shower Saturday morning, and
if some of the men could set up the tables after service,
that would be helpful. I've entitled this message, Perfection. Perfection. What do you think
of when you think of that word? Perfection. Leviticus chapter 22 verse 21,
let me read this to you. And whoso ever offer the sacrifice
of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow or a freewill
offering and bees or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. What does God require for him
to accept something? Perfection. No blemish. Really? Really. Literally? Literally. We have all known people who
are what we would call perfectionists and they have a very high standard
for what they find acceptable. And invariably these people are
very unhappy people because they are such imperfect people. And
if you're a perfectionist, you're going to stay pretty miserable. God is perfect. Immutably so. Immutably so. He can't get more
perfect. He can't get less perfect. And he accepts nothing less than
perfection. You believe that? He is unable to receive anything
less than perfection. And he has made a way to make
imperfect people perfect. What a glorious thought. These people are described in
Colossians chapter 1 verse 22 as holy and unblameable and un-reprovable
in his sight. What a way to be holy, un-blameable,
un-reprovable, that is perfect. perfect in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering, he hath perfected. You hear that word? He hath perfected forever. Then that are sanctified. I think of that. no flaws, no sins, no inconsistencies, no contradictions. And I'm sure as I say that you're
aware of a thousand flaws and inconsistencies and contradictions
on your part. You're aware of those, but according
to the scripture, every believer is perfect in Christ Jesus. Think of that
right now. Let that wash over your soul.
You are perfect in Christ Jesus. Verse 11 of Hebrews chapter seven. If therefore perfection. That's where I got the title
to this message. If therefore perfection were
by the Levitical priesthood. Now under the law, Levi, he's
the third son of Jacob. The Levites only could be priests. The sons of Judah could not be
priests, the sons of Reuben could not be priests, only the Levites
could be priests. If someone else was a priest,
it would defile the priesthood. You had to be a Levite or you
could not be a priest. Now, if therefore perfection
were by the Levitical priesthood for under it the people received
the law, that's talking about everything In the book of Exodus
in chapter 20, when they received the 10 commandments and then
the civil laws, and then the, uh, feast days and the, uh, commandments
and the, uh, sacrifices and all the paraphernalia of the tabernacle,
all that law under it, the people received
the law under the Levitical priesthood. That being the case, what further
need was there that another priest should rise after the order of
Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron. Now there's another priest and
he's not a Levite and the Levitical priesthood, you know what those
men were? Same thing you are, sinners. sinners. No different than you. But this
priest is not a sinner. Melchizedek. For verse 12, for the priesthood
being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of
the law. Now, Since perfection could not
come through the law or the priesthood of Aaron, those sacrifices never
put away one sin. There had to arise a priest with
a better sacrifice, a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And that being the case, there
was by necessity a change in the law, a priest that did not
come through the Levitical line. Verse 13, for he of whom these things are
spoken, being the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
for he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another
tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar. Then none of the,
he came out of Judah and none of them were priests for it's
evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah of which tribe Moses
spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it's yet far more evident
that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there ariseth another
priest, a King priest. Look in chapter seven, verse
one. For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the most
high God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings
and blessed him. whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all first
being by interpretation king of righteousness. After that
also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Now I have no
doubt that this is Jesus Christ. There's only two men that were
ever both a king and a priest. Melchizedek and Jesus Christ. And in reality, there's only
one man who is a king and a priest, Jesus Christ, the Lord, the priest
after the order of Melchizedek, the king priest. Verse 15, and
it is yet far more evident for after the similitude of Melchizedek,
there arises another priest who is made. not after the law of
a carnal commandment." Now, Levi's sons, Aaron's sons,
Nadab and Abihu, you remember they were killed for offering
strange fire that didn't come from the altar. Why were they
priests? Because they were sons of Aaron.
And Eleazar, the next priest after that, his son became a
priest. His son became a priest. These
were all sinful men. These were all flawed, fallible,
sinful men, just like me and you, and yet they continue to
be a priest for this one reason, a carnal commandment. You say,
well, God gave that commandment. I know he did, but he calls it
a carnal commandment, a fleshly commandment. The only reason
you were a priest was because your daddy was a priest. No other
reason. Didn't matter what kind of person
you were. You were a priest because you were in the Levitical line,
and it was a carnal commandment. Think of how many bad priests
there were. There were some good priests, but there were a lot
of bad priests, corrupt priests, unjust priests, thieving priests. They were made a priest after
the law of a carnal fleshly commandment, not after, but he, after the
power of an endless life. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
the priest after the order of Melchizedek, not because of his
physical father was a Levite. It wasn't. He came out of the
tribe of Judah, but because of the power of an endless life,
he never died. And there was no reason to pass
his priesthood on to somebody else. It's the power of an endless
life, unlike the Levitical priests. He's the priest forever. After
the order of Melchizedek, he never dies. He never dies. There's nobody to pass the priesthood
on to. He never dies. He said in the book of Revelation,
I am he that liveth and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore
and have the keys of hell and death. Now he was dead. He did die. And his death is
so unlike anybody else's death. Whenever one of us dies, when
we're gonna die, unless the Lord comes back, we don't have much
longer. I feel like I'm on the downhill
slide right now. And I'm glad, can't wait to get out of here.
I'm thankful to be here, don't get me wrong, but I can't wait
to be in his presence, to no longer be a sinner anymore, to
behold his face. We're on the downhill slide.
Some of you are young, but you're on the downhill flight too. You
just don't know it yet. But the point is, when a man dies, he
may have achieved much in his life, but what does his death
say? Failure. Weak. That's all death says. A sinner. That's the most accurate
thing you can say about the man who dies. He was a sinner. He
wouldn't have died if he wasn't a sinner. Defeat. But concerning
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, it said in Luke chapter nine,
verse 31, they spake of the deceased, which he should accomplish. You see, his death, unlike my
death or your death, his death actually accomplished something.
It accomplished the complete salvation of his people. And
he was raised from the dead to never die again. and he has an unchangeable priesthood. It's not passed to a different
person. He is the priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. For he testifies, God testified
of him. Verse 17, thou art a priest forever, eternally. after the order of Melchizedek.
Now here's another reason why I know Melchizedek was the Lord
Jesus Christ. He never died. He never died. Christ died for a small amount
of time. Melchizedek died, but he was
raised from the dead to die never again, the great high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. Now look what the writing to
the Hebrew says with regard to this. He says in verse 18, for
there's verily A disannulling of the commandment going before
for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. Now that is what God
the Holy Spirit says about the entire Levitical priesthood.
He talks about the weakness and the unprofitableness thereof. It's weak. And it's unprofitable. Are you speaking disrespectfully
concerning God's holy law? No, I'm not. I'm just quoting
what this passage of scripture says. I love God's law. I love
the Ten Commandments. I love everything in the law.
But it was weak. It was unprofitable for this
reason. It couldn't save anybody. No one was ever saved under the
Levitical system. Therefore, it's called weak.
It's called unprofitable. Hold your fingers there and turn
to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 1. There's therefore now,
right now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus have made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak. The problem is not with the law,
the problem is with me. It can't do anything for me. The law was
weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. Condemn sin in the flesh
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us
who walk not after the flesh But after the spirit now, let
me say this about walking after the flesh and after the spirit
Somebody says well, I was in the flesh here and I was in the
spirit there. No, no, no No, that's not what that's talking
about at all. If you're a believer, you're always in the spirit And
if you're an unbeliever, you're always in the flesh. And what
is it to walk in the Spirit? Well, it's the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. It's the result of God giving
you life. You've been given this new birth. And what happens out
of that? You are said to fulfill the law. You, you personally. Does that mean that God gives
us grace so in our flesh we're enabled to keep the Ten Commandments?
No, it doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that at all.
It means you kept them in Christ. That's exactly what that means.
You kept them. You stand before God's holy law without guilt. And it's not because of the Levitical
priesthood. It's not because of the commandments given in
the Law of Moses. Back to our text in Hebrews chapter
8. I mean, seven verse 18 for there's verily a
disannoying of the commandment going before for the weakness
and unprofitableness thereof for the law made nothing perfect. And remember, that's what we're
looking for perfection. The law made nothing perfect. As a matter
of fact, all the law does is expose imperfection. All the
law does is expose sin. I'm going to try to keep the
law. You've already broken it the minute you breathe. And if
you think you've kept one commandment one time, you have no understanding
of the holy law of God. If you think you've kept one
commandment, one, one time, you don't understand God's law. The law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did. By the witch, that
better hope, we draw nigh unto God. Now, the law made nothing
perfect. I think of the scriptures, by
the law is the knowledge of sin. The strength of sin is what? The law. The law. As long as the law is, and you
try to keep it, all you're going to do is be exposed as a lawbreaker. That's it. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. The strength of sin is by the
law. So the law can't make anything
perfect, but the bringing in of this better hope did. Now I have a hope. And while I was trying to think
about bringing this message, I was asking myself, do I really
believe what I'm preaching? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I have a hope. that I'm going
to stand before God on judgment, and I'm going to be judged by
God himself as perfect, having never sinned, having only done
that which pleases God in this body. in this body. I'm not talking about me standing
before God with some kind of paste on righteousness. I'm talking
about standing before God in absolute perfection. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight, I have lived a perfect, sinless life, having never committed
a sin. I believe that that's what justification
is. If I'm justified, that means I've never committed a sin. You know all those sins you're
conscious of right now and you grieve over that? You know, the
scripture says, blessed are they that mourn. And I know that mourning's
over sin. We mourn before God over our
sins. Like David said, my sin is ever
before me. David, I understand what you're
saying. Mine's ever before me too. I'm always aware, it's always
pressing me down. but I'm going to stand before
God as one who really never has committed a sin and has only
done that which pleases God. Now that's the righteousness
of Christ being my righteousness before God, standing before God
in absolute, utter, complete perfection. Now for him to call
this a better hope is somewhat of an understatement, isn't it? The law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did. That hope that what
Christ did is what I did. That's what I was trying to say
last week, last Wednesday night. What Christ did is what I did. It's not something that just
counted to me. It's what I have done because when He did it,
I did it. When he lived, I lived. When
he died, I died. When he kept God's law, I kept
God's law. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. I'm united to him. So what he
did is what I did. And I have a hope that everything
between right now and when I stand before God in judgment is going
to work together for my good and for his glory. Now is that
a better hope? What a better hope that is. Now by this better hope, he says
in verse 19, by the which we draw nigh unto God. You know,
I can draw nigh to the Lord God. And this isn't some presumptuous,
over-bold familiarity. Believing I'm perfect in Christ
Jesus, I can with boldness draw nigh to God. Not phony, it's
not trying to prove to you how I'm close to God. No, I draw
nigh through the blood of the Lamb, through the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20, and inasmuch as not
without an oath, He was made priest. Now Aaron's sons didn't
become priests because of an oath that God made. They became
priests because their daddy was a priest, and their granddaddy
was a priest, and their great granddaddy was a priest. But God made Christ
priest by his own oath. He swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Verse 21, for those priests were
made without an oath, but this was 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. Now Melchizedek came way before
the law, didn't he? When he met Abraham at the slaughter
of the Kings in Genesis chapter 14. I mean, the law wouldn't
come till 450 years after that. And he was, uh, before then too,
he's the eternal son of God with the power of an endless life.
And we read in verse 22, by so much Jesus was Jesus made a surety
of a better Testament. Look in Hebrews 13, what is this
better Testament? Hebrews 13 verse 20. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead,
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. And that's the covenant, that's
the testament being spoken of. guaranteed ratified by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ and he goes on to say make you perfect
in every good work to do his will working in you that which
is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom
be glory forever and ever amen now that covenant that was made
before the foundation of the world same covenant David spoke
of when he said, although my house be not so with God, yet
have he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things
and sure Christ is the here's why it's sure Christ is the surety
of that covenant. Now we've looked at this several
times in the last few weeks, but a surety was not someone
who would take responsibility if I couldn't do my part. know
from the very beginning Christ was my surety. Just like it was
Judah who said to his father with regard to Benjamin, I will
be surety for him of my hand shall I require him. If I bring
him not before thee and set him down before thee, bear the blame
forever." That's what Jesus Christ said with regard to every one
of his people as their surety, the surety of this everlasting
covenant. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. Verse 23, and they truly, speaking
of the Levitical priesthood, and they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
Their priesthood would be over when they would die. But this,
look at how man is in italics, but this priest, this God, this
man, this Melchizedek, it's almost like there's not even a word.
This, how will we describe him? But this, because he continueth
ever. hath an unchangeable priesthood. Unchangeable, unalterable, immutable,
perfect priesthood. You see, if he represents you,
you can't be anything but saved. It's impossible for you to not
be saved if he represents you because of his unchangeable priesthood. Now, why do you say that? Well,
read verse 25. Wherefore, he is able. Everything we're resting in is
grounded in his ability. I'm not looking at my ability.
I don't have any. I'm looking at his ability. Wherefore, he is able. Now, let me ask you a question.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is able to present you on judgment
day in absolute perfection? You believe that? Like the Lord
said to that blind man, he said, do you believe that I am able
to do this? I do. I do believe that he is
able. All of my hope is in His ability
to make me perfect. I can't make myself perfect.
The law can't make me perfect. I can't do anything but sin in
and of myself if I breathe in sin. But He's able. What's it say? Wherefore He is
able to save them to the uttermost. How far is that? I don't even
know how to give the right word to it. He's able to save them
to the utter most, to the end, to the utmost. He's able. I love what Paul said,
wherefore, I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded he is able to keep that which I've committed to
him against that day. Listen, all my faith is in his ability.
That's all. That's it. His ability to save
me. He's able to save them to the
utter most. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Now listen, that salvation from sin is the uttermost. You'll
never have to pay the penalty of sin. He already paid it. You'll
never be under the dominion of sin, because the Scripture says,
Sin shall not have dominion over you. It's not going to be your
Lord, for you're not under law, but under grace. He's able to
save you from the very presence of sin. In this sense, you've
already been saved from the presence of sin in Christ. You're already
glorified in the beloved. If he's in heaven, you're there
too with him. Now that's glorified. That's
salvation to the utter most. Jude said, now unto him that's
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. faultless, sinless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Now who does He save to
the uttermost? Verse 25, Wherefore He is able to save them to the
uttermost. Who? Them that come to God by
Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them as
their great high priest. Now who is it that He saves to
the uttermost? Them that come to God by Him. Now, let me tell you exactly
what that means. That means when He comes into
His Father's presence, you know who else does? Every believer. You see, I don't come in God's
presence pleading Christ, although I do. But when my Redeemer comes
into His Father's presence, I come to Him. No man cometh to the
Father, but by me. When he comes into the Father's
presence, and when he remains in the Father's presence, never
to leave, I'm right there with him. He is able to save them
to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. Four, verse 26. Four. and high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Now,
none of the Levitical priests would fit this description. And
this is exactly what we need, a priest who is holy. If he's
not holy, he can't do me any good. He can't take my sins to
himself if he has sins of his own. He's got to be holy. He's
got to be one with a perfect, holy life. Holy, harmless. Don't you love the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ is harmless? Separate from sinners. made higher
than the heavens. The place where he exercises
his office as priest is in heaven itself, in the very presence
of God. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Now look at
this verse, verse 27. Who needeth not daily, as those
high priests, those Levitical high priests, to offer up sacrifice
first for his own sins, And then for the peoples, you know something
that every high priest, Levitical high priest had in common? He
was a sinner. And before he could offer up
a sacrifice for the people, he had to first offer a sacrifice
for himself. Why? Because he was a sinner.
And this represents something. Look in Hebrews chapter five. Verse one, for every high priest
taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are
out of the way for that he himself also is compassed, surrounded
by. infirmity, weakness, sinfulness. You know, every true high priest,
they were aware of that. They knew when they were offering
up that sacrifice for themselves, they knew that's the only thing
that would make them fit to offer up the sacrifice for somebody
else. And that's why he did this. Now, here's the difference between
the priest after the order of Melchizedek and the Levitical
priests. There didn't have to be two sacrifices. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 27. Who needeth not daily every day
those high priests had to offer up sacrifices first for their
own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once. You see the people's sins became
his own sins. And one sacrifice put them all
away. He didn't have to offer up a
sacrifice for himself for his own sins in the sense that he
didn't have any sins. And the reason he can take my sins is
because he had none of his own. And because he had none of his
own, he could take on my sins and they would become his own
sins. He said, my sin is ever before
me. It became his, but that sacrifice
only had to be offered once. And it did the job. By one offering,
he hath perfected it. Forever. Them that are sanctified. This he did once. Now, once in
the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. Verse 28, for the law maketh
men high preached with have infirmity, weakness, sinfulness, flaws,
But the word of the oath, that's that oath. Thou art a priest
forever. The Lord has sworn and will not
repent. Thou art a priest forever. After
the order of Melchizedek, the word of the oath, which was since
the law, that oath was not made. till hundreds of years after
the law. Melchizedek appeared hundreds of years before the
law, but that oath was not made till hundreds of years after
the law in Psalm 110 verse three, where I love to think of David. He was, I don't know what he's
doing, but he's reading scripture. And he was reading about Melchizedek
in Genesis chapter 14. And the Lord revealed to him
the priest after the order of Melchizedek. He's not like those
Levitical priests. And he saw that. And that's when
he, by the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit wrote that concerning
the Lord, Jesus Christ, the word of the oath, which was since
the law was after the giving of the law maketh the son who
is consecrated. My marginal reading says perfected,
perfected forevermore perfected You know what that means? 1 John 4, 17 says, as he is, so
are we right now in this world. He is perfected eternally. Me too. perfection in Christ
Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus, that great high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
How we thank you for the perfection we have in him. Lord, we're ashamed
of our constant temptation to look to ourselves when you've
given us this great assurance that in your son, we're perfect,
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. And Lord, we ask in his name
that you'd accept our thanksgiving. In his name we pray, amen.