If you will, let us open our
Bibles this evening to Hebrews. The letter of Hebrews. Last Sunday night we looked at
five verses here in the letter of Hebrews which declare unto
us that the Lord Jesus Christ sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high. The eternal only begotten Son
of God came into his creation by his incarnation. The word,
the eternal word was made flesh. An angel gave Mary his name. Another angel, or the same angel,
I'm not sure, gave his name also to Joseph, the supposed father
of Christ. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
Jehoshua, Jehovah, Savior. For he came to save his people
from their sins. All of the Old Testament, pretty
much, may be summed up in a statement. Behold, he's coming. He's coming. And one of the prophecies
concerning him, which is found in the book of Daniel, tells
us that the Messiah would make reconciliation for iniquity and
bring in everlasting righteousness. Romans chapter 5 and verse 10
the Apostle Paul declared, for if when we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled
we shall be saved by his life. Reconciliation is needed where
there is enmity, where there is variance, and because of our
sin Man, each one of us, because of our sin, and remember, every
sin that we ever commit, every sin, is against God. As David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned. We were enmity with God, and
we needed Him to reconcile us to God. And as the Apostle Paul
says in this verse of Scripture, he reconciled us by his death. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. But Paul also
goes on to say that we shall be saved by his life. He reconciled us by his death
unto God. But the apostle tells us that
we are saved by his life. That is, his life now at the
right hand of God. We saw five verses of scripture
last time here in Hebrews which tell us that he is set down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. The first one we looked
at in Hebrews 1 and verse 3. Let me just read this to us.
Because these verses that we looked at tell us of what he
did before he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. And it's pretty well summed up
in this verse 3 of chapter 1, isn't it? who being in the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." Now tonight, I want us to look at three things that
we are told here in the letter of Hebrews that he does for us. as he is seated at the right
hand of the majesty of God, right hand of the majesty on high.
And again, I remind us that God is spirit. He doesn't have a
right hand or left hand. But this is language which is
accommodated to us. The right hand is always, humanly
speaking, a person on the right hand is always the person in
authority, in power, and in honor. And that's what this verse tells
us, that he is set down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. There's not a higher place of
honor, power, or authority than that place upon which he sits,
which is the throne of God. and also now called the throne
of the Lamb. But what is he doing? What does
he do as he sits there on the right hand of God for us? Well, there's three things I
want to mention to us tonight. First, if you turn to Hebrews
4, we're looking at verses 14 through 16. Seated at the right
hand of God, He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Verse 14. Seeing then that we
have a great high priest that is passed into 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, without
sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in the time of need. The first thing that I
see here that he does as he is seated on the right hand of the
majesty on high, he is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Now, in these verses I just read,
Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has passed into the heavens
and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, he is
declared to be our great high priest. The believers, when the
Apostle, if it was the Apostle Paul, makes no difference, it's
inspired scripture, but if it were the Apostle Paul who wrote
the letter of Hebrews, when he wrote this letter, Hebrews of
course means to the Jews, but they were Jews who had professed
faith in Christ. And he says, let us hold fast
our profession. Let us, speaking of himself,
whoever he was, and those to whom he was writing, professed
believers, let us hold fast our profession. What have they professed? When a person makes a profession
of faith, a confession of faith, and follows Christ in baptism,
what is it that they had professed. Well, first of all, they professed
or they confessed that Jesus is the Son of God. Now that's
number one. They confessed that Jesus is
the Son of God. Let me ask you tonight, if you've
made a confession of faith or if you have not made a confession
of faith, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? If you
do, you're blessed. You're blessed. Just like our
Lord told Peter, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh
and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And what was it that the Father
had revealed unto Simon Peter? The same thing that he reveals
to every child of God, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's the first thing they had
confessed. Jesus Christ, this man, who lived
in Nazareth, this man who was crucified, this man, Jesus Christ,
is the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. Number two, they confess that
as the Son of God, He is our great High Priest. Now, they
were Hebrews. And they had been taught that
there was a high priest in the temple. He was of the lineage
of Aaron. But when they professed and confessed
Christ as their Lord and Savior, they confessed that they have
a high priest who has passed into the heavens. They renounced. In other words, they renounced
all of that Old Testament Law that was given concerning
the sanctuary, concerning rather the tabernacle and the temple,
all of that, that concerned the Aaronic priesthood, the Levitical
priesthood. They confessed that Jesus Christ,
who is the Son of God, that He is our High Priest. He is our
High Priest. And number three, they confessed
that He, at the cross, had put away all their sins forever. He had put away all their sins
forever. And number four, they confessed
that raised from the dead, as He was raised from the dead,
that He had passed through the heavens and was now set down
on the right hand of the majesty on high. That he and his work
of reconciliation had accomplished what he came to do. That he and
his work of reconciliation, he had finished the work which the
Father gave him to do. Thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. They confessed
that. Now Paul said let us hold fast
our profession. Have you confessed your faith
in Christ? Now the way that we confess our
faith in Christ is in baptism. Baptism is a picture It is a
picture of the gospel. And we confess our belief in
Christ and in the gospel, which tells us that he died for our
sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and he rose
again. And we see that in the act of
baptism, when a person is placed under the water and raised back
up. We confess that we have experienced
that inwardly. We have a new life, and we've
died to the old life, and now we walk in newness of life. That's
our confession. Paul says, let us hold this fast. That is what we confess tonight,
those of us who trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, and by
God's grace, let's hold it fast. You say,
well, I never would... Let's hold it fast. Hold on to
it. I've seen some people turn back
that I thought was holding fast their profession of faith. Now in this verse we have two
negatives which I remind us that in the Greek language do not
cancel each other out as they do in the English language. But
these two negatives they only intensify the statement. Notice, we have not, there's
the first one, we have not an high priest which cannot, there's
the second, we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feelings of our infirmities. This emphasizes to us that he
is touched, that he is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. The reason given as to why he
may be touched with the feeling of our infirmities is that he
was in all points tempted like as we. If you notice the word
yet in that verse, verse 15, but was in all points tempted
as we are yet without sin. The word yet has been added and
I really believe we would be better without it. Because it
may convey the wrong thought when we think about or hear about
or read about Christ being tempted. If you look in Hebrews 9, this
very same term, very same words, Greek words are used here. And
it's translated the same way. Verse 28, So Christ once offered
to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall
He appear the second time without sin. Without sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was always
without sin. Always without sin. If you look
back to Hebrews 1 and verse 9, this was true of Him, always,
and is true of Him. Thou hast loved righteousness.
That's always been true of him. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. To be tempted to sin, even though
it says yet without sin, implies that he could be tempted to sin. The Lord Jesus Christ always,
always hated iniquity and loved righteousness. He was always
with without sin. That's the high priest we have
who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Do you remember an Old Testament
character by the name of Hannah? Turn back with me to 1 Samuel.
Do you remember her experience with a high priest? 1 Samuel chapter 1, and look with me in verse 9. So Hannah rose up after they
had eaten and shallow and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest,
there he is, he's a high priest also. At this time he was a high
priest. Now Eli the priest sat upon a
seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she, that is
Hannah, was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord
and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said,
O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction
of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid,
but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give
him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head." He'd be a Nazarite. It came to
pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli, here's
this high priest, that he marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake
in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.
Therefore, Eli, this high priest, Eli, thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said,
No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk
neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before
the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for
a daughter of Balaam, for out of the abundance of my complaint
and grief have I spoken unto thee. Do you see her experience
with this high priest? She was pouring out her heart
unto God. And what did the high priest
say? You're drunk. You've tarred too long at the
wine. We don't have a high priest like that. Now, we can't blame
Eli. Maybe he jumped the gun in making
a decision or judgment. I don't know. But after all,
he was limited. He just made his judgment upon
what he saw. And to him, she looked like she
had been drinking too much. And so, he told her to put away
the wine. The point I'm making, we don't
have a high priest like that. A high priest like Eli, he could
not always be touched with the feelings of the infirmities of
the people. He had never experienced many
of these things. And he certainly was not omniscient.
He didn't know what was in her heart. We have not an high priest
who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Our high priest knows all about
us. He knows all about us. He can
perfectly sympathize with us in all of our infirmities. Now what does that mean, infirmities?
We use that mainly today to speak about physical sickness, but
that's not the way it's to be understood. That may be part
of it, but we may unburden our hearts to Him no matter what. our trouble, what our affliction,
what our trial may be, we may unburden our hearts to Him and
know that He knows by experience what we are going through. Sometimes
people have said to me, well, preacher, you just don't know
what I'm going through. And many times they're exactly
right. I mean, they're exactly right.
I've never experienced that, whatever it may be. But I always
say, I know one who does know. I know one who can be touched
with the feelings, whatever they are, of your infirmities. We
may unburden our hearts unto him and know that he knows. and
he knows by experience. He knows what it is to be poor,
to live in poverty, for evidently he did most of his life. He knows what that's like. He
knows what it is to be weary, just to be weary from the way,
from the work. He experienced that, didn't he?
When he sat on the well at Sychar, John chapter 4. He was weary
from his journey. He knows what it is to thirst
on the cross. Remember he said, I thirst! He knows what it is to be misunderstood. He experienced that a lot, didn't
he? His disciples, many times, they
didn't understand him. I just mentioned Peter How the
Lord said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. You read just
a few verses later when our Lord told His disciples, we're going
up to Jerusalem and they're going to crucify the Son of Man. He
was speaking of Himself. And in three days I will rise
again. And what did Peter do? He took
Him aside and began to correct Him. Not so, Lord. No. That's not going to happen.
He knew by experience, I'm saying, what it is to be misunderstood.
And he certainly knew what it was to be falsely accused. Falsely accused. And he said,
we heard this man say, I'll tear down this temple. It was, I don't
know, I don't remember how many years in building, but he said,
I'll tear down this temple. And I'll build it again in three
days." That's not what he said at all, was it? But that's what
they understood that he was saying. That's what they accused him
of saying. And yes, my friends, loneliness,
desertion, the Lord knows. He knows. I was talking to one
of the men after the service this morning. about the desertion
that Christ experienced on the cross when he cried out, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Have you ever thought about
the fact that he was forsaken, he was deserted, so that you
and I will never be forsaken of God. So that's the first thing
I say we see in the letter of Hebrews. that he does as he is
seated there on the right hand of the majesty on high. He's
touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Let us be often
at the throne of grace because you notice he said, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in the time of need. Let us be often
here at this throne of grace and thank God it's a throne of
grace. And it is a throne of grace because He's there, our
great high priest, the Lamb of God. It's a throne of grace.
Let us be often here so that in any time of need, in any time
of need, we will find grace to help. Such help as we will need,
God the Holy Spirit will supply. He will administer to us. Now
here's the second place. If you look in chapter 7 of Hebrews,
seated at the right hand of God, he makes intercession for us.
Hebrews 7, beginning with 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 unto God
by him. he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. What comfort does this truth
afford to every child of God! Blessed assurance! Oh, what a
foretaste of glory divine! Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Heir of salvation, purchase of
God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. What comfort does
this give every child of God that he ever liveth to make intercession
for us. The high priest of old, according
to the law that God gave to Moses, you remember that costume was
for beauty that the high priest wore. And in that dress, no doubt,
the figure was very striking. But do you remember that on his
breast he wore the names, the 12 tribes of Israel, he had the
names. on his breast and he always bore
them when he went in before the Lord. We have a high priest who
bears us upon his heart continually. All our affairs are in his hands
and nothing is going to fall through. Someone said, men speak
of the final perseverance of the saints, but scripture speaks
of the final perseverance of our divine great high priest. Here we rest. He says to us,
because I live, ye shall live also. Remember in his parable
that he spoke concerning the lost sheep. The man that had
the hundred sheep and one was missing. He didn't rest until
he found that sheep. He went out to find that sheep.
And when he found him, I love this part, he carried him all
the way home. He didn't just find him, he carried
him all the way home. Our high priest has made himself
responsible for every one of his sheep to bring us through
all difficulties. All trials, all snares and temptations
that we meet in this wilderness to bring us home to the Father
and set us before Him. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Just His presence, His wounds
plead for us, intercede for us. He ever liveth. I thought of
this promise that we find in Isaiah 43. When thou passest
through the waters. Some of you may be going through
some deep waters right now. I don't know. But it's not a
question as to if. It's when. When. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior." He saves us, Paul said, by his
life. He reconciled us unto God by
his death, by the blood of the cross. We have peace with God,
but also his life of intercession. as part of our salvation. He
keeps us. Now here's the last place if
you look to Hebrews chapter 13 and to illustrate what I've just
said about him being our high priest and interceding for us.
Do you remember when Israel came out of Egypt and they met some
people that wanted to fight with them. I forget which nation it
was but Moses told Joshua choose out some men and go fight. And Joshua stayed up on the mountain. I'm saying a picture of Christ
in heaven. And as long as Moses held up
his hands, Joshua and the Israelites prevailed, didn't they? And as
long as Christ, our High Priest, is in heaven making intercession
for us, we'll be kept. We'll be kept. Now the third
thing that he does, seated at the right hand of God, verse
15 of chapter 13, he offers our sacrifice of praise to God. By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name. How blessed is it to
know that we have one on the right hand of God to present
our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. He takes our sacrifice,
when we praise Him and bless Him, He takes that sacrifice,
He calls it a sacrifice, He takes that sacrifice and He presents
it to God with the perfect fragrance of his own person and ministry. Many times in public worship
and in private worship the best we can do is mourn over our coldness
and our deadness. The best we can do may be nothing
more than sigh But he takes it, and he presents it to God in
all his preciousness. And God accepts it. God receives
it. Let me show you a picture of
that in closing. Look over to Revelation 8. Revelation chapter 8. And when he had opened the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them
were given seven trumpets. And another angel, now this is
the angel of the Lord, another angel came and stood at the altar,
having a golden censer. And there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of
all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne,
and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of
the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."
He takes our praise, he takes our petitions, and he, with the
fragrance of his person and sacrifice, he presents that to God. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
these thoughts to all of us here tonight. We have a great high praise,
don't we? Thank God.