Sermon
The Priesthood of Christ
April 10, 2005
Pastor Donald Sheley

Most of our message today is going to be just the reading of Scriptures and tying together the great panorama of divine truth that takes place from the moment of Christ's resurrection and onward.

In recent weeks we have shared the joy of coming to the Good Friday service and there once again being reminded of the price that was paid for our salvation as Jesus died on that cross. We came then to the Sunday service of Easter and we rejoiced in the empty tomb and our hearts were thrilled because our Savior has risen and has conquered death.

But now the question is, what actually happens from that point on? And oft times I think we come to Easter Sunday and then we think of other theological thoughts, but I have felt compelled to go through the Scriptures and show you what takes place after the resurrection, because it sets the stage for the sermon that I had prepared for us today - and that is on the priesthood of Christ. And so what I'd like for you to do is first of all in your Bibles turn to Acts chapter 1.
el were seated to have meat, He of course, reveals Himself and disappears from the scene.

He comes to His disciples as they are down along the seaside fishing. They have spent all night and caught nothing, and Jesus calls to them from the seashore and as a result He's cooking breakfast for them, tells them to cast their nets on a certain place, and as the result they catch 153 fish.

On other occasions Christ appeared. The disciples were gathered together and Jesus comes into the room without even opening the doors. But now the weeks pass and 40 days now have come to conclusion and Jesus is about to be ascended into heaven, so He takes His group together and they go out to the mountainside.

We're in Acts chapter 1, beginning to read at verse 4 in chapter 1. "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'"

The historian Luke who has prepared for us the book of Acts paints the scene as the disciples are gathering with Christ and he tells us what's really heavy on their hearts. They ask the question, 'Jesus, has the time come when You are going to restore the kingdom of Israel?'

Now what was on their mind? Let me tell you. The ancient Israelite believed that when the Messiah came there would be a restoration of the kingdom of David, a kingdom that was blessed and a kingdom that was a joyous kingdom, and so they had this anticipation always in their heart. The day would come when the Messiah would bring into existence, again, the kingdom of David or the kingdom of Israel, and ultimately the nation of Israel would rule the world. That's what was in their mind. That's the question they asked. They said, Jesus, has the time come to restore the kingdom to Israel?

Notice His answer. Verse 7, "And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."" Jesus said it's not the time to talk about season and times and events, but I want to assure you that you will receive power that will assist you to be a witness and to share with the world that which you've experienced as My disciples. You'll receive the Holy Spirit.

The notice what happens. Verse 9, "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.""

So there on that mountainside that day 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus has His closing words - you'll receive power - and then He ascends into the heavens. Two angels stand there in white apparel and said, 'This same Jesus that is taken from you, will come again as you have seen Him go.' And then they return to Jerusalem. So now Jesus has arrived back in heaven. He's ascended into heaven. And the question is, Do we have in the Scriptures any record of what takes place when He arrives back into heaven?

Well let's see if we can find some. Go with me back just a few pages to John 17 in your Bible. John 17, and here we have the prayer that Jesus prays just before going to the cross. It says, "Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.'"

The prayer of Christ was, Father, I finished all My work, I'm coming home, and I want the restoration of that divine and eternal glory that I shared with You before I came to this earth. And so at that moment of His ascension Christ is restored into that eternal fullness. You remember, He laid aside certain capabilities in His earthly journey, but now that is gone. The limitations have disappeared and now Christ has that eternal glory that He had with the Father throughout eternity.

Now Paul tells us in another way. He tells us in Philippians 2:9-11, and here Paul describes the scene with different words. Here's what he says: "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

So Paul says in that exalted state, He's been given a name which is above every name, the name at which every knee should bow and every tongue should confess. He's exalted to the highest position in the universe.

Now Paul talks about it in Ephesians chapter 1 beginning to read at verse 19. "...and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

So Paul in another way expresses that exultation where Christ is raised above all dominions and powers, and a name that is given that is above all name of all time and eternity. Now before Christ was exalted, He made some promises. Let's go back and check those promises. Go with me to John chapter 16.

Before Christ was exalted into heaven, ascended into heaven, here's what He said to His disciples. Look at verse 50 of John chapter 16: "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."

Jesus said, I am going away, but I'm going to send to you a helper, the Holy Spirit. It was only a few days after His arrival in heaven that promise was fulfilled. Go back with me to Acts chapter 2, and here we have the promise fulfilled. Jesus said I will send you a helper. Look at what it says in Acts 2:1, "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."

So Jesus immediately arriving back in glory receives that eternal glory, is given a position of the highest in the universe, and then He commences to fulfill His promise. He sends the Holy Spirit and the church has its birthday.

Now He made another promise. Go back again to John chapter 14. We're just going back a few pages. John 14 and Jesus made another promise before going to heaven. Look at what He says. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know."

Jesus said I'm going away, but I'm going to start the preparation for a place so you can ultimately someday be with Me. We call that heaven. Now John sees that glorious place in his revelation vision. So go with me to the last page, the printed page, of your Bible. It's Revelation chapter 21, and John sees that beautiful place that's prepared for us called heaven.

It begins in verse 9, Revelation 21, "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day [there shall be no night there]. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

So the Christ who ascended into the heaven fulfilled His promise, send His Holy Spirit, and is building for us that eternal city, which someday when he calls us home we will stay there and spend eternity with Him. Now the question is, Is He doing something else? And we go to the book of Hebrews. The writer to the book of Hebrews tells us what Jesus Christ is doing in heaven. He is known as the One who intercedes on our behalf. He ever liveth to intercede for us. And so the writer to the Hebrews is going to introduce Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest. In heaven, He is our Great High Priest.

And he does this, he starts the introduction in chapter 2 of Hebrews beginning to read at verse 14. Follow along: "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same."

Pause - the writer to the Hebrews is introducing Christ and he says just like us He shared in our human frame; He shared in our humanness. He likewise shared in the same, "that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." And here is the reference to the great victory when Christ comes out of the tomb Satan is totally defeated and the one who causes fear. Look at verse 15, "and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Because Christ lives, we live also.

Then he goes on, "For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren (that's like us), that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

The writer to the Hebrews is simply saying, Christ came to this earth, took on our humanness, our human form, and in that human form He died being the sacrifice for our sins, the propitiation for our sins. He suffered so that He might be our faithful High Priest.

Now he continues the subject in Chapter 4. Look at verse 14, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens... We've read about that. Jesus ascending into the heavens - passed into the heavens. Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The writer now presents to us our Christ, the Great High Priest, who passed into the heavens, and he says that we have a Great High Priest who has the capacity to sympathize with us. And that was so because He came to this earth, He suffered the pain, the rejection, all that took place in His journey here on earth. He understands the journey we're in, and thus, because He has shared in our experiences, the writer to the Hebrews says we have one that we can go to, our Great High Priest, and He has that capability to understand, to sympathize with our weaknesses because He made the same journey we're making.

I can go to God in prayer and sometimes just bow before Him weeping and I don't have to say anything because He knows my heart. He knows the pain I feel. He understands rejection. He understands being hated, and He understands being misunderstood. The writer says our Great High Priest has the full capability of understanding us, and not only understanding us, but sympathizing with us. He knows our frame. He knows that we are dust. We have a High Priest, he says, who sympathizes with us, and therefore we have every right and every joy to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Now let's go on. Chapter 5 - now he's going to list for us the qualifications of Christ's priesthood. He's called Him the Great High Priest. Now to understand what he is moving into now, we have to just take a moment to go back in the Old Testament in the early moments when God established the place the temple or the Tabernacle for worship. He set aside a group of men who were to be the priests to serve in that particular place of worship. And God selected the tribe of Levi, remember there are 12 tribes in the tribes of Israel. God selects the tribe of Levi. That is why it's called the Levitical priesthood.

So He selects a tribe and He says to this tribe, you and you alone will serve in the religious sacrifices and duties of worship. But not every Levi was selected for priesthood. He said only from the house of Aaron will the priests come. And thus, born into the house of Aaron and you were of the lineage of Aaron, you were automatically a priest. Priests were not priests because they qualified, because they were religious and righteous; they weren't. They were sinners, but they were priests because they came through the line of Aaron.

That's why we find that in the reading of the Old Testament time after time you'll notice that the priests, God has to judge very severely. In fact even Aaron's sons - God has been very specific, this is the way we make the sacrifice, this is the way we light the altars, and the Bible says those sons brought in strange fire and immediately fire consumed them and they were gone, and Aaron wasn't even allowed to cry.

You come to Eli, and Eli's sons equally are sinful and because they misuse the House of God, God judges them with death. So remember those ancient priests came through the line of Aaron. They were priests because they were born into the family. They were not priests because they were holy men. They were sinners just like us, and that's what the writer's going to say.

For every high priest taken from among men (that's from the line of Aaron) is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.

Now what is happening is the writer to Hebrews is starting to formulate a marvelous argument for the superiority of Christ in His priesthood. Let's go back just a moment: In the Old Testament the position of the priest was exceedingly important. It was their genuine belief, and that's the way it was, that's the way God had set it up, that you had to go through the priest to come to God. Now God started this way back in the garden. Remember after the fall, Adam and Eve were taken to the edge of the garden, He sends them on their way, and He sets up angels, cherubims, with flaming swords of fire, and He says to them, don't you ever come back in here again. They're sinners, and God drops the dividing wall between the sinners and Himself as they leave the garden.

You go to the structure of the Old Testament Tabernacle and sinner Man could only come so far into the temple area, give his sacrifice, but God ultimately dropped that veil down and said, this far, no further. God's holiness would not entertain the sinfulness of man. The only way that God could be contacted would be through the priest on the high Day of Atonement where he went to the very presence of God.

So in the minds of those ancient Jewish people they knew the importance or the position and the Ministry of the priesthood, and they were exceedingly important to them. And thus, what the writer to the Hebrews is going to do is he's going to show Jesus superior to their priesthood.

Now there's another thing we have to understand, as we work our way through the book of Hebrews, we have to know that it was written to Hebrew people. They had come out of their Hebrew faith. They had made the commitment to Jesus Christ and put their trust in Him, but they had reached a point where they seemed to be disappointed and discouraged and some of them - and we find this in the text - some of them were beginning to drift back towards Judaism with all of its ceremony and with all of its ritual and with its priests, and as a result there was that tendency to draw them back to Judaism. And the writer to the Hebrews has this in goal, No, don't go back to the ancient Levitical system, I want to present to you Jesus Christ who is far superior than any other Levitical priest, and thus he begins that presentation.

He says that because of this he is required (he's speaking of the Levitical priests) who also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And then he goes a step further - and no man takes this honor to himself. Nobody could just walk up, even though he was an Israelite and just simply say, I'm going to be a priest. Oh no. God said only those from the line of Aaron will be the priests. Nobody else can take this. And even if one tried to fulfill the role of a priest, even if he was a king, he was judged. God wouldn't allow the king to fulfill the religious duties of a priest. In fact, Saul tried it and God judged him severely for it. He took away his kingdom. And so God made a very clear cleavage between priesthood and kingship. And as a result, the writer says no man takes this honor to himself, but only he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

Now, if you were a Hebrew and you were listening and you were reading this writing, he has already gotten our attention. He has called Christ the High Priest. But that is impossible in their minds. Jesus didn't come from the tribe of Levi. He came from the tribe of Judah, and they knew that. And thus the writer to the Hebrews reaches back into history to show that not only was there one priesthood back in ancient times, there were two priesthoods. The priesthood of Melchizedek and the priesthood at Aaron.

Look at the next verse. He says, "So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:" God Almighty is the one that says, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You.' As He also says in another place: 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'"

Now we are getting into deep theology so I'll go just as slow as I can, but this is a tremendous argument on Paul's part. Paul said I want to introduce to you Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest of heaven, and I want to make a comparison to Christ and Melchizedek. Well who's Melchizedek?

Well, let's go clear back in the front pages of our Bible again. We go to Genesis because this is a brilliant part of Paul's argument to the superiority of Christ's priesthood. Chapter 14 in Genesis is possibly page 8 or 9 in your Bible. We have the story, an ancient story, where... You remember Lot went and lived down in Sodom, a king invaded Sodom and took off with all the people and its goods and headed north into Syria, and Lot is of course now a captive of this king.

Verse 14 says, Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus (which of course would be into Syria today). So he brought back, in other words he wins, he takes the people away from this king that has taken them out of Sodom and he brings them back.

So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." An interesting scene.

We only have one other reference and that's in Psalm 110; just those three verses. It says as Abram was coming back from Syria he's got Lot and everything has been rescued and bringing them back home to Sodom, as he goes by Jerusalem, which was then known as the city of Salem, the city of peace, he's met by Melchizedek, and Melchizedek comes to Abram and look at what he says to Abram. Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies.

He comes out of nowhere. We don't know, in fact, when we get back to Hebrews - let's go to Hebrews chapter 7 - something is said about this Melchizedek. Chapter 7 says, For this Melchizedek, 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 translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Here's what the writer of Hebrews does, he introduces us to a man who marches briefly across the pages of history. No genealogy is known about him. We don't know where he came from. When you read the Bible expositors some say maybe he could have been an angel, Melchizedek could have been an angel, he could maybe have been Jesus Himself. We don't know, and in that we do not know, I'll simply leave that in an unknown position.

All we know is that the writer says here is Melchizedek. We don't know when he was born. We don't know his genealogy. We don't know when he died. We know that he blessed Abraham and therefore he is referenced as a priest forever and he compares Christ to him.

Now here's what the writer of Hebrews is doing, he's taking the idea of priesthood and he is saying Jesus is our Great High Priest. They're in their mind saying, He can't be a priest because He's not of the tribe of Levi. The writer of the Hebrews says, yes, He is a priest He's after the order of Melchizedek. And here's his point, there's was a priesthood, their father of the Jewish nation was Abraham, and they are saying that even Abraham was blessed by him. The greater blessed the lesser, and the greater received tithe from the lesser, and therefore the Melchizedek priesthood was greater than the priesthood of Levi.

You say, Pastor, that is interesting. But here's what the writer to the Hebrews is establishing: the Levitical priesthood was made up of sinners. They could only serve between the ages of 25 and 50, and they were done. It ended. Here he introduces Christ as the Great High Priest and likens Him to Melchizedek who is a priest forever without genealogy, without beginning or end of days, and he is saying Christ is superior because He is the eternal priest. He lives forever. He rose from the dead. And thus what he does, he sets the priesthood of Melchizedek above the priesthood of Aaron, and thus presenting Christ as the supreme High Priest of heaven.

Now, my time is gone and you have been very patient. I'll go back and rework that with you next week, all right? And then we'll come to our notes and our notes I think will take us into this wonderful picture of Christ our Great High Priest.

I don't remember in many years of taking time to go through in detail of the priesthood of Christ, but when we finish, the Lord willing next week, we'll understand what a precious and wonderful truth it is to know that we have a Great High Priest who intercedes on our behalf, who is our advocate in heaven, and who ever liveth to make intercession for this. Amen?

Lord Jesus, Your word is precious, sometimes deep, sometimes difficult for us to comprehend, but its truths are still glorious. Jesus You are the eternal King. You conquered death. You ascended into the heavens, and You live for ever more and You live to make intercession for us. Thank you for being our Great High Priest. In Your name we pray, amen. God bless you folks. © Copyright 2005 Church of the Highlands