The King-Priest

Q: What does Psalm 110 say about Christ as the King-Priest?

Psalm 110 reveals Christ as the exalted King-Priest who sits at God's right hand, signifying his completed work of redemption. Psalm 110 emphatically presents the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as the King-Priest who fulfills the requirements of both roles in the redemptive plan of God. This Psalm begins with the Lord, the Heavenly Father, declaring to Christ to sit at His right hand, which underscores the completion of Christ’s redemptive work through his sacrifice. Unlike the Old Testament priests, who could never sit down due to their ongoing sacrificial duties, Christ’s single, perfect offering allows him to rest at the right hand of God, symbolizing that our redemption is finished and secure. This position of authority signifies that all enemies ultimately will be made His footstool, demonstrating Christ's sovereignty over all creation and His completed work of salvation.

Q: Why is the concept of Jesus as our mediator important?

Jesus as our mediator is crucial because He stands between God and humanity, securing our connection to the Father through His sacrifice. The importance of Jesus as our mediator lies in His unique role in the salvation process, as He not only intercedes for us but also embodies the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. As the great High Priest, Jesus offers Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice that effectively atones for sin, enabling believers to approach God with confidence. His ability to mediate results from His dual nature as both fully God and fully man; He understands our human struggles while holding divine authority. This positional truth reassures believers that we are accepted in the beloved, as Christ continually intercedes and represents us before the Father, ensuring our eternal security and relationship with God.

Q: How do the Old Testament and New Testament relate to each other?

The Old and New Testaments are unified by their central theme of redemption through Jesus Christ, revealed in both patterns and realities. Understanding the relationship between the Old and New Testaments is crucial as they both convey a singular message of redemption through Jesus Christ. The Old Testament serves as a foreshadowing of Christ's person and work, illustrating with types and shadows (such as the Passover lamb and the smitten rock) the upcoming fulfillment in Christ found in the New Testament. This connection highlights God's unchanging plan throughout history. For instance, Paul explicitly states that Christ is our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), reinforcing that each Old Testament event provides a glimpse into the reality of Christ’s redemptive work presented in the New Testament. Hence, both covenants reflect God's intention to save sinners through the sacrifice and righteousness of His Son, culminating in the New Covenant established by Christ.

This morning before I read the
scripture, I'd like to ask you to do something. I'd like to
ask you to get your Bibles and open them to Psalms 110. Now, I'm going to be speaking
from Psalm 110 on the subject, the King Priest. And the reason
I want you to use your Bible is because I'm going to be going
through this psalm verse by verse. I'll almost be speaking word
by word. So you get the Bible and open
it to Psalm 110 and listen to this message. Now let me ask
you a few questions and then we'll read the Psalm. Have you
been able to see the message of the Old Testament? You know,
to some people they call it the Old Bible and the New Bible.
It's just one Bible, but it's made up of Old Covenant and New
Covenant, Old Testament and New Testament. Have you been able
to see the unity of the two? The fact that the Old Testament
and the New Testament have the same message, the same message,
the message of the Old Testament and the message of the New Testament
is redemption, the redemption of sinners by the blood and obedience
and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the
Old and New Testaments are all about. The Old Testament shows,
and I gave this last Lord's Day in my message, if you saw the
program last week. The Old Testament reveals or
shows how that we're redeemed by the blood of Christ, by the
righteousness of Christ, but it shows it in picture. It shows
the person and work of Christ in pattern and prophecy. Now, the New Testament reveals
the person of Christ, follows him step by step from his birth
in Bethlehem's manger to his death on Calvary and his resurrection
and ascension to the Father. It's the person and work of Christ.
Let me illustrate, but the Old Testament, let me illustrate
from the Old Testament how that God shows redemption in pattern
and picture. For example, Moses and the children
of Israel down in Egypt slew a Passover lamb. They took the
lamb of the firstling of the flock without spot or blemish
and slew it, roasted the body with fire, put the blood on the
door and ate the roasted lamb. And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Now, Paul in the New Testament
comes right along and says this, Christ is our Passover. Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. So when Moses and Israel
slew the Passover lamb, that was a picture of the death of
Christ. Also, when Moses smote the rock
in the wilderness, the people were dying of thirst, and God
said, take your rod and smite the rock. and the water came
forth and they all drank. And Paul comes along in the New
Testament and says, that rock is Christ. That rock is Christ. Christ is smitten. And from Christ
comes the living water, the water of life. You see that? So that's
redemption in the Old Testament in picture, fulfilled in person
in the New Testament, and then when the people were bitten with
the fiery serpents. And God commanded Moses to make
a serpent of brass, like the ones that had bitten the people,
and lift it up on a pole. And he said, whosoever looketh
will live. And so Moses lifted up the brazen serpent, and the
people looked and lived. Well, over in the New Testament,
our Lord himself, in identifying his crucifixion and his death,
he said, as Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And you
see, that serpent of brass was made in the likeness of the serpents
that had bitten the people. Even so, Christ our Lord is made
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was lifted up on Calvary's
cross. And you can go through the whole
Old Testament, this is what it's all about. The Old Testament
is not a history book, not a book of philosophies, not a book of
proverbs, it's a book of redemption. Somebody said it's a hymn book.
H-I-M. It's all about hymn. It's a picture
of hymn. And you can go through the whole
Old Testament, the tabernacle. Christ is our tabernacle. He
tabernacled among us. The high priest, well that's
Christ, the high priest who went into the Holy of Holies once
a year with the blood, put it on the mercy seat. Christ is
that high priest. We have a high priest. And even
the mercy seat is Christ, because God has set him forth as a mercy
seat, a covering. And the atonement, even the atonement
is Christ. For it says in the scripture,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now have received the atonement. And our Lord, speaking to those
New Testament Pharisees and Sanhedrin and the teachers of the scripture,
he said, you may insert the scriptures. You search the Old Testament
scriptures, that's what they read, they didn't have the New
Testament scriptures, they weren't written there. But he said, you
are busy searching the Old Testament scriptures, for in them you think
you have life, but they are they which testify of me. That's what
they're all about. So now, I've taken too long,
but let's look at Psalm 110. Will you take it there, right
in your hand, look at Psalm 110. I want to show you Christ. the king priest in Psalm 110.
Now really, if you read Psalm 110 without Christ, it doesn't
mean a thing. Oh, you can't, every word is
Christ, every prophecy is Christ, every promise is Christ, fulfilled
in Christ in this Psalm 110, and without him it doesn't mean
a thing. Not a thing. And you'd be surprised how many
times Psalm 110 is quoted in the New Testament. Oh, so many,
many scriptures. All right, let's look at it.
You have the Bible there? Psalm 110, verse 1. The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool. Now, suppose you lived in the
days of David, 700, 800, 900 years before Christ ever came
into this world. What are you going to do with
that? How are you going to interpret it? Who is the Lord who said
unto my Lord? Sit thou at my right hand." There's
just one The Lord. He doesn't say, A Lord said to
this. He said, The Lord said to my
Lord. Sit thou at my right hand. Well,
The Lord is the Heavenly Father. The Lord God of heaven and earth.
The Lord. And he said to my Lord. Now my
Lord is the Messiah. My Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now David knew. that the Lord
our God is one God. Do you have any trouble with
the Trinity? There's no reason to, if you believe God. He said
the Lord our God is one God, and yet he's Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. I can't explain that. I'm not
even going to try to. I can't comprehend God. Somebody
said one time, all I need is a God I can comprehend, then
I'll have no God at all. But he's Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. And he said there are three that
by record in heaven, the Father, the Son, the Word, and the Water,
which is the Holy Spirit. Now David knows that the Lord
our God is one God, and yet he discerns between the Father and
the Son, but he calls them both Lord. Just like Thomas did when
he fell at the feet of Christ and said, My Lord and my God. Christ said, I and my Father
are one. He that has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus Christ
is called Wonderful Counselor of the Mighty God the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. But this scripture, what he's
saying here is, The Lord, the Heavenly Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, said, and when God speaks, it's done. He spake and
there was light. He spake and a world came into
being. The Word of God is the very power of God. And God And
he said this to my Lord, my representative, my Messiah, my Redeemer. And
David's Redeemer is my Redeemer, and if you're one of God's children,
he's your Redeemer. He said to my Lord. What did
he say to my Lord? Sit. Sit thou. Now Jesus Christ is a great high
priest. He's the great high priest. And
no Old Testament priest ever sat in the presence of God. No, you can go from the first
priest in the Old Testament and you can go throughout the tabernacle
temple and all the sacrifices, ceremonies, holy days and whatever,
and you'll never find any priest in the Old Testament, any typical
priest ever sitting down anywhere around the tabernacle or the
temple. In fact, there were no chairs
in the tabernacle. and no place to sit in the temple.
And the reason these Old Testament priests never sat down is their
work was never done. Their work was never completed.
Their sacrifices were never effectual. They offered sacrifice after
sacrifice after sacrifice, and they never sat down. The Lord,
God of heaven and earth, said to my Lord, my great high priest,
my Redeemer, my mediator, the one who represents me to God,
he said to him, sit down, sit down, sit thou at my right hand. You know why he sat down? Because
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
for by one offering he perfected forever. them that are sanctified,
and he sat down at the right hand of God. He sat down. You see, he sits because it's
finished. Our redemption is not open-ended. There's nothing else
to be done. He cried so that it could be
heard in heaven, earth, and hell. It's finished. I finished the
work you gave me to do. And therefore the Father sits
it down. He sits down because we're saved. His people are secure. He said, none can pluck them
out of my hand, nothing can separate me from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus. He sat down and he sits as our
mediator. Where does he sit? The Lord said
to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. What is the right hand?
I'll tell you this, that's the hand reserved for the beloved. That's where the beloved sits.
at my right hand. That's where the Queen sits.
That's where the special one sits. And that's where Christ
sits. And we are accepted in the beloved. And we are seated with Christ
in the heavenlies. For where the head is, the body
is not too far behind. Sit thou at my right hand. Now that's figurative language.
You go to heaven, you wouldn't see three gods, one in the middle
and one on each side. That's figurative language, but
it's language we can understand. It's a whole lot like gold streets
and jasper walls and gates of pearl and things like this, mansions
and so forth. Heaven is a place of dwelling
places, and this is figurative language. The only way we can
understand is for God to speak in figurative language, because
if he tells us like he is actually there, we couldn't understand
it. See, Paul came back from heaven and he said, I heard things
it's not possible to even tell you. There's no way the human
language has of expressing what I heard and what's in glory.
So he says, how long is he going to sit there? How long is our
forerunner going to be there? How long is this mediator going
to be at the right hand? He said, until the Lord said
to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until. until I make all
your enemies your footstool, till every enemy is conquered,
and the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Sit there until all
enemies are conquered and all your children are brought home.
There is no understanding of security except as it's viewed
in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in my faithfulness
or ability or anything else. It's viewed in his position.
Where he is is where I am. What he has is what I have. And
what he did on behalf of all his people is accepted. Now look
at verse 2. And the Lord, here we go again,
the Father, shall the rod of thy strength out of Zion. He's still speaking to the Lord
Jesus Christ, still speaking to the Redeemer, my Messiah.
And thee, Lord, shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion,
so rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. What does this
mean? What does this mean? Well, Zion is the church, no
question about that, isn't it? Zion is the church. And he says
the Lord Almighty God will send the rod of thy strength out of
the church. Well, what is this rod of power
and this rod of strength? It's the gospel. It's the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the picture that I
see. God sent Moses down into Egypt to deliver Israel out of
bondage, out of slavery. And Moses said, Lord, he said,
I'm going up against a nation, an army, a powerful people. I have no weapons. I have no
army. I have nothing. And God said, Moses, what's that
in your hand? And Moses said, well, it's a
rod. He said, take that rod and deliver
my people out of Egypt, the rod of my strength. And Moses went
down there and spoke the sea and it turned to blood, waved
it towards the heavens and it turned to night. hit the sea
and it divided, hit the rock and it gave forth water, that
rod. The strength wasn't in Moses, the power was in the rod. It's
the rod of God's power and the rod of God's strength. And so
the Lord says this, the Lord shall send forth out of Zion,
out of the church, the rod of Christ's strength. What is the
rod of Christ's strength? What delivers his people from
Egypt, from slavery, from bondage, from sin? The gospel. the gospel. He'll send the gospel. I'm not
ashamed of the gospel, Paul said. It is the power of God. The gospel is the strength of
God unto salvation to everyone that believes it. The Lord Jesus
Christ, before he ascended to heaven, said to his apostles,
he said, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye
therefore now He didn't say go organize the world and socialize
the world and all this. He said go preach the gospel.
And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And
he that believeth not shall be damned. That gospel is the rod
of his strength and his power. And just like Moses went against
Egypt, against the power of the most evil nation on earth, with
just the rod of God's strength. I'll tell you, we can go to this
whole world with the gospel, and that gospel is the power
of God to deliver a man from any slavery or bondage. It's
the power of God. All right, verse 3, now watch
this. Now listen carefully. You see, the work is done. Our
great High Priest, our great Redeemer sits at the Father's
right hand. It's finished. The work of redemption
is finished. His gospel of mercy and grace
is in the hands of his church, in the hands of his preachers,
his people. And his servants boldly declare his free and sovereign
grace. Now what's the result? What's
the result? And the Lord says in verse 3,
the Lord still speaking, and thy people, thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. Ah, he said to the Son,
he said to my Lord, Our Lord King to this earth took on himself
our sins and our iniquities. He didn't die by chance. He didn't
put forth an effort only. He came and got the job done.
He came to do what the Father sent him to do, and he fulfilled
it through his great suffering and agony and the shedding of
his blood. And he went back to Glover, and the Father said to
him, Sit down, sit down at my right hand, the hand of majesty,
the place reserved for the beloved. until I make your enemies your
footstool, and I'm going to send, I'm going to send forward the
gospel, the rod of thy strength out of the church, and you're
going to rule in the midst of your enemies." And he says, and
your people, thy people, shall be willing. Thy people, oh yes,
thy people. He has a people. He indeed has
a people. He calls them my sheep. He said,
my sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow
me, and I give them eternal life. Some of these Pharisees came
around and said, well, if you be the Christ, if you're the
Messiah, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. You didn't
believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. You see, my sheep hear my voice. He said,
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. I must bring. And they'll hear
my voice, and there'll be one fold and one shepherd. Not only
does he call them his sheep, he calls them his elect. The angels shall go forth and
gather his elect." Peter said, elect of God. All the way through
the scripture they are called the God's elect. He calls them,
those that the Father gave me. He says that quite often. In
John 6, he says, All that my Father giveth me will come to
me, and him that cometh out of no wise cast out. This is my
Father's will which is sent me, that of all which he hath given
me I lose nothing. John 10, he said, My Father gave
them me. My Father gave them to me. In
John 17, he said, I pray not for the world, I pray for them
which thou hast given me. I have manifested thy word to
them that thou hast given me. And I have all power over all
flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given me. He calls them my disciples, he calls them my brethren. In
one place he calls them my jewels, when he makes up his jewels.
Well, what about thy people? The Father said, thy people.
shall be willing." Shall be willing. Oh, we're not willing until he
makes us willing, are we? He said, You will not come to
me that you might have life. Let another come in his own name,
and him you will receive. I come in my Father's name, you
receive me not. Stood over Jerusalem one day
and said, O Jerusalem, how thou that stonest the prophets, how
would I have gathered you unto myself as a hen that gather her
brood? But you would not. But the Father
said, they'll be willing, they'll be willing, your people will
be willing, they'll be willing to come to you, they'll be willing
to believe on you, they'll be willing to rest in your righteousness,
they'll be willing to turn from their idols, they'll be willing
when? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the day of thy power. You see, this
thing of salvation is not It's not a profession, a decision,
a handshake, a turning over a new leaf, a reformation of life.
This thing of salvation takes a miracle, it takes the power
of God. The power of God. Thy people
shall be willing, willing to walk in the way of Christ, willing
to receive the Son of God, willing to bow down and worship him.
Willing when? When he makes them willing. in
the day of his power. It takes the power of God to
give spiritual life where none is. It takes the power of God
to remove a heart of stone and give it a heart of flesh. It
takes the power of God to convict a man of sin and strip him and
break him and humble him and unhorse him. It takes the power
of God to reveal the gospel. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither hath they entered the heart of man that think God
has prepared for them that love him. But he revealed them to
us. It takes the power of God to convert a sinner of his own
will begat he us and made us willing in the day of his power.
And notice that same verse. All this saving work is done
in the beauty of holiness. He makes them willing, not against
their will, makes them willing. And all of this is done in the
beauty of holiness. God redeems his people through
Christ holiness, Christ's righteousness, and makes them holy in him. Our
Lord doesn't have a bunch of rebellious people. Somebody said
a Christian ought to love God. They do. Somebody said Christians
ought to love each other. They do. All of them do. Well, they say Christians ought
to pray. They do. Well, Christians ought to live
honest lives. They do. They do? Yeah, they do. And people
who don't are not Christians. Or they may be church members
and they've made decisions. But you see, when God saves a
person, he gives them a new nature. I'm not saying they're without
sin. I'm not saying they don't stumble and fall. I'm saying
the better their will, the better the Christian's will, and the
tenor of his life is holiness to the Lord. He loves God. He
loves truth and holiness. This work of redemption is done
in the beauty of holiness. Do you see what David's saying
here? David's hope, like ours, is in Christ, fulfilling all
that God has written and all that God has required. All right,
look at verse 4. Now watch this. I have five more
minutes, and I'm going to give you something in verse 4. The
Lord, here we go again, talking about the Lord, the Heavenly
Father. All this that he said, he has sworn, and he will not
repent. Now, my friends, the Lord has
sworn, the Heavenly Father hath made an oath, hath taken an oath.
I tell you something must be pretty solemn and pretty serious
and pretty sure which leads the Heavenly Father to swear. And
I tell you this, he can swear by no greater. When men swear,
they swear by the greater. But God has no greater. And he
swore by himself, I will not repent. God says, it says in
Hebrews, God willing more abundantly to show unto us the heirs of
promise, the immutability, the unchangeableness of his will
and counsel, confirmed it with an oath. He said, I swear by
myself, I will not change. Thou art a priest forever after
the altar of Melchizedek. My high priest is a priest forever,
yes sir, and God will not change. He will not alter this purpose,
this counsel, or this will. It is set, it is sure, and it
cannot change. Who is Melchizedek? Well, he's
that great high priest who met Abraham when he returned from
the slaughter of the kings, you remember, and blessed him and
gave him bread and wine. You remember that? Well, he was
called the king of righteousness. He's called the king of peace.
It is said he had no father or mother, and Christ as God does
not. And it says he's without beginning
or end, and he's a priest forever. And Melchizedek, that is the
high priest of God. You know who that is? That's
Christ. And he met Abraham and blessed him. And then he went
away. He appeared once, blessed him, and went away. And that's
all Christ needed to do one time. by one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." Now, we need such a high priest. You see, the sons of Aaron, they
were many, Christ is one. They were men, he's the God-man. They were earthly priests, he
ministers in heaven. They offered many sacrifices,
he won. They offered animal blood, he
his own blood. They were types, his work is
effectual, they died. He lives, he lives forever. Melchizedek comes and blesses
his people and he leaves. But that one blessing is enough. It is sufficient. Now look at
verse 5. Now the Lord at thy right hand, now he speaks of
Christ again, the Lord at thy right hand in the day of his
wrath shall strike through kings. Yes, there's a day of mercy.
Now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while
he is near. But it sure is there is a day
of mercy, there is a day of wrath, and this great victorious King,
the Lamb of God, will strike through his enemies. Because
God said, sit there till I make your enemy your footstool.

The King-Priest

What does Psalm 110 say about Christ as the King-Priest?

Why is the concept of Jesus as our mediator important?

How do the Old Testament and New Testament relate to each other?

Sermon Transcript

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The King-Priest

What does Psalm 110 say about Christ as the King-Priest?

Why is the concept of Jesus as our mediator important?

How do the Old Testament and New Testament relate to each other?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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