 Through the ages, there have been many offices such as chiefs, czars, emperors, kings, judges, executioners, state attorneys, soldiers, ambassadors, policemen, many types of offices. And each office had their public duty to perform. However, in Israel, there were many offices as well, but there were three principal offices to which those who had them were anointed. It was the king, the prophet, and the priest. These each prophetically symbolized in history the position of God's promised Messiah in whom these three offices found their perfect realization in God's Son as our mediator. Let me ask you, when you hear the word priest, what comes, what first comes to your mind? Christ, the Old Testament priesthood, maybe the Catholic priesthood, so-called? Most of us would probably say Old Testament. Tonight I hope to move you towards seeing Christ as your great high priest, as our great high priest, because this office deals with heaven and hell. Without Jesus, the Son of God acting as your priest, you would absolutely go to hell. This is a real office. It's not figurative. It belongs to the realm of grace. This office itself presupposes sin, unlike the kingly and the prophetic. It also presupposes the divine design to overcome and remove sin. Therefore, we must see the glory of God as revealed to us in his Son, our great high priest. That's the title of the sermon, Christ, Our Great High Priest. I plan to cover three major headings, his qualifications for his priesthood, the nature of his priesthood, and our living in relation to Christ's priesthood. In your bulletin, I didn't give a reference, but that definition is primarily taken from Richard A. Mueller in a theological dictionary. This is a topic arranged, so we're not going to look at just one text. We're going to look at two, and we're just trying to briefly cover some major aspects. So the two texts that we're planning to look at is Hebrews 5.1 and Hebrews 7.25. Before I go over the qualifications, let me tell you a little bit about the context of Hebrews. Feel free to turn there. Hebrews is packed full of doctrine, and it's also packed full of exhortation. It is the one book that teaches us more on the priesthood in the New Testament than any other book, and it teaches us about Christ, our great high priest. The author is concerned about a specific congregation drifting away from the true confession of Jesus Christ as their Savior, their priest, their mediator. They're undergoing persecution. They're in the early years of the church where it underwent great persecution, not to say that it doesn't today, but they were. They had received the plundering of their goods. If you look at Hebrews 10 verse 32, but recall the former days in which after you were eliminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. They had their belongings taken from them. They were plundered as early believers, but they've progressed now, and they moved in their faith to a place where renewed suffering, renewed persecution is causing them to drift, and the author is concerned, very concerned out of love and serious zeal for them to remain faithful. If you look in chapter 6, he says in verse 11, of whom, talking about Christ's priest according to the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have much to say and hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. Then if you look at chapter 6 verses 11, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, and that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. His desire was that they maintain the same diligence that they once had, and he's wrote this book full of exhortation and doctrine. He builds this theme on Christ, the great high priest, and on the basis of who Christ is, he says, I warn you not to turn away from him. I warn you not to turn away from this confession, and you know where they were turning? They were turning to Judaism. He's concerned about them turning to Old Covenant ways. That's why there's this major contrast between Christ being superior to all the Old Covenant, they're all, and he doesn't come at the Old Covenant like Paul does. He shows how it's Christ is similar, but he's greater. I don't know particularly what was going on, but it wasn't the same as what Paul was dealing with. With that in mind, look at, since our first and primary text is going to be 5.1, look at 4.14 through 16. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. See that? See we have a great high priest. We don't have the Old Covenant high priesthood, we have the true high priest, Jesus the Son of God, so let us hold fast a confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This is 15 and 16, it's kind of like a header for our section, and the section that the author is dealing with in 5 through 1 versus 1 through 10, he's wanting to show Jesus Christ as our sympathetic high priest. Why? Because he's exhorting them to faithfulness and holding fast to their confession. He says the Word of God is living and powerful and sharpening a two-edged sword, and it's going to expose you, and you're naked before the sight of God to show them that they cannot trust in themselves. And then he says, but you have a sympathetic high priest. Hold fast your confession and go to the throne of grace. This is how you persevere. And in 5 1 through 10, if you look at 5 1 now, he says 4 every high priest. That's not in every translation, but it's there in the Greek 4, and that 4 is explanatory. He's going to explain what he means when he says our sympathetic high priest in the next 10 verses. So what are the qualifications of Christ's priesthood? There's several, but I'm only going to be able to cover two, maybe I'll shorten it tonight to one, but let's start with what we can see here in 5 1a. I'm just going to read verse one. This verse is like a skeleton or a clothesline where you can hang all these major aspects of priesthood on it, and you can add all the flesh onto the skeleton. This is a very helpful verse to getting to the essentials of priesthood. And really, he's reviewing the Old Testament priesthood, but the author knows that the Old Testament priesthood was patterned after the true priesthood of Christ. So when he covers these essentials, he's reviewing the ones that align with what is the true one. It's not everything's the same. So this verse, when you read Systematics and you go read on these things, this is often the place people will go to describe the elements of the high priest, even though when you read the text, you're like, I think it's talking about the Old Covenant priesthood, not Christ. That's because what the author's trying to do is review the Old Covenant priesthood and then show you how Christ is the fulfillment of that, how he's superior to it. So for every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men and things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. In order to be our great high priest, Christ had to become and be fully man. I get that from taken from among men, for every high priest taken from among men. The Old Covenant high priest had to be taken from men. Aaron and his line were called from among men. And if you look for the Old Covenant priest, look at verse two. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this, his weakness that is, he is required as for the people also for himself to offer sacrifices for sins. So the humanity of the Old Covenant priest enabled him, but his humanity was falling, but his humanity and his sin, in a sense, enabled him to have a certain kind of compassion for the people he ministered for. He would sin and he would know when he was offering sacrifices for the sins of others that he needed to be patient with them because he's done the same thing. But his, his is a patience. It's a not being angry, but it doesn't go much further than that. Christ though the author is very clear in this whole book is sinless. He also became man so that he could be a merciful high priest because in a perfect humanity, he underwent temptation to degrees that no man can ever know. And because he underwent that temptation, he can sympathize with you brother, with you sister. He's gone farther than where you've gone when the burden came to you to sin rested on your shoulders, your feet and your knees broke, but he, he came up under weights that you've never felt and he's not proud. He's not arrogant. When you go to him as your high priest in the heavenly places, he knows experimentally the weight that you carry, the temptation. He knows beyond it and he is there to be one to offer a intercession for you. You can see that in verse seven. This is his humanity in the days of his flesh. And here's how we know he can be compassionate because look at what he did when he had offered up prayers and supplications with the hymnant cries, that's mighty, strong cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. And I don't think this is necessarily just focused on Gethsemane or the cross. I think this is a picture of his life though you can go to Gethsemane or the cross to, to illustrate it. But throughout the life of Christ and probably especially Gethsemane and especially at the cross, Christ offered up prayers. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If it be your will, let this cut pass. And they were vehement. They were from the depths of his soul. They were under, he was under temptation that you have never experienced. And if you look here, he was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a son, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. You have a high priest in heaven who is now exalted who has suffered. I read an author, he said, through one eye, the Lord could see those mocking him on the cross. And through the other eye, he could see his mother weeping. And I was thinking, and with his soul, he could see the Father's sword. And through his godly reverence, through his fear of God, he trusted in the Father. He delighted and joy to fulfill the plan of redemption by being a sacrifice for his people. And because of this, he's a sympathetic high priest. He could not be a sympathetic high priest if he was not a man, not in this way. There's something he had to learn that he could not have learned apart from humanity. And now God, having instituted his Son as the God-man, the mediator, calls you to the throne of grace, knowing that you have a mediator, a high priest who can sympathize. Okay. I think I'm going to skip divine appointment, though it's very important. I'll just state the truth. In order to be our great high priest, Christ had to be appointed to the office by God the Father. And you can see that in verse five, or I'll start four. And no man takes this honor. This is the honorable office of a priesthood, of a priest. No man takes this honor to himself, but he who was called by God just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he who said to him, you are my son today, I've begotten you. And also he says in another place, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. The same, the author goes through these enthronement texts to show that Christ is the enthroned king. He has been coronated. He has been established in heaven. And it's the same Psalm 110 that says, he's a priest forever. And that's hard for a Jew to understand because those two were separate. That's why it goes to Melchizedek. Christ as our high priest performing the sacrifice of a high priest and the intercession of a high priest does so in fulfillment of his appointment by God. He didn't take it up on his own. He was appointed by the Father. The will of God and the Father and the Son and the Trinity is one. And Jesus Christ is not an offering to a Father who has a different will. It's the Father who appointed him to bring the offering. And it's the Father who is instituted his Son as your sympathetic high priest and says, come to my throne of grace. I want to move to the nature of his priesthood. So the qualifications I just covered were he had to be a man and two, he had to be appointed by God. All everybody knew that the appointment had to be true. Uzziah was a king. He had years of success as a king. And then one day he was lifted up in his heart and he went to offer incense and the Lord struck him with leprosy and he kept it for the rest of his life. The Jews, I'm just reiterating one last thing about the qualification. Nobody takes the office of a priest apart from God's appointment. All right. The nature of his priesthood. This is getting to the meat of the priesthood. I heard this from Albert Martin so I want to share it. Imagine the governor of Florida, his example was New Jersey, appoints a citizen of Florida to represent Florida to go to Congress to request for finances and funds for parks, state parks. That's an illustration of God appointing the Son for a particular work, a particular intent. And in this illustration the intent is to secure funds. So we have an idea of the nature of this office that's been created. But even though we know what the nature is and the inherent nature of it is to secure funds, the goal. And he has to be a Floridian and he's appointed. We don't know what he has to actually do to secure them. What is his duties? Does he need to start a riot to get the funds? Does he need to write letters to get the funds? And the governor says, no, I want you to prepare a public speech. And this is how it will be achieved. Well, that's an illustration to show you that in the office of Christ's priesthood, I want to cover the nature of it. So I want to show you what the intent of it is and then what duties have to be performed to get it, to get what that nature is supposed to accomplish. One, the inherent nature is that Christ and all priests were appointed four men on behalf of men in things toward God. If you look at verse five, I mean chapter five, verse one, for every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God. That he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. I'm focusing on four men in things pertaining to God. As our great high priest, Christ must act as the personal covenant representative on behalf of that's four, the sinful covenant members in things pertaining to God that for there is in behalf of the all priests were appointed for a particular purpose. They were they presuppose sin. The priesthood presupposes sin and a design to overcome it. And on that presupposition, the priest now is set apart, consecrated for men. He's for the offending parties of that covenant. He's for their benefit, for their good. That's why Christ offers up sacrifices for our sins. If you look at chapter two, verse nine, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. He was crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death. If he's sinless, death should not come to him. Why does it come to him? In the analogy of faith, things, other things that we know in scripture to be true, doctrinally, we know that Christ had to be a substitute. That's getting into the nature of his priesthood being four men. In order to be a substitute, he had to be in covenant relation as the covenant head for those people. And now you get overlap with old covenant priesthood. The old covenant priests, when they would perform their duties, they would go into the holy of holies or really the high priest would do that, but the priests would come into the holy place and they were acting on behalf of the people. The high priest even had special garments and I don't have time to go there, but he had onyx stones that had the names of the tribes of Israel on his shoulders and he had particular gems in his breastplate that represented the people. He was a representative for the people and his orientation, his direction was towards God. His immediate object of his performing of his duties is toward God. That's different than the other two offices. The other two offices are pointed towards men. The immediate object of the king is to rule men. The immediate object of the prophet is to teach men. The immediate object of the duties of a priest is to propitiate God. That's why some theologians call this the foundation office. And if you look also for men still, I want to read 16 and 17 of chapter two, for indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. You see how it's particular too? It's not all men. It's the seed of Abraham. That implies a covenant. Therefore, in all things he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Next, so that's the that's the inherent nature. It's four men and things pertaining to God and that to God things pertaining to God. It's all those things that God requires of of his covenant members. He requires a perfect righteousness. He requires satisfaction for the curse of breaking his covenant because we broke a particular kind of covenant. We broke a covenant in Adam. So now the representative of the new covenant has to with these members has to propitiate God for that curse. He is coming before God four men and things pertaining to God's justice and things pertaining to God's wrath and things pertaining to God to God's desire to shed forth his love on those members. It's there's more, but I'm trying to give you a picture of it. Okay, that's that's the inherent nature kind of like the Floridian that's been appointed to secure funds. Christ has been appointed for men and things pertaining to God. But now the next question is how is he going to benefit man? What duties does God Almighty require of the high priest? He requires him to offer and he requires him to intercede. If you go back to chapter five, for every high priest taken from among men is appointed four men and things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. As our great high priest, Christ had to become one perfect offering for the sins of all and each of the covenant members. I word it all in each because he represents all of them, but yet he dies for each of them. There's there's individuality and there's corporate elements to his offering. He makes one offering. The book of Hebrews tells us that in chapter nine and it's for sins. Remember in this chat in this section the author is reviewing the priesthood and he states that one of the major functions is that he offer offerings. The word offer means to present something to someone by bringing it. It can be translated bring, that he may bring both gifts and sacrifices for sins or present. This is one of the fundamental duties of a priest. Let's turn to Leviticus 16 real brief, 1630. I'm going to go back. Look at verse 15. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do that, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. You see how it says do with what he did as with the blood of the bull. That bull is the offering he made for himself. And if you go over there says Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering. I'm sorry. That's 16, 6. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house. So first Aaron has to make atonement for himself and then he has to make atonement for the people. And he has to do that by offering and his offering for their sins. See how the high priest is a representative acting on behalf of the people and things related to God. Let me go back to Hebrews 8 verse 3. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. See how that's a repeat? It doesn't say everything the other one said, but it's the same wording. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer. You see how it's a fundamental, it's a necessity that Christ have something to offer because as a function of his office is that he offer. That's the only way that the blessing of his, that his office aims at will be secured. And what was it that Christ offered himself? That's different than the Old Testament. They would offer lambs, goats, bulls. Christ offered himself because to propitiate God and for your sins to be taken away, an animal will not be sufficient, but the God man is able. And I hope that you won't ever think anymore of passive endurance when you think of the cross as just a mere passive endurance. Remember that not only is he the lamb, he's the priest on the cross. He is making a worship offering to the Father. And if he in spirit does not delight and is like Nadab and Abihu doesn't delight in the Father in the work, then it's not worthy. He must be active in his priesthood. He must be active in his offering. When he offers to God, he must be active in it. He must come with a disposition of his heart to want God's wrath to come upon him, to want God to be propitiated for his people. There's much glory to be found in those that thought for the son loves the Father and he shares his will though in his humanity. He was tested beyond our understanding. Let's see. So Christ had to offer and then he had to intercede. I think I'm going to just touch on this one and then go to the end. I know we have a little bit of overlap from start and late, but in chapter 7 verse 25, therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. As our great high priest, Christ must always make intercession for all and each of the covenant members. After the offering is made, Christ is exalted and he sits at the right hand of God. Brother Noel's sermon on the session and in that role he as priest is his function and his duties are not over. The sacrifice is over and completed. It is finished, but now there is the intercession and he lives forever. So that because he lives forever, he's able to save those who come to God through him to the uttermost. That means to the end, into the eternity, into forever. And the author here is assuming that the audience knew that Christ as a priest would intercede. So I'm not able from this text to go into intercession. It has to do with Christ's making supplications and making a presentation, perpetual presentation of the finished work of his cross. That's even in Revelation, he's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All right. To finish, perseverance, if you turn to chapter four, brothers, sisters, let us hold fast our confession. Look at verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who is passed through the heavens. He was humiliated and as humiliation, he came as a man. He suffered and endured the time of his trial and overcame and offered himself up through the eternal spirit and was resurrected and ascended into heaven. He is passed through the heavens. This is true. This is the word of God and hold fast to this confession. Hold fast to Christ as your priest, your exalted priest. Remember, that's what this author was concerned about with his audience, was that they would no longer hold fast what was happening. They hadn't yet resisted to bloodshed. He says that in chapter 12 and I think it's because that they were in a situation where they might undergo that. Their goods were plundered, but yet they had not yet resisted to bloodshed. They were in danger of drifting, of unbelief, like the children of Israel, of apostasy and he gives them strong warnings and strong consolation and he tells them you need to continue to hold fast to this confession and we need to hold fast to our confession. We are in the same context, but there are different types of Christianity that you could go to that are easier and I've seen that happen. Some people are just tired of the trials. They're tired of the holy living. They're tired of whatever it is that tests them through being faithful and holding fast to this confession and they find what they think is rest in a way from Christ. We need to hold fast our confession. Whatever it is, deal with it. Get it out in the open. I'm going to go talk about prayer in a minute, but go to that brother if you have an issue with him. Go to that sister. Talk to them. Remember that slander is all around. Look at chapter 4 verse 15 to 16. This is the last part. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Why do people turn to easier religion? They stop believing true doctrine and they stop fellowshiping with God. He's exhorting them to sound doctrine, hold fast to this confession of Jesus Christ as your great high priest and their dull of hearing. He says it's hard to explain to you because they're turning away from sound doctrine and they're also not and they're also not fellowshiping with God or they're in danger of discontinuing that or shrinking back or shying away because with the doctrine which underpins life comes the practice and he's reminding them of who Christ is and then he's reminding them he's sympathetic. It's a throne and you must submit to God Almighty, but it's a throne of grace and if you have need, I have need, brothers. I have great needs. I know you do too and you need to go to God. You need to fellowship with God. Think about it, brother, sister. God, the Father has covenanted in love with the Son and Spirit to install his only begotten Son to be a sympathetic high priest so that for one you would approach him through your great high priest for all your help in Christian living. This is a major theme and a great design of history. It's that God would be God to his people and they would be his people, that God would dwell with his people. I tell you he has established the Son as high priest and fitted him to his ministry, which Christ delighted to do by making him a man, seeing him through temptation beyond compare and teaching him obedience so that he would be a merciful high priest as God and men. He knows the Father's perfect will and what exactly to ask for and knows fully what weaknesses you have and what you need. Pray, brother and sister. Pray. Go to God through Christ often, freely and boldly. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, forgive us, Lord. I feel it for not coming to you and for forgetting these great truths and acting as if you do not welcome us in Christ. Lord, I pray that we as your people and this congregation and this age would not cheat out and deceive ourselves with what we would think would be easier religion. But we would pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord and that we Lord would trust and believe in Jesus Christ and endure to the end. Amen.