Let us begin again tonight looking
at Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1. Hebrews 10 and verse 1. For
the law, having a shadow of good things to come. Once again, I
want us to look at another one of the many good things that
the law shadowed forth which were to come. So far, we have
looked at three of these good things. We look first at how
the law shadowed forth the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by the
tabernacle that he would come and dwell among men. And then
we considered the Sabbath, which also was incorporated into the
law, part of the law, and that shadowed forth this good thing
called rest. Isn't it wonderful? Tonight,
if you know Christ, He said, Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So wonderful to
be able to rest tonight in Christ. And then last time we looked
at liberty. You remember the year of Jubilee. That was part of the law. That
shadowed forth the liberty that Christ gives his people. Tonight, the good thing of which
the law shadowed forth that I want us to look at is our great high
priest, our great high priest. First, let's remind ourselves
of the difference between a prophet and a priest. A prophet comes
out from God. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ
as a mediator of the new covenant. He is prophet, priest, and king. A prophet comes from God with
a message to deliver. The Hebrews begins like that,
doesn't it? Hath in these last days spoken
unto us in his son. But a priest, he goes to God
on behalf of the people. Abel, we all are familiar with
Abel and his sacrifice. What was he doing? He was acting
as a priest when he offered that sacrifice that God accepted. Job, he acted as a priest when
we read in Job chapter one that he offered burnt offerings for
each of his children. I think he had about 10 children,
didn't he? And he offered burnt offerings
for each one of them. What was he doing? He was acting
as a priest. And that's one reason we know
the book of Job, that Job lived before the law was given. Because
before the law was given, the head of every family acted as
a priest. That was just the way it was.
The head of the family acted as a priest, but that all changed
That all changed with the giving of the law, the covenant that
God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. That changed when Aaron
and his family were chosen of God to be the priest in Israel. Aaron, we know, was the first
high priest, Aaron the brother of Moses. He was the first high
priest and every other priest Every other priest in the nation
of Israel descended from Aaron, and a high priest would serve
until he passed away, and then his son would take his place.
Look back to chapter 5 of Hebrews, and here we have just a very
brief summary of the work of a priest that the law proclaimed. Verses 1 and 2, we read, 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 with infirmity." There are five things that we
read in those two verses that are true of a high priest. First of all, he was taken from
among men. An angel could not serve as a
high priest. A high priest had to be taken
from among men. That's one reason we believe
in Revelation when it speaks of that angel that presented
with the prayers of the Lord, that incense, that that was the
angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, because no angel may
serve as a high priest. He had to be taken from among
men. Second, he was ordained for men. the ordination of God that a
man assumed this office, which was a superior office. Remember
that happened when they were in the wilderness. Some of the
people rose up in rebellion and said, well, Moses, you and Aaron
are taking too much upon yourselves. All the people are holy. We can
all serve as priests. And you remember how God settled
that issue. He settled it. in a couple of
ways, didn't he? One way was with that rod. Remember,
they took the rods of the 12 tribes and put their names on
it and laid it up before the ark. And the next day when they
brought those rods out, they were all still just as dead and
dry as they could be except the rod of the tribe of Levi. And it blossomed and bloomed
and bore almonds showing that yes, God had chosen the tribe
of Levi. And then when those 250 men,
leaders, elders in Israel, they took their incense and tried
to offer it before the Lord, and God destroyed them, all of
them. God settled that point, didn't
he? He was a man who was ordained for man. No man could assume
this office. And third, he was ordained of
God to do the things which pertain to God. He appeared before God
in the name of the people, he presented their sacrifices, and
he's the one who blessed them. As far as I read in the word
of God, the only man who was commissioned to put God's blessing
on the nation of Israel was the priest. And we have that beautiful
blessing in Numbers chapter 6. Number four, he offered both
gifts and sacrifices for sins. Notice that, both gifts and sacrifices
for sins. Some of the offerings that men
could give, they were not sin offerings. They were offerings
of praise or thanksgiving, but still they had to be offered
by a priest. And then, of course, the sacrifices
for sins, only a priest could offer those sacrifices. And number
five, he was to have compassion. on the ignorant." I'm so glad
to read that, aren't you? He was to have compassion upon
the ignorant and those who are out of the way. Now, tonight
I have three parts to the message. First, here are three truths
in the law about the high priest that I want us to look at. Three
truths in the law about the high priest. Number one, there were
some disqualifications to being a priest. Let's look at that,
if you will, in Leviticus chapter 21. To be a priest, a man had
to be a descendant of Aaron. We've already said that. But
even still, Being a descendant of Aaron, there were certain
things that would disqualify a man from being a high priest. Leviticus chapter 21. Let's begin our reading in verse 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in
their generations, that hath any blemish... Notice Moses is
told, By God, you say this to Aaron concerning your seed, that hath any blemish, let him
not approach to offer the bread of his God. And that bread, of
course, would mean the sacrifices. For whatsoever man he be that
hath a blemish, he shall not approach a blind man, or a lame,
or he that hath a flat nose, or anything superfluous, or man
that is broken-footed, broken-handed, crook-backed, a dwarf, or that
hath a blemish in the eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath
his stones broken, no man that hath a blemish of the seed of
Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the
Lord made by fire. He hath a blemish. He shall not
come nigh to offer the bread of his God." Now notice, he shall
eat the bread of his God. In other words, the food, the
offerings that were brought there for the priest to offer The priests,
they were fed that food. And here's a man who's disqualified
because of something that's named here. Now he could eat the food.
He could do that. But he could not serve as a high
priest. Read on. He shall eat the bread
of his God, both of the Most Holy and of the Holy. Only he
shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar,
because he hath a blemish that he profaned not my sanctuaries,
for I the Lord do sanctify them. So that's the first thing I wanted
to point out to us about the law concerning the high priest.
There were certain things that could disqualify a man, even
though he was of the lineage of Aaron. Yet, if he had a blemish,
as the word of God declares here, he could not approach unto the
altar to offer sacrifices. He could not go into the most
holy place. Here's a second thing that we
read. There was some need, or needs
I should say, there were some needs for every priest. He could not have any outward
blemishes, but he still had some needs. What was it? He needed beauty and he needed
glory. Look with me in Exodus chapter
28. Even though he did not have a blemish, he still needed both
beauty and glory. And take thou, verse 1, Exodus
chapter 28, Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons
with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister
unto me in the priest's office, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar,
and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments
for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. Even though he
didn't have a blemish, He still did not have glory nor beauty. He was a man. And so God commanded
the robes, the attire that the high priest would wear. And we've
studied that before and we recognize it was a beautiful, beautiful
robe and everything that went along with that. And number three,
a third thing, the high priest had to be anointed with oil. Look at that in Exodus 30. You're
there close by. Exodus chapter 30. God gives
Moses the recipe for the making of this oil. And it was a capital
offense if anyone tried to make this oil, this anointing oil. I mean, God gives the recipe,
the ingredients that go in, and how much of this and how much
of that, and if anyone else made this all, they could be put to
death. Verse 22 of chapter 30 says,
Moreover, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, You know, before
I read on, doesn't the thought come to all of us here tonight
how precise God is in His worship? You know, men have the idea that
just anything goes, just any way, you know. Oh my God, by
shadow in the law, but showing how precise he is in his worship,
how men might approach unto him. Let's read this. Moreover, the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal
spices of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon
half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet
calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia five hundred
shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of all olive
and hen, and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, and
ointment compound after the art of the apothecary, it shall be
an holy anointing all, and thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of
the congregation therewith it. and the ark of the testimony,
and the table, and all his vessels, and the candlestick, and his
vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering,
with all his vessels, and the laver, and his foot. And thou
shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatsoever
toucheth them shall be holy. Now notice, and thou shalt anoint
Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them. that they may minister
unto me in the priest's office. Now with these three things that
I pointed out to us that were mere shadows in the law concerning
the high priest, first of all, he could not have a blemish. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great
high priest, Hebrews chapter seven and verse 26, for such
a high priest became us who is holy undefiled, separate from
sinners. He could not have a blemish. He was undefiled, holy, and separate
from sinners. Someone said, well, how was Christ
separate from sinners? He ate with sinners? He received
sinners? Yes, but he was separate from
sinners in this sense. Every other man and every sinner
is the seed of a man. The Lord Jesus Christ was separate. He was the seed of the woman
and he did not partake of Adam's transgression. He had no blemish. The scripture
says God sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh, yes,
but he had no sin. And second, The high priest of
old, he had to have glory and beauty. What did John the Apostle
say about the Lord Jesus? He said, we beheld his glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Oh, how beautiful, how glorious is the Lord Jesus Christ. He
didn't need a robe to put on him. No, he in his person is
altogether lovely. And third, the high priest had
to be anointed to this office. And all in the scripture is one
of the most normal types of the Holy Spirit. And we know that
the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was baptized of John the Baptist,
The Baptist testified, saying, upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining upon him. And that's what he
saw. Not only the Holy Spirit descending
upon him, but remaining upon him. He was anointed to the office,
not with oil, but with that, the oil pitcher, that is God,
the Holy Spirit. All right, the second part of
the message, Here are three truths about our high priest. Number one, our high priest was
made one, that is he was made a high priest by an oath, and
he shall never be replaced. He shall never be replaced. Look
at that back in Hebrews chapter seven. If you'd like to turn
Hebrews chapter seven, And beginning in verse 14, the
apostle said, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah.
In other words, he was of the tribe of Judah. He was the son
of David, wasn't he? He had a right to the throne
of David, and he's seated upon the throne of David reigning
tonight. But Aaron was of the tribe of
Levi. Sure he was, but our Lord wasn't. He was of the kingly tribe. It's evident that our Lord sprang
out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood. And it is yet far more evident
for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there ariseth
another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life. for he testifieth thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For there is verily a disannulling
of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof. For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope, by the which we draw nigh
unto God. And inasmuch as not without an
oath he was made priest, For those priests were made without
an oath, but this with 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. Our high priest was made one
by an oath and shall never be replaced. Second, our high priest
has the marks in his body of his faithfulness and his love. I thought about this as I was
preparing these notes. When he appeared unto his disciples
on the day of his resurrection, he showed them the marks, marks
in his hands and in his side. And we know tonight as our high
priest, he bears those marks in his body and those marks They
testify to you and they testify to me tonight, those of us who
know him. First of all, they testify to
his faithfulness. That he came into this world
on purpose to do the will of his father. And he finished that
work which the father gave him to do. And second, they testify
of his love. that he loved the father, first
of all, and he loved his people, like that Hebrew servant who
could have gone out, remember, at seven years, but if he didn't
desire to go out, then he was marked in the ear. and he would
remain a servant forever. And the reason he would not go
out was because he loved his master, he loved his wife, and
he loved his children. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's marked
as our high priest. And number three, our high priest
may be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He may be
touched. Look there in Hebrews 4. He's such a high and glorious
one, and yet at the same time, by becoming a man, the God man,
he may be touched. He may sympathize and empathize
with his people. And I've said this before, and
I'll say it again. There's nothing that a child
of God may experience in this world that he cannot go to the
Savior, to the high priest, and find that he may be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Sometimes people have told me
over the years, well, preacher, you don't know what it's like.
And they're right. They've had some experiences
I haven't had. But I know this, there's one
who knows. And there's one who may be touched
with the feelings of our infirmities. Notice that in verse 14. Seeing
then that we have a great high priest that is fastened to the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. And the third part of the message,
I want to give us five truths. about our high priest in heaven. The law, by allowing the high
priest to enter into the most holy place once a year, was just
a shadow of our high priest entering into the holy place made without
hands. That tabernacle that the high
priest entered into, it was made with hands. But our high priest,
as we read in Hebrews chapter 9, verses 12 and 24, for Christ
has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are figures, shadows if you please, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us. And I want to emphasize those
last two words, now in the presence of God for us. To appear in the presence of
God now for us. Number one, he appears there
for us as our righteousness. He does. He appears there for
us as our righteousness. This is the name whereby he shall
be called the Lord, our righteousness. He is the Lord, our righteousness,
in which the Father sees us. And as John said, as he is, so
are we in this world. He lives for us just as though
it were we who were in the glory, already perfected as he is perfect. I remember reading John Bunyan's
experience about coming to realize the truth that I've just stated
here, that he appears in the presence of God for us as our
righteousness. John Bunyan, like most all people,
you know, we have our ups, we have our downs, we have our doubts,
we have our fears. And then God impressed upon him
and taught him one time, your righteousness is in heaven. And it never changes. It never
changes and it never will change. He appears now in the presence
of God for us as our righteousness. Number two, he appears there
for us as our advocate. You know, John said, if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the
righteous. Might better be stated when any
man sins, because there's no man, no man that's just upon
the earth and sinneth not. We all sin. And we confess that,
don't we? We acknowledge that it's true.
And let me tell you something. The closer you get to God, the
more you're going to see your sinfulness. Now that's just so. The closer you get to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the more you're going to see your sinfulness.
But he appears there as our advocate. And when a person sins, a believer
sins, he doesn't lose his salvation. Why? Because Christ is there
to appear in the presence of God for us as our advocate. Number three, he appears there
for us as our confessor. We don't go to a man. We don't
go to any man to confess our sins. We just don't do that,
do we? And we feel sad for those who
are so deceived that they practice that. No, we go to Christ. We go to Him to confess our sins. And we have this confidence.
If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just, always and
just. Faithful, yes, and just. He forgives our transgressions,
our sins. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Why? Because there has been a
just sacrifice, a righteous sacrifice offered unto God. Number four,
He appears there for us as our intercessor. He ever liveth to
make intercession for all who come unto God by him. And we
have a very good example of that intercession in the case of Peter,
don't we? When the Lord told Peter, Satan hath desired to have thee,
that he might sift thee. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. Now, Peter, he did not believe
he was going to fall. He thought he was safe, that
Satan certainly could never tempt him. But you know what happened. But the Lord interceded for him
and his faith did not fail. His faith is what produced that
repentance when he when he looked upon Christ and Christ looked
upon him. No, his intercession is always
effectual. And five, he appears there for
us as our forerunner. The scripture says here in Hebrews
6, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made
in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. What
is a forerunner? Well, a forerunner is the first
one. If we were running a race, the
forerunner would be the winner, right? He's the forerunner. He's
entered there as our high priest for us. And as a forerunner,
it just signifies there's a whole lot more coming. There's a whole
lot more on the way, just like the Apostle Paul said about the
resurrection. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own
order. Christ's the first fruits, he's
the forerunner, Christ's first fruits, afterward they that are
Christ at His coming. I'm so thankful tonight that
we have a great high priest. Aren't you? What a blessing. That was just shadowed in the
law. But we have the reality, Christ our Lord. Let's sing a
verse or two of a hymn and be dismissed.