The Qualifications of Christ’s High Priesthood, Hebrews 5:1-14

I’m going to try to do two things today that are probably inadvisable.  The first is that I’m going to attempt to cover the entire chapter in this sermon.  It’s only 14 verses, so it’s not impossible, just probably not advisable.  The second thing I’m going to do is attempt to exegete it in reverse.  I’m going to start with verses 11-14 and then afterwards I will do 1-10.  Now I do that because even though I may not be following the text chronologically, I think I am honoring the sense of the text.  I think that the author of Hebrews has been giving this great theological treatise, a sermon really, on the superior merits of Christ above every other institution or agency, and perhaps he senses a danger at this point that his audience is starting to get bored.  And so in vs 11, he suddenly diverges from his message, and gives a word of exhortation, that they need to sit up and listen and learn.

Now I echo that sentiment today, because I think that this is tremendously important material that we need to know if we are going to have the full effect of our salvation in operation in our lives.  I think there is a dumbing down of the gospel in our age, in an attempt to make it relevant, in an attempt to hold people’s attention, or in an attempt to be entertaining, and the end result is that the average Christian doesn’t really understand neither his salvation, nor God’s purpose in saving him, and consequently has no clue as to what he is supposed to do now that he believes.  I’m afraid many people don’t even know what they believe.  They just have been told to believe in Jesus, that he died on the cross, that He loves us, and so we just believe, and now we don’t have to worry about going to hell anymore, and we can have a good life because God loves us and wants us to have a good life.  That’s the sum total of most people’s doctrinal understanding.

But the author of Hebrews is spending a lot of time and effort in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit  to tell us about the magnificence of who Jesus is, and what He came to do, and what He continues to do.  And it’s important to know all we can know about who Jesus is, because that is the basis for our belief, for our faith.  Also it’s important because the more we know about Jesus, the more we will love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will be moved to live lives that are pleasing to Him.  It’s just like a relationship with a man and a woman when they are dating.  They start to spend time together.  She wants to know all about you.  She wants to know your past, your future, your plans.  And as you learn more and more about each other, your love grows for one another.  Thus it is important that we learn all we can about who Jesus is and what He did and continues to do.  Because that knowledge is what we base our faith on.  And our faith is the basis for being granted salvation and all the attendant benefits of salvation.  And our knowledge for God produces our love for God, which is the motivation for our obedience to Him.

So the Holy Spirit in vs 11 interrupts the theological treatise to reprimand the audience for their ignorance. And by extension, He is upbraiding the present audience here today as well for our ignorance.  Notice, He says, “Concerning him we have much to say, and [it is] hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”  Concerning Him, I believe, is speaking of Jesus.  It could be that he is saying, concerning Melchizedek we have much to say.  And of course, he does have a lot to say about Melchizedek in the upcoming chapters. But this book is not about Melchizedek, it’s about Jesus. And so I think he saying we have a lot to say about Jesus, but you’ve become dull of hearing.

As I’ve gotten older, I have become dull of hearing.  I blame it on years of surfing.  There is something called surfer’s ear that affects us guys that spend too much time in cold water.  The ear canal builds up cartilage to protect itself from the cold water and wind, and eventually it closes up the ear canal.  So you can’t hear very well.  That’s my excuse, at least.  

But I don’t think the author has in mind surfer’s ear.  I think he’s talking about lazy listening.  I think we are not tuned to the things of God because it’s much easier to listen to music, or some sort of entertainment or a nice sentimental story.  The opposite of dull hearing would be sharp hearing.  It’s like Maggie my dog.  She hears some things a lot better than others.  She can hear me open a package of bread from the other side of the house and be there in a flash with her tail wagging.  She loves bread.  But she can’t seem to hear me when I tell her to get off the couch.  She seems deaf as a post then. 

I wonder if some of you have the same problem.  You can hear a couple of measures of the beginning of a song and tell me immediately what the name of the song is and who the author is, but you can’t find a verse in the Bible with a concordance. You’ve become dull of hearing because you haven’t trained yourself in the things of God. To use another analogy, you haven’t developed a taste for spiritual food.  That is what is said there in vs14, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”  The key is training.  The more you train your voice, the better sense you have of being on pitch or in tune.  The same is true of spiritual things; it involves practice, training your senses so that they are not dulled by the things of the world, but trained in the things of God, so that we may be in tune with God.

Some of you have been Christians a long time.  I hesitate to ask for a show of hands, but I assume that many of you have been saved since you were children, or young adults.  And so vs 12 says to you, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

The problem with some of you is that maybe that your home church only gives you milk, and never feeds you solid food.  Some churches just serve whipped cream.   I love whipped cream.  I like it when my wife makes homemade whipped cream to go on chocolate cake. And it’s ok to have some every now and then.  But a steady diet of whipped cream is not good for you.  And furthermore, its not going to have the nutrition that you need to grow and maintain your body as it should be.  

Children, especially spiritual children, need to be fed milk at first, but then they need to move on to solid food, so that their body can mature and grow stronger.  And so it is with us.  Otherwise we remain “babes in the woods” so to speak.  And we cannot discern the difference between good and evil.  We end up being taken in by false doctrine, and by the deceit of the devil.

Now then, let us eat some solid food this morning, that we might move on towards maturity in Jesus Christ.  And one of the roles of Jesus Christ that we are considering is His position as High Priest of our faith.  And perhaps this is difficult because we can’t relate to this position of high priest.  We don’t see that sort of position in the church today and so we can’t relate to it.

But think about it this way for a moment.  If we accept the fact that God exists as He has disclosed Himself in His word; that He is the maker of the universe, the ruler of the world, the judge of the earth, in whom all righteousness and holiness dwells in inapproachable light, and we exist and live and breathe by His permission.  If we accept that premise, then what is our response?  To ignore Him?  That will hardly do.  To try to placate Him? How?  What are we to do? How do we approach Him?

Well Jesus gave us the answer in John 4:24  "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” So we must worship God.  He is Spirit, therefore He cannot be seen, so we must worship Him in spirit, and worship Him in truth.  We must worship Him as He wants us to worship Him, according to what He has revealed.  And in ancient times, God ordained priests to facilitate that worship.  They represented God to man, in revealing His truth, and they represented man to God, in offering sacrifices and gifts to God which was the way in which God wanted man to express his worship.  And among the priests, there was the office of the High Priest, who was the chief of priests, and He served a special function on the yearly Day of Atonement, in going before God in the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifice for the sins of the people.

Now that’s what this author says in vs 1, “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.”  Notice, the high priest is taken from among men, to act in the appointed role on behalf of men in things pertaining to God.  He is a man, appointed by God to act on their behalf.  And God appointed him to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

So Holy, Righteous God, required that priests act as intermediaries by offering sacrifices and gifts for the sins of man in order to be accepted by God. Man is a fallen creature, born in sin, with a sinful nature, and as such is estranged from God and cannot approach God.  The sacrifices and gifts could not of themselves atone for sin, but they showed man’s repentance over his sin, which God accepted, and He therefore provided a substitute animal to bear their punishment.  The priests facilitated this system of sacrifices and gifts to God.

Now such a priest had a dual responsibility.  To man he could, in vs 2, “deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness.”  In other words, since the priest also is a man, he has the same weaknesses and temptations that men have, and thus can have compassion on them.  

And because of his weaknesses, because he is a man born in sin, with a sinful nature even as they, vs. 3, “he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.”  So he has to offer sin sacrifices for himself, and then for the people.  He is an intermediary, but a flawed one.  And if you were someone who went to a priest in those days, hoping to have him intercede for you to God, then you would have to hope that he had been faithful himself to offer sacrifices for his own sin, so that your prayers might not be hindered by his weakness.  

Another important characteristic of priests is that they did not designate themselves priests, but that designation came from God.  Now that’s important, because then as also now, many people are running around claiming to speak for God, when in fact, God has not appointed them.  I will never forget it was during Hurricane Sandy, I believe, which narrowly missed us here in Delaware but pounded New Jersey and caused more damage than any other storm to date in that state.  And I remember reading something just before the storm hit that a group of religious leaders from some sort of denomination that specialized in miracles and prophesying, had sent out a statement saying that all these preachers had been praying and formed a prayer chain or something like that around the Mid Atlantic region, and somehow God had told them that the storm would turn away and we would be spared of any sort of direct hit.  And I got an email from one of their followers to that affect as the storm was bearing down on us.  And I usually just bite my tongue and delete that sort of thing.  But I couldn’t help myself that day, and so I sent the guy an email reply with this quote from Jeremiah 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”  I never got any more emails from that guy again.

So God appoints those who truly speak for Him, and He appointed the high priests, not man, not some denomination, not some seminary, not some pastor search committee. And it says here that God appoints the priests. And now the Spirit uses that designation to extol the virtues of Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest in vs.5 “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’”.   So quoting from Psalm 2:7, God speaking to the Messiah, appointed Him as His representative, as His Son.  And then quoting from Psalm 110, vs4, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”

What greater appointment for man’s High Priest could be imagined, than God in human form, Jesus Christ incarnate, being made forever to be our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  Now there will be much more to be said about Melchizedek in the passages ahead.  But suffice it for now that you know that in Genesis 14:18 he appeared to Abraham as both king of Salem, which was an ancient name for Jerusalem, and also he was designated as priest of God Most High.  And Abraham recognized him as the priest of God and gave him his tithes.  Now this event preceded the law of Moses concerning priests and the order of Aaron, the High Priest of Israel by several hundred years.  Melchizedek seemed to appear out of nowhere, without any precedent.  And Psalm 110 is quoting God as saying that the Messiah is a priest forever, not after the order of Aaron, not of the Levitical priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek.

So Jesus was appointed High Priest by God.  The other characteristic that you will remember though of priests is that they were taken from man.  And vs 7 speaks to His humanness, or the days of His flesh.   “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.”

Many commentators think this speaks particularly of His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, but I think it doesn’t have to be restricted to just that incident, but throughout His whole life, He was constantly in communion with His Father and dependent upon doing His will.  Some of the hardest trials you will go through, and some of the deepest sorrows you may experience are not always associated with suffering pain and injury, but in doing what is right.  Going against what the flesh calls for, going against what the world calls for, and the loneliness and sense of desolation that evokes is reason enough for loud crying and tears.  

What this is referencing is the qualification of a priest that He is able to sympathize with those whom He represents, that is mankind.  Christ suffered all the things that we suffer, and much more than we could ever suffer.  He did what was right before God, without sin, suffering even until death. His faithfulness unto death qualifies Him even more than any earthly priest, who shared the same weaknesses of the flesh as his fellow citizens, because though He shared in the sufferings and temptations and trials of men, yet He was victorious over them in righteousness.  And because of His righteousness, or as it says because of His piety, God delivered Him from the chains of death, and He rose again from the grave victorious with the keys of death and Hades in His grasp.

In vs8, it says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”  Now this verse has caused a lot of confusion, because we can not imagine how Christ could learn obedience.  But I think it needs to be understood this way, “although He was a Son, (that is the Son of God, deity), even though He had a right to do what He wanted,  He learned obedience from the things He suffered in the flesh (that is in the things He suffered as a human.)  In other words, He humbled Himself and practiced obedience to the Father’s will in His flesh, in His humaness, even while suffering, which made Him qualified in experience to be our representative.  Even though He was omniscient, in His experience of suffering there was a sense in which He learned experientially what it was to be human.

And we learn to be obedient through suffering as well.  Unfortunately, we tend to learn more from our disobedience.  The way most of us learn is by learning the hard way.  We disobey, and suffer the consequences, and we end up learning through our disobedience.  It’s much smarter to learn though example.  It’s so much smarter to learn through obedience to what God has said in His word, rather than to think we have to figure it out for ourselves.  That goes back to the exhortation about being children that we looked at earlier.  Children learn through experience. And that’s why discipline is such an important part in a child’s upbringing.  But as you grow older, and more mature, you should be able to learn from other’s experience.  That’s wisdom.

And then vs 9 says, “having been made perfect…”  Once again, people have trouble with this idea that Christ had to become perfect.  But the best way to understand that word is to translate it as “complete.”  So He became complete by suffering in His flesh.  He became the complete, perfect High Priest because He was not only fully God, but fully man, and suffered all things in the flesh as a man, yet without sin, preserving His righteousness. 

Back in chapter 4:15 we read, “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.”

So having suffered in the flesh, having been appointed by God, having been ordained after another order of priests, having been the righteous and Holy Son of God, we therefore have such a Great High Priest, who has became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Listen, we just read that Jesus learned obedience from the things which He suffered and was saved from death through His piety. Is it not just as appropriate that the obedience of the redeemed results in their salvation? Is it so inappropriate to think that obedience and faith go hand in hand? Listen, you cannot have faith without obedience. Faith is not just a head knowledge, but a heart repurposed.  Remember the admonition of Jesus in Matt. 15:8-9  'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.  'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’"

Or perhaps we need to remember His warning in Matt. 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.]  "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”  Notice the emphasis on doing God’s will, and then the opposite of practicing lawlessness which is a hallmark of lip service.  So then, practicing righteousness, obedience to God,  is hallmark of true worship.

The final qualification of our Great High Priest is that to all who obey Him,  He is the source, or the author of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.  Peter said in Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

He is not only the author of our salvation, but also the finisher of our salvation.  Hebrews 12:2 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The fact that He is eternal, sitting eternally on the throne of God, interceding for His people, means that our salvation is eternal.  It’s eternal because the source of our salvation is eternal.  It’s eternal because HIs sacrifice is eternally effective, once for all accomplished, never to be repeated and permanently valid.  And it’s an eternal salvation because Jesus Christ, our Great High priest ever lives to make intercession for us, to help us in our time of need.  He is always available, ever working on the behalf of those who have put their trust in Him.  

I hope everyone here today has become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Are you trusting in the sacrifice of Himself on your behalf for your acceptance with God?  There is no other way to God, and no other source of eternal life.  Trust in Him today as your Savior, Lord and King, and in HIs work as our Great High Priest. 

Jesus our Great High Priest, Hebrews 4:14-16

As we begin this study today in Hebrews, I think it may be important to ask the question, what is a priest?  Practically all religions utilize a priesthood.  And yet in the Protestant Evangelical tradition we don’t use priests.  We have a pastor.  We have certain officers such as deacons.  But we don’t have priests officiating in the sanctuary.  And so it might be necessary to explain why, and explain what the Bible says about priests, as a precursor to our study today.

According to the common understanding of both Greeks and Hebrews of the time when this epistle was written, priests were men who offered sacrifices and in general  busied themselves with sacred rites in a temple or sanctuary.  They were considered go betweens, or mediators between man and God.  They were considered holy in that they were consecrated to their work.  They were not concerned with profane things, but holy things of God. In Judaism especially, the religion of the Israelites, it was considered a sacred profession that was the birthright of the Levites. In other words, you had to be born a priest.   And they worked in the temple daily, performing their sacrifices and sacred rituals.

In addition to that position, you also had a high priest.  These were men who came from the ranks of the Levites, who originally were  selected by God to officiate as a priest, but as the leader of the priesthood, and who would enter once a year into the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement.  He was often called the chief priest, because his position was foremost of the priests.

Now as I said, we don’t have priests officiating in the church today at least in most Protestant evangelical churches.  And the primary reason is that we no longer have sacrifices to offer.  Hebrews 7:27 tells us that Jesus has offered one sacrifice for all time.  On the day He was crucified, you will remember that God tore in two the veil separating the temple from the Holy of Holies, rending it from top to bottom, signifying that the way to enter the Holy of Holies was open to all through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Thus, we no longer need a priest, or even a high priest from the order of the Levites, to act as an intermediary for us.

But on the other hand, the book of Hebrews is going to spend a great deal of time telling us that Jesus is our great high priest.  And so if we are to understand Jesus, then we need to understand the function of the High Priests among the Jews, but particularly we need to understand how Jesus fulfills that office.

And by the way, in this new covenant, we that are saved are the new priesthood.  Peter said in 1Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God's] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  That’s what our job is now that we have become saved, to function as priests of God, as Romans 12:1 states, “presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, which is your reasonable service of worship.  John declares the same thing in Revelation 1:6 “and He has made us [to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him [be] the glory and the dominion forever and ever.”

And what the author of Hebrews is telling us in this passage is that we have a Chief Priest over us, who has gone into the heavenly holy of holies, and is officiating at the heavenly altar, so that we might have access to God and find help in time of need.

Now in chapter 3, vs 1 we were told to consider Jesus.  And so we have been doing that, considering Jesus in contrast to angels, to prophets, and to Moses, He is superior in every respect.  And today we are considering Jesus in light of His office as a High Priest, that we might better understand our position and the promises that we have in Him.

I could focus on a variety of human problems today with hopes that I might engage at least a few of you folks’ attention, in that you share a similar situation in your life.  But in the wisdom of God, I prefer to follow the teaching of this book, to fix our eyes on Jesus, and when we do that, we might find that he is sufficient to meet every need, whatever the need may be. Rather than focus on the problems, let us consider the solution to every need, which is Jesus.  And it is in His office of Great High Priest that we see Him most sufficient.

Now this idea of a Jesus as our Great High Priest has already been introduced to us in two other places.  The first was in chapter 2, vs17, “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.”  The second mention is in chapter 3, vs1, which says, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” 

Now then let us consider Him as our Great High Priest. In chapter 4, vs 14, it says, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” 

But before we parse the rest of the verse, I want to point out the words, “we have.”  Let’s not overlook the little words in scripture.  It’s not that we just know about, but we have, we possess, or we belong to, such a great high priest.  We have a part in Him.  We have appropriated His work on our behalf.  That is really what constitutes our faith in Him, and what makes our faith efficacious. He has become our Lord and Savior and our Great High Priest by virtue of our faith and trust in Him.  He is ours, and we are His.  So let’s not overlook that important distinction.

A good illustration of that proprietary relationship to  the high priest is that in ancient Israel the high priest wore the names of the tribes of Israel on their breastplate, as part of their priestly garments.  They were identified with those who they were representing.  So it is with Jesus as our High Priest.  Our names, the Bible says in Isaiah 49:16, are written on His hands.  So He has become a man like us, one of His brethren, so that He might be our representative, our faithful high priest.

So now we have learned what it means to be our high priest, but what is indicated by “Great” High Priest? There were many high priests after the order of Aaron, but none of them were ever called great.  So what is meant by that title?  Well, I believe if we follow the order we have seen so far in Hebrews, it is quite simply that He is superior to every previous high priest. He is greater than every high priest that has ever come before.

And if you turn ahead a couple of chapters to chapter 7,  starting in vs 16, we see some characteristics of His greatness.  First it says that He became a priest not on the basis of ancestry, He was not of the tribe of Levi, but of Judah. He was appointed by God and not by man. And furthermore it says that He became a priest forever because of His indestructible life.  In other words, all Levitical priests eventually died and were buried, and thus their ministry ended.  But Jesus’s ministry continues forever, because He rose from the dead and as our text indicates, He ascended into heaven where He continues to intercede for us.

Secondly, He is our Great High Priest because His temple is greater.  In chapter 9 vs 24 we read that “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.”  So He is greater because the earthly high priests officiated in an earthly holy place which was only a type of the one in the heavens, but Jesus has entered to the heavenly tabernacle, into the very presence of God’s throne, which is clearly greater.

And thirdly, He is our Great High Priest because He is not only human as all the other priests were, but He is also divine, as no other priest could claim.  And we see that illustrated back in our text, in vs 14, in HIs name and title.  Jesus is His human name.  It was a rather common name, Joshua in Hebrew, but Jesus in the Greek.  And it meant, “Jehovah is salvation.”  The angel said to Mary when he announced His birth, “And you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”  So in His humanity, He is able to represent His people, and He is able to be the substitute for mankind.

But He was not only fully man, but fully divine, which is represented in His title, “the Son of God.”  John chapter 1 tells us that He was in the beginning with God, and that He was God.  Jesus claimed that He came from God and He was going back to the Father.  Jesus always called God His Father.  Only as the Son of God, equal in divinity, but separate in roles, could He atone for the sins of the world.  And only as God could He be the Great High Priest who passed through the heavens and sat down at the right hand of the Father.  

Now let’s just clarify that phrase, “passed through the heavens.”  Generally speaking, when the Bible speaks of the atmosphere, it refers to it as the heavens.  It includes the immediate atmosphere around the earth, as well as the sun, moon and stars.  But the passage is not so much describing a geographic location as it is describing the act of Christ entering or passing through the veil that hides the heavenly realm, or the spiritual realm.  Ephesians 2 says about us Christians in vs 5-6 “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus.”  

That’s talking about something that happens upon salvation. Upon salvation we are vicariously seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.  But for that to be true of you and me it must be true spiritually.  And it is in that spiritual realm that Jesus has passed through.  That was typified in the earthly high priest who once a year went into the Holy of Holies, by passing through the veil.  And so Christ has gone before us, passing through death, being raised incorruptible, and passed into the heavenly realm, the spiritual realm,  into the very presence of the Father. In that spiritual realm, He is above all power and authority, outside of time and space, and not confined to earthly limitations.  Thus He is greater because the scope of His ministry is spiritual, and not limited to the physical.

Now this faith in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, this faith in HIs work of atonement, this faith that appropriates His office of High Priest over us, is called in vs14 our confession.  And the Spirit says through Hebrews that since Jesus is our Great High Priest, we must hold fast our confession.  Now what does it mean to hold fast?  It means to secure it.  To make something fast is to secure it.  It actually refers back to that idea of possession.  We appropriate these truths and secure them, trust firmly in them.  To have unshakeable faith in who Jesus is, and what He has done, and what He ever lives to do.  It’s the same idea as standing firm in your faith.  Be confident, be assured in who He His and what He will do.  So we must stand firm in our confession of our faith, holding fast to His promises.  “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” according to Hebrews 11:1.

And faith is the means by which all that Christ has done and will do is appropriated by us.

Now vs 15 says that we can have that confident confession of our faith because Christ  sympathizes with us, in all our weaknesses, in all our temptations and trials, because He has been tempted and tried in all points like we have, yet without sin.  Jesus, in His humanity has suffered in every thing that we suffer.  Vs. 15 “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.”  To sympathize is to relate to, and have compassion on, and He does so because He has shared similar experiences.

But our confidence comes not just because He has suffered the same things that we suffered, but that He did so without succumbing to sin.  A fellow human can commiserate with you in your suffering, but offer little help in overcoming temptation and trial.  Jesus, suffered in all things as we have, yet He triumphed over them, by not succumbing to sin.  I believe it was the theologian FF Bruce who said, “Such endurance involves more, not less, than ordinary human suffering.”  In other words, the suffering that Jesus endured without sin, is far greater than our suffering.  Thus, in overcoming it, He shows that He is able to help us in our suffering. Jesus withstood all temptation, He withstood all the strategies of Satan, all the pitfalls of the world, He withstood all the weaknesses and indulgences of man, and emerged the victor.  And because He is the victor over death and sin and the world, He is able to save to the uttermost those that trust in Him. We can hold fast our confidence because He overcame the world, and He is able to come to our help and defense.  Because He was sinless.  HIs sinlessness is an important attribute of His effectiveness as our Great High Priest.

I need to speak to something at this point that may offend some people here.  And I would say that I do not go out of my way to be offensive.  But just the other day I picked up a  silver medallion and chain.  I bought it just because it was in the junk jewelry section of a thrift store and I saw it was marked sterling silver, so I knew it was worth more than what they had it marked for.  It was a good deal.  But the medallion was commemorating the Virgin Mary. And around the outer band of the medallion was engraved the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

Now folks, I must tell you that in no place in scripture is it indicated that Mary was conceived without sin. Romans clearly states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. They have taken one of the essential attributes of Jesus, the Son of God, that qualifies Him to be our Great High Priest, and given it to someone else.  Mary was blessed among women for she was chosen to bear Jesus as her child.  But sinlessness is the attribute of God, not any man or woman. And Mary was only a woman who had the same weaknesses that we have.  She had the same need for a Savior that all men have.  Mary was a sinner just like you and I are sinners.  Mary was saved by faith in Jesus Christ. But in no way was she born without sin. And the scripture no where teaches that.

Then, on the reverse of the medallion is a large letter M, which symbolizes that Mary is the Mediatrix, which means she is the mediator between man and salvation, and that Jesus bestows graces through her.  Once again, this false doctrine is taking away from Jesus the characteristic that He only provides.  He, and He alone,  is the mediator between God and man.  1Tim. 2:5 says “For there is one God, [and] one mediator also between God and men, [the] man Christ Jesus.” 

And furthermore, to show how insidious this doctrine of Mary is, it is based on the idea that she was assumed into heaven, bypassing death, because she had never sinned.  So once again, the fact that Jesus passed through the heavens has been appropriated to Mary as well, which puts her on the same plane as Jesus Christ.  I would just encourage you to see for yourselves if there is any mention of such a thing in scripture.  There is none. It is a false doctrine that leads to a worship of Mary, and a perversion of the intercessory doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The whole point of this passage before us today, is to say that we have a Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who has passed through the heavens, who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin, and now lives to make intercession for us, to help us in our time of need, because He has experienced what we experience, and because we are His people, and He is our High Priest, who represents His people before the Father.  And as such people, who belong to Christ, we are to body enter into the throne of grace to find help in time of need.  We don’t need to go through other human intermediaries. In fact, such people can never help us.  We don’t need to appeal to other humans who have passed into death to speak on our behalf.  Jesus performs that role for us, and He performs it perfectly, because He is the Great High Priest.  And to try to put another person in HIs place, or to make you go through another agency to get to Jesus, is to put a stumbling block before you, and diminish the work of Jesus Christ by saying that it was not sufficient.  Let me assure you, Jesus is sufficient. He and He alone is able to save. He alone is able to know our hearts.  He alone is sinless.  Consider Jesus!  Don’t be deceived into looking at any one else but Jesus.  He is sufficient.

Now the last verse in our text sums up our response to our confession of faith in all that Jesus has accomplished and will accomplish as our Great High Priest.  It says in vs. 16, Therefore, [since all these things are assured concerning Jesus as our Great High Priest,]  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.”

Therefore, since all these things are assured concerning Jesus, we can come boldly to the throne of grace. A throne speaks of authority and power, while grace conveys the idea of compassion and provision. These two thoughts are combined in Jesus Christ. He is the God of infinite power, Creator of the Universe, Judge of the Earth, sitting on His throne after all authority in heaven and earth have been given to Him.  And, yet He welcomes us in complete and utter sympathy with us. Because He is one of us, and we are one with Him. We can come boldly because we are confident that He is ours, and we are His, by virtue of the atoning sacrifice which He made on our behalf.  His sacrifice for us is more than sufficient so that we may be bold to enter the throne of grace.

Notice what He provides to those who come to Him; mercy and grace.  Mercy is not getting what we deserve.  Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.  Christ doesn’t just give us mercy, but He gives us grace.  He not only forgives the penalty of our sin, but He gives us His righteousness and eternal life. He gives us complete and perfect access to God. Mercy and grace, and they are offered by our Great High Priest, who offered Himself as an sacrifice for our sin.  No other priest could make such a sacrifice, because no other priest was without sin.  And furthermore, because no human priest could take away sin.  Only Jesus Christ can forgive sins.

The author concludes that we might find help in time of need. I don’t know what needs you may have today.  But one primary need I know is applicable to every man and woman here today.  We all need to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior for the remission of sins.  Only through faith in Jesus Christ can we have eternal life.  As I quoted earlier, there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.  Jesus said, no one comes to the Father except by Me.  Jesus became our Great High Priest so that those who believe in Him would find mercy and grace in time of need.   I hope that no one comes short of the grace of God by not accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Only through faith in Christ can we say that He is our Great High Priest, and only by His intercession can we find help in our time of need.  He stands ready to help you in your need.  Come to Jesus, He is mighty to save.

Entering God’s rest, Hebrews 4: 1-13

I hate to give the devil his due, but I think it was the Rolling Stones who said, “You can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.”  That statement is true here this morning in regards to our subject before us.  It’s perhaps not what we would want to hear, or would want to consider on this Sunday morning, but it’s what we need to hear. It's like when we feed our children, we don't always give them what they like to eat,  we sometimes need to give them what they need.  What is good for them. 

In the next chapter of Hebrews, the author accuses the Christians there of having a nutritional deficit.  As it says in chapter 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

Now I think that sentiment is behind a lot of what the author of Hebrews is writing in the passage before us today. He’s writing to Christians, I believe, but Christians who are lagging in their spiritual development. 

Some commentators distinguish between the intended recipients as either Christians, or in some passages, non Christian Jews.  But I think that it actually is written to all Christians, but perhaps particularly to immature Christians, who might stop short of entering into all that their salvation was intended to produce.  And in that respect, I think it is very contemporary.  Because I think there are a lot of Christians today who are at risk of falling short in terms of spiritual maturity.  

And so far the epistle has given three warnings to Christians.  The first was a warning against drifting away in chapter 2.  The second was a warning against hardening your hearts in chapter 3.  And now we see a third, which is the possibility of not entering God’s rest in chapter 4.  All of which are speaking primarily to believers.  I think the author is exhorting Christians to continue to be strong in their faith and not come short of all that God has designed our salvation to produce in us.

Now  one of the great benefits of our salvation is peace, contentment, and rest.  That is one of the promised blessings of salvation.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28  "Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  And again in John 14:27  "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

That sounds like something that we could all use, doesn’t it?  Peace and rest.  I suppose that’s why many of you came to the beach, to seek rest, to try to find some peace out of all the hustle and bustle and stress of the world that you may have been caught up in all year.  Peace and rest are great blessings that God has promised to His children, and yet if we are honest, most of us would probably admit that is not our daily experience.  And so this passage we are looking at today is dealing with rest.  How we can enter that rest that God has promised us.

The passage starts on that premise in vs1, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”  That is something to be feared- that we should come short of this rest that God has promised.  That would be a tragedy, that we might have rest available, but yet fail to appropriate it and experience it for ourselves.  The good news is that it is obviously intended for us to have it now.  It’s not something that  was only available to the early church, or as the preceding chapter indicates, it was not a rest exclusive to the ancient Israelites who had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, waiting to enter the promised land, the land of rest.  But God’s rest is available to us today.  It is a blessing of salvation, and furthermore, it is an essential element of salvation.

Let me explain it in regards to salvation this way. Salvation is composed of three elements, all of which are necessary.  First is justification, second is sanctification, and the third is glorification. Justification is the defeat of the penalty of sin.  Sanctification is the defeat of the power of sin. Glorification is the defeat of the presence of sin, and that happens when we are resurrected to new life with a glorified, sinless body.  

But it is in fully realizing and appropriating all the victory that is available in Christ that we are truly set free. It is only when we appropriate all that salvation offers, that we truly can have peace and be truly at rest.  

I think this idea of rest is best illustrated by the idea of a flock of sheep that are under the care of the shepherd.  Jesus likened Himself to a shepherd, even the door of the sheepfold, and he who enters in by Him will go in and out and find pasture.  Rest is not sleeping, nor some sort of eternal bliss, but it is a life under the care and comfort of the Good Shepherd, a life that has peace knowing that He is guiding and providing all that is good in life.  That life in Him is abundant life, fruitful life.  Fully trusting and following and living under the authority and direction of the Shepherd produces the rest that the sheep must have if they are to grow and mature and have the abundant life that God wants for them to have.  Sheep must have that rest if they are to be healthy and flourish.  They can’t survive on their own outside of the care of the flock. So this rest which is provided by the Shepherd is essential to their life.  All the comfort and security and peace that the sheep need in order to thrive is found in complete submission to the Shepherd’s care and direction.

What Hebrews is warning against, and exhorting us to, is for Christians to fully enter in to all that their salvation promises.  So many Christians come short in that they are happy to receive justification, but they come short of sanctification.  And without sanctification, they will fail to receive the rest and blessings and spiritual development that their salvation is designed to produce..  They want  justification, but then they want to live in the flesh.  But sanctification is learning to live in the Spirit’s control. 

Now the author goes back to the former illustration which he used in chapter 3, which is that of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and were not able to enter God’s rest because of unbelief.  He says, in vs2, “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”   The disobedient Israelites then are to be a warning for us, in that they had the good news preached to them, they had the promises of God, and yet they failed to enter all that God had promised them.  In the same way, he is saying we have had the good news preached to us, we know the promises of God for rest and peace, but if we are not careful we will forfeit them by failing to continue in our faith.

I want to make sure that you know what he is talking about here though.  He uses some words or phrases almost interchangeably.  For instance, in vs2 he says their hearing the gospel wasn’t profitable because it was not united by faith. In chapter 3:19 it says they were not able to enter His rest because of unbelief.  In vs18 it says they were unable to enter because of disobedience. In chap.4 vs 6 it says they  failed to enter because of disobedience. In vs11 we’re warned “let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”  So it’s clear that unbelief and a lack of faith and disobedience are all ways of speaking of the same thing. A lack of faith is a lack of believing in what God has promised, and because you don’t really believe the promises that results in disobedience to the truth of God, which prohibits you from experiencing the rest of God.

When the Israelites refused to enter the land, it was an act of disobedience, as well as fundamentally a lack of faith.  So we see that disobedience is a lack of faith, and a lack of faith results in disobedience.  Faith is not just an intellectual thing, or an emotive quality. Faith is action.  Faith is doing what God says.  Disobedience is acting on your own wisdom, according to your instincts.  Faith is never inactive, but active.  Thus James says, faith without works is dead.

We sometimes camp out so strongly on salvation is by grace and not works, which is true, but in so doing often neglect to emphasize that faith produces works.  James says in chapter  2:20-22, 24 “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; ... 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”  

Now if James can say that man is justified by faith and works, then it certainly is true that man also is sanctified by faith and works.  It’s not just the hearing of the gospel but by the appropriation of it,  the doing of it, by which we receive the profit of our salvation.

So, he says in vs3, we who appropriate the promises enter that rest.  We who act on the promises in faith, enter into the rest of God. But what exactly is this rest of God? Some people have traditionally thought of the rest as referring to the hereafter, the rest of heaven.  But I believe that what is really meant here is the rest that God promises to His people is the rest that He himself enjoys.  And that’s illustrated by the author’s reference to Genesis 2:2. , where God is said to have rested on the seventh day from His work of creation.

I noticed something about creation in studying this that I have never seen before.  In each day of creation, the Bible is careful to say about every day that it is an actual 24 hour period.  And in each case it says, and it was evening and morning, the first day, or the second day, etc.  Evening and morning is given for each day, until you come to the seventh day.  And no mention is made of evening and morning.  And the reason for that is because it symbolizes that God’s rest is continuing. It is a rest that is meant to be shared with His people who respond to Him in faith and obedience.  

That’s why in the previous chapter the author quoted from Psalm 95, in which God warns that they shall not enter His rest. He says today do not harden your hearts in disobedience, and thus forfeit the rest that God has promised.  That was a promise and a warning to the Israelites under Joshua, and it was a promise and a warning to the Israelites under David who were by then living in the land of promise, but still had not come to that rest, and it’s a promise to us, who are Christians under the Lord Christ, who are being warned not to come short of that rest.  God’s rest has been open to His children since the time of creation, but it can be forfeited by disobedience.

Therefore, it says in vs6, it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience.  But the rest of God remains open for us to enter.  The promises of God are still in effect. And in fact, the Holy Spirit urges you to enter it today.  Today, He says, do not harden your hearts. To put it off is to harden your heart.  Today is the acceptable day.  Do not harden your hearts by the deceitfulness of sin.  That’s from vs 13 of the previous chapter.  That’s what it means to harden your hearts.  To follow your own wisdom, to reject the word of God, to think that you know better than the Lord.  That’s the deceitfulness or the lie of sin, and it ends up hardening your heart to even further disobedience against God.  Today repent of your rebellion, repent of your unbelief, and God will give you His rest as you follow Him in faith and obedience.

Vs.8 says, “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” Now what day is that? It’s not Saturday, it’s not Sunday, it’s not sometime in the future, it’s Today.  It’s not sometime in the past, or in the future, in the sweet by and by, but it remains available, and it is today.  Today do not harden your hearts, but enter into His rest. God’s rest is available today.

So what is the rest, that God promises to us?  I believe it is the rest from our works, and allowing Christ to work in us.  It is the rest from our purposes, and allowing God’s purposes to work in us.  It is the rest from the insistent desires of our flesh, and Christ living in us through the Spirit. It’s not relying on our strength, but relying on God’s strength. It’s not confidence in our wisdom, but confidence in God’s wisdom.  Here it is in a nutshell; vs10 “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”  

It says in Psalms 46:10, “cease striving and know that I am God.”  The peace of God is found in peace with God.  Cease striving against Him.  And allow Him to be Lord of your body, soul and spirit.  Matt. 11:28-30 "Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

In our flesh we say, “Oh, the way of God is too hard.  It’s not much fun to be a Christian.  I have too many things I want to do.  I want to live life to the fullest.”  But God says the way of the sinner is hard, but the way of the Lord is easy.

So now we know what God’s rest is, the next question is how do we appropriate it? How do we enter it? Well, we’ve established it’s through obedience, but obedience to what?  The answer is obedience to the word of God.  Vs.12. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The word of God, the word that I am preaching, is not the word of man, but it is a living, effective, diagnostic, cleansing agent of God, which probes into the inner parts of man, to his very soul and spirt, to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  The word of God reveals our motives.  The word of God is like a cleansing agent which scrubs away the sin which darkens our understanding and veils the light of God.  It is the living agency of the Holy Spirit which brings us to repentance, which reveals the secrets of the heart.  In Isaiah 55 God says that HIs word will not return void, without accomplishing His purpose.  It is the path of sanctification.  It is the way of life, it is the source of truth. In it we find rest.

And the word of God, likened to a two edged sword cuts and pierces the hardness of our heart. It is the tool that God uses to circumcise our hearts.  And when this agent of God is employed from hearing the word preached, from reading and studying the word, then we can start to experience the rest that God has promised, as it informs our faith, and encourages our faith, and washes our hearts and minds in the word.  This is where we get God’s perspective.  The world hammers it’s perspective at us relentlessly, through media, entertainment, advertisements and all sorts of daily activities.  But the word of God is powerful. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  The word of God is the power of salvation to everyone who believes.  You want the power of God to work out your salvation in your life?  Then spend time in he word of God and follow it’s instructions and live according to it’s direction.

And just as the word of God distinguishes the thoughts and intentions of the heart, so God knows our hearts.  There is nothing hidden from Him.  He knows our motives.  He knows how we really feel.  He knows when we have sin in our heart that we are holding onto.  Vs.13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Since God knows our hearts, then why don’t we then open our hearts to Him, and ask Him to come in, and take all the rooms of our heart as His own.  To occupy all of our heart.  That’s the secret to sanctification.  Our loves, our life, our devotion, our feelings, our minds, all of our being we surrender to the Lord.  And when we do that, we will enter into His rest.  He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He will change our hearts, and renew in us a right spirit, that we might do the things which are pleasing to Him. 

There remains available a time for us, a day for you, to enter that rest. And today is the appointed day that God wants you to come to Him.  Come to Jesus today, and enter that rest.  Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”