Sermon 02/15/04 am

Jim Huskey, Better High Priesthood

We've been embarked for some time now on a rather lengthy journey in

our study, having looked at the book of Acts and the things required

for a man to do in order to become a christian, the spread of

christianity; then we began to look at some of the letters writted to

tell people how to live after they become christians. In that journey

we've reached the book of Hebrews, which is quite an interesting book.

There were some Jews who had been converted to christianity, and a lot

of them were wanting to return to Judaism. Therefore, the book of

Hebrews was written to try to stem that tide. We noticed the author

began at the very outset of the book of point out the superiority of

what the child of God has through Christ compared to any other time in

history. So he began, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners

spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these

last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all

things by whom also he made the worlds." Heb. 1:1,2. Then we began to

look a little at this book of Hebrews. The first thing he pointed out

was that Christ was better than the angels, enjoying a superior position

over. "For unto which of the angels said he at any tiime, Thou art my

Son, this day have I begotten thee?...." vs. 5. Then we noticed that

he pointed out the superiority of Christ over Moses. "For Moses verily

was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those

things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own

house; who house we are...." vs. 5.6. So the author's point began to

be built. Christ was superior to the angels, Christ was superior to

Moses.

The next step is that Christ is a superior high priest. We begin

reading in Heb. 4:14. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest,

that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast

our profession. 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. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained

for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and

sacrifices for sins; who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on

them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed

with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so

also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour

unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also

Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that

said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he

saith also in another place, Thou are a priest forever after the order

of Melchisedec." Heb. 4:14-5:6. A new character has popped up....

Melchisedec. Later in this same chapter 5, verse 10 beginning,

"Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom

we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull

of hearing." Vs. 10, 11.

Melchisedec is an interesting character. If we turn over to the

seventh chapter of Hebrews, beginning with verse 1, we read, "For this

Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met

Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by

interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of

Salem, which is King of peace; without father, without mother, without

descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made

like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. Now consider

how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the

tenth of the spoils." Heb. 7:1-4.

Now let's see if we can put together a picture. The New Testament

helps us understand many of the things that occurred in the Old

Testament. Someone long ago pictured the Old Testament as the New

Testament concealed, the New Testament as the Old Testament revealed.

If we were to try to find out much information about this man by the

name of Melchisedec who is called a priest of the Most High God, you'd

have to go all way back to the book of Genesis, chapter 14. Now some

interesting things had occurred as we're first introduced to him.

Lot, Abraham's nephew, had taken the choice of the area toward Sodom

and pitched his tent in that direction. He eventually lived in the city

of Sodom. Many of the kings of Sodom and other areas had been in

subjection to Chedorlaomer and some of the other kings, Arioch of

Ellasar, Amraphel of Shinar, Tidal king of nations. The kings of

Sodom and Gomorrah had served these kings for a number of years, about

12. Then they rebelled. Chedorlaomer and some of the kings came up

against them and ransacked the cities and took among other things, Lot

and his family. Word of that reached Abraham and he armed his servants

and he went after them and he overcame them. He brought back Lot and

his family. "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his

return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were

with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale; And

Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the

priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be

Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed

be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.

And he gave him tithes of all." Gen. 14:17-20. Well, now that's

interesting - interesting especially in the light of the point that

the Hebrew author is making with respect to the high priesthood of

Christ, and the priesthood in general. You see, the priesthood under

the Mosaic system was of the family of Levi. Evidently there was some

descension as to who really should be in that office, you remember, so

God had to give a little instruction. In Numbers 17, beginning with

verse 2, we read, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of

every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all

their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods;

write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's

name upon the rod of Levi; for one rod shall be for the head of the

house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle

of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose,

shall blossom; and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the

children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. (against Moses and

Aaron)." Num. 17:2-5. You remember what happened. Aaron's rod budded

and blossomed and confirmed again the selection of him and his sons

for the office of priesthood.

Now remember, this incident with Melchizedek occurred before Levi was

born. It occurred before his father was born. Now, there is a

principle that the Hebrew author pointed out and pointed it out very

forcefully. The GREATER bestows a blessing on the LESSER. The LESSER

pays tithes to the GREATER. Now here's the picture he was painting for

them. Levi was of the offspring of Abraham. While Levi was still in

the loins of Abraham, Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek and Melchizedek

blessed Abraham. Now there are some other interesting things that are

suggested here. You'll notice the Hebrew author said he had a lot to

say about this Melchizedek but they were dull of hearing so it would be

hard for them to understand. There are some things about this that we

are not told. Melchizedek appeared on the scene, then we don't hear

anything else about him. We don't read anything about his birth,

about his death, about his genealogy. Not only that, he was a priest

and he was also a king. Now try to make that fit under the Jewish

economy. Judah was the tribe of kings, Levi was the tribe of priests.

One of the arguments the apostle would later make in developing this

theme of Jesus as the superior high priest is that if he were on earth,

he could not be a priest, because they came from the tribe of LEVI and

Jesus was of the tribe of JUDAH. What did Jesus do? He combined the

offices of PROPHET, PRIEST and KING.!!!!!! Moses said, "The Lord thy

God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy

brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." Deut. 18:15. God

emphasized that on the mount of transfiguration when Peter wanted to

build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for

Jesus. Matt. 17. God said, "...This is my beloved Son, in whom I am

well pleased; hear ye him." Jesus was also a king. Isaiah would

prophesy, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and

the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called

Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The

Prince of Peace." Isa. 9:6.

Then, the Hebrew also said Christ is our High Priest. Prophet, Priest

and King. You remember an incident that occurred with King Saul one

time. When Samuel didn't arrive when King Saul thought he should,

he took upon himself to assume the office of the priest, and he got

into trouble for it. I Samuel 13. Why? He was not authorized to serve

as priest, he was not of the tribe of priests, therefore he could not

serve in that function. It didn't matter if Samuel was late, early or

otherwise. He could not serve in that position. But the point the

Hebrew author was making is that our high priest is superior to that

entire Mosaic system. He began by pointing out that his (Christ's)

priesthood is like the priesthood of Melchizedek, to whom Abraham paid

tithes and received a blessing. That's the first point in establishing

the superiority of that priesthood.

He also pointed out that there were some other problems with that old

priesthood. One was the fact that they died. They died!!!!! One

high priest would serve for a while, then he'd die. Somebody else

would be high priest for a while, then he'd die; and then another,

and another, etc. They all died. However, using Melchisedec, since

we know nothing of his genealogy, of his birth or his death, he said

he "...abideth a priest continually." Oh, that means we don't have to

worry about a high priest being appointed after the death of the

previous one that doesn't like us. Those men were subject to passions

just like we are. You know how people can be if they don't like

somebody or some family. Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever,

continually serves in that position, therefore it is an UNCHANGING

priesthood for the second point.

The third point is this, and we read it a few moments ago. When that

high priest went in to make intercession for the people, the first

thing he had to do was make intercession for HIMSELF. That means that

in one respect, he was just like everybody else. He had to first,

therefore, offer for himself so he would be in a position to offer for

the people. Not so with Christ !!!! Not so with Christ !!!! He

knew no sin, no was guile found in his mouth - PERFECT in every respect.

But that's not all. The sacrifices those priests offered under the law

could not do what the blood of Jesus Christ did. You see, he once for

all time made one sacrifice and then sat down at the right hand of the

throne of the Majesty of high. Oh, that's why those high priests

under the law of Moses had to go in every year and make atonement for

the people. Here was the problem. The sacrifices they offered could

not take away sin. All they did was allow them to be rolled forward

for another year. There would be a remembrance made again. Why so?

because it was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take

away sin. Heb. 10:4. What about the offering Christ made !!!!!!

He, by himself, purged our sins. Heb. 1:3. All those sins committed

under the law rolled forward each year by the offering of the high

priest were not taken away until Christ died on the cross !!!!!

You see, that's why Moses was instructed way back in the mount as he

received the law to make everything according to the pattern shown him

there in the mount. Why? because it pointed to something else. It was

a type, it was a shadow. So it was needful that every detail be

followed, every pattern be observed. Those offerings foreshadowed the

offering of the Son of God on calvary. They were offered in

anticipation of that day coming. That was God's plan.

The last point for this morning is this. The changing of the

priesthod necessitated the changing of the covenant. Now that stands

to reason. The Old Testament priesthood was based upon the covenant

God made with Moses and the children in mount Sinai. But this

priesthood is different. It is entirely different. It is superior

in every way; therefore it woud be necessary that a new covenant be

made as well. That's what Jeremiah, the prophet, had written centuries

before. Jeremiah 31:31 beginning, we read, "Behold, the days come,

saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made

with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them

out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was

an husband unto them, saith the Lord.....And they shall teach no more

every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the

Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the

greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I WILL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY,

AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." Jer. 31:31-34. Did you get

that? THEIR SINS AND INIQUITIES WOULD BE REMEMBRERED NO MORE. The

implication of that is very strong. Those things under the law were

still being remembered, but the day would come, he said, when their

sins and their iniquities would not be remembered anymore.

The point the Hebrew author was making in all this, and this is just a

small part of it - the priesthood, was this; it would be the height of

folly for that Jew who had come out of Judaism, had become a child of

God, to want to go back o something inferior. The theme of the book

if "better" all way through. I'm not sure that we even today understand

the greatness and majesty and wonder of our High Priest. That's the

whole point the Hebrew author was making - to try to impress upon

those readers just how great, how wonderful he (Jesus) was. It's a

wonderful thing as a child of God to be able to have such a High

Priest who, in all points, was tempted like we are, so he knows and

understands. I hear people say so much of the time, "Nobody knows".

Oh, yes they do. "Nobody understands". Oh, yes they do. Oh, yes they

do !!! That's why Jesus as tempted in all points like we are, so that

on the one hand he could identify with us and on the other hand, he

could take the hand of God. Until he came and became our great High

Priest, no priest had been able to do that. The kids sing a song

"I Want to be a Christian". Well, that song is understandable in the

light of the High Priest the christian has, who learned obedience by

the things which he suffered, then was made perfect, becoming the

author of eternal salvation to all them who obey him. God help us

to live faithful to him who loved us and who died for us.