CHRIST’S HIGH PRIESTLY MINISTRY
#176 CHRIST’S HIGH PRIESTLY MINISTRY
Scripture Hebrews 10:21-25, NIV Orig. 7/12/1964
Rewr. 6/16/1977
Passage: 21 And since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Purpose: To call attention to the ministry of Jesus as He labors to bring spiritual nurture into the church life.
Introduction
There are a few Latin phrases that have weathered both the passing years, and the death of a language. Though Latin is no longer spoken as a language of communication, and is understood by only a few scholars and intrepid students, those few phrases seem to hang on.
The Latins said it this way, “Vox populi, vox Dei.” The meaning is still a popular concept today. “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
I occasionally will see one of those popular youth posters which declares, “If it is true, it doesn’t matter who says it!” Then, if I remember correctly, one of the Beatles was given credit for that line. I agree with it completely. I would also remind you that the opposite is true. “If it isn’t true, then, again, it makes no difference who said it!”
While we would like to endorse the old Latin phrase, we know that our endorsement would no more make it true than the popular use it achieved in antiquity, and the zeal of many people today who try to convince themselves of its truth.
There are many concepts adhered to by people, that just do not declare the mind of God. We can go to the polls and declare our intent in one mighty voice, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have comprehended and voiced the mind of God.
We would do well to discover that in the ministry of Jesus as our High Priest, and as God’s High Priest, we have the One who does comprehend the mind of God, and is able to communicate that message to loving and responding human hearts.
I. His Ministry of Assured Faith. To deepen our faith: Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
We are born with the primacy of the natural man. Romans 8:7f, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Who can say when it happens, but we know that it always does. Maybe a ten-year-old girl who has never been taught to consider spiritual values, yet she disputes the place of underling. Perhaps an eight-year-old boy with a mother of deep religious faith, and a father interested only in making a buck, and the boy is torn between conflicting values. Or, say an eleven-year-old, or fourteen, or twenty, whose parents are both deeply committed Christians, and they have tried to lead this child for his good; but the pressure of his peers draws him away.
We have all been there. Somewhere, the rose strewn path turned to rocks, and the id, ego, self, took over.
But the great day comes when we are able to discern the primacy of God’s will over self-will. Let’s look at this as a priestly function of Jesus.
Jesus has the fullness of divine personality. Hebrews 1:3, “He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature.” Hebrews 1:3, 10-12, “His place is at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 1:2, “God has spoken by His Son.”
He is likewise fully human. Hebrews 2:17, “It behooved him to be like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.” Hebrews 5:8, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience through the things he suffered.”
As importance as these two facts are, they alone do not make Him High Priest. Neither is He such because He chooses to be. Not even the Son of God can appoint Himself to that sacred post. The priests die, but not Jesus (Hebrews 7:23f). Not necessary to sacrifice for His own sin (Hebrews 7:27). The sin offering never repeated (Hebrews 7:27). His intercessory ministry (Hebrews 7:25).
II. His Ministry of Directed Responsibility—Direct Fidelity. To provoke unto love and good works. Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.” The word “provoke” comes from the Greek word from which comes the medical term “paroxysm” or “fit.” For the Christian, to consider the needs of others is to bestir feelings of affection and good will and a desire to befriend.
Understand the vital and necessary place of corporate worship. Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.” The word from which the Hebrew concept of “synagogue” comes. Also consider Acts 20:7f, “And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, . . . ; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together” (sunegmenoi). What is the limit of your endurance as far as your responsibility to corporate worship. Can the mind maintain any more than what other parts of the anatomy can endure?
Live in that frame of reference that proclaims the coming again of Jesus. Hebrews 10:25, “. . . exhorting one another: and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” If your present circumstance is happy, it is made more so with the awareness that God intends all eternity to be so. If that circumstance is griefsome, it is made more bearable in the knowledge that God has taken steps to reconcile your burdens.