Christ as Our High Priest

Good morning. Small group—cozy.

If you could open to the book of Hebrews. I think probably a fair amount of you know the subject we are going to consider this morning: Christ as our High Priest. So, we are going to live in Hebrews for a little bit.

I did not choose this because our brother Ed is speaking on Hebrews this weekend. That is just coincident God. That was a phrase that used to be told to me when I was a new believer.

Really, the burden on my heart is because if I was to go around the room today and ask everybody about things in your life, circumstances, and so forth, I think most of us would say things have intensified greatly. I think most of us would say troubles and trials have abounded like never before.

And it is just the age in which we live. It is simply the age in which we live. And frankly, it is going to get more so as the days go on.

Before we look at our text, I am reminded of our Lord saying in the Sermon on the Mount—you remember when He spoke to the disciples and said it was essential that you build your house upon the rock, and not on the sand.

Now, sand, as we all know, is particles of rock, right? So, I think one thing our Lord might have been saying was the essential necessity of building our lives fully upon Him in every aspect—not just parts or pieces, or sand, if you will, of Him and His character—but to be built upon Him fully, unto maturity in Him.

So, this morning, we would like to consider one granule of sand, if you will: Christ as our High Priest. If you would open with me, we are going to start with two verses in Hebrews.

Christ as the High Priest of Our Confession

Hebrews 3:1, a very familiar verse, says:

Therefore, holy brethren,
partakers of a heavenly calling,
consider Jesus,
the Apostle and High Priest
of our confession.

And if you would turn over to Hebrews 5:1, we are going to springboard mainly from this verse in the message this morning.

For every high priest taken from among men
is appointed on behalf of men
in things pertaining to God,
in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Can we just start with a word of prayer?

Lord, as we continue in Your presence now, we confess that apart from You, we can do nothing. Lord, we confess that You have the words of eternal life.

And we pray that, Lord, as You desire to use this vessel of clay, I pray for that anointing from on high to speak boldly, an utterance. Lord, we pray that for those listening, for ears to hear what the Spirit says to the church.

I pray man will be totally set aside in this time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, this book of Hebrews was addressed to a group of Christians at a very critical time. To be a Christian at this time was actually a crime against Rome.

And due to that persecution, there was great temptation to drift away, to fall back into Judaism. So it was with this that the apostle wrote this letter.

We find a verse in Hebrews 10:23 that says:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

Now, what is our confession? I trust every one of us here has a confession. Well, we read it. It says, “Consider,” and that word consider means to fix your mind with all attention: consider Jesus, the High Priest of our confession.

Now, as I have already said, we want to consider Jesus as High Priest for this time. But let me just speak briefly for a moment of Jesus as our Apostle.

I think we all know that an apostle is one sent by God. He is one sent with a mission, and he is to represent God to the people.

And who can more represent God than the Son Himself? You know, it says in these last days, He has spoken to us in Son, and He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.

But we want to look at this matter of Jesus as High Priest. In our outline this morning, what we want to do is look at two aspects:

1. His qualifications as High Priest.
2. His role, or function, as High Priest.

The Qualifications of Christ as High Priest

Now, we already read Hebrews 5:1, and I want to reread that, if I may. Hopefully you have your Bibles this morning.

For every high priest taken from among men
is appointed on behalf of men
in things pertaining to God,
in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Christ’s Identification with Humanity

Taken from among men. Now, under the Levitical order, all high priests were taken from among men. But this was not the case with our Lord. Our Lord, being the Son, was not taken from among men.

But we find that it was very essential for Him to share in flesh and blood. Why? Simply because only one who himself is man is fitted to serve as a representative of his fellow men.

No angel, for example, would be capable of assuming this position. He is not subject to their temptations, and he has no experience of suffering.

Now, Hebrews 2:17 says:

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things,
so 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 since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered,
He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

I would like to underline that last little portion. First of all, to be made like His brethren consisted of Him emptying Himself and taking on flesh and blood.

You know, Philippians says:

Who, although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, or held on to,
but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a bondservant,
and being made in the likeness of men.

Now, on a side note, I want to ask the question: Do you desire to serve the Lord? Is it your ambition to be pleasing to Him, to be a vessel of honor for the Master’s use?

We must all start at the same place: empty ourselves. Or, in other words, that is, we have to lay down our rights to ourselves. You know, John the Baptist put it very well. He said, “I must decrease; He must increase.”

But we see the heart of the Lord. He was willing to empty Himself, become a man, and be made like His brethren.

To be made like His brethren also consisted of being tempted in all things as we are. You remember after the Lord was baptized by John at the Jordan River, it says He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Our Lord had been fasting for forty days and forty nights. What a contrast to the children of Israel. They had been in the wilderness for forty years.

And the tempter came and said to Him:

If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

The lust of the flesh.

Then the devil took Him to a very high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him:

All these things I will give You if You fall down and worship me.

The lust of the eyes.

Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him:

If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
He will command His angels concerning You;
and on their hands they will bear You up,
so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.

The pride of life.

Our Lord was tempted by all things as we are. Why? So that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest.

Do we often think of Christ as being far removed from us and our trials and our temptations? Is our famous line, “No one understands”?

He has been made like His brethren in all things. He has been tempted just like you and I in every aspect. But there is one important difference: He did not yield to temptation. He overcame temptation, and so He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

You know, I like what Hebrews 5:2 says. It says:

He can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided.

The King James Version says, “Them that are out of the way.” You know, Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart.”

You remember the story of Hannah? Remember how she agonized over being childless, and that she went to the temple, being in great distress? She was praying before the Lord and weeping.

And Eli, the high priest who was in the temple, saw her. And what did he do? Y’all remember the story? Did he run over and comfort her, saying, “It’s okay, Hannah. Believe God’s going to give you a child”?

He misjudged her. He thought she was drunk.

And not so with our Lord. He never misjudges. He always understands. He knows your circumstances. He is able to come to your aid.

You know, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Hebrews 4:15-16. I told you we would read a lot of verses.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The King James Version says, “Touched with the feelings of our infirmities.”

Now, as a side note regarding this verse, it says He can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided. But if any choose to continue in neglect or disobedience, there remains a certain looking forward to judgment. Now, we will talk on that a little bit later.

Christ’s Divine Appointment

Next, regarding this qualification, it says that He was appointed.

Hebrews 5:4 says:

And no one takes the honor to himself,
but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

You know, men did not volunteer for the office of high priest. It was by divine appointment only. Man’s choice was not the basis; it was God’s choice. God would not allow just anyone to represent His people.

To be high priest under the Levitical order, he had to come from the correct tribe. He had to be a member of the right family. He had to be physically descended from the line of Aaron. He had to be without certain defects.

But what does it say in Hebrews 5:5-6?

So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a High Priest,
but He who said to Him,
You are My Son,
today I have begotten You;

just as He says also in another passage,
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.

And Hebrews 5:10 echoes this, saying of Christ:

Being designated by God as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Order of Melchizedek

Now let me ask you a question. When you think of significant individuals in the Old Testament, who comes to mind? Typically, what? Abraham, Moses, David. I mean, how many think of Melchizedek?

I would say, for most of us, probably not. And I think it is because there is a lot of mystery surrounding this character. You know, who is this Melchizedek?

There are only three references of Scripture regarding this individual. You find it in Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7. Turn with me over to Hebrews 7. We are going to look at verses 1 through 10 a little bit.

Hebrews 7:1 says:

For this Melchizedek,
king of Salem,
priest of the Most High God—

Now, I want you to note that he was priest and king. You know, these roles were never combined in the Old Testament outside of this character. In fact, King Uzziah wanted to be both king and priest, but God judged him for it.

But think about it: in Christ, these two offices are combined.

He is High Priest on the throne.

He is High Priest on the throne. I would really like everybody to take that away and meditate upon that: that He is High Priest on the throne.

It says of Melchizedek that he met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils. He was first of all, by the translation of his name, King of Righteousness, and then also King of Salem, which is King of Peace.

I want you to note the order: King of Righteousness, King of Peace. It sets forth, first, how our Lord met all the divine righteous claims against us at the cross, and secondly, brought about peace with God.

Think about a king. What characteristics would you want of this king? Would it not be that he would be righteous, that he would deal in justice? You know, there is only true peace in a realm where righteousness reigns.

It says that this individual was:

Without father, without mother, without genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but made like the Son of God,
he remains a priest perpetually.

You know, this guy almost sounds like a comic-book character, doesn’t he? When you read about him—like a superhero: no mother, no father, no genealogy, from another planet.

But do not be confused. This Melchizedek was a real person, and he had parents. He had a genealogy, but the Scripture remains quiet about him.

It is simply because he sets forth maybe one of the most wonderful types of our Lord Jesus in the Bible, who, as the Son of God, has no beginning or end, has no mother or father, who alone is righteous and has brought about peace through the blood of His cross, and will reign in righteousness one day upon this earth.

Then and only then will there be peace upon this earth.

Now, the rest of this section through verse 10 speaks basically about the superiority of this priesthood. It shows forth how Abraham paid a tithe to this character, Melchizedek. And thus, Levi, in Abraham, paid a tithe to Melchizedek.

So, we see that this priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood.

Now, what is this order of Melchizedek? How does it differ from the Levitical priesthood? The Levitical order chose men who were weak and died. The Melchizedek priesthood designated, appointed, a Son who is perfect and who lives forever.

He has an indestructible life, as it says in Hebrews 7:16. Thus, His priesthood continues forever. It could not be that way under the Levitical order. Priests would live, die, a new priest would be appointed, die, and so forth.

The Role and Function of the High Priest

Now, the second aspect: the role, or function, of the High Priest. Let us look at Hebrews 5:1 again.

For every high priest is appointed
on behalf of men in things pertaining to God,
in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

The Offering of Gifts

First, it points out that this High Priest would offer gifts.

Now, first and foremost, the gift our High Priest has offered is Himself. He offered Himself freely to the Father.

Hebrews 10:5-7 says:

Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
but a body You have prepared for Me;

in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You have taken no pleasure.

Then I said,
Behold, I have come
(in the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
to do Your will, O God.

You know, our Lord was a sweet-smelling fragrance to the Father. He and He alone always did what was pleasing to God. He was that burnt offering which was offered to God as a freewill offering for His pleasure.

He also gave His life as a gift of love to us.

We find also, in the case of His people, that He takes our prayers, our praise, and worship, and He adds His incense to them, that they may be presented as acceptable to God.

Thank God for that. Thank God that these things pass through His hands. How much that we offer out of our lives is a mixture. It is a mixture of the flesh and the spirit. And through Him, they can be accepted and pleasing to God.

Somebody had read this verse in our time of worship out of 1 Peter 2:5. You do not have to turn to this one.

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Underline that: through Jesus Christ.

So, He offered gifts. He also offered sacrifices.

The Offering of Sacrifices

Now, we know under the Levitical priesthood, the high priest was to offer sacrifices. And in particular, one day a year, on the Day of Atonement, he would take the blood of goats and bulls and enter behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle the blood before the mercy seat for the sins of the people.

The law required that the high priest, as well as the sacrifice he would offer for the sins of the people, would be without defect.

As we mentioned before, there were certain physical defects that could not be there, such as being lame or blind. And also, because of his own weakness, the high priest had to offer sacrifices for the sins of himself.

Now, we know our Lord—there was no defect in Him.

We know that the Father said of Him:

Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

He became the perfect High Priest, who offered the perfect sacrifice: Himself.

Think of our Lord. He is both High Priest and sacrifice for sin.

What comfort, what assurance, knowing that He entered into a tabernacle—excuse me—made without hands. You know, it says that He entered into heaven itself.

What comfort, because there our Lord Jesus presented the value of His blood in the presence of the Father.

Consider these verses. Turn with me to Hebrews 7, beginning in verse 26.

Hebrews 7:26-27 says:

For it was fitting for us to have such a High Priest,
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
and exalted above the heavens;

who does not need daily, like those high priests,
to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins
and then for the sins of the people,
because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

And over in Hebrews 9:11-12, it says:

But when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come,
He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

and not through the blood of goats and calves,
but through His own blood,
He entered the holy place.

In Hebrews 9:24:

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands,
a mere copy of the true one,
but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us.

He is the Priest on the throne.

You know, as Christ Himself is the perfect High Priest who offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin, it goes without saying that that sacrifice itself was perfect. That sacrifice had an eternal value. It was absolute in its putting away of sin.

The Finality of Christ’s Sacrifice

I want you to note the occurrence of the words once and one in these following verses.

Hebrews 9:12:

He entered the holy place once for all,
having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:26:

But now once at the consummation of the ages,
He has been manifested to put away sin.

Under the Old Testament, sins were covered—put under a blanket, if you will—not put away. But here we find our Lord Jesus’ perfect sacrifice put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Hebrews 9:28:

So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.

Hebrews 10:12:

But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time,
sat down at the right hand of God.

Now, this is in contrast to the sacrifices being made continually, year by year, under the Levitical priesthood, which could not cleanse the people but brought about a reminder of sins. For it is impossible for the blood of goats and bulls to take away sins. They just had a constant reminder of sin.

But how much more will the blood of Christ, the perfect sacrifice, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

You know, the conscience that is under the burden of sin will drive an individual to get relief.

And what ends up coming about through that is the individual will go about doing dead works. History is full of examples. We even see where Martin Luther, who did not see the value of the sacrifice of Christ, what he did to relieve that burdened conscience from sin.

But through the perfect, complete sacrifice of our High Priest, the question of our guilt and the penalty of sin has been thoroughly dealt with. The righteousness and majesty of God is completely satisfied.

Thereby, the conscience of we who have availed ourselves of this sacrifice of our great High Priest can have our consciences cleansed.

And what is the fruit of that? The fruit of that is that we can draw near to God. We are able to enter boldly into the holy place, into the very presence of God.

There is nothing to hold us back. The veil has been rent. That which separated us from God is torn down. And we are accepted in the Beloved.

Even as—think of that. And somebody prayed that this morning—how we are accepted even as He is accepted before the Father.

I want us to be very clear on this matter because it is an essential ingredient for us to go on to maturity: that we know the importance of our High Priest’s sacrifice for sin on our behalf.

Two Spiritual Conditions

Now, at this point, I would like to deviate just a moment from this subject to speak to two conditions.

Willful Sin and Restoration

I hesitate with this first one, but I feel like I have to speak to it a little bit—maybe just for the sake that this is being taped.

But in Hebrews 10, if you would turn there, verse 26. Hebrews 10:26-27 says:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a terrifying expectation of judgment
and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

You know, here the writer is speaking to those who think because their sin has been put away, they can live any way they please. You know, that was a very common teaching in the early church.

But if we read the Scriptures carefully, we know that in the Scripture justification is never separated from sanctification.

In fact, justification—that is, our being declared righteous in Christ before God—is the greatest motivator toward sanctification. When we see what God has done because of His great love for us, what can we do but want to present ourselves to Him?

But we do see in Scripture examples of those who have fallen away. You know, under the law of the Old Testament, there was no prescribed sacrifice for willful sin. There was only the expectation of judgment.

But I want to state, then again, Christ has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And it says in John 5:24, speaking to believers, that we do not come into judgment, but have passed out of death into life.

So believers are not going to appear before the great white throne of judgment, where life or death, heaven or hell, is the issue at stake. But there does remain a judgment for believers, where each one will be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.

So, the believer who chooses to continually go on sinning willfully will find themselves coming under discipline in this age, and if they continue, there will be judgment later at the judgment seat of Christ.

Now, the Scripture we just read says, “If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.”

But we have to say, if one in this condition would just turn and humble themselves, they will find there is a sacrifice God will accept.

Psalm 51:17 says—I think you all know this verse:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise.

As we said, if such a one will only acknowledge their sin, humble themselves, repent, and stop, as it were, walking over the Son of God and despising that by which they have been sanctified—even the blood of Christ—they can and will be restored.

Regret, Remorse, and Pressing On

Now, the second condition I wanted to speak to is anybody that may be living in regret or remorse over sin done in the past since you had become a believer.

We simply want to strongly exhort anyone in this condition to forget what lies behind and press on.

You know, Hebrews is a letter of exhortation, and it is an exhortation to press on to maturity. But how can we press on if such a one lives in regret, dwelling on some failure or sin done in the past?

You know, Hebrews 6:6 says that if we, as believers, have fallen away, we cannot go back to when we first repented and believed in God and, as it were, start all over again in our spiritual life.

Now we have to face the fact, confess it, and go on. We need to heed what Paul said in Philippians 3:

Forget what lies behind,
and reach forward.

Christ’s Continuing Intercession

Now, lastly, the last role or function we want to look at is this matter of intercession: our Lord Jesus Christ, this High Priest, in His intercession for us.

If you look at Hebrews 7:25, it says:

Therefore, He is able also to save forever
those who draw near to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Let me read that last bit again: “Since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

The work of the high priest was one to intercede on behalf of the people. Not only did he offer sacrifices for sins, but he would also pray for the people when he was in the holy place.

We know the Lord Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. But what is He doing there?

I remember in a message years ago that Stephen was speaking about Christ, and he asked the question, “What is the Lord doing there now? Is He there dozing, sleeping?”

Romans 8:34 says:

Who is at the right hand of God,
who also intercedes for us.

Our High Priest is not merely there occupying the throne, but He is occupied praying for your every need.

You remember the example of our Lord’s intercession for Peter while our Lord was on earth, in Luke 22:31-32, where He said:

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
but I have prayed for you,
that your faith may not fail;
and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Our Lord prayed for him. Yes, Peter did fall. And if we had just known the story at that point, we would have said, “Our Lord’s prayer failed.” But we know the end of the story, do we not?

We know what became of Peter—how he became a fisher of men, how he became one who fed the lambs and the sheep.

And also, how about the story of Stephen in Acts 7:55-56, where it speaks of his martyrdom? You know, at the end of his great discourse to the council, it says of him:

But being full of the Holy Spirit,
he gazed intently into heaven
and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

And he said,
Behold, I see the heavens opened up
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

You know, I think, for one, the Lord was standing welcoming Stephen, the first martyr of the church. But I think He was also standing, interceding for Stephen at that critical time.

And lastly, I do not think we can think of our Lord’s intercession without thinking of the Gospel of John, chapter 17, where we see our great High Priest praying for all those who have come to believe in Him: that they would be kept from the evil one, that they would be sanctified, that they would be made one.

Once again, we have a glorious High Priest who has passed through the heavens, where He entered as a forerunner for us.

The Levitical high priest did not enter the holy place as a forerunner, but only as the people’s representative. He entered into a place where nobody could follow, but our High Priest has gone before us as a pioneer.

Where He has gone, we can follow. He leads us into full fellowship with God. He leads us to the throne. He is presenting the full value of His sacrifice there on our behalf—our Advocate, as it says in 1 John 2.

And He is there interceding for us daily.

You know, it is through this intercession for us that the Holy Spirit is able to work. He is able to work in strengthening us, encouraging us, exhorting us, enabling us, leading us. So where would we be today without His intercession?

The Superiority of Christ

Now, in conclusion, I just want to have us look at one reoccurring word that happens to come up throughout Hebrews. And it is this word: better.

It speaks of Christ being better than the angels in Hebrews 1:4. It speaks of, through Him, we have a better hope—hope there meaning a joyful and confident expectation—a better hope through which we draw near to God.

It speaks of a better covenant. Why? Because we have a better High Priest who can save us completely because He lives forever.

We have better promises. You know, it says in Hebrews 8:

I will put My laws into their minds,
and I will write them on their hearts.

And I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.

And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
and everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord,
for all will know Me,
from the least to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.

It also speaks of a better sacrifice, Hebrews 9:23. The once-for-all sacrifice of Christ effectively took away sin, and it need never, ever be repeated.

And we have a better possession. We look for a city whose builder and maker is God.

You know, and I like the verse in Hebrews 8:1 where it says:

Now the main point, the sum in what has been said, is this:
that we have such a great High Priest.