It is such a joy to see young people here. We are so glad for the young people who are here. My grandson is here. It is so good to have young people here as we come to look at God’s Word.
I remind my own heart, and I remind you, of a principle that is absolutely indispensable as we come to study God’s Word: total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. Only God can reveal God, and He delights to do it. He longs to reveal Himself, but only God can reveal the Lord.
Before we go to prayer, let me share a very familiar verse from Revelation 5. You know that whole section where John was weeping as he saw that vision, and the word came, “Stop weeping. Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and the seven seals.”
You know, the Lamb was the worthy One who could take the seals away and open the book. For years, I have applied that to Bible study. I have come before the Lord and said, “Lord, take the seals away. Break the seals.” But what I usually meant when I prayed that was, “Help me understand it. Take the seals away; open the book to my understanding.”
But in Revelation 5, it is more than that. When He takes the seals away, when He breaks the seals on that scroll—it is a question all its own what that scroll is—it is not so that we can understand it. It is so that He can fulfill it.
So when He takes the seals away, it is more than, “Help me see it.” It is, “Do it.” And He is worthy to take the seals away, to make us understand it, and then to perform it.
So let us ask the Worthy One to take the seals away, take the veil away, and show us, in a living way, our Lord Jesus. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You so much that we can trust You this evening to unveil, in a fresh way, the Lord Jesus to our hearts. We know there are some brothers here who have seen You for twenty, thirty, and forty years. Yet we know that it is Your will to give a fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus.
We pray that all of us would be open for that, and that by Your mercy You would meet with us. Thank You for Your precious Word and for the Holy Spirit, who lives in our hearts to turn our eyes to Jesus.
We pray this weekend, in a special way, as we look at this tremendous book of Hebrews, that You would indeed unveil Christ to our hearts. We give this weekend to You, and every brother to You. Accomplish all Your will. Find us where we are. Take us where You would have us. We ask it in Jesus’ matchless name. Amen.
Well, we certainly welcome you to the weekend. Before I get to what is on my heart, I think it may help if I tell you how I came to this topic. It might shed a little light and help you move with me as we get into this.
In Rhode Island, where I live, I have the privilege every week, when I am not on the road, to share with a handful of very hungry believers. For some time now, we have been studying the Gospel of John, and in our study we have come to John 17.
I am sure you are familiar with that wonderful chapter. Many have called it the high-priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus. As I was meditating on John 17 and thinking about how it came to be called the high-priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus, with many Bible commentators I incline to the idea that it is the seed plot of His present ministry in heaven.
In other words, the prayer that He prayed the night in which He was betrayed, the prayer that He prayed one day before He went to the cross, was a specimen prayer—a sample. It was a prelude to the ministry to which He was ascending: high-priestly prayer. He was going to ascend to heaven to become the High Priest.
Now, in that connection, I am not the first one to observe that God has reserved the book of Hebrews. As far as I know, there is no other book in the New Testament that comes right out in so many words and says, “Jesus is our High Priest.” God saved that for the book of Hebrews—only the book of Hebrews.
I think He is pictured as a priest in other places, but to come right out and say Jesus is the Priest, He gave us the book of Hebrews. Perhaps when He cleansed that Samaritan leper and gave the command, “Go, show yourself to the priest,” and that leper fell down before Him, there was some indication of who is the true Priest. Perhaps when He cleansed the temple and taught in the temple, it was a shadow of it.
I am quite sure that when He rose and ascended into heaven, it was a little bit of a picture. Some who have studied Revelation say, “Well, there is the Priest right in Revelation 1.” Not only the Priest—the royal Priest. He is crowned, and He is a Priest there. It could be; many think so.
Some think that even on the cross He was both Priest and sacrifice. I am not sure because of Hebrews 8:4. It says, “If He were on earth, He could not be a priest.” That is a section all its own. But to come right out and spell it out, God has given us the book of Hebrews. There are many other references that shadow it.
So, as I delved deeper and deeper into that prayer, I was driven to the book of Hebrews: the high-priestly prayer, the book of Hebrews. That is where He is the High Priest.
It was December, and since it was December, I was on the lookout. It is just a holy habit of mine: I look for a year verse, and I look for a year book. Every year I look for a year verse and a year book. I do not want to do it in a legalistic way, but it has been a great blessing in my life.
Since I was in John 17 and driven to the book of Hebrews, I decided, “That is my year book. I am going to study Hebrews in a special way this year.”
I was two chapters deep in my study, and I was overwhelmed with two truths:
He is the God-Man. The whole book of Hebrews presents Him as a Priest. My Priest is the God-Man. God is praying to God for me. What does that mean? Man is praying to God for me. What does that mean?
That is as far as I got. I was in the wonder of that truth. In the providence of God, I received an invitation from Brother Holloway to share with you brothers here at Easton. He asked me if the Lord had laid any message on my heart.
Well, I had been basking in Hebrews 1 and 2. I did not hesitate a moment. I replied to him how God had been exercising my heart in Hebrews 1 and 2: God is praying to God for me; Man is praying to God for me; my High Priest is the God-Man.
At that time, that was the only light I had. In cold-blooded faith, I said, “Yes, I would be happy to share with the brothers. Tell them we are going to do Hebrews 1 and 2.” So have mercy on me, brothers.
Since that day in December, I have spent many precious hours before the Lord on this marvelous theme. I still intend to look at Hebrews 1 and Hebrews 2, but the message is a little more comprehensive than I imagined it to be. It is a lot more than I expected it to be.
We are still going to focus on the beauty of the truth that the God-Man is praying for us. But I discovered that this is only one little part of His ministry in heaven.
What we are going to do this weekend, God assisting, is give an introduction to the first two chapters before we look at the first two chapters. After tonight’s introduction, I would like to continue introducing the first two chapters tomorrow morning—two introductions to the first two chapters. Then, as God helps us, we will look at those marvelous chapters.
It is my conviction that the average Christian is far more grounded in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ—the work He accomplished on the cross. They know what He did there: His past work, His finished work.
By “grounded,” I do not mean only that they know the facts. By God’s grace, they have actually identified with those facts and entered into His finished work. I think there are many brothers here who have identified with His finished work, and you know what it means to be crucified with Christ, to be buried with Him, and to be raised with Him and seated with Him. All of that is based on His finished work.
But it is my conviction—and growing conviction—that there is a great cloud of ignorance over His present ministry in heaven right now. What is He doing now?
He has a finished work, and we are pretty much grounded in that. There is also an unfinished work. What is He doing in heaven right now? Is He just sitting there waiting for the prophetic clock to strike so He can return?
Some people answer, “Oh, I know what He is doing. He is preparing a mansion for me. He is preparing a place.” For two thousand years He has been working on my mansion. It took Him seven days to create this whole universe, but He has been working two thousand years on my mansion. “You ought to see my mansion.”
Well, I think you ought to read the context of John 14:3, where He said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” In the context, He is saying, “I go to the cross to prepare a place for you. Now I go to heaven to prepare a place for you.”
What is He doing there? What is He doing up there right now? We know it is not just dead time. What is He doing up there?
He is ministering. How does that affect me? How does that affect us? How does that affect the church? How does that affect His purposes on the earth?
I am not going to do it, but I wonder how many, if we went row by row, have identified with His past work—His finished work. How many have identified with His present work right now, His ministry in heaven?
In this sense, as I understand it, there is a real relationship between the book of Romans and the book of Hebrews. They are both foundational books.
The book of Romans, as you know, lays out before our hearts everything He has already done. It is the finished work—His salvation. Then the epistles that follow, the church epistles, show what that life looks like.
Talk about the seven churches—do not go right away to Revelation. There are seven churches in the church epistles. If I have entered into the truth of Romans, His finished work, what will my life look like? It will look like Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. That is what it will look like.
Just so, Hebrews is a foundational work, with this difference: Romans tells me what He has done; Hebrews tells me what He is doing right now.
That is what we are going to look at this weekend: What is He doing right now? Why are so many Christians weak at the end of the New Testament? Because they are not grounded in the book of Hebrews—what He is doing now.
If I am grounded in Romans, my life will look like the epistles that follow Romans. If I am grounded in His present ministry, my life will look like the epistles that follow the book of Hebrews. God has laid it out. It is a marvelous, marvelous plan.
Do not answer: What contribution have 2 Peter, 2 John, and 3 John made to your life? Why are people weak on that? What contribution has Jude made to your life? Has it ever been life-changing? It might be.
God wants to open our eyes as wide to His unfinished work as He has opened our eyes to His finished work. By God’s grace, brothers, that is what I would like us to look at.
I would like to share what is going to be sort of a key verse for us: Hebrews 8:1–2.
Now in the things which we are saying the chief point is this:
We have such a high priest,
Who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
A minister of the sanctuary,
And of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
Verse 1 says He is a High Priest. Verse 2 says He is ministering. He is a High Priest who is doing something. He is ministering in the true tabernacle.
Now, brothers, as you would expect, we cannot look at everything this weekend. But hopefully we can look at something. We must look at something. That is why we are here.
The idea that He is a Priest in heaven—I was amazed as I began to go through this. Actually, I have been in and out, toying with this priesthood of the Lord Jesus, for a couple of years now. But I have never made a studied effort to ask God to open my heart to that revelation. That is what I am praying He will do this year.
So you are only just in the incipient stages here. You are getting my first impressions of all of this. But His priesthood is bigger than I had imagined.
Up there, He is our Advocate, and all that that means. Up there, He is our Forerunner, and all that that means. Up there, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, and all that that means. Up there, He is the Intercessor, and all that that means.
We cannot look at all that this weekend. So I want to take a little piece of the last part: Christ our Intercessor.
What does it mean that God is praying to God for me? What does it mean that Man is praying to God for me? We are going to focus just on that part. May God help us.
Let me give you several blocks of Scripture, just to get them before your heart. Then I think it will be clear how we will develop it as we go along.
First, I would like to read Hebrews 2:17–18.
Wherefore it behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren,
That He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
To make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted,
He is able to succor them that are tempted.
Please look at Hebrews 4:14–16.
Having then a great high priest,
Who hath passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God,
Let us hold fast our confession.For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
But one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are,
Yet without sin.Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace,
That we may receive mercy,
And may find grace to help us in time of need.
One other section, please: Hebrews 7:24–25.
But He, because He abideth for ever,
Hath His priesthood unchangeable.
Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him,
Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
If God graces us this weekend, I would like us to look at the present ministry of our Lord Jesus as Intercessor, especially as it ties into Hebrews 1 and 2. He is God. He is Man. He is our Priest. He is the God-Man.
God is praying to God for you, and Man is praying to God for you. What does that mean? May God help us.
This evening, I told you I would like to give an introduction. Hebrews is the only book in the New Testament that comes right out and calls Jesus the High Priest. Yet there are Scriptures that anticipate it, prefigure it, and serve as shadows of what we have in Hebrews.
Oh, that it would all fit into our time schedule. I have chosen, from among several possible illustrations, two great illustrations that anticipate the present ministry of Christ. I am not saying there are only two.
The whole priesthood of Levi and Aaron is a picture. Melchizedek and his appearance to Abraham are also an anticipation. The vision Zechariah had in Zechariah 3 of Joshua the high priest in his festal robes is certainly a picture. Much of the kinsman-redeemer passages may be the same thing.
The way Moses interceded for the people may be a picture of the priesthood of our Lord Jesus. The crowning of Joshua the high priest in the book of Zechariah is certainly part of the picture. Psalm 110, the prophecy of Melchizedek—you have to include that. It is part of the picture, and so on.
I think the closest book in the New Testament that comes to calling Him Priest may be 1 John, because it says, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate.” That is part of the priesthood. At least there it is indicated.
Anyway, I have chosen two Scriptures that anticipate and get us ready for what He is doing right now. I am going to ask you to turn to Exodus 28 for the first picture.
Exodus 28 describes the garments of beauty and glory of Aaron the high priest—the garments in which he ministered on the Day of Atonement.
When you read the book of Hebrews, you will read over and over again that our Lord Jesus is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. In other words, His priestly ministry is not primarily patterned after Aaron.
Actually, it is the other way around. Melchizedek’s priesthood is patterned after Christ, and Aaron’s, in some senses, is patterned after Christ. But having said that, let us not make the mistake some Bible commentators have made.
Some say that because His priesthood is like Melchizedek, it is therefore unlike Aaron. It is true that it is unlike Aaron in many ways. Aaron was from the tribe of Levi. Aaron was not a royal priest. Aaron had a beginning and an end. Aaron had a successor. Aaron was sinful. There are many ways in which Christ is not like Aaron.
But read Hebrews 8 and 9. He is also like Aaron. The priesthood of our Lord Jesus is so wonderful that it could not be pictured by only one picture. In some ways He is like Aaron, and in some ways He is not like Aaron. Primarily, He is like Melchizedek, but do not throw Aaron out and say He is not like Aaron in any way, because there are some ways.
Sometimes, when God gives a picture, it breaks down. He wants to show resurrection, so He says, “Watch Isaac. Watch him go up the mountain.” Then He says, “All right, Isaac, you have finished your part. Look at the ram.” You have to have two pictures to picture the same thing.
When He wants to show provision, He says, “Watch manna, manna, manna.” Then He ceases the manna and Canaan becomes the picture. When He wants to show guidance, He says, “Look up. Follow the cloud, the cloud, the cloud.” Then there is no more cloud, and He says, “Now follow the ark, the ark, the ark.” One picture will not do it.
So He says, “Here is the tabernacle, a house made out of skin that I can fill with My glory.” After a while, He folds up the tabernacle and puts it in the temple, because now the temple is the picture. One picture is not enough.
So we are going to look at Aaron’s garments in Exodus 28, beginning at verse 2.
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,
For glory and for beauty.
And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted,
Whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,
That they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him,
That he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
Holy garments for glory and for beauty, because they are going to tell some glorious truths and some beautiful truths.
I want to call attention to four parts of this garment that I think anticipate the present ministry of our Lord Jesus. The first is the onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priest. Begin at Exodus 28:7.
It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends thereof,
That it may be joined together.
And the skillfully woven band, which is upon it,
Shall be of the same piece and like the work thereof;
Of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.And thou shalt take two onyx stones,
And grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
Six of their names on the one stone,
And the names of the other six on the other stone,
According to their birth.With the work of an engraver in stone,
Like the engravings of a signet,
Shalt thou engrave the two stones,
According to the names of the children of Israel:
Thou shalt cause them to be inclosed in settings of gold.And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod,
To be stones of memorial for the children of Israel:
And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders
For a memorial.
Now look at Exodus 28:15. The second piece is the breastpiece of the high priest.
And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment,
The work of the skillful workman;
Like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it:
Of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen shalt thou make it.
If you glance at verses 17–20, you will see that on that breastplate there were four rows of gems: ruby, topaz, emerald, turquoise, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, and jasper—all set in gold settings.
These were all men here. If our wives were here, they would love all this jewelry.
The high priest represented the children of God in two places: on his shoulders and over his heart. Six tribes were on each shoulder, and all those gems represented all the people of God.
Look at Exodus 28:29.
And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment
Upon his heart,
When he goeth in unto the holy place,
For a memorial before the Lord continually.
That beautiful breastpiece was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
I want you to use your Spirit-controlled imagination and try to absorb what was taking place here. Picture the high priest, especially on the Day of Atonement, as he went in to represent all the people of God.
He had already offered the sacrificial lamb in the outer court on the brazen altar. As he made his way in the God-appointed way, figuratively speaking, he was moving toward the presence of God—the symbolic presence of God. God was in the Holy of Holies. He was on the throne. The ark was in the shape of a throne, and He was the invisible King.
What did God see as the high priest drew near? What kind of representation was that priest offering?
Start with the shoulder. I believe the stones on the shoulders of the high priest indicated that every child of God was given an equal representation before the holy God.
I love that it says, “According to their birth.” Evidently, the stones were lined up the same way the sons of Israel—the brothers of Joseph—were lined up around the table: according to their birth.
I call it an equal representation because we have all been born again according to our birth. I am an onyx. You are an onyx. Luther was an onyx. Darby was an onyx. The Apostle Peter was an onyx. We are all onyx stones.
I read that the onyx in the Bible is not quite the same as what you think of now. Ezekiel 28 speaks of the onyx as a precious stone and a glowing stone. I do not know exactly what it was, but I know it was very, very precious.
But He not only gives us an equal representation; He gives us an individual representation. He not only sees us and knows that we are all equal. He sees me, and He sees you.
Sometimes we look out and say—it is an expression—“It is a sea of faces.” Usually, what we mean by that is that the individual got lost in the crowd. “I did not see anybody; I just saw everybody. I saw a sea of faces.”
Well, brothers, God never sees a sea of faces. He never does. He sees the individual in the group.
In these last days, God has opened the eyes of His church to the body, and we bless God for such a revelation. But possibly we have lost sight of the individual because we see the body so much.
Every person in this room has an individual representation by his High Priest. I am not saying He does not see the group. Surely He does. He sees the shoulders. He sees the group. We are all equal. He sees us all. But He also sees everyone in the group.
In that connection, I am sure you are familiar with Psalm 139:1–5.
O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising;
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue,
But, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid Thy hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Every time you sit down, brother; every time you stand up; every time you lie down in bed; every time you get up—God knows.
Today is March 13. Twenty-five years from now, on March 13, 2034, if you are still alive, you are going to be thinking something at this hour—nine o’clock. What will you be thinking twenty-five years from now at this hour?
That passage says God already knows. He knows your thought afar off. Before there is a word on your tongue, He already knows it.
Brothers, sometimes God’s people can become saturated in the truths of God. They come to the conferences, study, read the books, have the right library, hear the right tapes, and they become saturated.
I pray you have not come this weekend to get Bible-smarter than you already are, or to get some kind of theology you have not heard before. We are going to touch truths that have to do with our lives, that have to do with reality.
One of them is this: this moment, brother, everybody in this room is being represented by his great High Priest. You are on His shoulder. You are over His heart.
That is a glorious, glorious truth—wonderful to contemplate. Put yourself, if you would, in the place of the high priest as he represented all the children of God on that Day of Atonement.
Symbolically, God was in the Holy of Holies. Picture the golden candlestick shining and flickering on the gold that was woven into the high priest’s garments. The priest, as he walked in, was heading toward God. God was in there, and God was watching him come in.
What did God see as that high priest walked in, as he walked by that seven-pronged candlestick? Would it not be a dazzling sight to see all those jewels sparkling there in the light?
Do not read that casually. Who is represented by those jewels? Pull out all the stops and believe it with all your heart: that is you, that is me, that is us.
You might look at me and say, “Ed Miller, you are pretty dull to look at. You are getting older, getting fatter, getting grayer, getting thinner. You are just dull to look at.”
I do not think I am dull. He does not. He does not think you are dull. There is no Christian who is dull in the eyes of God.
You are on the shoulders of the High Priest, and you are on the breastplate of the High Priest. To Him, you are a sapphire. To Him, you are a diamond. To Him, you are a jewel. To Him, you are a gem. Believe it.
This is such a wonderful picture. No Christian is dull in the eyes of God. I wonder this evening, in the eyes of the Lord, what a gathering like this must be to Him, as we are represented by our High Priest—carried on His shoulders and carried over His heart.
Do not think for one lonely moment that because I said you are a gem, you have access to God because you are a gem. “I am getting into His presence because I am a jewel.” No, you are not getting into His presence because you are a jewel.
There is only one way to come into His presence, and that is on His shoulders. There is only one way to come into His presence, and that is on His heart. There is no other way into His presence.
We do not get there because we are gems or because we are jewels. The fact that we are precious jewels means nothing apart from the fact that we are over His heart. That is the picture God painted in Exodus. Now Hebrews is going to develop that.
Hebrews will take that truth—that the government is on His shoulders. The government of your life, the responsibility for your life, is on His shoulders. Hebrews will develop the fact that you are over His heart, and that any preciousness you have is because He carries you over His heart.
But I promise you this: this anticipates what He is doing now. We are going to look at what He is doing, but this is a picture of it.
What is He doing now? He is giving every Christian an equal representation. He is giving every Christian an individual representation. He is giving every Christian a glorious representation. It is all pictured here. It is anticipated.
I want to show you a couple more things about the garment, then we will get to the second illustration.
I cannot go as far as some, especially those dear Brethren writers. I do not know if you are familiar with many of those Brethren writers, but they can go down so deep and stay down so long and come up with so much. I go down and am just gasping for breath.
Sometimes I cannot make my own all that they say. I am not saying it is not there. They have seen it. I pray God will open my eyes to see more and more of it. I do not go down that deep. I just sort of see the big things.
I am not quite ready to say that every time you see gold, it is a picture of deity; every time you see blue, it is heavenly; every time you see linen, it is holy; every time you see a pomegranate, it is life and fruit; and every time you see a cherub, it is God’s ideal creation. I do not know if it is or not. It might be.
I see gold, scarlet, purple, and white, and I say, “Royal colors.” To me, that satisfies my heart. Maybe there is more, and maybe someday He will show me that.
I saw, when I read that, that the ephod and the breastpiece were intricately tied together. I will be honest with you: I do not know what those two rings of gold mean, what those two cords of gold mean, or what it means when it says to make sure it is connected to the filigree settings. That makes my head spin.
I do not really understand how the blue cord and the skillfully woven band hold them all together. What I see is that there is some connection between what is on the shoulders and what is on the heart. So I got the big principle: there is relationship there. I know there is connection there.
Here are two details that I think I might have a little light on. One is Exodus 28:30.
And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim;
And they shall be upon Aaron’s heart,
When he goeth in before the Lord:
And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart
Before the Lord continually.
In addition to every believer being represented on His heart, that breastpiece had a little pocket. In the pocket, over His heart, were the Urim and the Thummim.
For those of you who are Bible students and have already studied the Urim and Thummim, you realize the problem in understanding that. I am not here to help you with that problem. I do not know how it worked. I have read the theories.
Some people say they were like little stones, positive and negative; if it was God’s will, they would glow, and if there was some impending disaster, they would turn dull, or something like that. I do not know exactly how they worked, but I know two things for sure.
The Urim and Thummim were used to find the will of God. I know that. And I know, with all the other Bible commentators, what the words mean. There is meaning to words.
The word Urim means light; it means bright. Actually, the word fire comes from it. It means bright like fire. The word Thummim means perfect, perfection, completeness.
Perfect light: the will of God. Perfect light. I do not know if I can go beyond that, but I know that is true.
I am not the only thing carried over His heart. Precious to Him also is the will of God carried over His heart. Every Christian who is worth his salt and serious about the things of the Lord desires to know and do the will of God.
We want to know God’s will. I will tell you how many Christians miss His will: many Christians miss His will by going after His will. They try to find His will, and therefore they miss His will.
You are not going to find God’s will by running after God’s will. The will of God is a byproduct; it is not the goal. You do not go after the will of God. You go after the God whose will it is. It is the Lord Himself.
The most basic thing about guidance is the Guide. I think I told this story once before, but it bears repeating.
I had a dear friend who got very messed up in his Christian life. He moved away from Rhode Island to Texas, and I got a call one day: “I am coming back to the Lord. I am coming back. Pray for me. On the way, I am going to stop in South Carolina, meet Brother So-and-so, and pray for us.”
He had purchased a big stack of books because he was going to get right with God. He brought all those books to our brother’s house and laid them on the table. Brother Bob said to Brother Bill, “What are you doing with all those books?”
He said, “I am going to find the will of God.”
Then he looked at my other brother and said, “Where should I start?”
He said, “I do not know. Why do you not start with the book on the top?”
“What is it?”
He said, “Nave’s Topical Bible.”
Then he said, “What should I look up?”
He said, “Why do you not look up guidance?”
So he looked up guidance. It said, “See God.”
He got rid of all those books and came back to the Lord. That is a way to find guidance. If in all your ways you acknowledge Him, He will direct your path. You cannot miss the path if you go after the Lord Himself.
The Urim and Thummim belong to the Priest, not to you and not to me. The Priest has the Urim and Thummim. You have the Priest. Therefore, you have perfect light—perfect guidance. I have perfect guidance.
You remember there was a relationship between His finished work and His unfinished work. Before the priest could bear those stones before the Lord, he had to do the work outside in the outer court. He had to slay the lamb. He had to have that blood shed. The Substitute had to be offered.
Then the high priest would walk into the presence of God, and according to the Bible, engraved on his forehead was this. Listen to Exodus 28:36–38.
And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold,
And shalt grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet,
Holy to the Lord.
And thou shalt put it on a lace of blue,
And it shall be upon the mitre;
Upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead,
And Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things,
Which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts;
And it shall be always upon his forehead,
That they may be accepted before the Lord.
When the high priest finished the finished work, he began his unfinished work. As he walked in, God saw: Holy to the Lord.
I tell you, brothers, that is an amazing picture. That is just the picture. Here is the reality: we are coming before God cleansed, with a pure, clean conscience before a holy God.
I am not going to take time to look it up now, but I encourage you to read the vision Zechariah had. In one night he had eight visions. That was a terrible night for sleep. He had eight visions in one night.
In Zechariah 3, he has this picture of the high priest. He was clothed with filthy garments, then he was given a festal robe, and a turban was put on his head.
In Zechariah 3:7, God says that he now has the same access as the angels who never sinned. Do you believe that tonight—that you are that clean, that you have the same access to God as angels who never sinned?
That is not the best part of the vision. The best part is Zechariah 3:9. It says that before Joshua there was a stone with seven eyes. Do you remember that? God’s explanation of the seven eyes is in Zechariah 4:10: the seven eyes are the eyes of the Lord.
God has seven eyes, and Joshua, representing the people, was so clean that all seven eyes of God could not find a stain. You talk about clean.
I look at my life. I look at my heart. I look at some of the thoughts that go through this stupid head—some of my motives, my service, how feeble. I just say, “Oh, man, how does God stand me for a moment?”
God looks at me with His seven eyes, and He says, “I do not see a stain. I do not see anything.” My High Priest comes in. I am on His shoulders. I am over His heart. I am a gem. I am glorious. I am sparkling. God looks at Him and says, “Holy to the Lord.”
I am suggesting that no book comes out and says He is Priest like Hebrews does, but some books anticipate it. This wonderful chapter certainly anticipates it.
You are on His shoulders this moment. You are over His heart this moment. You are glorious this moment. You are offered perfect light this very moment. You are holy to the Lord this moment. It is all part of the ministry of your High Priest.
One more little passage on this, and then we will get to the next illustration: Exodus 28:33–35.
And upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet,
Round about the skirts thereof;
And bells of gold between them round about:
A golden bell and a pomegranate,
A golden bell and a pomegranate,
Upon the skirts of the robe round about.
And it shall be upon Aaron to minister:
And the sound thereof shall be heard
When he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord,
And when he cometh out,
That he die not.
Verse 35 says, “It shall be when he ministers. The tinkling shall be heard.”
As that high priest moved around representing the people, the people were outside listening. They could hear him walk because there were little bells, ding-ling, ding-ling, ding-ling, as he walked along and did his ministry.
If those bells stopped ringing, that was bad news. Something terrible had happened. A lot of stories are connected with that, but if those bells ever stopped, it could only be bad news.
Brothers, our Lord Jesus has a ministry in heaven. He is moving around. He is doing something.
Remember Elijah in 1 Kings 18:41? He said, “I hear the sound of rain.” You say, “Well, he heard thunder.” No, he did not hear thunder. By faith, he heard the sound of a storm. Then he went out and saw a little cloud, like a man’s hand. He heard the storm coming by faith.
So I ask you, brothers, tonight: Do you hear the tinkling? Do you hear your High Priest walking around up there? By faith, do you hear His moving? Do you hear Him ministering?
Do you know He is carrying you on His shoulders? Do you know He is carrying you over His heart? Do you know He is promising you His perfect light, His perfect will? Do you know your Representative is holy before the Lord? Do you hear the bells?
As I said earlier, I fear many Christians live from day to day, week to week, month to month, perhaps year to year, and never give a thought to what He is doing now. They do not hear the bells. They do not know that He is doing anything. They are clueless.
They keep running back to the finished work, and praise God, I am not saying do not do that. Run to that finished work. But you also need to be established in the unfinished work of our Lord Jesus, because there are results in life just as truly from that.
Let me quickly give you this second picture, and we will wrap it up for tonight. There is another story that anticipates His priesthood: Luke 24. Please turn there.
Luke 24:50–53:
And He led them out until they were over against Bethany:
And He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while He blessed them,
He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped Him,
And returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
And were continually in the temple, blessing God.
This took place forty days after our Lord Jesus rose from the dead. This is now the eleventh appearing after His resurrection.
God has given us four accounts of His ascension into heaven—three in the Gospels and one in Acts. I say four; I mean five, because there is also one in Hebrews, an account of His ascension into heaven.
Matthew gives it; Mark gives it; Luke gives it. John does not mention it. Acts gives it, and it is in the book of Hebrews.
Luke is unique. Luke’s account is the only record that gives us the physical posture of the Lord Jesus as He ascended into heaven.
Listen again to Luke 24:50–51:
He led them out until they were over against Bethany:
And He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while He blessed them,
He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
When our Lord Jesus ascended, it was in the posture of the high priest as he was giving the benediction. With His arms outstretched in blessing, He rose up to heaven.
I do not think I am reading into the record if I suggest that, as He stretched out His hands in priestly benediction, they saw the nail prints in His hands. I am quite sure I am not reading that in. That is how He held out His hands.
God tells us the very words that the high priest used in order to bless. I am sure you are familiar with them. They are in Numbers 6:22–27.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying,
On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel;
Ye shall say unto them,The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel;
And I will bless them.
In the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement, after the sacrifice was offered, as they heard the bells, as he represented them on his shoulders and over his heart, when it was all done, he would come out and find an elevated place.
The people who had offered the blood would be waiting outside, and the priest would hold up his hands and give that benediction.
I cannot prove what I am about to say, but I think so. I could be wrong. But I think as our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, He said those words: “The Lord bless you, and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you.”
I love those words. There is not a word in there about sin, shame, guilt, or anything wrong.
We know from Acts 1:9 that eventually a cloud received Him out of their sight. They kept looking up. He went up and up and up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Let me ask you this, brothers, and I want spiritual answers. Think: When did our Lord Jesus put His arms down? Was it when He got past that cloud?
You know, even if He ascended at the speed of light, He would still be ascending if we use science and all that kind of thing. He has been gone about two thousand years. If He ascended at the speed of light, in a circle two thousand light years wide there are about eighty million stars. To say He went past twenty million stars, He would still be ascending.
There are billions of light years. If He went at the speed of light, no wonder He has not returned—He has not even arrived. If we think of heaven in those terms, He would still be traveling. But He just stepped into eternity. There is a new dimension, and He was immediately in the presence of God.
Why did He ascend just to the cloud? So that we could see Him. God was telling a story. We had to see. God condescends and uses word pictures for us.
There was a literal moment, I have no doubt, when He put down His hands. But in principle, He has never put down His hands. That was a one-time act, but it illustrated an everlasting attitude.
Even now, His hands are outstretched in priestly benediction. As He represents us in heaven, as He carries us on His shoulders, as He carries us over His heart, as He engineers His perfect light in our life, as He presents us as holy before the Lord, as He ministers and we hear the bells—He has His hands stretched out.
“The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you.”
God condescends. We are creatures of time and space, so God condescends and gives us pictures. I told you there was a picture in Hebrews of His ascension. Let me give you that picture.
Hebrews 8:2 tells us that the tabernacle was just a picture in three parts. You know the parts: there was an outer court, there was a holy place, and there was a Holy of Holies. That is how the tabernacle, though dictated by God, was erected by man.
Listen to Hebrews 4:14:
Having then a great high priest,
Who hath passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God,
Let us hold fast our confession.
The first heaven is what we call the atmosphere. That is our first heaven. The second heaven is the stellar region, beyond the most distant star and galaxy. The third heaven is where Paul was caught up—into the presence of the Lord.
Just for a picture, God created the whole universe like a tabernacle: the outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies.
Our Lord Jesus did not, like the high priest in the picture, go from one little court to another. He went from the atmosphere, through the stellar region, into the presence of God.
When did He put His hands down? Brothers, His hands are still up, and He wants to bless us.
We need to look at this marvelous picture of what our Lord Jesus is doing right now. I hope you see that this anticipates it. This is getting us ready for it. That is what He is doing in picture form.
Tomorrow morning, God assisting us, we will go a little deeper and look at what He is doing, anticipating it. Then, God helping us, we will look at the Scripture and see what He is doing.
Brothers, God is praying to God for you this moment, and every moment from now until the time you see Him face to face. There is never a moment that He does not have your undivided attention. God is praying to God for you.
That is a fact so momentous, it cannot be of ordinary significance. It has got to change your life.
Man is praying to God for you. Perfect Man, representative Man—the last Man—is praying for you. May God help us to see His present ministry.
Father, we thank You so much that You have given us these little snapshots to prepare our hearts. We pray this weekend, as never before, that You would make real to our hearts what it means that You are our High Priest in heaven, praying for us and representing us.
You are taking the responsibility of our lives on Your shoulders and carrying us over Your heart. Burn these realities into our hearts, we pray, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Thank you, brothers, for your attention.