like so many in Hebrews, has the power,
if we will hear it and receive it and believe it
and apply it, it has the power,
he has the power to do incredible things with it in our life.
I wanna paint a picture for you this morning
that I hope will raise the stakes
for your understanding of what I believe
and what the scripture is teaching to us today.
And what I mean by raising the stakes is that
here's what I'm always looking for.
I'm looking for people leaning forward
with a pen in their hand.
I know I'm wishing.
Ready to hear, not what I say, but what God's word says, right?
And listening and hearing to this particular passage
and obeying it is a huge deal.
Most people do not understand
how much we need God
and how much we depend on God, saved and unsaved,
every single moment of our lives.
God designed the world, God created us.
He put us on the planet.
He thought this thing called life up.
Acts 17, 24, Paul says to a bunch of Greek people
and Athens at Mars Hill, he said,
God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwells not in temples made with hands,
neither is worship with men's hands
as though he needed anything.
Seeing he giveth, here it is, seeing he giveth to, how many?
Seeing he giveth to who?
He gives to everybody, life and breath and all things.
And hath made of one blood all nations of men
afforded dwell on the face of the earth.
And hath determined the times before appointed
and the bounds of their habitation
that they should seek the Lord.
God set up when you would live and where you would live
to give you the best chance to seek him.
That they should seek the Lord
as happily they might feel after him
and find him though he be not far from every one of us.
For in him, here it is, saved and unsaved,
Christian and not, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, secular,
put any category you want on a person,
this is true of them.
In him, we live and move and have our being.
If you're breathing today,
it's because Jesus is giving that to you.
And certain of also of your opponents have said
for we are also his offspring.
Everything good that you have or have ever experienced,
you have because of God.
James said in James 1, 17,
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
from the Father of lights with whom is no very wellness,
neither shadow of turning.
Everything good you have comes from a God
who does not change.
Matthew 5, 45 says that you may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven,
for he maketh his son to rise on the evil
and the good and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.
When someone who hates God has their little girl
come crawling their lap and hug him on the neck
and kiss him on the cheek, that is a good gift from God.
That's pretty cool in it.
Is God merciful?
He is merciful.
He is not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.
Everything that you have you have because of God.
But here's a problem, we've sinned.
We've sinned against this God that is the only source
of the good in our lives.
Romans 2, 5 says, but after thy hardness
and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself,
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God who will render
to every man according to his deeds.
Outside of Christ, and we're gonna talk about that today,
outside of Christ, although God does give good, common grace,
everybody breathe in, ready?
Right?
Gift from God.
Who here likes chocolate?
Gift from God.
Who here likes cats?
That's debatable.
Right?
They give me allergies, right?
But everything good we have comes from God
but also we sin against God and when we sin against God,
the Bible says our sin does not come from God.
The Bible says our sin, just because God doesn't judge today
doesn't mean he's not gonna judge.
So the law couldn't save us.
God gave his law, we fall in short of God's law,
trying to keep God's law is impossible.
Anybody here broken God's law?
We've all broken it.
If we break in one apart, we've offended in all,
the Bible says.
And so we needed atonement.
We need our sins forgiven.
And for us to get to this God who is everything good,
for us to have a relationship with him,
this creator of the universe,
in whom we live and move and have our being,
for us to have a shot with the God
who is storing up wrath against sin
because he's holy and just,
we needed someone to take care of our sin.
We needed our sin debt to be paid.
And then once it was paid, we need someone
by whom we have access to the Father.
And that's what this passage talks about.
A mediator named Jesus Christ, a high priest.
A high priest.
This has been, the law couldn't save us,
so we needed atonement and we needed a mediator.
And the argument that has been made
over the last couple of sermons is that,
it was summed up in the last sermon
in the previous passage, not last Sunday.
Corey did a great job last Sunday, I'm so grateful for him.
But two weeks ago in Hebrews chapter seven, verse 19,
where it says, for the law made nothing perfect.
The law made nothing perfect.
The law revealed our imperfection because we break it.
But the bringing in, man, you better amen this.
The bringing in of a better hope did.
Do you feel like obligated, because I said that, yeah.
Who's the better hope?
Jesus Christ.
By the witch, by Jesus, we draw nigh unto God.
The hope that we have is that there's a way
to draw near to God.
There is a means by which we can be made right with God.
Our sin is forgiven and we are made righteous
so that we can be in the very presence of God.
And this is the whole aim and the whole substance
of the Christian life.
Not just so that we could be safe from sin,
not just so that we can know Christ,
but also so that we can enter again
into God's very presence.
He is everything that is good and He is able,
and to be able to enter into His presence for all eternity
would mean that we have hope.
That's how we have hope.
Not only for our sins forgiven, but now we have access
to God.
We can go to God today.
Right now, you can go to God.
In fact, that's exactly what Jesus commanded us to do.
Yesterday in our men's prayer meeting,
Brother Randy Burke gave the devotion
and he pointed to two passages of scripture
which are really encouraging,
and I'm completely ripping this off of him, amen.
He pointed and they relate so well
to what I want you to know today.
When Jesus was on the earth, his disciples came to him
after he was in a time of prayer
and they asked him for an incredible request.
In Luke 11, one, they said this,
and it came to pass that as he was praying
in a certain place, when he ceased,
one of his disciples came and said unto him,
Lord, teach us to pray,
as John also taught his disciples.
And so, man, that's pretty cool.
What is prayer?
Prayer is talking to God.
Prayer is going to God and talking to Him
and communing with Him.
So what follows in verses two through four
is what we call the Lord's Prayer,
our Father which art in heaven, how will it be thy name.
That gave them some of the categories to pray in
or what to pray, but He also taught them how to pray.
I want you to listen to this verse,
and then I've got another passage
that Brother Randy brought up and I think it's so cool,
and it completely relates to what we're talking about.
And in that same chapter, Luke 11, in verse five,
after he teaches them what to pray,
he gives them this instruction on how to pray.
This is so instructive.
Here's what he says, and he said unto them,
which of you shall have a friend
and shall go unto him at midnight
and say to him, friend lend me three loaves.
For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me
and I have nothing to set before him.
So here's this analogy.
Back in those days hospitality was a big deal.
They didn't have the Motel 6 and the local McDonald's, right?
So people just show up and they've come a long way
and to get to where they're going,
they need somebody to be hospitable.
So they show up and it's late at,
what time is it in the passage?
You see it?
What time is it?
Five?
Midnight, even back then that was late.
Okay, shows up at midnight.
I need to feed these people, they're famous,
but I don't have anything.
So he goes over to the other, the next guy,
and says, hey, give me some food.
I got a problem.
I need a cup of sugar.
I need a little bit of cream, help me out.
Verse five, yeah, because, sorry, sorry.
Verse seven, and he from within shall answer and say,
trouble me not, the door is now shut
and my children are with me in bed.
The modern version of that is you see him
on the ring doorbell and you don't even go to the door.
Anybody got a ring doorbell?
Okay, you know what I'm talking about?
Okay.
I'm in bed, I cannot rise and give thee.
Verse eight, I say to thee thou will rise,
though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend,
yet because of his importunity.
What a great word.
Importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed.
You know what importunity means?
It means persistence.
It means I'm gonna keep knocking.
I'm gonna keep knocking.
I'm gonna keep asking till you get up and give me some bread.
And I say unto you, here's the message.
Verse nine, I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be open to you
for everyone that asketh receiveeth.
And he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh,
it shall be open.
You know what God's saying?
Ask me, come to me.
Ask me, keep knocking.
Next verse, Luke 18, verse one.
And he's speaking to them to this end,
that men ought to always pray and not to faint.
Saying, there was in a city a judge which feared not God,
neither regarded man.
And there was a widow in that city and she came unto him,
saying, avenge me of my adversary.
And he would not for a while.
But afterward he said within himself,
though I fear not God nor regard man,
yet because this widow is so stinking stubborn.
That's the Ben version, right?
Trouble with me, I will avenge her,
lest by her continual coming she weary me.
I regret saying this maybe,
but anybody know some really persistent old women?
Don't point, stop pointing.
And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge sayeth,
and shall not God avenge his own elect,
when which cry day and night unto him,
though he bear along with them,
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily,
nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, shall he find,
here's the question, shall he find faith,
this kind of faith, on the earth?
I prayed for that thing that one time
and I didn't get it, so I stopped.
What is God saying?
Keep praying, keep praying, you have not because ye,
God is not a genie, and we don't use our prayers
to satisfy the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life, but we pray in Jesus' name,
if it be possible, Jesus said, as much,
if it be possible, if it's your will,
let this cut past from me, nevertheless not my will,
but thy be done.
When we pray in Jesus' name, we're saying,
God, I'm praying for this, but if you don't want me to have it,
I agree with you, I agree with you.
That's what I mean when I say in Jesus' name.
It's not some rabbit foot I put at the end of a prayer,
it's saying, not my will, but yours be done.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray,
he taught them to be persistent in prayer,
he taught them to be bold, he taught them to pray
in Jesus' name, according to the will of God.
So what does this have to do with Hebrews chapter seven,
verses 20 to 28, which is my text for this morning.
The writer of Hebrews has been making the case
that we have a better high priest
from a better priesthood in a better place.
The argument is continuing in today's text,
and I wanna make it really, really practical
for you this morning.
God made the world, everything good we have
can only come from him, we sinned against him
and became his enemies, so he sent Jesus to die for us,
and then resurrect and go to be with God
to become our mediator, to become our access
back to the God that we sinned against.
He did not spare his only son, and when his son came,
he told us to pray for what we need,
he told us to go to God for forgiveness of sin in him,
but he also told us to go to God for everything else
that we need, and like the Old Testament priest
went to God on our behalf, now the son of God
goes to the father on our behalf.
And when the writer of Hebrews introduced this idea
of the idea of Jesus Christ priesthood to us in Hebrews,
listen to what he said, I preached on this a few weeks ago,
he said in Hebrews 4, 14, seeing then, here it is,
man, this should inform your prayer life this week.
Anybody ever get anxious about anything this week?
Here's how you know you're anxious,
who here asked themselves, don't raise your hand,
just think about it, who asked at some level this week,
man, what if that happens?
What if that happens?
What if, what if, what if, what if, you know what that's called?
Potentially it's called worry.
Jesus said, if Philippians be anxious for nothing,
but in everything my parents' application,
let your requests be made known to God.
Here's what he said, seeing then we have a great high priest
that has passed into the heavens,
Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our profession,
for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet with us without sin, here it is,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.
You guys did, this is really good news, come on.
Come boldly to the throne of grace.
Knock, be like that stubborn old woman, keep going.
That's what Jesus said,
when I come back will the Father find that kind of faith
on the earth?
Hey, go boldly unto the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help.
Anybody here need help?
He's our defender, our deliverer.
Find grace to help in time of need.
Here's my point today, saved and unsaved, you need him.
He's offering himself to you on his terms,
which are good for you,
and that should bring you all kinds of hope.
Listen, they probably wouldn't do any of us good
to have access to the president.
We got access to God, and we have an advocate with God,
his son Jesus Christ.
So, does that give you hope?
That's my introduction.
Here it is, we can have hope in Jesus Christ
as our great high priest by understanding three aspects
of his priesthood.
First thing, I want you to have all kinds of hope today,
and I hope this hope informs your prayer life this week.
You're like, I don't have a prayer life, get one.
Get one.
I'm not praying enough.
Be stubborn, go, pray.
In Jesus' name, pray.
We can have hope in Jesus Christ as our great high priest
by understanding three aspects of his priesthood.
Number one, the source of his priesthood.
Verse 20 is where we're gonna be.
Now, if you have a problem,
we're talking about the source of his priesthood,
this is the passage that's gonna tell us
what the source of his priesthood is.
If you have a problem or something that you need fixed
and someone comes to you saying, I'm gonna help you out,
one thing you may wonder about is what authority
or what skill do they have to help me?
If you've got a bill, you owe a hundred grand, let's say,
and your broke brother-in-law comes to you
and says, a hundred thousand, do Friday, I got your back.
Who here has not helped?
Right.
But if it's the broke brother-in-law,
the sentiment doesn't help you,
but if you're hearing that from a musk
or a Rockefeller or a Gates,
you may start to feel a little bit better, right?
If the person making the promise to represent me before God,
where are they getting their authority from?
Are they getting from authority in a place I can trust?
What is the source of Jesus' priesthood?
Well, we find that the source of his priesthood
was found, first of all, in an oath, in an oath.
It was by an oath.
We can find hope in the priesthood of Jesus
by looking into the source of his priesthood.
Look at verse number 20.
And in as much as not without an oath, he was made priest.
If it's not without, this is a double negative,
then it was with an oath, it was by an oath.
Verse 21, for those priests were made without an oath,
those priests, what is he talking about?
The Old Testament priests that served in the Old Testament,
the Aaronic Levitical Law, those priests,
they didn't serve because they were made promise to be priests.
They served by the law.
We're gonna see that in a second.
Those priests were made with an oath,
but were made without an oath.
They didn't have an oath.
But this, talking about Jesus, with an oath,
with a promise by him that said unto him,
the Lord, who made the oath?
Who made the oath?
Just said it, the Lord.
The Lord swear I will not repent.
You know what that means?
Once God says it, he doesn't change it.
Anybody have a person ever make you a promise
and then go back on it?
God doesn't do that.
The Lord swear I will not repent.
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
What's the source of Jesus' priesthood?
It was a promise that was made.
It was an oath.
B, it was an oath made by God.
Jesus Christ was made a priest out of the order of Melchizedek
by an oath or a promise made to him by God the Father.
This promise that's quoted here was made to Jesus
by God the Father in Psalm 1104,
which says, the Lord hath sworn and will not repent.
Thou art a priest forever.
How long?
Forever after the order of Melchizedek.
When God ordained the Levitical line, he did it by fiat.
He didn't make any Levitical promise or covenant
that the line would go on forever.
He just stated that the priests of the Old Testament,
this Levitical line would be where the priests would come
from as long as that priesthood remained.
That old, ironic, Levitical priesthood mediated an old covenant.
Now, if you remember, we were talking about Melchizedek.
He was a priest and a king that we can learn about
from Genesis.
Melchizedek is the figure that we talked about
in the last two messages in this series.
He was a king priest of Salem to which Abraham died
and who Abraham was blessed by.
He had no accounted for mother or father.
He had no children.
The author of Hebrews makes these points about Melchizedek
that we learned in the last couple of weeks.
What did we learn?
That he was royal, that he was peaceful.
This Melchizedek was righteous.
He was universal.
He was not an errands line.
So therefore, not just for the Jews,
and he was unending, he was a priest
that abided continually.
Here's the slide that shows you this.
Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob.
Jacob had a bunch of sons, one of them Levi.
Levi, the most famous of his kinfolk was Moses
and Moses' brother Aaron.
And when the children of Israel went into the promise,
into the wilderness on their way to the promised land,
God gave the law to Moses.
And when he did, part of the law that he gave,
we find in the book of Leviticus, Levi to Cus.
Are you with me?
And out of Levi's line was Aaron.
Aaron was the first high priest.
And every other high priest that came, came after,
like we've told you, came after Aaron as one of his kids.
They all came out of the tribe of Levi.
Are you with me?
Well, we've learned so far, and I'm just repeating
because there's different people here, different weeks.
What we learned about Melchizedek was Melchizedek
was a contemporary of Abraham.
He's not of Abraham's line.
We don't know who his mother or father was.
We don't know who his kids were.
He shows up in Genesis chapter 14.
He comes, Abraham ties to him, Abraham is blessed by him.
And so it seems to be the case that who's superior?
Melchizedek over Abraham?
Melchizedek is superior.
And that Jesus then, that's the last time we hear about
Melchizedek until Psalms, where God the Father makes a note
to Jesus, who we don't know is Jesus yet,
because he's a Messiah that's coming.
But when he does, we find out from the book of Hebrews,
that promise was made to Jesus.
And he says, I'm gonna make you a priest,
but you're not gonna be a priest after the order of Levi.
You're gonna be a priest after the order of Melchizedek,
who was a king and a priest.
Who was royal and righteous.
He wasn't even Jewish.
He's a priest for everybody.
Now Jesus is a priest for everyone.
You get it?
Okay.
God revealed that there is this new priesthood coming.
That priesthood would not have its source
in the old covenant or old law.
These people are Aaron and his sons after him
were priests because of the law.
Jesus is not a priest because the law,
Jesus is a priest that fulfilled the law.
He's out of a totally different line.
He's from the tribe of Judah.
He never had to mediate some other sacrifice.
His source for being a priest was the promise made of God.
You're gonna be a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek.
And that's why he says in verse 22,
by so much was Jesus made surety of a better covenant.
When Jesus was with his disciples in that upper room
and they were eating that Lord's supper,
he said, this cup is the new testament in my blood
that was shed for you.
What does that mean?
You don't have to keep making sacrifices of goats and sheep.
I'm gonna lay down my life as a sacrifice.
Once,
for all, never to be done again.
I don't preach.
That's what he did.
And then because he did that,
now we can be sure we have a better promise.
What's our promise?
I can get to heaven because of what Jesus did.
I don't have to do the law.
Not to get to heaven.
It's by the oath that Jesus made
to guarantee you a better covenant.
It's by the oath that Jesus made the guarantee
of this better covenant.
He himself guarantees a better covenant.
If God gave Jesus to us as the sacrifice and the priest,
then we know that the covenant will never, ever, ever,
ever, ever, ever, ever be broken.
Because God keeps his promises
and he keeps his promises to his son.
I can trust the promises of God made to Jesus.
I can trust the promises of God
in making me right with him through Jesus.
He is my hope.
He is your hope.
And you should trust him today.
Secondly, why should you have hope?
In Jesus' priesthood.
Number two, because of the extent of his priesthood.
Extent, what do I mean?
Extent means the area covered by something.
It means the degree to which something has spread
or the size and the scale of something.
What is the extent of Jesus' priesthood?
What was the extent, well, here's a way of answering that.
What was the extent of the earthly Levitical
erotic priesthood?
Verse 23.
And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue
by a reason of what?
Death.
The earthly priesthood was mediated by men.
By men over time and they were subject to death.
Why?
Because they were sinners themselves.
The soul that sins, it shall die.
The wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The writer of Hebrews has already made the case
that the extent of the erotic Levitical priesthood
wasn't enough.
He said that back in verse 11.
Look it back in verse 11.
Not part of our text, but it was what we saw before.
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood
for under it that people received the law,
which further needs was there another priest should be,
should rise after the order of Melchizedek
and not be called after the order of Aaron?
What's he saying?
If the law was enough and that priesthood was enough,
why is God promising another covenant
and another priesthood?
You make sense?
It wasn't enough.
The law could not ultimately save.
Church family and those who are with us today
for the first time or maybe first time a long time,
I want you to understand a lie
that is purported by sometimes
so-called Christian organizations.
If there is anyone that tells you
that the way to be right with God and go to heaven
is to do something, to do some work,
to be good, to keep the rules,
they're teaching you a damnable heresy.
It will damn you to hell.
We are not saved by works.
Not ours.
You can't do enough good to outweigh your bad.
Are you with me?
We're not saved by works.
Not ours.
We're saved by Jesus' works.
And so when they say, yeah, you're saved by Jesus,
but you're also saved by Jesus plus,
it's Jesus plus nothing.
It's Jesus plus nothing.
If you're trusting in something other than Jesus alone,
by grace alone, through faith alone,
you're not trusting in Christ
and you're not trusting in something that will save.
The priesthood could not endure forever.
It could only point to and depend on a better priesthood
that was foretold by that oath.
That old earthly priesthood came to an end
because it was subject to death.
Here's the fun part, verse 24.
But this man, who's he talking about?
Who's he talking about?
Jesus.
But this man, because he continued with how long?
Forever.
Hath an unchangeable priesthood.
There's not another priesthood coming.
We already got the priesthood we need.
We need Jesus to intercede for us.
We could not save ourselves.
We could not intercede for ourselves.
We don't need Mary or anybody else to intercede for us.
We got Jesus.
What is the extent of his priesthood?
Letter A, it's unchangeable.
It's unchangeable.
There is no need for another order of priesthood
after Jesus Christ.
The Aaronic priesthood necessitated another priesthood
but Jesus' priesthood will never need to be changed.
It is, do you see it in the text?
It is unchangeable.
Why is it unchangeable?
Because letter B, it is unending.
It's unending.
He's eternal.
He had no beginning.
You're like, what about Christmas?
That wasn't his beginning.
That's when he became flesh, but it was not his beginning.
He's a lamp slain before the foundation of the world.
His priestly ministry will never end.
He will never not live up to the task of interceding for us.
Why?
Because he continued with forever.
What continues?
Both his life and his priesthood, his priestly ministry.
What does the extent of his priesthood mean for us?
Letter C, it saves completely.
It saves completely.
And don't get confused at this.
Look at verse 25.
Wherefore, he is able.
Because his priesthood is unchanging,
because it is unending,
because he ever lives to intercede for us,
he is able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him.
God can save you, not because of your works,
but because you came to him.
He's able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him,
seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Who can be saved?
Those who come to God by him.
That's who can be saved.
Anybody?
Yes, anybody.
Seriously, anybody?
Yes, anybody.
What about the bad people?
Bad question.
Why?
There's no such thing as good people.
We're all bad.
There's none good but God.
How saved am I?
If you came to God by faith,
those who come to him by faith are completely saved.
He is able to save them to the uttermost.
When you get saved, it's only by Christ.
When you get saved, he forgives you
of that sin that you did in the past.
When you get saved, he forgives you of the sin
that you did in the past.
When you get saved, he forgives you of the sin
that you will do in the future.
He gives only one kind of spiritual life
and that's eternal life.
And at the moment you place your trust in Christ,
you are saved.
Right now because of Christ, I am kept in him.
I am being saved.
And one day when I leave this life,
I will be saved when I go to be with him.
I don't know how it works, but my granny went to heaven.
What I mean by how it works is I don't know exactly
what she experienced when she got there,
but to be absent from the bodies,
to be present with the Lord.
Brother Bob is doing a lot better today
than he was last week.
Cause Jesus is safe.
And now he ever lives to make center session for us.
Now I can go to God, not just about my salvation
in my sin, but about my marriage and my kids.
I can go to him about my car.
I can go to him about Tuesday afternoon.
I can trust him with my future next week, next month,
next year and a million years from now
because he ever liveth to make intercession for me.
He can save me to the uttermost
from every sin to life everlasting.
Are you guys excited?
Is it warm in here?
Are you falling asleep?
This is good news.
This is incredible news.
So Paul said in Romans 8,
who can lay anything against to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies.
Who is he that condemneth?
It's Christ that died, ye rather, that is risen again.
Who is even, here it is,
who is even at the right hand of God.
Who also maketh intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation answer the question?
Or distress?
Or persecution?
Or famine?
Or nakedness?
Or peril or sword?
No, as it is written, for thy sake,
we are all killed all the day long.
We are accounted for sheep,
as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all things, we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, here it is, this is a great list.
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why?
Because he can save to the uttermost.
Because he ever lives to make intercession for us.
Let's just make that, let's just
take that out of these Bible theological terms
and say this, Jesus is waiting and ready
and able to receive your prayers.
And he wants to work out his will,
which is better for you than your will.
He is ready to make your will his will.
He wants you to abide in him and to change you
so that you will ask for the things that you need
and the things that you need, he wants to give you.
He's for you in Christ.
And I can't think of any better news for this week.
Like, what an incredible resource.
The God who gives all gifts, who saved me,
who gave me his son, wants to work in my life.
Not just for my salvation, but for my sanctification.
Are you getting any hope here?
The source of his priesthood is an oath made by God,
the Father who cannot lie.
The nature of his priesthood is what we see next.
Verse 26, for such a high priest became us,
what does it mean he became us?
He's like us in that he is human.
He is human.
Jesus literally became a man.
His beginning was not at his birth,
but he had no beginning.
But he's unlike us, even though he's a man,
he's unlike us in that he is perfect.
He was not born with the sin nature,
he was born to Mary who did have a sin nature
and needed Jesus to save her from her sins,
but Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit
and had no capacity to sin.
He could not sin, which is why verse 26 says,
for such a high priest this Jesus became us,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.
It's pretty cool.
He never did anything wrong.
He cannot do anything wrong.
He humbled himself to be made like us.
He took on the form of a servant,
being found in fashion as a man.
He became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross.
And verse 26 says, now, what does it say?
He's made higher than the heavens.
Is he exalted today?
He is exalted today.
This is the kind of high priest we have.
God hath highly exalted him and give him a name
that is above every name.
Let me now say that Jesus is of infinite value.
He is exalted higher than the place where he resides.
One day every knee will bow to that name
and every tongue will confess to the glory of God the Father.
This is the kind of priest that we have.
He humbled himself and became a man.
He was sinless and now he's exalted.
He was different than the other high priest.
He's exalted.
He's sinless.
Verse 27, what did that mean?
He didn't need daily, verse 27,
who needed not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins
and then for the people's.
Those ironic priests I talk about
that would mediate on behalf of the people,
they would only do that after they offered up sacrifices
for themselves.
They were not holy and harmless.
How do we know those priests weren't harmless?
They killed Jesus.
People can go bad no matter what title they have.
Not everybody that calls himself a Christian is one.
Not everybody that calls themselves a pastor is one.
Are you with me?
I'm not saying that they were all bad.
Not every priest was bad, but none of them were sinless.
They were not holy and harmless.
They had to consecrate themselves by sacrifice
on a regular basis.
Then once they did that, once they were consecrated,
then they could sacrifice for the people.
You know that in the tabernacle and in the temple,
there were no chairs.
The only seat was the mercy seat
where the blood of the spotless land
was sprinkled on at once a year on the day of Atonement.
Those human priests needed their sins
to be forgiven as well.
And so they offered up animal sacrifice.
And Jesus, it says, let's go back to the verse.
Are you with me?
Look at verse 27.
Who needed not daily as those priests
to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins
and then for others.
For this, he, Jesus, did once.
How often did the priest do it?
Daily, how often did he do it?
Once, when?
When he offered up himself.
He's the sacrifice.
Not only is he the priest that mediates
between God and man,
he's the sacrifice that atones for sin.
John the Baptist said of Jesus,
behold the Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world.
First John says something about Jesus' intercessory ministry
as priests and sacrifice.
Look at first John 2, 1.
My little children, these things,
write I unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin.
Hey, let me ask you a question.
Did you sin this past week?
Will you sin this next week?
I hope you don't want to.
But if you do, here's what it says.
We have an, what is it?
Advocate, an intercessor.
Someone representing us with the Father.
Jesus Christ, the what?
Righteous.
There's nothing between him and God.
And he is Jesus, the propitiation for our sins.
And not for all, it's only but for the sins of the whole world.
The word propitiation is a term that means
wrath bearing sacrifice.
You and I deserve God's wrath.
And Jesus took God's wrath for us.
2 Corinthians 521.
For he hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.
He took my sin, he took God's wrath,
he gave me his righteousness,
and then he lived the life I could not live.
Live, he says, now because I live, you may live also.
He gives me resurrection life, and he went to heaven
and now is made above the heavens,
and he's with the Father, and he's ever lived
to make intercession for us, and to save us
to the unermost, those of us who come to God by him.
That's what Jesus did.
He is human, he is sinless, he is the sacrifice,
and last thing, he's consecrated.
He's consecrated.
Verse 28, for the law maketh men high priests
which have infirmity.
The law was a source of the earthly,
the ironic priesthood, those priests broke that law
that made them priests.
They had to be consecrated through sacrifices
to do their priestly duties over and over
and over and over.
Basically, the priests back then were butchers.
That's what they did.
Sacrificing animals and animals and never sitting down
because sin kept happening and more sacrifice for sin
and never ended, it never ended
until Jesus, our high priest, came and became that once
for all sacrifice.
And what does Hebrews say happened when he got to heaven?
He sat down.
He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
But Jesus, it says in verse, the end there, verse 28,
but the word of an oath, whose oath?
Whose oath?
God's oath.
Which was since the law, make it the son
who is consecrated forevermore.
The nature of Jesus' priesthood is this,
he's like us and that he's a man.
But he's not like us and that he's sinless.
He only had to sacrifice himself once for all
and now he lives to make intercession for us,
saving us to the uttermost.
He is consecrated, he will never sin.
His priesthood will never change and if you're not saved,
he's ready and willing to save you today.
How do you say, how do you get saved?
You come to him, that's what it said.
If you've never repented of your sin
and turned to him by faith, you are yet in your sins
and you will be the object of his wrath.
But if you repent and trust in Jesus today,
he can be your savior, he can be your advocate,
he can be your eternal, sinless, loving
and saving high priest today.
And if you're saved, if you know Christ as your savior,
you have an advocate with the Father right now.
He'll help you conquer sin in your life,
he'll help you parent your kids,
he'll help you have peace in the midst of grief.
He will help you to effectively live for him
and have purpose and meaning and life.
Do you get it?
We can be saved to the uttermost.
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone.
Would you stand with me?