["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Whosoever surely meaneth me
Whosoever meaneth me
Let's sing it out on the third!
Oh, what a wonderful love
Oh, what grace divine
That Jesus should die for me
I was lost in sin
For the world I pine
But now I am set free
Whosoever surely meaneth me
Surely meaneth me
Oh, surely meaneth me
Whosoever surely meaneth me
Whosoever meaneth me
Great singing and welcome to Verity Baptist Church and the Wednesday evening Bible study.
Let's open up in a word of prayer.
Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord.
Thank you for these people coming out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you.
I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord.
I pray that you would bless the service and the preaching to come.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
All right, turn to your song books, page number 428.
Page 428, we're going to sing
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
Page 428, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
It came upon the midnight clear
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their hearts of gold
Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heaven's all gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing
Page 428, let's sing it out on the second.
Still through the cloven skies
They come with peaceful wings unfurled
And still their heavenly music floats
For all the weary world
Above its sad and lowly plain
They bend on hovering wings
And ever o'er its babble sounds
The blessed angels sing
And ye beneath life's crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps in slow
Look now for gladness
Look now for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the way
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing
Let's sing it out on the last.
For lo, the days are hasting on
By prophet bards foretold
When with the ever circling years
Come round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the world
Its ancient splendors fling
And the whole world give back the song
Which now, which now the angels sing
Tongue tied.
Alright, well let's go ahead and take our bulletins this evening. We'll look at some announcements
real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, raise your hand
and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up
and we'll get one for you. The verse is sweet. James 2-5, Harken, my beloved brethren, have not
God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he had
promised to them that love him. And that's a good verse there. We like that.
If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service
at 9.30 am and we do invite you of course to be with us on Sunday morning
on the Lord's Day for church Sunday evening service at 6 pm
and then of course we are glad that you are with us for the midweek service tonight
on Wednesday night. We call it the most encouraging
service of the week and we're glad that you are here. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning
times on Saturday mornings at 10 am and then we have additional soul winning times
usually on Thursday and Friday at 2 pm. Those are postponed for now but we have a soul winning
time on Sundays at 2 pm and if you'd like to go soul winning we'd of course
like you to make it to one of those times and if you are a first time
guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift
we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building this evening, if you go out our main
foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up on that table
you will see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift
from us to you for being our guest tonight and there are several resources in this bag that we'd like
you to have. The one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist.
It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it and we want to give this to you as a gift so please make
sure you do not leave here without grabbing one of those gift bags on your
way out and if you look at the announcements there of course we are
a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate
children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you
to use those rooms. If you need to be baptized, you can let us know on your communication card on the back of the card.
You can check off that you'd like information about baptism and we'll follow up with you in regards to that.
And if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course we have the workdays
coming up tomorrow, Friday and Saturday 8am to 8pm and
if you can help with mudding and texturing, that's what's going on this week, then
there are three clipboards in the foyer, three different days
three different shifts for each day and we would really appreciate
your help. If you have any skills with mudding, texturing, that's what needs to
get done this week. So please go by there. We would appreciate your help with that.
If you have any questions, you can see Brother Joel Usher and he can answer those
questions for you. Then we want you to notice there the holiday schedule
coming up on a Sunday, December 24th. Of course that's
Christmas Eve and that falls on a Sunday. So we just want you to be aware that
we'll have our 10.30am service like we normally do. There will be no
soul winning time at 2pm on that Sunday. But we are going to have a hot
chocolate and Christmas cookie fellowship at 4pm. So we want you to be aware
of that. You should also have one of these cards in your bulletin. This is for you to remember the
Christmas Eve service and also to invite someone to come with you if you'd like.
And we're having at 4pm the hot chocolate and Christmas cookies in
the fellowship hall. And we have a clipboard in the
foyer where you can sign up. If you can bring cookies
for the cookie fellowship, we would really appreciate that. And you can
bake them, you can buy them, whatever you want. But we'll have hot chocolate.
We'll provide that and we'll have cookies. If you can help us with that, please go by and sign up
for that. That will be at 4pm on Christmas Eve. At 5pm
we'll have our Christmas Eve service which is an hour earlier than normal. Just want you to be aware
of that. We're going to be done by 6pm on Christmas Eve. So that
way you can have the rest of the evening to do whatever you need to do. And then
on Sunday, December 31st, we have our morning service at 1030.
We will have soul winning at 2pm. It says no soul winning there, but we will have soul winning at 2pm.
And then there's a 7pm special New Year's Eve service.
So that goes an hour later. So normally it's at 6pm. We'll have a 7pm
service. That'll be a normal service like we normally have. But afterwards we're going to have a potluck.
And then we'll have popcorn, watch a film, we'll pray in the new year.
Obviously you don't have to stay for all that, but we want you to be aware of those things.
Nine chapters a day is coming up in January. We just want you to be aware of that.
That's our nine chapters a day challenge. And we challenge every January at Verity Baptist
Church. We challenge our church family to read nine chapters a day in the
New Testament in the month of January. And we'll have a chart for you. We'll give that out.
And if you've never done it before, lots of our church family have done it.
I'd say the majority of our church family does it every year. If you accomplish the task,
the goal, then we put your name on a nice plaque. If you go on our foyer, you'll see all the
nice plaques and you'll see all the names that are there. But if you've never done it before,
you might feel like it's a daunting task. But it's not as hard as it sounds, alright? And you can do it.
So just get excited about that and plan to make that one of your
new year's goals. Choir practice is on Sunday at 5pm.
And children's choir is at 5.15. The adult choir here in the auditorium, the children's choir
and the playroom. Homeschool group, they've got PE class tomorrow.
Thursday, December 14th at 10am. And then ladies
weight loss, there's a ladies weight loss accountability group. If you'd like to be
part of that meeting, ladies, you're welcome to do that. They meet on Wednesday nights
at 6.15pm. They meet in the mother baby room closest to the
entrance. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them
on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays
and anniversaries for this week. We had Ms. Victoria Nellitescu's birthday was on December
11th. Victor Zuniga's birthday was on December 12th. And today is
Brother Aldo's birthday, December 13th. So happy birthday to him. Praise report,
money matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. You should
have one of these Christmas gifts for Jesus inserts as well. Just want you to
be aware of that. That you can purchase something as you're out and about
to help the church this Christmas season. And we've got a Christmas gifts for Jesus drop
off in the main foyer so you can drop stuff off there. Of course you can make a
special donation towards Christmas gifts for Jesus as well if you'd like.
I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and take our song books
and let's go to page number 422. Page number
422. And we're going to sing Thou didst
leave Thy throne as we prepare to receive the offering
this evening. 422, sing it out on the first
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy
holy crown when Thou cameest to earth
for me. But in Bethlehem's
home where's there bound no room for
Thy holy nativity
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus
there's room in my heart
for Thee. 422, sing it out on the second
Heaven's arches ring when the angels
sing, proclaiming Thy royal
decree. But of lowly
birth didst Thou come to earth and
in great humility
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus
there's room in my heart
for Thee. The boxes
found rest and the birds their nest
of the forest tree
but Thy couch was the subtle
Son of God in the deserts of
Galilee. O come
to my heart, Lord Jesus
there's room in my heart for Thee.
Thou cameest, O Lord, with
the living Word that should set
Thy people free. But with
mockings torn and with crown of thorns
they bore Thee to Calvary
O come to my heart,
Lord Jesus there's room in
my heart for Thee. Let
the heavens shall ring and the angels
sing at Thy coming to victory.
Let thy voice call me home
saying, Yet there is room, there is room
at my side for Thee.
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus
when all comes and all is
for me. Amen.
We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads
and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love You. We thank You for allowing us to gather together tonight.
Lord, we pray that You bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
...
... Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight.
If you do not have a prayer list, if you didn't get one on the way in, please raise your hand
and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a prayer sheet, just put your hand up
and we will get one for you. And, of course, I want to remind you
that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card. There's a place for you to write down
a request. Please make sure you mark whether it's private or public.
If it's private only, I will see it. If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best
to figure it out, but we usually don't put those on. The requests are added in the order
that they're received and they're removed after a couple of weeks, so if you'd like it to be there longer, you'll have to
write another request. And I'm going to go ahead and take these requests to the Lord
in prayer, and I ask that you follow along in your mind and your heart, and let's
go ahead and pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking
for these requests from our church family. Lord, we thank you for the privilege that it is to
come to you in prayer to be able to enter boldly into the throne
of grace and ask for help. And Lord, we pray for these requests from
our church family, Ms. Cricket, praying for her healing. Also, Ms.
Brandy Barrett, praying for her friend, Becca, and her baby,
who was born premature. And also, Brother Joe Maples, praying
for Joe Jr. and for his health to recover. Scott Scroggs, praying for
healing of his digestive problem. Mary Prince, praying
for strength and complete healing as she undergoes treatment for
breast cancer. And Ms. Tamara, praying for her mother's knee
surgery. And Ms. Christine Ortiz, praying for her own health and
the health of her sister, Judy, as she battles cancer. Brother Salvador, praying for
his health as well. And Brother Edgar and Ms. Lena, praying for
little Uretzi, that she'll continue to be healthy and strong.
And we're, of course, praying for our missionary, Dave Gavantala's wife,
Ms. Angel, and for her breast cancer as she's battling
breast cancer as well. Lord, we just pray for all of these individuals. Lord,
we pray that You would put Your healing hand over them. We know that
You are the great physician. Lord, we ask that if it's Your will that You would heal them.
We pray that You would recover them. We pray that You would relieve pain. Lord, we ask that You
would give wisdom to the doctors and nurses dealing with them. We also pray for the ladies in
our church that are expecting Ms. Victoria, Ms. Julissa, Ms. Ruby, Ms. Taylor,
asking that You give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications. Lord,
and that they would have no problems. We also pray,
Lord, for these that have just physical
requests and praying for Brother Mike, who has a praise report,
for being able to get a new job. And Lord, we thank You for that, for the answered prayer
there. And then we're praying for Brother Joe Laquetta and praying that there would be no
issues as they transition to their new home in
Fair Oaks. And Lord, we also pray for Brother Salvador for his
finances and his work. And Lord, we pray in all these situations, Lord, that You would help
and guide and that Your will be done. Lord, we ask that You would be with
these situations. And we also pray for salvation. Ms.
Christine Ortiz praying for her family's salvation. Ms. Dogma praying for her
daughter and her family's salvation. And Lord, we ask that You would help
these individuals. Lord, we pray that Your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their lives, Lord,
that they might come to the place where they would be willing and able to be
saved. Lord, we pray that His soul would communicate the gospel clearly to them. We also pray,
Lord, for Ms. Christine and Brother Salvador for their faith and their walk with You,
that You would continue to strengthen them and help them and be with them. And then, Lord, we pray for all of these
that have unspoken requests, Brother George, Ms. Denise, Brother Nate,
Brother Salvador, Ms. Dogma, all having unspoken requests. Lord, You know what
their petitions are. You know what they're asking for. And we ask, Lord, that You would please
answer according to Your will. Lord, make it clear to them when You've answered, Lord.
And we also pray for our ministry here, of course, for our prison ministry and
the families being affected through that. Lord, we ask that You continue to bless that. We pray for these work
days. We ask that You'd help everything to go well and smoothly and
help us to transition to the new property soon. And we pray
for our church plants in the Philippines, Manila, Pampanga, Bicol,
and for Pastor Stuckey and his family, that You'd continue to strengthen and bless them as well.
We, of course, pray for our ministry here in Sacramento, Lord, that You would be with us, that You'd guide us,
that You'd provide for our needs, Lord, that You'd be just
with us in every step of all the things that we're doing right now, Lord.
We ask that You'd meet with us tonight as we open up Your Word and we study the Bible together. In Jesus' name,
we pray. Amen.
Please open your mouths to Hebrews, Chapter 5.
Hebrews, Chapter 5, if you do not have a Bible, please put your hand up
and I know you can bring a Bible. Hebrews, Chapter 5,
just keep your hand up or she'll come by.
Hebrews 5, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom.
Hebrews 5,
Verse 1. 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 honor
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,
today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place,
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death,
and was heard in that he feared, though he were a son,
yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
which obey him, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek,
of whom we have many things to say, and heart to be uttered,
seeing your dull of hearing. For when for the time you ought
to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God,
and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness,
but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age.
Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening.
God, I thank you for our church, Lord, for your word. Please give us all a tender heart to the message tonight.
May it be thy pastors who strengthen them, and fill them with spirit. We love you.
In Jesus' name, pray. Amen.
All right, we're there in Hebrews chapter number 5,
and we are continuing, of course, our Wednesday night Bible study. We're doing a
verse-by-verse study through the book of Hebrews, and tonight we start a
new chapter, Hebrews chapter number 5, and though it is
a new chapter, it is a continuing theme, because the
theme continues in chapter 5 that got started in
chapter number 4. In fact, if you just real quickly go
back to verse number 14 of chapter 4, if you remember, it says
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 feelings 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. And of course, we dealt with
that portion of scripture last Wednesday night, but that is the context
in which we enter into chapter 5, and of course
you might remember that the chapter divisions
and the verse divisions, though they are extremely helpful and we're glad
to have them, were not originally in the writing when
the Apostle Paul, I believe Paul, wrote the book of Hebrews, or whoever wrote the book of Hebrews,
it's not like they divided this letter into chapter 1, chapter 2,
chapter 3, that was added later for our benefit, and
when we come to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 1, we're continuing this idea
from chapter number 4. And of course we've been talking, as we've been going through the
book of Hebrews, we've been talking about the theme of the book of Hebrews, and there's lots of things
that are taught in Hebrews, lots of different themes, but I would say the major theme
that we find through the book of Hebrews is this, that Jesus is better.
We've been talking about that. We learned that Jesus is better than the prophets, we've learned
that Jesus is better than the angels, we saw that Jesus is better than Moses, we saw that Jesus is better
than the Sabbath, and last week we saw that Jesus is better than the high priest,
or that Jesus is a better high priest, and that's what we
saw there in verse 14, seeing then we have a great high priest.
What we find in chapter number 5 is
the writer of the book of Hebrews is going to begin to talk about
just the high priest in general, and we're going to look at how those correlate
to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he makes some specific applications to
how the Lord Jesus Christ is a high priest. So if you're taking notes tonight, and I always encourage you to take notes,
I'd like to give you six different thoughts regarding our high priest, Jesus
our high priest, from this passage of Scripture, and six different
thoughts that are outlined here for you, or that I will outline for you from the passage,
and maybe you can jot these down. The first is found there in
verse number 1, and it says this, for every high priest, now remember
we just got done talking in chapter 4
about Jesus, our great high priest, and we're going to come back to the subject
of Jesus later on even in the same passage, but in verse 1
he's not necessarily just talking about Jesus as the high priest, although that's definitely
the context, he's just talking about high priests in general. He says
for every high priest, every high priest, meaning not just Jesus
but all of the high priests that were since Aaron, and we know that Aaron, we've been
studying in the book of Numbers, that Aaron was the first high priest, his son
was the second high priest, and so on. And we find the high priest in the
New Testament as well. Unfortunately, by the time we get to the New Testament, the high priests
are no longer the heroes of the story, they are the villains in the story, they're the ones that are putting
Jesus to death. But here in verse 1, we read
for every high priest, for every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men. I want you to
notice that the writer of Hebrews is telling us, look, every high priest
is taken from among men. And again, we're talking about just the normal
high priest that the nation of Israel
had, because again, if you remember, the book of Hebrews is written, it's written to all of us
for our admonition, all scriptures given by inspiration of God and it's profitable
but the primary applications we find in Hebrew is
that we're learning how to transition out of the Old Testament into the New Testament.
And it's written to first century Jewish believers who have to
kind of figure this thing out. How do we go from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Old Covenant
to the New Covenant, and here the writer says for every high priest taken from among men
is ordained for men. The idea is this, that a high priest is chosen
from among men. And think about what we've been learning in the book of Numbers with Aaron.
Aaron was an individual who was part of a family
who was part of a tribe of Levi, he was just a
man, he was taken from among men and he was ordained
to do a ministry for men. It says they're taken from
among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now, why
is this point being made and why is this important? The reason that it's being made
we find in verse 2. Who can have compassion
on the ignorant? Because remember the high priest
was the leader or the head
of the priesthood, of the Levitical priesthood for the nation of Israel.
All the other priests were under the leadership of the high priest. So the high priest
kind of forms this idea that he represents all of the
priests. And the idea is this, that a high priest
or really any priest, but here we're talking about a high priest, was taken from among men
and was ordained for men because what is it that high priest did?
They would often help and lead in the sacrifices
I mean we saw it there at the last part of verse 1, that he may offer both gifts
and sacrifices for sins. So sometimes they would bring sacrifices
for sin that the high priest would then conduct that had to
be done because of the people's sin. Sometimes they would bring gifts
or what we would call offerings, free will offerings, where there wasn't a sin
that was involved. It was just them tithing or them wanting to give
a gift above their tithe. But the Bible tells us in verse 2 that the
reason why it was important that the high priest would be taken from
among men and ordained to men is that they could
have compassion on the ignorant. Now why does it say that?
Because remember often times they would bring a sin of ignorance.
They would bring a sacrifice for the sin of ignorance and it would be this idea
where someone would come and say, I have sinned. I did wrong.
I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't set out to do it or I didn't even know that it was a sin
but now I realize it is a sin and they're bringing the sin and the high priest
was to help them, was to have compassion on the ignorant
and on them that are out of the way. So not only just the ignorant, those who sinned
by ignorance and if you remember we learned about that in the book of Numbers
it means that they did it without knowing it was a sin but it also means that they did it
without intending to. They didn't set out to do it. It was not preconceived.
It was just in the heat of the moment they said something they shouldn't have
said or did something they shouldn't have done. Here the Bible says that the high priest
because the high priest himself is a man like they are, is one of
their brethren. He could have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of
the way for that he himself also is compassed
with infirmity. Because of the fact that the high priest himself
has sin, the high priest himself at times
had to bring sacrifices for
the sins of his own ignorance or at times he was
out of the way. He was transgressing. He was doing wrong.
The high priest could have compassion. So I want you to notice and if you're taking notes
here's point number one. We see the sympathy of our high priest.
Now here we're not talking about our high priest. We're going to talk about our high priest here in a moment.
But here we just see high priest in general. The earthly high priest was
taken from among men so that he could relate to men
and have compassion on men. And what we see here
is really an attribute of leadership. And the attribute of leadership
is this, that those who are called by God to lead
have to have compassion on the ignorant
and on them that are out of the way. Now that would seem like
it would just make like, isn't that kind of a duh statement?
And you would think yeah, the whole point of a high priest, the whole point of a priest,
the whole point of a pastor would be to
have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of
the way. But you know the longer I pastor the longer I realize it and I really
just honestly had kind of an epiphany about this
just recently. When I say recently I mean in the last couple of days.
I often as a pastor, you know our church isn't huge.
It's not some mega church but it's not little either. It's not like we have 20 people here. I mean we've got
190 or close to 200 people here tonight.
250 people on Sunday mornings. And one thing I've
kind of learned and I've always known this, you know sometimes
you feel something, you know what you feel. My job as a preacher is to kind of put that in
put language around it and help people understand it. I was talking to my wife about this just
yesterday. I often feel this pressure
from people of how it is that they expect me
to treat all of you. All of the church
people. And you know the expectations that I should lay on
you and what I should expect from you as part of the safety team
or as ushers or as volunteers on a work day or whatever.
But one thing that I've realized is everyone who's constantly wanting me
to come down hard on or tell us what I've realized is
none of those people have 250 people following them.
None of those people have 16 ushers that they're in
charge of. None of them have 5 or 6 safety team members. None of them have
100 soul winners that show up. And what I'm learning is this, often times the
leader has more compassion for the flock
than the rest of the flock does. Because if I
led the way some of you wish I'd lead, we'd have no ushers.
We'd have no soul winners. We'd have
no flock. There'd be no volunteers. There wouldn't even be a building.
And here what we see is that the reason
God, it was very important for God
that the leader would have compassion
on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. On the
ones that are not doing what they should be doing and on the ones that do know what they should be
doing and just aren't doing it. Right? You know you're not supposed
to be on your phone watching the game while you're an usher.
But you do it. Or safety team or whatever.
Pianist. I don't know if the pianists do that.
And the leader is to have compassion. Here the Bible
says that he was taken from among men and is ordained for men
to have compassion on the ignorant. Now when we think about that in the role of human leadership
doesn't that make sense? It makes sense that we
are to have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are
out of the way. For that he himself also is compassed
with confirmities. We see that the earthly high priest was taken from among
men so that he could relate
to men and have compassion on men. And what
the point that's being made that this is for the earthly high priest. But the reason that he's
saying this, the writer of Hebrews is saying this because this is true of our heavenly high
priest. See the earthly high priest was taken
from among men so that he could relate to men and have
compassion on men. But the heavenly high priest
became a man. Go to Hebrews chapter
2. He wasn't taken from among men. He became
men. Hebrews 2 and verse 14. Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 14. Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 14. The Bible says this for as much then
as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood. He also
himself likewise took part of the same.
And this is talking about Jesus of course. That the children
were partakers of flesh and blood. They were human beings. So he
also himself likewise took part of the same. What are we talking about? The humanity of
Christ. What are we talking about? The fact that the word was made
flesh. That's what we're going to celebrate here in a couple of weeks on Christmas day.
What's Christmas about? The fact that he also
himself took part of flesh and
blood. He took part of the same because we were partakers of flesh
and blood. He also himself likewise took part of the same. That through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That
is the devil. And deliver them who through fear of
death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Verse 16,
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels. He didn't take on the nature
of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
The descendancy. He inserted himself into the lineage of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him
to be made like unto his brethren. Why?
Why did we need a high priest?
Why couldn't Jesus just come down? Why even have Christmas? Why didn't
he just come down, get beamed down from heaven? He got beamed up to heaven.
Why didn't he just come down in his glorified
body, forget Christmas, forget the shepherds, forget the wise men
and just come down? There's multiple reasons. There's multiple
answers to that question. But one of the answers to that question is this.
That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.
In things pertaining to God to make
reconciliation for sins of the people for that he
himself had suffered being tempted.
He is able to succor them that are tempted.
See the heavenly high priest, the earthly high priest had to be taken from among
men so that he could relate to men, so that he could have compassion
on men, so that he could have compassion on the ignorant, he could have compassion
on them that are out of the way. And I would just say for us that are humans that is a leadership
lesson. You truly are the leader when you actually care
about people. You realize that they're going to fail you.
You realize that they're going to come short. You realize that they're not going
to do the things they're supposed to do. But you care about them
anyway. The heavenly high priest
was not taken from among men. He became man.
That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.
For that in he himself had suffered being tempted he is able to succor.
The word succor means to aid, to support them that are
tempted. Go back to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 3.
You're there in Hebrews 2. Just go back to chapter 5 if you would. So we saw number 1
the sympathy of our high priest. He became man
so he could sympathize with us. So he could empathize with us.
So that he can relate to us. So that he can know. Look Jesus knows
and we talked about it last week but Jesus knows what you're going through.
He was tempted in all points like as we are yet
without sin. Anything you've gone through, he's gone through it.
Anything that you have felt
and hurt, he's felt that hurt.
He became a man so that he could relate to men and have compassion on men.
We see the sympathy of our high priest but I want you to know that secondly tonight not only do we see the
sympathy of our high priest but we also see the sinlessness
of our high priest. Notice verse 3 Hebrews chapter 5
and verse 3 and by reason here of
he ought. Now I want to go back just a couple of verses just
to get the context because there's a couple of things he's saying here. Look at verse 1. 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 sin
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.
So he's telling us this is a good thing about the high priest, the earthly
high priest. That because he himself is compassed with infirmity, because he himself
has sinned and has sickness and has
weakness in his life. He can have compassion on those who come
to him to try to make reconciliation with God when they have
failed, when they are weak, when they have not accomplished what they should
do. That's a positive thing. But then in verse 3 he says here's the negative
part about our high priest being taken from men. The fact that
he's taken from men is good because he can relate to us but the
negative thing about the fact that he was taken from men is this.
And by reason hereof, what reason hereof
are we talking about? The reason hereof is that he was taken from men.
That he is compassed with infirmity. By that reason
he ought as for the people so also for himself
to offer for sins. So the earthly high priest
because he was taken from among men, he also had to
offer sin not only for the people but also for himself. And we talked about it last
week. I won't take the time to go into detail but the high priest on the day of atonement
would go into the holy of holies, would go into the most holy place and he
would give an atonement or a sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the people
but before he could give an atonement for the sins of the people, he had to give an atonement
for his own sins because he himself was a sinner.
So as for the people so also for himself
he had to offer for sins. That's the earthly
high priest. The heavenly high priest on the other hand
go back to Hebrews 4, look at verse 15. We saw this last
week but let's just look at it. They're verses worthy of looking at multiple
times. The earthly high priest was a sinner. The
heavenly high priest was sinless. The reason
that Jesus was a better high priest is
because though he had the same benefit as
Aaron and Eleazar and every other high priest, he was taken from
among men so he could relate to men. Jesus became
a man. The Bible says he came unto his own and his own received him not.
He became a man so he could have the same benefit
as a leader. He could relate. He could be touched by the
feelings of their infirmities and he could succor them
and he could empathize with them. He could sympathize with them and he could have
compassion on them. But though the earthly high priest had a
negative which was that that made him a sinner which means he had to
offer a sacrifice for his sins, Jesus is a better high priest
because he had the same benefit of humanity minus sin.
He was sinless. Hebrews 4, 15. For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He can
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Why? Because he became man.
Because the mystery
of godliness is that God was manifest in the flesh.
But was in all points tempted like as we are, here's the only difference,
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.
So we see the sinlessness of our high priest and that's really what makes him a better
high priest. What makes him a better high priest was that he still had the benefit
of humanity and compassion of human beings
without sin. I'd like you to keep your place there in Hebrews
that's obviously our text for tonight. Go to the book of Isaiah chapter 53. If you open
up your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely to fall in the book of Psalms. You go from Psalms
you have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Isaiah. Now if you find Psalms I'd like you to just
stick your finger there in Psalms or a ribbon or something because we're actually going to go back to Psalms later on.
But I'd like you to find Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous passages in the Bible.
It's one of these messianic
passages or prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53
is an Old Testament prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's an amazing chapter. We could study the whole chapter
and that would be a great study. We've done that in the past. I'm not going to do that now.
I do want to just show you some things. If we ask the question
why? And it's a good time of year. I mean we're
in Hebrews. Hebrews isn't really your common Christmas sermon but
it's a good time of year to ask the question, why Christmas?
Why become a human? Why become a man?
Well part of it is because of the fact that
the high priest had to be able to identify with the people
that he was sacrificing for. But then we ask the question
why did God become man? Well we've seen
the answer already because we already had high priests that were taken
from among men and the problem with the high priests that are taken
from among men is that they themselves were sinners.
So they could not be the salvation
or the savior of our sin.
And just on a very practical level, well let's look at the
passage. Isaiah 53, look at verse 3. Notice what the Bible says
is about Jesus. He is despised and rejected of men.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we did
as it were, we hid, excuse me, as it were our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not.
Notice these words. I want you to notice this. These are some of the most famous passages in Scripture and we
often look at this as very lovely poetic passages and they are lovely
and they are poetic and they are amazing but there's a reason why we're being told
and notice what it says. Surely he had borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows.
That is not this poetic
verbiage that is saying, well he was a human
so in the same way that we've carried griefs, he carried griefs and in the
same way that we carried sorrows, he carried sorrows. Now that's true
but that's not what this passage is saying. This passage is not
saying that because he was a human, the same way you and I carried griefs,
he carried griefs and the same way you and I carried sorrows, he carried sorrows. No.
What this passage says, surely he hath borne our griefs.
The griefs that I've carried and the griefs that you've carried
were carried by the Lord Jesus Christ and he carried our
sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God
and afflicted. Verse 5, but he was wounded
for our transgressions. Do you see why I say to you, it's not that
it's saying he had grief like we had griefs, he had sorrows like we had sorrows.
No, no. It's not that he had transgressions like we had transgressions. No.
He had no transgressions but he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him
and with his stripes we are healed.
That's beautiful language. It is beautiful language. But don't miss the practical
application here. I often out-solt when I explain this to people
and I think it's good for us to just be reminded. It is beautiful language. It does make
for a beautiful story. It does make for nice sermons
and I understand that and praise God for it. But on a very practical,
theological, doctrinal level, God had to become
flesh because the one who took our sin had to be sinless.
If I went to God and I said,
God, I love my wife. I love my children so much
I don't want them to die and go to hell. I would like to die and go to hell
in their place. Even
if I was genuine and even if I authentically
that's what I want to do, I want, obviously, I want to just get them saved and we can all
go to heaven together. And they are saved and praise God for that. But like
Paul where he had his kinsmen in the flesh who rejected Christ
and he said that he wanted to, he said if he could that he would be a
curse, that they might be saved. But God wouldn't
allow that. You say, why? Well, God would not allow
me to take the place of my wife or my children
and to pay for their sins to go to hell because the problem
is that I have my own sins to pay for. You say, well, I
pay for the sins of my spouse or my children but you have your own sins to pay
for. The reason that the high priests that were taken from
among men could never pay for the sins of men is because they had their own
sins to pay for. The high priest that paid
for our sins, that carried our griefs, that carried our sorrows,
that was wounded for our transgression, that was bruised for our iniquity,
that high priest had to be sinless because in order to take our sins
he had to be without sin.
That's why Jesus came. That's why God became flesh because no one else
could do it. Because since Adam
there's never been, there's never been a man without sin
except one, Jesus. So we see the sympathy
of our high priest and we see the sinlessness of our high priest.
Keep your place there in Psalms if you would. Go to 1 Peter
chapter 2. If you kept your place in Hebrews, from Hebrews you have James and then
1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 21. 1 Peter
2.21. 1 Peter, Hebrews, James,
1 Peter. 1 Peter 2.21
For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow
his steps. Verse 22, notice these words. Who did
no sin? Neither was gall found in his mouth.
Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered
he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously. Verse 24, who his own self, this is from
Isaiah 53, who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the tree. The only way
that our sins could be put on Jesus is if he was sinless.
That we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes ye were healed. And look, I understand that this is
basic theology, but it must not
be that basic since there's so many people out there who don't understand salvation.
Because if you simply understood that salvation was this, Jesus
who was sinless became man and came to this earth and salvation is that
my sins were taken from me and put on him and he paid for
my sins and his righteousness was taken from him and put on me.
That's what salvation is. If you understood that, you wouldn't be mixed up with, well do I need to repent
of my sins in order to go to heaven? What does that have to do with anything?
Why would I need to repent of my sins if my sins have
been removed from me?
You have to keep, you know, what if you stop going to church? That just tells me you don't understand
what salvation is. If my sins have been taken
from me and put on Jesus, what does me going to church,
me praying, me reading the Bible, me getting baptized or any of that have to do with
anything? It doesn't.
Obviously once you're saved, God wants to have a relationship with you
and you need to grow in grace. We understand all that. All those things are important. But when we
just have this basic understanding that salvation is this, Jesus was a man
like us which made him eligible
to die for us. But the difference was that he had no sin.
So he could take our sin. That is
atonement. That is salvation.
So we see the sympathy of our high priest. We see the sinlessness of our high priest.
And I'd like you to notice thirdly, go back to Hebrews 5. Keep your place there in
Psalms. Keep your place in Psalms. Go back to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 4.
I'd like you to notice thirdly the selection of our high priest.
The selection of our high priest, Hebrews 5.4,
and no man taketh this honor unto himself. We're still talking about the earthly high priest.
Now this should make sense to you because we've been studying it in numbers.
No man, right, like Korah.
No man like Dathan and Abiram. No man
taketh this honor unto himself. What's the writer of Hebrews saying?
Nobody decides to make themselves a high priest.
If you're a high priest you're chosen by God. We've been studying this
in numbers so this should click with you. Somebody decides to make themselves
a high priest, God's going to open up the earth and swallow them into the pit
alive. And no man taketh this honor unto himself
but he that is called of God was Aaron.
Right? We talked about that. That's why the red heifer's not needed, blah blah blah.
Verse 5. The earthly
high priest did not choose himself. That's what we saw in verse 4.
In the same way the heavenly high priest did not choose himself. Verse 4,
no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God
as was Aaron. Verse 5, so also.
Here's the application. In the same way
Christ glorified not himself to be
made an high priest but he that said unto him, thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee.
Now the way that the structure of the sentence is worded is maybe a little different than the way
that we would say it in our modern vernacular so I just want to make sure you understand it. He says
in verse 4, and no man taketh this honor unto himself
but that he is called of God. Nobody makes himself a high priest, the high priest
had to be called of God. Verse 5, so also or in the same way that
Aaron and Eleazar and all these other guys did not call themselves
into the high priest position. They were called of God like Korah, Dathan or Bairam.
They could not do that. He says in the same way, Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest. Then when it says,
but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten thee.
The idea that he's putting forth is this. Christ did not call himself
to be a high priest but here is who did call him to be
a high priest. Who called him to be a high priest? He that said unto him,
thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. Now who said that?
Well that's a quote from Psalm 2 so let's look at it real quickly if you kept your place in Psalm.
Go to Psalm 2, look at verse 7.
Psalm 2 and verse 7, I will declare the decree
notice these words, the Lord has
said. Who said? The Lord said.
The Lord had said unto me, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. So Psalm 2, keep your place,
stay right there in Psalm. Psalm 2 says, the Lord has said unto me,
thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And then the writer of Hebrews says in
Hebrews 5-5, so also Christ glorified not himself
to be made an high priest. But he that said,
this is the guy that did glorify him to be a high priest. The guy that said,
the person that said, the source of this quote, thou art my son,
this day have I begotten thee. And then in Psalm 2 and verse 7, it's clear that the Bible says
that the Lord said that. So who made Jesus
a high priest? The Lord. Now keep your finger right there
in Psalm, we're going to come right back to it, go back to Hebrews 5, look at verse 6.
Here's another quote. As he sayeth
also, he says the same person that said, thou art my
son, this day have I begotten thee, that's the person that chose Jesus as a high priest
and then he says, and here's what he also said, as he sayeth also
in another place, thou art a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. Go to Psalm
110, let's look at that quote. Psalm 110 and verse 4, who's saying these things?
Well Psalm 2-7, I will declare the decree
the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, the Lord hath
said. Psalm 110
and verse 4 says this, the Lord has sworn
and will not repent, thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. So who said that? The Lord.
Who said thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? The Lord. So in the same
way that the earthly high priest did not choose himself, the heavenly high priest also did not choose himself,
Jesus did not choose himself because the person that said, thou art my son, this day have I
begotten thee, the person that said, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
that is the person that made him and called him a high priest. Who is that?
It's the Lord. So we see the selection of our high priest.
That Jesus did not choose himself
to be a high priest.
Go back to Hebrews 5. We saw the sympathy of our high priest,
we saw the sinlessness of our high priest, we saw the selection of our high priest, like you notice
fourthly tonight, the suffering of our high priest.
And this is all connected to his humanity.
He only suffered because he was human, the suffering of our high priest.
Now there's no connection here to the earthly high priest
because the earthly high priest really didn't suffer, but our heavenly
high priest did. Look at verse 7. I want you to really look at these
verses and think about what these verses are saying.
Who in the days of his flesh, that's his
humanity. The days of his life.
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications.
Notice these words. These words ought to break your heart.
With strong crying and tears
unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard
in that he feared. You know the Bible
tells houses that Jesus is our heavenly high priest.
Yes, he was sinless. Yes, he was God in the flesh.
He was 100% God, but he's also 100% man.
He didn't come down here like Superman and
having bullets hit him and not hurt him.
The Bible says that in the days of his flesh, when he had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death and was heard and that he feared.
The Bible says that he cried with tears.
The word cry in our King James Bible means to yell, to scream.
He cried out with tears, making prayers and supplications.
What is this referring to?
We don't know exactly what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. It doesn't specifically
quote for us, but when I read it to me it sounds a lot like the Garden of Gethsemane.
Let's look at it quickly. Luke 22, if you would.
Matthew, Mark, Luke.
Luke 22 and verse 42.
Luke 22 and verse 42, the Bible says this, saying, Father,
this is right before the death of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He's praying, saying, Father, if thou be willing
remove this cup from me.
And I will but thine be done. Jesus prayed
at the very last moment before he was to be arrested, he was praying,
are you sure there's no other way?
He said, what is that? That's his humanity.
Obviously, he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
But he suffered.
He wasn't necessarily looking forward to that suffering.
He said, Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will
but thine be done. And just to get an idea of the type of pressure that Jesus was under,
verse 43, and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him
and being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly
and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood
falling down to the ground. Listen to me, whatever
stress and anxiety you have been under, Jesus understands.
Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly
and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood.
Keep your finger right there. Go back to, go to 1 Peter
if you would. If you kept your place in Hebrews, right after Hebrews you have James
and 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter 2.
We saw these verses already tonight, but I just want you to see it again. Let me highlight something else for you.
1 Peter 2.21, for even here unto were ye called because,
notice these words, Christ also suffered for us.
Leaving us an example that ye should
follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was gall found in his mouth,
who when he was reviled, reviled not again, look at these words,
when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself
to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare
our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto
righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed.
I want you to notice that Jesus suffered. The Bible says that Jesus suffered.
By the way, we've been talking a little bit about prayer as we've been dealing with this idea of the high priest
because we saw in Hebrews 4, go back to Hebrews 5, we saw in Hebrews 4
that we can come boldly unto the throne of grace
we can come boldly unto the throne of grace and we can seek help
from Jesus Christ. He's there
to help us. He's our high priest. He's our mediator. He's our advocate with
the Father. But I want you to notice that in Hebrews 5 and verse 7 we find another
little lesson on prayer and it is this. Notice verse 7, who in the days
of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death, he says he offered up prayers. What was the prayer? We saw
it. Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.
What was the answer to that prayer? No.
Which is why Jesus said, nevertheless, not my will but thy
be done. But wait a minute, look at verse 7, Hebrews 5
7. When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death,
notice these words, and was heard
in that he feared. You know that just because the answer is no doesn't mean God didn't
hear? We have this idea, well if God didn't answer
my prayer he must not be hearing. He heard this prayer and the answer was still no.
Sometimes the answer is no. Who do you think you are
that just because you pray a prayer, God has to answer it?
Our prayer life should be this, not my will
but thy be done. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Now it's great when God answers prayer but just because
the answer is no doesn't mean that he didn't hear our prayer because
the Bible says here about Jesus and was heard.
The answer was no.
Which is why he said, nevertheless, not my will but thy be done.
Look at verse 8, Hebrews 5.
Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered.
See, not only did he suffer, but he also submitted himself.
And this is, we see, you say what is it saying here, yet learned he obedience.
He obeyed when he said, nevertheless
not my will but thine be done. Go to Philippians chapter 2.
If you kept your place in Luke, after Luke you have John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philippians chapter 2.
Look at verse 7, Philippians 2 verse 7.
This is about Jesus, Philippians 2 verse 7, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men.
Made like unto men. Was made a man.
And being found in fashion as a man, this is all referring to the humanity of Christ.
Notice these words. He humbled himself
and became obedient unto death. Isn't that what we saw in Hebrews 5?
Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered
and became obedient unto death even unto the death of the cross.
Let me ask you this question. What if you pray something and God says no,
can you still obey?
Because Jesus' response was, if thou be willing remove this cup from me,
nevertheless not my will but thine be done.
And the Bible tells us that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death
and became obedient unto the death of the cross, which is what we're reading in Hebrews 5 and verse 8.
Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered.
And the idea there when it says that he were a son is that though he were the son of God,
though he were the second member of the Godhead, though he could have called for the angels
and God, the Father, he could add access to a legion of angels
to come and rescue him and save him.
Go back to Hebrews 5.
Let me give you the last two points and we'll do these quickly.
We saw the sympathy of our high priest. We saw the sinlessness of our high priest.
We saw the selection of our high priest. We saw the suffering of our high priest.
And I'd like you to notice, fifthly tonight, the salvation of our high priest.
Look at verse 9. And being made perfect.
And the word perfect there is not what we think of
without sin. It's complete.
He was already perfect. He wasn't made perfect. But the idea is that he came to this earth
and he did what he was supposed to do. He came
and he completed everything. He said, I must be about my father's business.
And being made perfect, he
became the author of eternal salvation.
Until all of them that obey him.
We're learning how Jesus is better. He's better.
He's a better high priest. Why is he better?
Well, he's better because though he has the benefit of
humanity, where he can empathize and sympathize and
connect with us, he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, he is
sinless. And he's better because of the fact
that he was able to take our sins
while the other high priest had to make a sacrifice for their sins.
But here's another reason why Jesus is better as a high priest.
Go to Hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse 10. Hebrews 10 and verse 10.
These verses kind of explain the point that I want to make. Hebrews 10, 10.
The difference between the earthly high priest and the heavenly high priest, the difference between
every other high priest and Jesus the high priest, is this. Hebrews 10, 10.
By the witch will, we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
He was not only the high priest, he was also the sacrificial lamb. He was all of it.
Notice these words. By the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Notice these three words.
Once for all. Once for all.
O sinner, receive it. Once for all.
We just have to believe it. Once for all, verse 11.
And every priest standeth. Notice, here's the comparison.
And every priest, we're talking about every other priest, standeth daily ministering
and offering. Notice these words.
Oftentimes the same sacrifices
which can never take away sins. See, the other high priest,
they made sacrifices every day.
They made the sacrifice of the atonement and it was a yearly sacrifice, every year.
They were offering oftentimes the same sacrifices
which can never take away sins. Here's how Jesus is better.
Verse 12. But this man, Jesus,
why does he say but this man? Because he was a man.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand
of God. The earthly high priest offered
yearly sacrifices, daily sacrifices.
The heavenly high priest offers eternal salvation,
eternal atonement, once for all.
And by the way, that's why we believe in eternal security because once you're saved, you're always saved.
Once for all! But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice, I love the wording,
for sins forever, for sins
forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
We saw the sympathy, the sinlessness, the selection,
the suffering, the salvation. I'd like you to notice lastly tonight,
and I'll only mention this because we won't talk about it at all
because we'll talk about it in detail in just a few weeks
down the road in Hebrews, but I'd like you to notice lastly tonight the superiority
of our high priest. We've already been talking about it. He's a better high priest.
The superiority of our high priest. Look at verse 10.
Called of God. That point's already been made.
Now, like Aaron, so is Jesus. Called of God
and high priest. But here's the difference.
After the order of Melchizedek,
Aaron was a high priest of the Levitical
order. Aaron was a high priest
that descended from Jacob, from Israel,
from Isaac, from Abraham.
Jesus was a high priest from a different order. And again, I'm not going to get into details
because we're going to deal with it in detail in a few weeks.
But I just want you to get in the mind of a first century Jew
who saved but struggling with this idea of
how do we transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament? How do we go from the Old Covenant to the
New Covenant? Now you're telling me that Jesus was a high priest, but I've never knew that Jesus
was from the tribe of Levi. I didn't know that he was the son of Aaron. I've heard that he was of the tribe of Judah
and he was a son of David. How could he then be a
high priest? And the writer of Hebrews is about to set us up for a big
dialogue answering this question about how Jesus is a better
high priest than the priesthood of Leviticus.
Because he's of the priesthood of Melchizedek that actually
came before Levi. Called of God and high priest after the order
of Melchizedek, but to a first century Jew, he says in verse 11,
of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered.
He said, this is going to be hard to hear, guys.
Seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Now we're going to end it there. We're going to pick it up right there next week.
But I want you to notice that Jesus is not only
a sympathetic high priest, not only is he a sinless high priest, not only do we see his
selection and his suffering and his salvation, but he is superior to Aaron.
He's superior to the tribe of Levi because he is a
high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
It's about to head to another word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we love you. Thank you for your word. Thank you for these passages
of scripture. Just 11 verses, but so much to
pack, so much to gather, so much to learn from there.
Lord I pray that you'd help us always be mindful
of Jesus our high priest.
Christmas is not just the time
that we celebrate the birth of
Christ, although it is, but the reason that the birth of Christ is so
important is because God was manifest in the
flesh. He became our sinless high priest
and took our sins upon us.
Lord help us always to remember that Jesus is there. Jesus has felt
what we felt. He has been
burdened with the same burdens, the same griefs, the same sorrows that we have.
And although sometimes it might feel like God is just not
paying attention, help us to always remember that even when the answer is no,
He hears our prayers.
And Lord we thank you for that. In the matchless name of Christ we pray.
Amen. We're going to have brother Moses come up and lead us in
a final song. I just want to remind you of a couple of things. First of all don't forget
that we have workdays Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
And we really don't need any guys to come
other than if you can mud and texture. If you can mud and texture
there are clipboards in the back, three clipboards, three days, three shifts.
We can really use your help. Until we get past that
mudding and texturing phase there's not too much else to do.
So if you are able to help us with that we would really appreciate your help.
And if you can paint using a sprayer there's a clipboard for you to sign up as well
so that brother Joel can be ready to as soon as that mudding and texturing gets
completed we can just hit the ground running with the painting of the auditorium and all that.
So if you can help us with that we would appreciate it. Also don't forget that there's a clipboard over there
for cookies. So maybe you guys will get drawn to the cookies
and accidentally sign up in the workday. I'm not sure how that will work. But there's cookies also
for the cookie fellowship for the hot chocolate and cookies Christmas. So ladies you can
go by there please. We would appreciate your help with that. If you can bake cookies or bring cookies for the
Christmas Eve cookie fellowship that would be great. And of course if
there's anything that we can do for you please let us know. We'll have brother Moses come up and lead us
in a final song.
Please enter song books page number
421. Page 421 we're going to sing
the first Noel
page 421 the first Noel
and let's sing it out on the first
The first Noel
the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds
in fields where they lay
keeping their sheep on a cold
winter's night that was
so deep. Noel
Noel
born is the king of Israel
page 421 let's sing it out on the second
and by the light
of that same star
three wise men came from
the tree part to seek
for he was their
intent and to follow the
star wherever it went
Noel Noel
born is the king
of Israel
this star drew nigh
to the northwest
for Bethlehem it took
its rest and there
it did both stop
and stay right over
the place where Jesus
lay. Noel Noel
Noel Noel
born is the king
of Israel
singing on the last then entered
in those wise men
who dream whole reverently
upon their knee
and offered there
in his presence
their golden mirror
and frankincense. Noel
Noel Noel
born is the king
of Israel
great singing can I please have brother Nate close us some more to prayer
Amen.