Seeing then, we have a great
high priest, a great high priest. Our Lord called himself the great
shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep, the chief shepherd,
the good shepherd. We have a high priest, but he's
a great high priest. And where is he? He has passed
into the heavens, understanding these things to be true. We have
a great high priest, and he's passed into the heavens. Now
let's look at Hebrews 9 for a moment. Where does he minister? He doesn't
minister here in the holy places made with hands, in the tabernacle
of old. It says in verse 24, for Christ,
our high priest, is not entered into the holy place made with
hands, which are the figures, pictures, patterns of the truth."
Here's where he ministers, in heaven itself, into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. In these next
few verses, there are three appearances of Christ. In verse 27, or verse
26, it says in the last line, He hath appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He appeared on this earth. He
came down here into this world and put away our sins. And then
in verse 28, it says He's going to appear again on this earth. Verse 28, So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto a full, glorious
salvation. And there I just read you in
verse 24, he appears now in the presence of God for us. He's our high priest. We have such a great high priest
dispatched into the heavens. Who is he? He's none other than
the Son of God, Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession. We have every reason to be encouraged. We have every reason to have
assurance and be confident. of salvation. We have a great
high priest. There are religions on this earth
today, and no use in calling names, but they have priests,
they have what they call intercessors, and they have advocates. They have people that they come
to and whom they say go to God for them, but I'd be rather,
I'd be kind of uneasy. If I had that kind of priest,
that kind of mediator, wouldn't you? But understanding, we have. We have. Now, in the whole Testament,
let you know all the way through, you don't come to God without
a priest and a blood offering. Nobody does. Nobody does. And we come to God, and we have
a priest. We have a great high priest,
and he's not around down here in a building, he's passed into
the heavens. And he's the Son of God. And
he has his own blood as a sacrifice and atonement. Now, that's encouraging
now. That's something to rest in and
trust in. That's someone to believe. In
verse 15, well, what does he have to do with us then? And
we don't have a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. He understands us. He knows our
flesh because he wore it. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took on himself
the form of a servant. And the likeness of our flesh
was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He knows what it's like
to be tried and tempted in all points as we are, yet without
sin. He knows what it's like to be
hungry, to be weary, to work, to sweat, to hurt, to weep. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. And not a road you walk he hadn't
walked, not a pain you feel he hadn't felt, not a loneliness
or heartache you'll ever endure that he hasn't already endured.
In all points, he was a man, tempted as we are,
yet without sin. That's another wonderful consolation. Our high priest doesn't have
any sin. No sin. And therefore, seeing,
understanding that to be true, let us. I mean sons of Adam. Let us. Therefore, because that's
true, let us come. Let us come in faith. Let us
come in our hands, no price. In my hands, no price I bring.
through the cross I cling. Let us therefore come in faith
and come boldly. Come confidently. Come with liberty. Where? Unto the throne. Now come reverently. You know,
this word, we kept reading this word, fear, fear, fear. We read
it a while ago in the psalm in the study, and I read it in the
psalm a minute ago, and we read it here, Fear, the word fear,
it has to do with respect. It has to do with obedience. It has to do with reverence.
It has to do with an awe of spirit and heart. It's not that kind
of fear, you know, I'm afraid somebody's going to slap me or
something. That's not the kind of, not a slavish fear. It's
not the fear of a slave that's afraid he's going to offend his
master and get quipped by it. It's the fear of a son. Respect for father and mother,
love for father and mother, awe and obedience. So let us come
boldly to the throne. It's a throne. It's a throne. Now his throne, Brother Bill
Clark preached a message one time, his throne is the throne
of glory. And that's not the kind of throne
a mercy beggar wants to come before. It's a throne of majesty. It's a throne of justice. It's
a throne of impeccable holiness. And I tell you, you wouldn't
be too much at home in that atmosphere, but you can come before a throne
of grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ in his
sacrifice and in his righteousness and merit has made for us, opened
for us a way before the very throne of God. And listen, and
we'll come boldly into that throne and obtain mercy. Not earn it,
not buy it, but obtain it. Paul used that phrase so often.
I obtained mercy. I was a persecutor. I was injurious,
but I obtained mercy. I persecuted the church, but
I obtained mercy. God was merciful. Just like old
Bartimaeus, Lord, be merciful. Like the publican, Lord, be merciful. Like David in Psalm 51, according
to thy lovingkindness, Lord, be merciful. And he said that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need. When is our time of need? All
the time. All the time. I need grace for
every moment of every day. Grace to pray, grace to preach,
grace to sing, grace to love, grace to give, grace to forgive,
Grace in all things. I need grace because I'm a native
sinner. The hymn writer said, Grace first
inscribed my name in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave
me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to
pray. Grace makes my eyes overflow. It was grace that kept me to
this day, and grace will not let me go. Through many dangers,
toils and snares, I've already come. His grace has brought me
safe thus far, and His grace will lead me home in time of
need. All right. Chapter 5 now. That's what seeing, all this
is true. He tells us something about this
priest, this Old Testament priest, which was a type of our Lord.
For every high priest, and they were, you see, Abram was a high
priest and then the sons of Levi. Every high priest is taken from
among men, taken from among men. The high priest was a man. Turn
to Exodus 28. He was taken from among men.
The high priest wasn't an angel. The high priest was a man. Exodus 28. It says in verse 1,
And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons, ordinary men, with
him. from among the children of Israel,
that he may minister," this is God speaking, "...unto me in
the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar,
Ithamar, Aaron's son. And thou shalt make holy garments
for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty." Every high priest
was appointed by God, ordained by God, anointed with oil, in
the name of God, for what?" All right, back to our text, Hebrews
5. "...ordained him in things pertaining
to God." Take a man whom God has designated. Now, they tried to usurp The
priest's power on one occasion, and God dealt with him about
it. He killed some fellas. But this priest is appointed
by God. But he's a man. What's his purpose? Well, he's ordained in things
pertaining to God. He presided over Israel. He represented
all the people of Israel in things pertaining to God. He stood between
them and God, just how a priest did. He had on the priestly garments. He had the breastplate. He had
the atonement. He had all these things. He came
into the Holy of Holies and put the blood on the mercy seat.
He stood between God and the people. And he appeared before
God in their stead. And he presented their sacrifices
and their offerings. You see that? ordain him for
men, from among men, for men, in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sin." Now, in these religions
today, that's what they do. People come to the confessional,
they confess to the priest, and he goes to God. You say, well,
that's what it says. That's what it was in the Old
Testament. That's what it was. These were pictures and types
of Christ, you see. He fulfilled them. We don't use
those fellows anymore. Avon's gone, and all the sons
of Avon and Levi, that's pictures. That's pictures. And Christ is
all this to the believer. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Here it is in 1 Timothy chapter
2. Looky here. Verse 5. 1 Timothy chapter 2. There's one God, and there's
one mediator between God and men, and that's the man. It's
a man, all right, but it's the man Christ Jesus. You see, this
Old Testament priest was taken from among men, selected, ordained
of God in things pertaining to God. He stood between God and
Israel. He represented the people to
God. He took their gifts and sacrifices. Well, we've got a
priest. There's one God and there's one
mediator between God and men, and that's the man Christ Jesus.
John said, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. That's Jesus Christ the righteous.
All right, back to my text. And he's a common man, verse
2 and 3. Now watch this. "...who can have
compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.
This man who represented Israel, this priest, he was serious about
what he was doing because he's a man. He felt their grief. He felt their sins. He felt their
need. He represented them sincerely
and compassionately because he was like them. He was from among
them. He was one of them. You know, if someone were threatening
to kill all of us here tonight, and you appointed me to represent
you, I can present a pretty good case. Because I'm one of you. I'm under condemnation too. Go
kill me too. And when I plead for you, I'm
pleading for me. You see? And this priest here
in the Old Testament, he could have compassion on the ignorant
because he's ignorant. And on the sinful because he
was sinful. And on those under the curse
because he was under the curse. That's right. It says here, for
he himself is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof,
he ought as for the people also for himself ought for sins. Boy,
when that high priest went into the Holy of Holies, he wasn't
just sent by a bunch of people, he was in there for himself too.
He wanted God to accept that offer. He wanted mercy for all
of us. All right. What's that got to
do with us? was a man of flesh and blood. He was a man of sinful
flesh. He took on himself the likeness
of sinful flesh. He wasn't a sinner, but he bore
our flesh. He understood and sympathized
with the people. Sympathized. And when he brought
a sin offering, he was numbered with us. That's
right, numbered with us. Oh, turn to Hebrews 7 a minute.
Verse 24, But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come to God by him. That's the
way we come to God, by him. Seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for us. For such a high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens, who needed not daily as those high
priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins, and then
for the people. This he did want when he offered
up himself. He had no sin, but he was a man,
and he felt our infirmities. He felt our infirmities. I read
back there in verse 15, chapter 4, touch with a feeling of iron
primitives because he was one of us. All right, verse 5. Now, verse 4, no man takes this
honor on himself. No man. The office of high priest
and mediator is of the highest and holiest nature. The priest
and his work is on behalf of the people to God. and God to
the people. And it's of the Lord in the selection
of the person, in the time of approach, in the method of offering
and accepting or rejecting. Now here's Israel out there guilty
before God. And God selects the mediator. And God selects the time when
he'll come, the offering that he'll whether or not it's accepted. And verse 4, verse 5 says, So
also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but
he that said unto him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten
thee. God Almighty appointed him our
priest. God appointed him the beloved
And the time of approach, in the fullness of time, God sent
his Son, made of a woman, made in the likeness of our flesh,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law.
God picked him out, God sent him in his own time, and the
sacrifice was his own blood. And I want you to look at Hebrews
10. Was it accepted? Was it accepted? All right. Hebrews 10, verse 9, Then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first
priesthood and established the second, by the which will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every high priest, these
Old Testament priests, stands daily ministering offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But this
man, listen, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
was it accepted? Sat down on the right hand of
God. The Lord God said to him, Sit thou at my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thine foes too. All right, back to our text. Find out some more things about
this priest of ours. Verse 6, And as he saith also
in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. You see, these Old Testament
priests were types of Christ. And they did serve as a good
picture of Christ. For example, they were taken
from among men, he became a man. They were men of flesh. Christ
became a man of flesh. They were chosen of God to be
the priest. He was chosen of God to be the
priest. They brought blood sacrifices.
He brought a blood sacrifice. They offered up that blood before
the Lord, always before the Lord as an atonement. But there's
many ways in which They're not good pictures of Christ, and
here's some of the ways. Number one, he's a priest after
the order of Ava in a sense, in many ways, but the Lord God
had to pick a special priest to represent him, because these
were men only. He's the God man. And there were
many of them, many priests. He is one. And they ministered
on earth. He ministers in heaven. And they
died. And he lived forever. And they
offered many sacrifices. He brought one. They brought
blood from an animal. He brought his own blood. Their
sacrifices could never put away anybody's sin. He with one sacrifice
put away all the believer's sin. They never sat down. In that
tabernacle, there was not a bench or a chair or a seat because
the priest's work was never done. They never sat down before the
Lord. They were offering sacrifices morning, noon, and night, next
day, next year, all these sacrifices. One offering, he sat down. at the right hand of God, having
finished his work. And Isaac Watts wrote about that,
these words. Jesus Christ is my great high
priest. He offered his blood and died,
and my guilty conscience seeks no other sacrifice beside. His powerful blood did once atone,
and now it pleads for his throne. He's a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. Who's Melchizedek? All right,
let's look at Genesis. Genesis, I think it's chapter
18. Genesis, I think it's chapter
18. You know, Abraham was returning
from the slaughter of the kings. Let's see. Genesis chapter 14. And Abraham was returning from
the slaughter of the king. And it says here in Genesis 14,
17, "...and the king of Sodom, went out to meet him after his
return from the slaughter of Chedoleomer and of the kings
that were with him at the valley of Shapeth, which is the King's
Dale. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth
bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God,
and he blessed him. And he said, Blessed be Abram,
of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. Who is this
man? He appeared one time, never ever again. Well, Hebrews 7 tells
us a little bit about this Melchizedek. Hebrews chapter 7, turn over
there a moment, verse 1. For this Melchizedek, Now, as
I said to you, the sons of Abram were pictures of Christ, but
not very good pictures. Types of Christ, but so many
ways they're lacking. But this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom Abraham
gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation He's
the king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem,
which is a king of peace, without father, human father, without
human mother, without pedigree, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life. Here's who it is, but made like
the Son of God. Bideth the priest continually."
Who met Melchizedek? Christ met him. Christ met him. That's who that is. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. And one thing that convinces
me it's Christ. Back there in the Old Testament,
before the cross, before our Lord died, every priest who blessed
anybody brought the blood of a lamb. Always, the blood of
the Lamb. A priest never, a priest always
brought blood. Without blood, and the law, all
things are purged by blood. Without shedding of blood, there's
no remission. But here's a priest without blood. What's he blessed? What's he given? Bread and wine.
It's the one who, he shed his own blood. He's the same one
who sat with his disciples at the Lord's table and took bread
and blessed it and break it and said, take it, this is my body
broken for you. And took the wine and said, drink,
this is the blood of the New Testament shed for your sins. Melchizedek. And what he's saying
here in our text in Hebrews 5, our Lord is a man, but our Lord
is the Son of God. And our Lord is a priest in things
pertaining to God. But our Lord is an effectual
priest. He's an eternal priest. He's
not even of the line of Aaron. Did you know if Christ, listen
to me, if Jesus of Nazareth had not been God, if He's not God,
then He can't be a priest. Because He's not from the tribe
of Levi. Nobody ever served in the priesthood
that wasn't of the tribe of Levi. He's of the tribe of Judah. You
see, Judah is the tribe through which the kings came. David is
the tribe of Judah. Solomon is the tribe of Judah.
Levi is the tribe through which the priests came. But he's not
an ordinary priest. He's a king priest. See that? That's what it says, and we'll
cover that in days to come. But he's, and this is the thing,
he's not, our priest is, he's a great high priest, he's a man,
but he's the God man. Okay, and this, now we're going
to talk about his flesh a little more, because we can't get away
from that. Verse 7, who in the days of his
flesh, these were the days in which he walked the earth clothed
in human nature, he offered up prayers. and supplication with
strong crying and tears unto the Father. What was this Father? For us.
For us. Unto Him that was able to save
him from death. You have that incident in the
garden. When he cried, My Father, it be Thy will, let this cup
pass from me. My soul is exceeding sorrowful
even under death." He cried for strength. He cried for help. He cried for God to help him
because he's a man. Now he's a man. I wish I could
emphasize that. I wish he's a man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief. And this shows the actual weight
of our sins and the sorrow and the curse of this human nature
that was upon our Lord, confined to the days of his flesh. That's
what it says, who in the days of flesh. When he cried on that
cross, I thirst. Was he really thirsty? Yes, sir. This is no stage play. He was thirsty. He cried unto
the Father. He needed to be strengthened.
He needed to be sustained. He needed to be comforted. He
needed strength. He needed comfort. He needed
to be delivered from death. He'd have died before he got
to the cross. And it says in this same verse, and he was heard.
And he was heard. And the angels ministered to
him. And what we're seeing here in
this scripture is that a normal human being just can't enter
into it or preach it except to just a small degree. But the
high priest, our high priest, passed into heaven, Jesus the
Son of God. But he became a man. And yet,
he's a priest, but he's a king priest. And these fellows, Abraham
and his sons represented him, but not completely, because he's
so different from them. So different. He doesn't have
eternal priesthood. And yet, in the days of his flesh, he cried to God, offered prayers,
supplications with crying and tears. unto God who was able
to save him from death. And he was heard in that he obeyed. That's it. His piety. He's an
effectual priest. When he represents us, I want,
you know, when I think about my high priest, when I think
about him in the flesh and all through which he's going, He's
doing it for us, and he's got to do it actually, got to do
it obediently, he's got to do it perfectly, and he's got to
do it for us under God, and God's got to be satisfied, and God's
got to accept him, and he can't fail. He can't fail. And verse 8 tells
us that. Though he were a son, but brother
Mahan, isn't there some Isn't there some... Doesn't God cut him a little
slack? He's his son. I would. I'd cut him a little slack, but
I'm not God. Doesn't God cut him a little
slack? No, sir. No, sir. He spared not his own
son. You see what I'm saying? He's got to do it. It's no stage
play. It's no acting a part. Though
he were a son, yet he learned, he experienced. He learned and experienced obedience
for the things he suffered. Though he were a son, if he's
going to redeem this sinner, he can't be exempted. He cannot
be exempted from suffering, from sorrow, from the deepest well,
from the darkest valley, from the hardest pain. Though he were
a son, he must experience that suffering and bow under it and
do it perfectly, though he were a son. In fact, on the cross,
God turned his back, left him with it. Isn't that right? That's right. I'm just not that
holy, you see. God is. And when people start
talking about, well, you know, I don't think a fellow just got
to believe Christ and got to have the high priest. I believe
God will make a way somehow to let a fellow in, provided he
wouldn't let Christ He wouldn't cut him any slack. He spared not his own son. He
turned his back on him. My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? You
know who I am? You know exactly who you are. And that's why he's now forsaken
you. You're going to get this job done. Though he were a son,
he must be lifted up. Though he were a son, He got
to die, though he were a son. By the disobedience of one, we
became sinners. By the obedience of Christ, we
became righteous. I wish I could preach it. I just
don't know how to do it. I just don't know how to do it.
But there it all is. Who in the days of his flesh, he hungered. He could feed others
by a miracle, but not himself. A man of sorrows, tempted in
all points. He offered up strong, cried in
tears, help me. Unto him that was able to help
him, and he helped him, because he always obeyed. And though
he were a son, yet he experienced and effected this obedience of
the things that he suffered. No shortcuts. And being, here's
the good news, thank God, he succeeded. And being made perfect,
doing it all perfectly, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. How do we obey him? He says,
come to me. We come. He says, believe on me. We believe.
He says, trust me. We trust him. He said, cast your
cares upon me. I care for you. We cast them.
That's right. That's right. It says here in verse 9, he's
called of God a high priest. called of God. If anybody presents
themselves as a priest to you, ask them for their credentials.
He's got the right credentials. God called him. He's a high priest
forever. Let me give you another one of
these songs. King of Salem, bless my soul. Make this wounded sinner whole.
king of righteousness, king of peace, every captive son release. Hail Melchizedek, divine, great
high priest, thou art mine. All my soul before thee fall. Take my heart and take my all." Now, Wednesday night, We're going
to start chapter 5, chapter 6, there with verse 11, because
that's where it starts. This is the end of that particular
thought there, and he picks up something else here that we'll
look at the Lord willing on Wednesday night. But don't you rejoice
that we have such a high priest, who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus Christ the righteous. Let us therefore come boldly
before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to
help in our time of need. All right, number 127. Mike picked
out a good song with which to close. Hallelujah, what a Savior.