Christ Jesus -- Our Great High Priest

I want to speak to you on the
subject, Christ Jesus, Our Great High Priest. Christ Jesus, Our
Great High Priest. And I want you to turn in your
Bibles to the book of Hebrews. I wish you'd take a Bible and
open it and keep it there in your hands, because we're going
to read several verses beginning at chapter 1 of the book of Hebrews. Now, we hear many people say
that the book of Hebrews is so difficult for them to understand,
so difficult for them to comprehend. Well, let me say this. Now, listen
carefully. Any book of the Bible, any book
of the Word of God, is not only difficult, but impossible for
a natural man to understand without the Holy Spirit to teach him.
Any book of the Bible is not only difficult, but impossible
for a natural person in his own human wisdom to comprehend. Our
Lord said this in John 8, Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. He that is of God heareth God's
word. You hear them not because you're
not of God. They came to him in John 10,
and they said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you. I told you. But you believe not. You believe not because you are
not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. The natural
man does not hear the voice of God, but the man whose ears have
been opened by the Holy Spirit will hear the word of God. and
the man to whom the Holy Spirit has given eyes of faith, he will
see the mysteries written in the word of God. Now listen to
this scripture in 1 Corinthians 1. Paul said this, you know it,
you've heard it before, the preaching of the cross is to them who are
perishing foolishness, sheer nonsense. And again Paul wrote
in 1 Corinthians 2, the natural man, receive it not the things
of God, their foolishness to him. Neither can he know them,
because they're spiritually understood." And people say, well, the book
of Hebrews is just hard to understand. It's not only hard, my friend,
it's impossible, unless the Holy Spirit is our teacher. And in
1 Corinthians, Paul said this, "'Eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man.' the things
that God has prepared for them that love him. Man has eyes,
but he cannot see, and ears, but he cannot hear, and heart,
but he cannot understand. Christ said, therefore I speak
to them in parables. And then in John chapter 5, verse
43, he brought this terrible charge against us. He said, I
am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. Let another
come in his own name, seeking his own glory. preaching his
own message, and him you will receive." So we come to this
conclusion that the Holy Spirit is going to have to be our teacher,
or we're not going to understand any of the word of God, much
less the book of Hebrews. But now let's follow on. The
word of God is revealed by the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Galatians
1.15, it pleased God to reveal his Son in me. And then that
scripture I quoted from 1 Corinthians 2, Paul said, I have not seen,
and ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of
man the things that God has prepared for them that love him, but he
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. The Spirit searcheth
the deep things of God, yea, all things of God, and the Holy
Spirit is our teacher. Christ said, When he is come,
the Spirit of He will guide you into all truth. He will take
the things of mine and show them to you. One great old preacher
of many years ago made this statement to a congregation one time. He
said, Now my friends, if my voice is the only voice you hear tonight,
nothing of any eternal value will be accomplished for you.
You've got to hear him speak who speaks from heaven. You've
got to hear him speak, who speaks through his word. The author
of the word of God must be our teacher. The author of the word
of God must be our teacher. But let me say this. For the
spirit-taught man and the spirit-taught woman, there is a key to the
book of Hebrews. Now, you take the book of Hebrews
and turn to chapter 1, verse 1. Now, there's a key to the
book of Hebrews, and I'm going to give you this key, and I believe
if you use it, and the Holy Spirit is your teacher, then God will
reveal to you the things that are written in this blessed book
of the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, this is the key
to the book of Hebrews. This book is written to show
the excellence and the glory of Jesus Christ above everything
that has come before and everything that will come after. This book,
here's the key to it, all the way through from chapter 1 to
the last chapter, this book is written to show the excellence
and the glory of Jesus Christ above everything that was before
and everything that should follow. Now take chapter 1, verse 1 through
3. What does it say? It says, God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake to our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, who is the brightness of his glory, who is the express
image of his person, by whom he made the worlds." Now, the
prophets served their day. The prophets spoke for God. The
prophets represented God. But this man, Jesus Christ, is
above and beyond the prophets, he hath more glory, he hath more
excellence, he hath a name that is exalted above every name. This person, this Jesus Christ,
is God himself. God spake to our fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days, God has spoken to us himself
through his Son, who is called the Word of God. The prophets
couldn't say, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. The
prophets couldn't say, the words that I speak are not my words,
but the Father's. Christ could say that. Philip
said, show us the Father. He said, he that has seen me
has seen the Father. Moses, that great prophet, said,
God shall raise up unto you a prophet from among the brethren, him
you shall hear. And this is that prophet, Jesus
Christ. And this book is written to show
his excellence and his glory. above all the prophets put together. Then look at verse 4, chapter
1, the angels. Verse 4 talks about the angels.
The angels are ministering spirits. The angels are messengers of
God. But verse 4 says, But this man
hath more glory than the angels. Verse 5, Under which of the angels
did God say, Thou art my son? Did he say it to Gabriel? Did
he say it to Michael? Did he ever say it to Lucifer?
No, sir. But he said it to Christ. Thou
art my son. Verse 13, To which of the angels
said he at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make
thine enemies thy footstool? Did he ever say that to an angel?
No, sir. He hath not put the world, verse 5, chapter 2, he
hath not put the world in subjection to the angels, but he hath put
the world in subjection to Christ. Thy throne, O God, He said to
the Son, is forever. And Christ said, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth. So you see, he hath more
glory, he hath more excellence than the angels. That's what
chapter 1 and 2 say. Now read on. Look at chapter
3, verse 3. He says in verse 3 of chapter
3, this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Now, all the way through the
gospel, you hear these Israelites talking about, we have Moses,
we believe Moses, Moses was our leader, Moses was our prophet,
and the word of God says here, this man, Jesus Christ, was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses in this way. Moses was a servant
in the house, Christ is the Son. Moses was a part of the house,
Christ built the house. So you see already, we see the
key to the book of Hebrews is that all who went before and
all who followed after, Christ is worthy of more glory, more
excellence. Now watch this, chapter 7, verse
23 through 25. We read about the Old Testament
priests. These men served God in the tabernacle,
about the temple. The time of their service, these
Old Testament priests, the time of their service was limited
both ways, by birth and by death. But this man, now this is the
key statement all the way through this book, but this man, talks
about the prophets and then God says, but this man. He talks
about the angels, but he says, but this man. He talks about
Moses and, but this man. He talks about the Old Testament
priests, but this man. This man, the God-man, the God-man,
the second Adam, the man from heaven who is the Lord from heaven,
this man has an unchangeable, unlimited, immutable priesthood. Wherefore, this man is able to
save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. So whatever
you read in the book of Hebrews, take these three words, but this
man and you'll find the key to this book. The prophet spoke
for God, but this man is God. The angel served God, but this
man is the angel's master. Moses was a servant of God, but
this man is the only begotten, well-beloved son of God. The Old Testament priests served
as intercessors, but this man is the one mediator. between
God and men. The Old Testament priests served
in a typical tabernacle, but this man is the tabernacle. The Old Testament priests offered
typical sacrifices, but this man is the ultimate supreme sacrifice. The Old Testament priests brought
the atonement one day out of every 365 days, but this man
is the atonement. And then you take that book all
the way from the fourth chapter, all the way through, and you'll
find Christ compared with these Old Testament priests. And Christ
coming forth with all the glory and all the beauty and all the
excellence and all the worship. And you'll find in the book of
Hebrews the most beautiful presentation of the gospel to be found anywhere
in the word of God. I wish that every one of us would
take the book of Hebrews and study it based on this key right
here, but this man. Now let me show you a few illustrations
of this. I'm going to give you about six.
If you want to, drop them there. But first of all, in Hebrews
chapter 8, verse 1 and 2, he says this, Now of the things
which we have spoken, This is the sum. This is the main point. What is it? The main point is
this, Hebrews 8, 1 and 2. We have a high priest who is
seated at the right hand of God in heaven. Of all the things
I've said, Paul, this is the main point. This is the sum.
We have a high priest. But now, he's different from
the sons of Levi. He's different from Avon and
those priests. How is he different? He gives
us six ways in which Christ is different, six ways in which
our great High Priest is more excellent and more glorious than
all of these Old Testament priests, and that's what I want you to
see. Now, first of all, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse
23, this is what it says about those Old Testament priests first.
First of all, it says in Hebrews 7.23, and they truly were many
priests, m-a-n-y, many priests. Who can possibly count the thousands
and thousands and thousands of priests who ministered about
the tabernacle and the temples for those two thousand years?
Who possibly can? How many thousands of priests
were there? They were born They grew up in
the manhood, they studied, they trained, they entered the priesthood,
they served their time about the tabernacle of the temple,
they took care of their particular assigned duties. Another man
was always in the wings waiting to take their place because they
got old, and after a while they died, and this other man stepped
in. and he served his time and another
one came along, he served his time and another one came along.
They came and they died. They were born and they served
and they died. There were many of them. Watch
this. But this man is one. And this great high priest, Jesus
Christ, hath an unchanging priesthood. This is the way it describes
him, talking about of Melchizedek, but it says this is Christ. It
says, without father, without mother, without pedigree, having
neither beginning of days nor end of life, abided a priest
forever. Our great high priest is one,
is one. He was the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He was God's sacrifice He was
God's atonement from the foundation of the world. His blood is the
blood of an eternal covenant. He is the surety of an eternal
covenant. He is the one great high priest. He is the one great mediator,
and all the rest of them are but pipes and shadows and pictures. Christ said, Moses wrote of me. All of these great priests and
these Secondary priests represented the one high priest who should
come. Now watch secondly. These Old Testament priests were
human and they had sins of their own for which to offer sacrifice. Look at Hebrews 7.27. It says
those priests offered up sacrifices first for their own sins and
then for the people. In other words, Aaron and the
sons of Levi and all of these priests were sons of Adam, just
like you and just like me. They were sinners, just like
you and me. They needed forgiveness, just
like we need forgiveness. But Christ Jesus, our great high
priest, had no sins. When these Old Testament priests
went into the holy place to offer the sacrifice and under the veil
into the Holy of Holies. They were appearing before God,
not only to represent Israel, but to represent themselves,
for they needed forgiveness, they needed pardon, they needed
remission, just as much as the people. But Jesus Christ had
no sin. The scripture says in 2 Corinthians
5.21, he who knew no sin was made sin for us. He was tempted
in all points, as we are yet, without sin. He thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, equal with God not only in glory,
not only in power, not only in authority, but in holiness. And the Father said, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Christ said one
time, I always do those things that please my Father. He had
no sin. All right, what's thirdly? These
Old Testament priests offered, the scripture says, in Hebrews
10, many sacrifices. Look at Hebrews 10, verse 11
and 12. It says, every priest standeth daily, offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin, but this
man. You see how this is the key all
the way through this book? But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Now
these Old Testament priests, I want to know if you notice
one particular word in here. It says, every priest standeth
daily. Standeth. These men always stood. There was some furniture, seven
pieces of furniture connected with the tabernacle, but not
one chair. There were tables, there was
the mercy seat, there was the candlestick, there was the laver,
but there were no chairs, because these Old Testament priests never
sat down. And they never sat down because
their work was never finished. They'd offer the morning sacrifice
and the noon sacrifice and the evening sacrifice, and the next
day it was the same thing all over again, the morning sacrifice,
the noon sacrifice, the evening sacrifice, once a year the atonement,
the great day of atonement, but it had to be offered next year
too, because it says these sacrifices can never take away sin. But
it says this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin,
sat down. sat down on the right hand of
God. He sat down because his work
was finished. Christ need not be offered up
in the communion or the sacrament every Lord's Day, because he
has offered himself one time. And he has presented a sacrifice
and an offering which is acceptable to the Father, and he sat down
having finished his work. What did he say on the cross?
There were seven of those statements from the cross. He said, I thirst,
and he said to John, Behold thy mother. He said, Father, forgive
them. He said to the thief, Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. But one thing he said toward
the end, Jesus cried with a loud voice, It is finished. What did he mean by that? The
atonement was finished. The payment for his people's
sins was finished. The ransom was paid, they were
redeemed, the work was done. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
we owe, sin, leprosy, crimson stain. He washed it white as
snow. This is the key to those words on the cross. These Old
Testament priests offered many sacrifices and they stood daily. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high. Now, in the fourth place, in
Hebrews 10, verse 11, these Old Testament sacrifices could never
put away sin. Now, I hear people say, well,
we're saved today by the death of Christ. But back in the days
of Isaiah and David and Jeremiah and Moses, those men were saved
by the law, by the ceremonies of the law, by the sacrifices,
by the blood of the bulls and goats. Listen to the scripture,
Hebrews 10.4. Now listen, you turn to it and
read it yourself. It says in Hebrews 10.4, it is
not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away
sin. You say, well, but why were they
offered? They were types, they were shadows,
they were pictures, they were prophecies of the coming Christ.
His blood, every time that they offered a sacrifice, it brought
forth a remembrance of sin. But now listen to this scripture,
Hebrews 10. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin, sat down, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified, them that are set apart, them
who are the objects of God's Them who believe on Christ, them
who are the objects of his redemption, he has perfected forever by one
offering. God says, I'll remember their
sins no more. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. God said, I'll separate your
sins from you as far as the east is from the west. That's infinity. He says, I'll cast them into
the depths of the sea. No, these Old Testament priests,
with all their sacrifices, could never put away sin, for if they
could, they would have ceased to have been offered. That's
the reason Christ didn't have to die but once, because with
one offering, he perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now
in the fifth place, Hebrews 9.24, it says, Christ is not entered
into the holy place made by hand. which is a type, a figure, a
picture of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. These Old Testament preachers,
you know what the tabernacle looked like. It was out there
in the wilderness. It was so big with a canvas fence around
it, and then the beautiful building on the inside, and it was divided
into two parts. This first part was the Holy
of Holies. Separating the Holy of Holies
from the Holy Place was a big, thick veil from top to bottom,
side to side. And once a year, the great high
priest, they went about the business, the sacrifices, the ceremonies
in the Holy Place, and once a year, he would crawl under the veil
and go into the Holy of Holies, where there was one piece of
furniture. There was the art of the covenant in which was
the table of stone, the law that God gave to Moses, and Moses
robbed it, but it, and over the top of it a mercy seat of pure
gold, and the cherubims, and he put that blood offering once
a year on top of that mercy seat to picture the death of Christ
and the shedding of his blood which covers the law, which pays
our debt, which cleanses us from sin. And they go there into that
holy of holies, into the tabernacle on this earth. Well, it says
Christ didn't go into the holy place made with hands, but into
heaven itself, right into the presence of God. Now, if you
want an earthly priest that plays around in a natural building
of sticks and stones and brick and mortar, you are welcome to
have him. But I don't want that kind of
high priest. I want my great high priest who
is not down here playing church and playing religion and playing
God, I want the one who has entered into the Father's very presence
with his own blood. Not the blood of bulls and goats,
but his own blood. And when he entered into the
presence of God with his blood, having died on the cross, that
old veil in the temple was rent in two. And God is saying, by
the renting of that veil, this tabernacle is of no more use.
This temple is of no more use. This earth of priesthood is of
no more use. These sacrifices of animal blood
are of no more use. My son has died. Once our blessed
Christ of beauty was veiled off from human view, but through
suffering, death, and sorrow, he rent that veil in two. Holy
angels bow before him. Men of earth give praises due.
He is the well-beloved, since he rent the veil in two. And
Paul says two or three times in the book of Hebrews, we have
a high priest, let us hold fast our profession, we have a high
priest on the right hand of God, we have a high priest, let us
draw near with full assurance. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. I hope you'll join us next week
for the broadcast. If you'd like a cassette tape
of these messages, you write to me. It's a small charge, but
we'd be happy to send you the tape if you'll let us know that
you want it. Until next week at this time, God bless you,
everyone.

Christ Jesus -- Our Great High Priest

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Christ Jesus -- Our Great High Priest

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