to go to the Bible and just interpret it any
way we want to interpret it. What does it mean to you? You
ever heard that? You go into a Sunday school class. Now, what does
it mean to you, Brother Summers? Well, what does it mean to you?
It means different things, different people. That's not the priesthood
of the believer. We just read about the priesthood
of the believer in Hebrews 4, 14 through 16. And what it means
is this, that in Christ, because of the glory of his person as
God in human flesh without sin, and because of the power and
the efficacy and the merit of his finished work on the cross
to put away my sins, his blood, his righteousness, we who believe
have full right to enter into the holiest of all through him. We don't need a human priest
now to stand for me. Christ is my high priest. We
don't need a Pope. We don't need a Monsignor. We
don't need Cardinals. We have Christ. And just like
in the Jewish old custom, that priesthood ended. when Christ
came and did his work and the veil was rent in two. The priesthood
of Aram was so important and fundamental to Israel's existence
as a nation under the law that if there was ever a change in
that priesthood, there was a change of the whole law. Look over at
Hebrews chapter seven. Just turn the page there and
look at verse 11. Hebrews seven and verse 11. It
says, if therefore perfection or completeness, or righteousness
were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law, under that priesthood the people received the law.
What further need was there that another priest should rise after
the order of Melchizedek, that's Christ, we'll be talking about
Melchizedek later on, 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. There's the change. Now how did
it change? Well, was it merely modified or revised? No, Hebrews 8.13 tells us it
was abolished by way of fulfillment. That whole covenant was abolished
by way of fulfillment and a new covenant was instituted by Christ.
And that new covenant is the fulfillment of the terms of the
everlasting covenant of grace made before time. but it all
come about because of Christ. Well, look at chapter five. In
these verses, we're shown exactly how Christ is so much greater
than any earthly priesthood. And in these first few verses,
he talks about the qualifications and the work of a high priest.
Aaron and his descendants met these qualifications in a temporal,
ceremonial way, but only Christ. meets these qualifications in
a greater and eternal way. And look what he says. He starts
off with the glorious person of Christ. He says in verse one,
number one, for every high priest taken from among men is ordained
for men. A high priest of Israel under
the old covenant had to be a man, not a woman, but a man. Why? Because he was appointed by God
to represent men, sinful human beings, before God. Now Christ,
our great and eternal high priest, had to be both God and man in
one person without sin. Christ is the only begotten Son
of God. He's the second person of the
Holy Trinity. Very God of very God in every
attribute of his character. But as God absolutely considered,
He could not represent men. So it was ordained of God that
Christ be taken from among men and ordained for men. He had
to be God-man. He had to be conceived in the
womb of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit. He had to be born of
a Virgin. Unto us a child, a son is given. That's his deity. Unto us a son
is given, a child is born. That's his humanity. He was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh. We could go on
and on. God manifests in the flesh. His name shall be called
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Emmanuel, God with us. And now what does this mean?
It means he was well qualified to do what he was commissioned
to do before the foundation of the world. That's why over in
Hebrews chapter two and verse 14, it says, for as much then
as the children, who are the children? And that's God's elect.
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same. Christ was
every bit God and every bit man without sin. All of this qualified
him. So he was taken from among men.
And then the high priest of Israel represented particular men. You
know, the high priest of Israel, Aaron and his descent, they didn't
represent all men without exception. They represented particular human
beings. You remember, if you've studied
this at all, you know the clothing, the garments of the high priest.
You know, we could do several messages on just the clothing.
But he had a breastplate, and on that breastplate there were
12 names. And he had amulets on his shoulder,
and on those amulets were 12 names, six and six. And you know
whose names they were? Reuben, Levi, Judah, on and on,
the 12 tribes of Israel. That's who the high priest represented.
He didn't represent the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites.
He represented God's chosen people. That's what he did. Well, Christ
as our high priest, who does he represent? He represents God's
chosen people, chosen in him before the foundation of the
world, given to him before the foundation of the world. That's
why he said, all that the father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. He speaks
of them over here in Hebrews 2. He talks about the children,
the many sons. whom God had given him. He speaks
of the church. What are the church? That's the
ones whom Christ redeemed by his blood. They are those who
are called out. They are justified before God
based upon his righteousness imputed to them. And the Holy
Spirit will bring them under the preaching of the gospel where
he'll give them life and bring them to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works. He calls them his brethren. He's
not ashamed to call them his brethren. Isn't that something?
I've told you about this before. He said, you know, there are
many families that might have siblings in there that people
might be ashamed of. Well, if anybody had any reason
to be ashamed of his brethren, it'd be Christ. What are we?
We're by nature sinners, fallen, ruined, rebels, God-haters by
nature. By nature, children of wrath,
even as others. And yet he's not ashamed to call
us brethren, why? Because he represents us. He's
our mediator, he's our high priest, he's our surety, he's our substitute,
he's our redeemer. He did all that God requires
of his brethren, God's elect, we find fully fulfilled and established
in the person and work of Christ. Every condition, every requirement,
fulfilled for us by Him. That's an amazing thing, isn't
it? And I'll tell you another thing. You know, over in John
17, I was talking to somebody about this last week. I was talking
about the Lord's Prayer. Most people, you know, when they
refer to the Lord's Prayer, they go to Matthew 6. I don't call
that the Lord's Prayer. I call that the model prayer.
You wanna see the Lord's Prayer? Look at John 17. This is his
high priestly prayer. Read that whole chapter sometime.
And listen to what he says. Let me just read part of it.
John 17, one. These words spoke Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. He's speaking in anticipation
of his cross work, his suffering unto death. Verse two, as thou
hast given him power over all flesh. This is speaking of Christ
as our mediator now. You see, as God absolutely considered,
he already had power over all flesh. But this is Christ as
God-man, our high priest. And he had to literally earn
this station as our mediator. And what did he have to do? He
had to go to the cross. He had to die. He had to put away sin.
He had to establish righteousness. We read about it in Psalm 45. He loves righteousness. His scepter
is a scepter of righteousness. Justice had to be satisfied.
The death blow had to be dealt. And thank God it was dealt on
the person of our substitute rather than us. And we have life
through him. And so he said, as thou hast
given him power over all flesh. Now listen to this. This is his
high priestly prayer. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. How many are there? I don't know. There's a bunch. Probably more
than I think. I know there's some who have
yet to be called into the kingdom. I know this, they're the sheep
of Christ. He's called some into the kingdom, there's more to
be called. How do I know that? Because he's not yet come back.
But he's gonna call his sheep, isn't he? And again, I quoted
earlier, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will no wise cast out. And then he
says in verse three in his high priestly prayer, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And what's the ground of
it? What's the basis of it? Verse four, I have glorified
thee on the earth. Remember the high priest, he
said things pertaining to God, God must be glorified. Whatever
salvation we claim, number one, it must be based on God's word,
not on man's. And number two, I'm not saying
this in any order of importance, both must be true, it must glorify
God. If it gives you any glory or
me any glory, it's not the salvation of the Lord. And so he says,
I have glorified the only, I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do. That's our high priest. You see,
our salvation is based upon a finished work, not a work that's left
unfinished, not a work that he started and we finish. But it's
a work that he finished as our high priest, as our surety, as
our substitute, as our redeemer. And now what he said, John 19.30,
it is started. Know what he said? No, he didn't
give us just a jump start. It is finished. Oh my soul. That's what the gospel
is, it's the declaration of a finished work. Done by a person who's
well qualified to finish it, the God man. And he's our great
high priest. Well look here, back here's the
second thing. He says in verse one, for every high priest is
taken from among men, is ordained for men, he represents sinful
human beings, God's chosen people out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. And look at this phrase, don't let it
slip by, in things pertaining to God. And that's what I've
been talking about. This God appointed high priest, or God
appointed this high priest to represent men in things that
pertain to God himself. All the service was Godward. All the service of the high priest
was Godward, not manward. It was all for the honor and
glory of God. It was in relation to the nature
and the character and the holiness of God, who God is, what he requires. Now, it was for men. It was for
his people. It met the needs of sinful people. But it was not humanistic. Or
man-centered. You know, that's the problem
with today's false Christianity. It's man-centered. It's all about
men and women, what they do, what they try to do, what they
plan to do, what they determine to do. Everything God did was
for them, but it wasn't finished until you seal the deal. No. This is in things pertaining
to God. God's honor, God's dignity was
on the line. You know, I hear preachers today.
who claim to be Christian, and they talk a lot about the dignity
of man. Now let me ask you a question.
Where do you find the dignity of man from Genesis to Revelation? Where do you find that? It's
not there, folks. The highest that we'll ever attain
on this and it won't be attained by human works or human will,
the highest we'll be able to attain is I'm only a sinner saved
by grace. And let me tell you something,
this is my story. To God be the glory. I'm saved,
I'm kept saved, and I will be glorified all by the power, the
goodness, the grace, and the will of God. And if at any point
in time, at any stage, to any degree, my will intervenes as
the ground or the power or the goodness of saving me or keeping
me safe, I'm gone. Do we willingly believe God?
Yes, because he's made us willing in the day of his power. A man
asked me one time, he said, were you saying that God drags us
to Christ against our will? I said, no, I'm saying God changes
our will. He gives us a new will. It's
called a new heart, isn't it? To show us that we have no righteousness
to recommend us unto God. We have no goodness to recommend
us unto God. All we have is all we need. We
have Christ, the Lord our righteousness. That's our name, Jeremiah 33,
15, 16. That's his name. He's our husband. He's our high priest. Well, it's
in things pertaining to God. And this is why the true gospel
message has to begin with the sinfulness and total depravity
of all men without exception in light of the holiness and
justice of God. God is righteous, and we're not. God requires righteousness, and
we cannot make ourselves righteous by anything we think, say, do,
or decide. We can't do it. We have nothing
to recommend us unto God. We can do nothing to appease
or please God because we're sinners. God cannot save us or justify
us or bless us apart from his honor, his glory. God is love. Every time we preach the gospel,
we preach the love of God, don't we? The love of God in Christ.
God is a merciful God. He delights to show mercy. Doesn't
the scripture say that over and over and over again? God delights
to show mercy. Later on in this, we're going
to talk about his compassion. God is a God of grace. God saves
sinners by grace. But any notion of his love, any
notion of his mercy, any notion of his grace, without his justice
and his holiness and his truth, without righteousness, perfect
righteousness, My friend, it's a sham religion. We need a righteousness
we cannot produce. Now, how is that possible? Well,
he says it here, and I'm gonna close, because my time's come.
But look at verse one, he says, it's in things pertaining that
he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now, the gifts, I believe,
there refers to the, what we call the love offerings and the
thank offerings that Israel brought. But the sacrifice refers to the
offering of atonement, the blood, which everything was based on.
Everything was about the blood. One time Brother Mahan was accused
of preaching a bloody religion. You're exactly right. It's the
blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from sin. You want love? It's
in Christ, the lamb slain. You want mercy? Where's the mercy
seat? Remember that lid that was over
the Ark of the Covenant? The high priest came in one time
of year sprinkling the blood of the Lamb just to satisfy righteousness
established. That's what that meant, isn't
it? You want grace? Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That's how it's all
accomplished. Without the shedding of blood,
No remission of sin, no forgiveness. Animal blood couldn't get the
job done. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away
sin. But my friend, the blood of Christ, the blood of the God
man, it purged us from all our sins. The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin, not just some sins, the sin of our
fallen Adam, Our own personal sins, sins of thought, sins of
commission, sins of, not one sin can be charged to the account
of God's elect, isn't that right? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's Christ, it's God that justified,
who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. That's
his high priest, he died, he's seated at the right hand of the
Father, ever living to make intercession for his people. Now isn't that
something to consider? That'll motivate you. That'll
motivate you to worship, to praise. It'll motivate you to service.
It'll give you the assurance that you need to serve God as
a willing, loving bond slave of Christ. Isn't that right?
All right.