L.D. 12(2)
Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-25
We turn again to Lord's Day 12 this morning to consider the second aspect of the office of
God's Anointed. Jesus Christ our righteousness was ordained by God and qualified by the
Holy Spirit to serve as Prophet, Priest and King in the establishment of God's kingdom and
covenant. Two weeks ago we considered Christ our Prophet, in the light of Acts 3,
particularly verses 22,23. That text, as you recall, was very pointed in its application
of how important is the prophetic office of Christ. "For Moses truly said unto the
fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto
me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to
pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the
people." We who find in Christ our righteousness and therefore our only comfort,
confess that He alone is the One ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy
Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret
counsel and will of God concerning our redemption." But that means secondly, as Peter
preached, that the prophetic office of Christ is an office we also receive as members of
Christ by faith. We are partakers of His anointing, that so we may confess His name.
The same applies with the priestly aspect of Christ's office as we consider it this morning. We do so especially in the light of the epistle to the Hebrews. In Hebrews, chapters 7-10, there is much development concerning the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we limit ourselves primarily to Hebrews 10. And there we find the truth that is expressed in our Heidelberg Catechism when it says that Jesus is called Christ, because He is ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of his body, has redeemed us, and makes continual intercession with the Father for us. Not only that, but as members of Christ by faith, we also partake of His anointing as priests under God, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices of thankfulness to Him. Let us consider, then:
CHRIST OUR ONLY HIGH PRIEST
I. HIS PRIESTLY OFFICE
II. HIS LASTING INTERCESSION
III. OUR CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD
I. JESUS, THE CHRIST OF GOD, IS ANOINTED TO SERVE AS OUR ONLY HIGH PRIEST.
THAT MEANS, IN THE FIRST PLACE, THAT HE IS ONE WHO IS CONSECRATED TO GOD IN ALL THINGS, FOR OUR SAKES.
A priest is not one who offers bloody sacrifices, first of all. In the Old Testament a priest was one who offered the bloody sacrifices unto God. But that was only one part and the outward appearance of the priest's office in the Old Testament. That priesthood, however, is forever finished. It was only for a time.
But a priest is one who is consecrated to God, who is devoted to God with his entire being, with all his heart and soul and mind. In other words, the priest is one who asks God, "What shall I do, what is thy will? My wholehearted desire is to do thy will in love for thee, O my God." That is the priest.
That was Adam too. Not only was Adam created a prophet, as we considered previously, but he was also created priest. Man was created after the image of God. That means, with respect to the subject at hand, that Adam was created a reflection of God, to do the will of God as God's servant. And as that reflection of God, Adam was a priest. He was consecrated to God in all his being. He loved to do God's will.
But sin destroyed that relationship in which Adam stood as priest of God. In Adam we became rebellious priests. We are the very opposite of that priestly office that God ordained, in which man might serve Him in full dedication to His glory. Now we consecrate ourselves and all things to the glory of the devil! We ourselves walk and we use all things in the service of sin and Satan! That is our very nature as it is corrupted by sin. Our bodies are consecrated to doing Satan's will. We devote our eyes to that which pleases that great deceiver, the prince of this world as it is under the power of sin. We open our ears to his call and temptations. We use our hands to offer up sacrifices to the devil by touching those things he would have us touch and doing those things he would have us do to antagonize God.
And not only is that the effect of sin upon our own bodies and beings, but we also consecrate the things of this creation to the service of the devil. How many inventions does man come up with to serve himself. Nothing is to be condemned, could we use them in the service of God. But instead, we take even our automobiles and use them to drive places where we deny the Lordship of God and His Christ; and we dedicate televisions and radios to the service of the devil; and likewise with our money and with all the things God would have us use to His service and glory. We are rebellious priests. That is how we stand in Adam. That is why we must have Christ, beloved. You must have Christ. He came. He came sent from heaven, as the only High Priest, God's Christ. He came totally dedicated to the service of His heavenly Father. "I come to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."
AND GOD'S WILL WAS THAT HIS CHRIST WOULD SERVE AS OUR ONLY HIGH PRIEST,
REDEEMING US BY THE ONE SACRIFICE OF HIS BODY.
The priestly function of Christ's office comes to focus in the one sacrifice He offered. How magnificent is the priesthood of Christ! That is the whole emphasis in the chapter which we read, Hebrews 10. Jesus Christ came to do the will of God; "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb 10:10-12).
In all the sacrifices from Adam to the coming of Christ, it was preached that there was a fearful separation between God and man wrought by man's sin. God will not let sin pass. The very nature of God as the Holy One obliges Him to punish sin. We read In Hebrews 1:13, "He is of purer eyes than to look upon iniquity." But besides that, the Word has gone out of His mouth that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the fire flaming on the altar, which completely consumed the sacrifice, was a lively symbol of that fiery indignation that should devour the adversaries of God. "The wages of sin is death." And that truth of that was seen in the offering of sacrifices year after year after year. Never could the priests in Aaron's line effect salvation for those who brought them the lambs and bulls and goats. Never with those sacrifices could they make the worshippers perfect. For, as we read in verse 2, "then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." I tell you, beloved, sins for which no sacrifice is allowed are desparate sins indeed. And the case of such sinners is helpless. So it is with you and me.
But although those sacrifices and sin offerings were not effective for the forgiveness of sins nor the redemption of those who brought the offerings to God, God had revealed a promise to His own. God had given an unchangeable promise to Adam and Eve, the promise of redemption. But that redemption would not come without great price. And it would come in the way of a bloody sacrifice. And that sacrifice would mean redemption for all who believed. So God signified it by the institution of all the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies. Only in the light of the promise and God's clothing of Adam and Eve with animal skins by the shedding of blood could there be the expectation of a sacrifice. All the priests of the Old Testament could be anointed only because of the promise of Christ's coming. The sacrifices themselves were appointed by God to serve as the types, the pictures, of the one sacrifice that He Himself would provide for the salvation of His people. The whole Old Testament cries out for Christ as our Priest, Who would fulfill the entire priesthood by offering up the sacrifice of Himself once for all. The law, we read in that first verse of Hebrews 10, was a shadow of good things to come.
In the fulness of time God sent forth His Son, ordained and anointed the Messiah, to fulfill that Old Testament priesthood. That is the gospel of our salvation. You and I need this Priest. The best of you have polluted natures, poisoned in the womb with sin. Those natures have need of the bloody sacrifice of Christ to redeem them unto God. Your actual sins have need of this only High Priest and His one sacrifice. If He does not take them away by the blood of His cross, they can never be taken away. If not for Christ's sacrifice, your sins will go with you to the grave and will follow you to the judgment seat, crying, "We are your works!" All your apologies, all your tears, can never take away sin. Even your best works are polluted; which means that even your apologies and tears before God are as filthy rags, except they be cleansed by the sacrifice of Jesus' body once offered on the cross. But Jesus Christ appeared, ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to serve as our only High Priest and to make that one sacrifice of His body for our sin.
As Priest He stood in our place, the only Priest Who truly could stand in our place. For He is God become flesh. He paid the price for our guilt and sin, redeeming us unto God with a redemption that shall never be removed nor obliterated by our continued sinfulness. This sacrifice reached backward and forward into all ages, fully cleansing all the elect before the face of God. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. "By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
And our confession this morning is that Christ is our only High Priest. Do you personally make that confession with Christ's church? Do you see the greatness of God and His grace in providing such a sacrifice for you? I tell you, when I contemplated the beauty of this priesthood of Christ, as God has revealed it to us, I could not help but think, How blessed we are! How blessed we are as Reformed Christians who find by God's grace our salvation in Christ alone! You think about the millions of people involved in all the religions found around the world. While other religions seek peace and a sure conscience, only the Christian finds it. Because only we have the foundation for harmony with God which is true peace. And only we have that gospel which can settle a conscience which otherwise condemns us. The Jews seek it in vain in the law; the follower of Islam in his outward and ridiculous observances which are no more than a corruption of Old Testament law. The Romish seek salvation in a repeated idolatrous sacrifice and in meritorious works. But how terrible is the state of that man or woman who feels that intolerable wrath of God burning within, and the voice of condemnation echoing through the conscience, and there is no relief.
How terrible the shame and fear and despair which are the effects of a condemning conscience. No wonder men do anything to cover up that testimony of God's wrath within their own souls. But how beautiful is the testimony of this precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ to all you who believe! The believer finds that nothing less than the great sacrifice of Jesus' body once offered for sin, can give peace to a distressed conscience and free us from our guilt which brings death. Job was declared by God in Job 1:8, as "a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil." But he was so only in the Messiah yet to come. For Job himself found, as he said in Job 9:20,21, "If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life." Scripture speaks plainly and so we stand condemned in our own conscience, "By the deeds of law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Man can never satisfy God's justice by doing, nor by suffering. He needs an High Priest ordained by God the Father, and anointed by the Holy Spirit, to offer up the sacrifice required by God Himself. Our salvation is in Christ, beloved. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ our High Priest.
II. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER ASPECT OF CHRIST'S PRIESTLY OFFICE THAT DESERVES SPECIAL MENTION: I REFER TO HIS LASTING INTERCESSION FOR US.
THIS ASPECT OF CHRIST'S PRIESTLY FUNCTION WAS ALSO TYPIFIED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
We read of that in Leviticus 16:12-14, where we read of the high priest's entering into the holy place with the blood of the sacrifice and the sweet incense. "And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times." Christ's offering Himself on the cross answered to the killing of the sacrifice outside the veil in the Old Testament typology. His entering into heaven, there to intercede on behalf of His people is that which answered to the priest's going with blood, and his hands full of incense, within the veil, into the holy of holies. So we read in Hebrews 9:24, "For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." And in comparison to those Old Testament priests, we read of Jesus in verse 12 of Hebrews 10, the chapter we are considering: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."
What does it mean that Christ is our Intercessor, and what is included in that continual intercession with the Father? That Christ is our Intercessor means that He appears before God to make requests for us. He does so as an act of that office which God has given Him. So that we might say that in a very real sense Jesus Christ is in heaven as our attorney before God, appearing for us and making continual peace and friendship with God on our behalf. Though Satan would accuse us before God, as we read in Zechariah 3, and though he would demand that God release us to him because of all our sins, Jesus Christ appears in our defence, perfectly prepared to seek our acquital before God the Righteous Judge. How comforting are those words recorded in I John 2:1: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." He is the Righteous One, Who appears on our behalf. And Jesus Christ is the only One in Whom we may approach unto God. For He alone is the One appointed by God for that office.
What a terrible robbery of Christ's glory it is on Rome's part to request people to pray to saints. You understand that the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize saints as all those who belong to Christ. They don't follow the teachings of the Bible in that regard either. Saints among the Romish are those who have been recognized as such by the Pope, and hence those in whose name people may pray and who serve as advocates and intercessors before God. Some time ago I read again in a news magazine (Insight/Oct. 22, 1990) about the attempts to secure sainthood from the Vatican for a black Roman Catholic who died in New York City back in 1853. It was a fascinating article which demonstrated very clearly that Rome has not changed one iota in the essence of their Romish theology. The article described the tremendously complicated process of securing sainthood, part of which is the necessity of one verifiable miracle, such as the healing of a person who has prayed to the prospective saint. And in the case of this particular man long dead, the article stated that Cardinal O'Connor suggested that his skeleton be dug up from its current grave and be reburied at the heavily trafficked St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City because--and this was a quote--"you can't get people to pray to someone unless they know about him." I say again, Rome continues to rob Christ of His peculiar glory, and desecrate His peculiar office as our only High Priest before God. Blessed be any here who have been brought by God out of the bondage and corruption and idolatry of Roman Catholicism. And thank God for the Great Reformation 479 years ago which brought us all out of that bondage.
To make intercession is the peculiar prerogative of Christ which He cannot give to another. None but He can go in His own name to God. For that reason also He says in John 16:23: "Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it you."
The continual intercession of Christ with the Father consists of two things in particular according to the Bible. In the first place, He appears in the presence of God as our Advocate, presenting His blood and all His sufferings to God as a moving plea on our account. All the wrath that Jesus bore for our sakes and the wounds that He received still bleed fresh, as it were, in heaven: a moving and prevailing argument with the Father, to give out the mercies that Christ pleads for on our behalf. The very sight of our High Priest prevails with God, and causes Him to turn His wrath from us. And secondly, Jesus Christ our Intercessor presents our prayers and the prayers of all saints to God, with His merits, and desires that they may be granted for His sake, according to the will of the Father. We may safely bring all our concerns to the Father through Him, beloved. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
HOW BLESSED FOR US IS THIS INTERCESSORY WORK OF OUR HIGH PRIEST!
God has revealed to us this truth that we might glorify Him, being encouraged against all the causes of our own misery and troubles. Many are the sins which cleave to us. I don't even have to tell you. And every sin is a sad thing. They not only grieve the Spirit of God, but they trouble our own consciences and shame the Holy One and His Church. But having such a High Priest in heaven, our sins cannot be our ruin. I refer once again to I John 2:1: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."
Oh, make no mistake, this promise, as with all the promises of Scripture, is particular. He Who is the intercessor for some, will be an accuser of others. Therein is the necessity of faith. Christ is active in His intercessory work for those who are members of Him by faith. How sad is the case of those who have no interest in the blood of Christ, but trample it under their feet. Instead of pleading for them, that blood of Christ cries to God against them, as the despisers and abusers of it! But how precious is His intercession on behalf of you who are saints in Christ Jesus.
And then, understand this also, that Christ appears before God pleading with the Father on your behalf does not mean that He has to constantly present arguments to persuade God to forgive us. God did not have to be persuaded to forgive our sins. God has sent Christ on our behalf. But the Father is glorified in the continuous appearance of His Son Who stands before Him on our behalf. Christ intercedes for us, for you and for me. He says to God the Father, "O My Father, Give me thy Spirit, that I may apply the forgiveness of sins to the consciences of mine elect." Christ needs not to persuade God. But He understands the need that we be persuaded in our own minds, that we hear the testimony of His Spirit with our spirits that we are the children of God. Do you hear that testimony? Are you assured that your sins are forgiven forever? That is the effect of intercessory prayer of Christ on your behalf.
May we, therefore, draw encouragement also in our own prayer life and in our daily walk as Christians. That also is emphasized in Hebrews 10:21-23: "And having an high priest over the whole house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)." Our prayers, however weak, when offered in faith, are lifted up to God by Christ, and are purified by His Spirit, that they might be presented to the glory of the Blessed Triune God. And He answers those prayers with His presence, with the fellowship of His grace, and the assurance worked by His Holy Spirit. The same holds true when you view the entire Christian life. What a struggle it often appears and is. We lack so much. Men and women of little faith, little love, little knowledge and little consciousness of heaven—that is what we are. But if grace be seen in us in weak beginning, by the reason of Christ's intercession, it shall live and grow through all the means He also uses as our Prophet. He is not only the Author, but the Finisher of our faith, ever begging for us new and fresh mercies from heaven.
III. AND WHEN WE UNDERSTAND AND CONFESS THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, THEN WE ALSO SEE WHAT IS THE PLACE OF OUR OWN CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD.
AS PARTAKERS OF HIS ANOINTING BY FAITH, WE ALSO BECOME PRIESTS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD.
Our priesthood is not one of making payment for sin. That is finished once by Christ and for all God's elect. But the sacrifice that we offer up is one of thankfulness to God. When we are partakers of Christ's anointing and beneficiaries of His priestly office, we are compelled by the Spirit within us to present ourselves living sacrifices of thankfulness to God. Oh, I know, from the viewpoint of the earthly reality, we don't do that very much, do we. We should. Here we spend much time serving self, without any thought at all for God. In heaven we shall do nothing of the sort. In heaven, in perfection, we shall surely sacrifice, consecrate, all things to God. That shall be our joy. But a taste of that heavenly life is given us now by the grace of God through Christ, our heavenly High Priest.
The effect of Christ's priesthood is, for us, that we are now free. As Priest Christ works powerfully in us, in such a way that we are free to serve the living God in Him. What a blessed place we have, beloved, by faith in Christ. We are free to offer ourselves now a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him Who alone deserves all our thanks and praise. And we do. We begin even now to consecrate ourselves unto God in Christ. We do so, first of all, by prayer. For in prayer we honor Christ Himself in His priesthood. But we do so also by striving to walk in devotion to Him in all things. And as the evidence of God's grace in us, we find our enjoyment in that small beginning that we have of consecrating ourselves to Him. Isn't that true for you?
AND MORE, AS PARTAKERS OF CHRIST'S ANOINTING NOT ONLY DO WE OFFER OURSELVES AS LIVING SACRIFICES UNTO GOD, BUT SO WE OFFER ALL THINGS IN THANKFULNESS TO HIM.
The inheritance purchased for us by Christ's sacrifice is so large, that it cannot be surveyed by us, nor can the limits be described. The whole world belongs to us that we might serve our God. So writes Paul in I Cor. 3:22,23: "All are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." And again in I Tim. 6:7, "He hath given us all things richly to enjoy," not merely for self-satisfaction, however, but for the service of our God. In that light it is certainly true, as Scripture teaches, "the little that a righteous man has, is better than the treasures of many wicked." In Christ we are restored to the priestly calling God has given us, so that even if we have but little, the little that we have we may dedicate to God's glory. For when we live by faith, acknowledging that which God has given us in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, then we say, "Blessed be God for Jesus Christ." We say that as His prophets. But we also confess that as His priests. For that is the living sacrifice of praise we offer to Him, looking forward to the day when we can begin to offer ourselves perfectly, even forevermore. Amen.
Preached:Randolph PRC 11/10/96 (am)
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