Hebrews 7:25, Part 1

Introduction: The Superior Priesthood of Christ

0:03 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, November 6, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews this morning, the book of Hebrews, and I shall read in your hearing verses 11 through 25. Hebrews, chapter 7, verses 11 through 25. In this portion of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer is setting forth the ministry of Christ as a high priest after the order not of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek, and in the midst of a rather intricate and yet blessed ministry. Argument and development of thought, he writes, now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood, for under it hath the people received the law, what further need was there that

1:19 another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is...

1:34 ...made of necessity a change also of the law.

1:38 For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no man has given attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of...

2:04 Melchizedek, there arises another priest, who has been made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For it is witnessed of him, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness. The law made nothing perfect, and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God.

2:46 And inasmuch as it is not without the taking of an oath, for they indeed have been made priests without an oath, but he with an oath, by him that said of him, and the Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever. By so much of...

3:04 But also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant, and they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing. But he, because he abides forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost. Them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for them.

Context and Purpose: Confidence in Christ's Priesthood

3:46 Now those of you who come regularly to this place of worship, and have been doing so for at least a period of several months, are very much aware of the fact that we have come through a period of intense and sustained self-examination. In the ministry of the word, a period in which I preach some twenty-three messages under the heading, Are you for real? And what I am doing now, before we take up our verse-by-verse studies in the book of 1 Peter, is seeking to give some balancing truth from the word of God, by focusing on the pivotal text of scripture, which constitute the very meat and potatoes of the true Christian's confidence, as he continues in that compressed, that restricted way which alone leads to life. And thus far we have examined Philippians 1 and verse 6, Psalm 37, verse 24, and 1.

5:05 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 23 and 24. Now the text upon which we will focus our attention today is Hebrews 7 and verse 25. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.

5:40 Now as we look at the text, it is obvious that we cannot responsibly understand it without spending at least a few moments seeking to catch at least the overarching drift of its context. In connection with what goes before, for you'll notice our text begins with the connective word wherefore. And as I was instructed as a very young Christian that whenever I found the word wherefore in scripture, I should ask the question, why for? And this connective wherefore at the beginning of our text, one of the favorite connective words of the writer to the Hebrews. He points us to what goes before as laying the foundation to which this text is a glorious conclusion. Now those of you familiar with the overarching theme of the book of Hebrews know that it is an epistle in which the writer by the guidance of the Holy Spirit is setting before us again and again.

6:59 He is seeking to persuade Hebrew Christians who are under tremendous pressure to go back to those things of the old covenant, to abandon the realities of attachment to Christ and the blessings of the new covenant. He is seeking to show them that to do so is to go from the better things to those things that are due to come. In my point of view, the two verses have to be direct, and that is the one that is designated by a number of terms all of which show that they are inferior to the realities that are now set before us in Christ and in the gospel. And perhaps the best way to summarize the immediately preceding emphasis is simply to read a few sentences from Charles Spurgeon who when he began to preach on this text introduced his sermon with these words. When handling the Jewish types and figures with which he was so familiar, the author was charmed to point out how far superior the Lord Jesus Christ is to any and all of the priests of the Old Testament dispensation.

8:19 In this case, he is dwelling upon the special honor of our Lord because his priesthood is without end, seeing he himself is not put forth from the priesthood by reason of death. A common priest under the Old Testament served from 30 to 50 years of age, and then his work was done. Priests of the house of Aaron, who became high priests, held their office through life. Sometimes a high priest would continue in his office, therefore, for a considerable length of time.

9:00 But in many cases, he was cut off, as other men are, by premature death. Hence, there was priest after priest in the order of Aaron to go within the veil for the people. But our Lord is not a priest. He is a priest of another race, being a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.

9:26 He was made a priest not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. He continues to make intercession for the people of God by virtue of his eternal life and perpetual priesthood. In this respect, the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, rises above all former priests. They were indeed but pipes and shadows of himself.

9:59 And here, if you were listening at all to the reading of the word of God, you would acknowledge that Spurgeon has captured the essence of this part of the development of thought in the epistle to the Hebrews. Now, in the light, of this glorious conclusion, with respect to the unchangeable priesthood of Christ, whose priesthood never changes because he is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a priest with endless life, in the light of this reality, the writer to Hebrews then pens the words, Wherefore also, he is a, able to say to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for them. And as I attempt to open up and apply this text in your hearing this morning, I shall do so under two major headings. We have first of all the assuring affirmation. Wherefore, he is able to say, save to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through him.

The Assuring Affirmation: Christ's Ability to Save to the Uttermost

11:24 That is the assuring affirmation. And then in the latter part of the verse, we have the satisfying explanation, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for them. First of all then, we begin with the assuring affirmation, and there are three things that I would have you note from the text that constitute this assuring affirmation. First of all, the subject of it.

12:02 Our text abounds in pronouns. Wherefore also, he is able to save to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for them. But who is the subject of these pronouns? Well, the subject is obviously none other than the one designated in verse 22 by the proper name and title, Jesus.

12:35 By so much also has Jesus become the surety of a better covenant, and they indeed have been made priests, many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing, but he, referring back to Jesus, because he, Jesus, abides forever, has his priesthood unchangeable, wherefore also he is able. So the subject of this assuring affirmation is Jesus Christ himself, but not Jesus in abstraction, but Jesus in his position and activity as a never-dying high priest. And it is important as we seek to examine the text to remember that the reference to our Lord Jesus in the words, he is able, those that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever, ever lives, these are not generic references to our Lord Jesus, but they are references to Jesus,

13:57 particularly with respect to his position and activity as the never-dying, ever-living high priest of his people. When we are confronted with him in the preceding context, it is in terms of this great reality that he has a priesthood that can never pass on to another because that which necessitated the passing on of the priesthood in the Old Testament will never be true of him. It was by reason of death, verse 23, that the Old Testament priest and the high priest were hindered from continuance in their office. But because he will never die, because he is possessed with an unending life, the subject of this assuring affirmation is Jesus in his position and activity as the never-dying high priest. Now, let me pause to say by way of application that as the people of God, we must learn and relearn and relearn again

15:26 that our increasing strength and stability in the life to which God calls us in that restricted way is in no little measure a life that will be stabilized and strengthened and established. And established in an ever-growing knowledge of the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will take more than little shots of happy feelings along the way to keep us in the way. And very, very early in this epistle, the writer says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider, that is, exercise your mental faculties under the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit in the presence of truth, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession. We are to consider him. We are to think of him. We are to exercise our minds with respect to his person and work, particularly in terms of his being our never-dying high priest

16:53 at the right hand of the Father. So the subject, then, of this assuring affirmation is Jesus himself, but Jesus in his position and activity as the never-dying high priest of his life. Of his people. But now, in this assuring affirmation, having identified the subject of it, what is the essence of it?

The Essence of Christ's Saving Ability

17:24 What is the essence of this assuring affirmation? Well, according to the text, it is nothing less than his ability to save his people to the uttermost. Wherefore, also, he is able to save, to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through him. Now, the key words are obviously these.

17:58 We'll take them in the order in which they occur in the original text. To be saving.

18:07 To be saving.

18:11 What does that mean? Well, in this passage, to be saving means nothing less than to actually impart to all of the people of God everything essential to their complete rescue from sin and its consequences unto the total number of the blessings of redemptive grace purposed by the Father, purchased by the Son, and ultimately made the internal personal possession by the work of the Holy Spirit. The essence of this assuring affirmation is that in some way in connection with our High Priest, we are to be assured that he is able to save, to rescue from all of our dangers, and to confer upon us all of the blessings of his grace. And here the word uttermost is used. Panteles. The only other use in the New Testament is Luke 13 and verse 11, and it may give us a clue as to its meaning.

19:38 Luke chapter 13 and verse 11. What does it mean to save to the uttermost? Describing our Lord's ministry, he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up.

20:06 She could not completely come to an erect position. She never had the posture of someone completely or fully whole. She carried about in her very body the visual evidence of her malady. That's the word that is used here.

20:31 And if that's the sense of the word, then what it is saying is he, that is, our great high priest, the Lord Jesus, is able to save to the uttermost, that is, completely, fully, wholly, and then, where the focus would be, upon the extent to which his saving work will be accomplished. Others suggest that the word inevitably gathers to itself the idea of duration. Not just completely as to extent, but forever as to its duration. And some of the most astute linguists and students of the Greek language say, that probably both ideas are inseparably bound up in the use of this word. But whatever the precise nuance is and was in the mind of the Spirit of God, this much is clear. This affirmation points us to the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, that is, with a salvation that leaves nothing lacking, that will be holy and totally complete in all of its parts, in the hearts

22:00 and lives, even the bodies of his redeemed ones. And in the original, the word he is able comes at the end of the phrase.

22:13 Wherefore,

22:16 to save to the uttermost,

22:20 he is able. He is able. Dunatai. He has the power and the will to bring this work of deliverance unto its full completion.

The Objects of Christ's Saving Work: Those Who Draw Near Through Him

22:37 There is no want of power in this never-dying high priest after the order of Melchizedek to save to the uttermost those that draw near unto God through him. Let me pause and say by way of application as we have contemplated for these few minutes the essence of this assuring affirmation. Isn't this the great concern of the true child of God? Having established that by the grace of God I have come through the narrow gate, by the grace of God I am found upon the restricted way, by the grace of God I have been kept upon that way to this hour, yet knowing his Bible he knows that there are many who were persuaded that they came through the narrow gate and were upon the restricted way who ultimately apostatized.

23:41 The great problem here in Hebrews there were those who tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and openly profess a faith participation in the virtue of the blood and righteousness of Christ and yet they fell away. One of the sad things about growing old is to see how many of whom at one time we would have if it were an ethically proper thing to do we would have bet every last nickel in our possession that so and so surely has come through the narrow gate of true conversion. Having observed them over a period of months or years we would have said surely so and so is on the restricted way that leads unto life. There are the ongoing evidences of attachment to Christ alone as the ground of their confidence. There is evidence that they are not living unto self but unto Christ and others. There are manifold indications that sin no longer exercises lordship over them and that they are not presenting their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin as the pattern of their lives and abundant indications that they have divorced the world and thrown the ring away yet yet we live long enough to see them ultimately turn aside

25:09 and out of the way and as far as we can see irrecoverably irretrievably they live out the rest of their days and die and die and we have little reason to believe they are anything but miserable apostates and the true child of God who sees this horrible frightening reality in scripture who observes it validated in the scope of his own limited life's experience his great concern is this having once established am I through the gate and on the way shall I make it to the end of the way shall I be found at the end of the way crossing the river and being ushered into the celestial city there see my savior face face well you see for that child of God the text like this is indeed a comforting affirmation because it takes all of his attention away from the from those who seem to come through the gate and be upon the way and have since turned aside it takes all of his attention away from what he knows is in his own heart

26:38 the horrible potential within his own breast the actings of which he lives with day by day and it puts all of his attention upon a mighty and an able savior wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost completely he is able to save to the realization in our own experience of every facet of being rescued from sin and its consequences unto the full scope of all of the blessings of his grace though having considered the subject of this assuring comforting affirmation the essence of it now look at the objects of it who has a right to claim this passage for himself that's a very very vital question wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost then then that draw near unto God through him here the objects of this

28:08 affirmation this assuring affirmation are described not in terms of a general description of all mankind it doesn't say he is able to save to the uttermost all of humanity all the sons and daughters of Adam because he's come to reveal the heart of a God who so loves all of his creatures in all places in all ages and to his so much all love and pure love undiluted love that he could do nothing with any of his creatures but ultimately at last save them all that's the vicious damning lie of universalism and it has many many forms but our text lends no basis to it nor does our text give any encouragement to people who simply go through the motions of a profession of a decision for Christ notice our text does not say he's able to save to the uttermost them who at one time professed faith in him those who at one time raised a hand walked an aisle prayed a prayer there is nothing here that points to , to anything that applies to all men in general or to a specific group of men who have made

29:38 a profession of faith who have taken the name of Christ who have gone through some religious ritual associated with coming to Christ but notice the precision of the language they are described as those literally who are continually drawn near unto God through him now that's the description of a true Christian a true Christian is the man or the woman who is continually drawing near unto the living God through Christ not again some nebulous Jesus some Jesus who's the concoction of the best insights of philosophers and philanthropists no no the him is the Jesus of the passage he is God's only appointed and final high priest after the order of Melchizedek the long promised Messiah God's final prophet priest and king and the saints the true people of God are described as those who are drawing near unto God through him now let's take a moment

31:06 to focus upon those words the word draw near what does it mean well it's the word used in a passage we often quote I trust we do in our personal prayers it's quoted quite frequently in our prayer meetings back in chapter 4 in verse 16 the writer to the Hebrews saying having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the son of God let us hold fast our confession then reminding us that that high priest can empathize with us in our trials and in our infirmities we have another exhortation verse 16 let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace now in that setting the word draw near the meaning is obvious let us consciously and deliberately seek to enter in to a present experience of heightened intensified communion with God that's what he's saying when he says let us draw near to the throne of grace let us truly pray let us enter into conscious deliberate intensified approaches unto God in the light of the fact that it is right hand

32:34 is a sympathetic understanding empathetic high priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities so the term legitimately can refer to the conscious action of the heart and soul of a believer who is drawing near to God privately or it can have reference to drawing near to God in stated corporate worship look at chapter 10 verse 1 for the law having a shadow of the good things to come not the very image of the things can never with the same sacrifices year by year which they offer continually make perfect them that draw nigh same word here the word draw nigh is found in a very specific setting of the formal rubrics of old covenant worship by which the priest in his activity in the presence of the congregation acting on their behalf they were a people drawing near to God in the ways of his own appointment they were seeking to engage their hearts and minds and souls in heightened intensified avenues

34:02 of heart communion and fellowship with the living God now here the objects of this marvelous this encouraging this assuring affirmation are true Christians and how are true Christians described they are described as a people who are continually continually drawing near unto God they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good they've come to possess that eternal life which is described by our Lord Jesus in its essence as follows this is life eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent to be a possessor of eternal life is to have tasted and seen that the Lord is good it is to have known internal real heart communion with God and with his beloved son and therefore having tasted and having seen the pattern of the disposition of the soul of a true believer is one of drawing near unto God but notice it is

35:31 those who draw near unto God through him through him that is they do not deal with God nakedly without the interposition of a mediator and a redeemer for they know that God outside of Christ is nothing but a consumer higher to the sinner they have no silly notions that they can trip into the presence of God like that stupid spiritually blind Pharisee and stand in the nakedness of his own native Adamic ugliness thinking that he was beautiful in the sight of God saying oh God I thank you I'm not as ugly I don't do this and I don't do that and I am not this and I am not that and I'm not even like this publican no no a Christian is one who does not merely draw near to God if that made everyone a Christian then the way would be broad there are many who have great religious experiences that they would describe as experiences

37:00 with God who will speak of being overwhelmed with a sense of the majesty and the awesomeness and the love and even the kindness of God but when you speak to them do you know anything of a redeemer have you seen yourself to be so lost blind dead and vile in and of yourself that to draw near to God you need one who can by his activity deal righteously with the problem of your guilt deal powerfully and effectively with the problem of your defilement and your pollution which makes you odious to God they look at you like you were talking in a foreign language no the objects of this promise are true Christians and true Christians are described as the ones who continually draw near to God but always draw near to God through Him that is through the mediation of the Lord Jesus through Him who is described in verse 27 as the one who offered up unto God this

38:28 once for all sacrifice of Himself and the name of Jesus is not something they tack on to the end of their prayers because that's something they picked up by osmosis being around Christians no they are conscious that if they are to draw near to the one true and living God who is a consuming fire before whom sinless creatures veil face and feet and cry one to another holy holy holy surely they must draw near to the one who came from the presence of the Father and brought to His work of redemption all the power and the virtue of deity joined Himself to a true human soul and body in the womb of the virgin that He might bring to His work all of the essential qualities of a real but sanctified and holy humanity that in that humanity He might live the life we should have lived so that the Father could say of one human being as He could say only of one from the moment Adam fell this is my Son my Beloved in whom I am well only one human being who could say in truth I do

39:57 always the things that please my Father and it is that one who in obedience to the Father after the wrestlings of Gethsemane not my will but Thine be done willingly voluntarily in His position as High Priest made Himself the very offering that was presented up to God and consumed by the fires of God's righteous judgment while He hung upon the cross feeling in His soul the abandonment the dereliction the only peace of God the great fury of God causing Him to cry my God my God why hast Thou forsaken me and having been placed in a tomb the third day came forth in resurrection power Scripture telling us raised through the glory of the Father yet He Himself saying I have power to lay down my life I have power all of the virtue and the power of deity and all of the necessary elements of a true humanity it is that one who having been raised from the dead is seated at the right hand of the Father there embodying in His person

41:26 and by His presence there securing our access unto the very God who sent Him into the world and every Christian says without mental reservation without any equivocation without any reservation I want no approaches to God but through Him but through Him I glory in the privilege of approaching the God of Heaven calling Him my Father knowing that His heart is towards me and all the engagement of His covenant and mercy are towards me this is the description of those for whom this assuring affirmation is given not every Tom Dick and Harry that names the name of Christ not all men and women in general but those who are drawing near unto God through Him now I ask you is that you would be described as a man a woman a boy or girl who as a pattern of life draws near

42:53 to God through Him answer in your own heart not outwardly but inwardly with the honesty that you'll be forced to reckon with in the day of judgment when you pray whether it's giving thanks for your food whether it's quote having do you seek to have true communion with God not do you say your prayers do you have your devotions but do you attempt to draw near you see bound up in that very verb is the concept that there is an experiential going out of the heart in affections and desires to God Himself I'm not saying do you feel you are able to draw near every time you seek to I'm not saying do you have the same felt awareness of having drawn near to the same degree every time you seek to that is it my question my question is simply this do you seek to draw near to God do you even know what I'm talking about or are you sitting there respectfully talking about I say my prayers I have my devotions I have family worship but drawing

44:22 near to God what's he talking about my friend if you don't know then you've never drawn near for once you've drawn near and you have known what it is to experience something of that which is of the very essence of eternal life to know God but the Lord is good the spirit of God is implanted within you a disposition by his own presence which according to the words of the apostle in Romans 8 and verse 16 and 17 in Galatians 4 6 is ever moving impelling stirring us up to draw near and to call him Abba Father and forth the spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Father in the language of Romans 8 16 the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if the children of God then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ we've not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the spirit of Abba Father

45:51 we know what it is to draw near and we know what it is sometimes with a more heightened awareness than others that it's only through him when we consciously sin and our consciences are in a state of turmoil because of the awareness of a specific sin the angry word the lustful thought the latent act of insensitivity or indifference whatever the sin may be in those times there is a more heightened consciousness O God I hardly dare use your name without fixing the gaze of my soul upon your son if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness there are other times we are so full of joy that we come right into the presence of God with praise and adoration and we are not consciously thinking at that moment I have access only in and through the mediation of Christ dear people why am I giving all the qualifications because I don't want to load any true child of God with a standard that goes beyond the scriptures but at the end of the day

47:19 I didn't write these words I want to 내려iver you I was I don't believe that you have been willing to serve me to the uttermost God through Him and if that's not you then Christ is not saving you But knowing himself to be a sinner, he knows he can only have them in and through Christ. But his relationship to Christ makes him God-hungry, God-thirsty, God-seeking. Bunyan has a marvelous sermon on this passage. It's been a long time since I read it, but when I was preparing, I remembered one point that he made that has stuck with me through the years. He said, this passage marks out very, very powerfully the line between true and false religion.

48:29 He said, in false religion, people say they are having dealings with God, but it's not through Christ. Or, they say they're having dealings with Christ, but it doesn't lead them to a life of devotion to God. In either case, it's false religion. True religion finds us.

48:53 It finds us drawing near to God, and ever and always through Christ.

The Satisfying Explanation: His Endless Life and Perpetual Intercession

49:02 Well, having considered together in greater fullness the assuring affirmation, much more briefly now, look at the satisfying explanation. Why is it true that he is able to say to the uttermost, them that draw near unto God through him? The word seeing, or any...

49:26 Substitute for it is not in the original. It's very clipped language.

49:33 But it does set before us the satisfying explanation. How can these things be? On what grounds does his ability to save to the uttermost operate? And the satisfying explanation sets before us two simple facts.

49:52 The reality of his endless life, and the efficacy of his perpetual intercession. First, the reality of his endless life. Look at the text. Seeing he ever liveth, he always living, able to save to the uttermost, because he always lives.

50:24 Now, think of the contrast with the Old Testament high priest, there would be a day in Israel when a trusted, faithful, godly high priest would die. And those who had come particularly in those most solemn, sacred days, the day of atonement, to look upon that particular high priest with unusual reverence and almost awe that he would go into the immediate presence of God behind the veil, going in with the blood on the day of atonement and come forth and be able to say that sins are passed over for another year, and raise his hands in priestly blessing. What a horrible thing it must have been when word would make its way through the camp of Israel. Did you hear? So and so, the high priest.

51:28 How many times an Israelite who lived to length of years, years might have known that experience. Well, you see, the satisfying explanation of Christ's ability to say to the uttermost, all who draw near unto God through him is first of all the reality of his endless life. He ever lives. Our high priest will never die. All of the authority with which he has been invested, all of the work that he has accomplished to make his priestly work in heaven efficacious, it will never be frustrated by death. He ever lives. That's the great emphasis of this whole section where we are being taught that he's a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, who having no beginning nor end of days, we have no record of his genealogy. He appears on the screen. He appears on the screen. He

52:27 appears on the screen. He appears on the screen. He appears on the screen. He appears on the screen. We have no record of his death. He moves off the scene. And in so doing is a bit of a picture of him who is the ancient of days, who has no beginning as the second person of the Godhead, for in the beginning was the Word, but the Word became flesh. Though he died, he was raised from the dead never to die again. And in all the virtue of the work accomplished in his life and death here upon earth, he ever is living. It's the reality of his endless life that explains the virtue and the power of his salvation. But then the focus is secondly upon the efficacy of his perpetual intercession. An amazing statement. Seeing he ever lives. A new

53:28 academy student. Students, you have one of these constructions that indicates a purpose clause. You have the preposition ice or ace with the infinitive. And it indicates a purpose clause. Why does he ever live? Well, if we were to turn to other passages with respect to himself, he ever lives. That he might ever enjoy the adoration of the host of heaven as the reward of his suffering, as the reward of all that he undertook on behalf of sinners. He ever lives to receive the adulation and the praise of the host of heaven, the spirits of just men made perfect. He ever lives to carry

54:16 on his ongoing work of redemption, asking of the Father and receiving the nations for his inheritance in the uttermost part of the earth for his possession. And let me by a little aside this out. Christian, you ever wondered why did God send forth his spirit at the precise time and in the precise circumstances in my life that resulted in my conversion? I believe the answer lies here and in the parallel passages in John 17. And the Lord Jesus said, Father, that one is part of my inheritance among the nations. Send your spirit to get it.

55:06 When it pleased God, Paul said, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me. When it pleased God to reveal his son in me. God did it. Dramatically, yes.

The Efficacy of His Perpetual Intercession

55:25 And in many of us, much less dramatically. But if we are indeed those who are coming unto God through him, we are the fruit of one day. And I mentioned that the ever livingness of the work of Christ. But you see, the emphasis here falls upon an amazing reality. He ever lives in order to. If this is the only verse we had, we would think this is the only reason Christ now lives at the right hand of the Father, is to make intercession for us. Now this word intercession is not a common word used, as one of the many synonyms for prayer. But a good illustration of its significance is found in Acts chapter 25 and verse 24. And surely you're not weary in trying to find out precisely what your Lord is doing for you. Acts 25 and verse 24. And Festus said, King Agrippa and all the men who are

56:34 here present with us, you behold this man about whom all the multitude of the Jews, made suit unto me. There's our word. They made request unto me. They presented a specific petition or request with respect to this man. And then it is used in a context where we would associate the concept of prayer in Romans 8.27, the Holy Spirit making intercession. Romans 8.34, Christ died and risen from the dead.

57:10 Who is also at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us. Now does that mean that Christ is specifically making petitions to the Father, as we think of intercession here? Does it mean that by his ever-living presence, he himself is the embodiment of all of the virtue of the saving work accomplished on earth? The very presence is the intercession? Well, it may surprise some of you to know that godly, I'm not talking about speculative intellectual religious eggheads, I'm talking about godly Christ-loving people have wrestled with that question, have written reams on that question, and have entered into very serious debates about the question. And I'll not weary you even to sketch in those debates, but one thing is clear. If this text is given to the original Hebrew Christians, pressured by affliction, feeling the reality of the pressures of their own sin, the pressure of their peers to turn back, to turn away, to save themselves, if

58:28 the writer to the Hebrews wants to put that gleam in the eye by which they seize the prize with their eye, surely he's conveying things that ought to be to their comfort. And I believe we can draw our comfort from this without being dogmatic, since scripture is its own infallible interpreter. It is safe to say that whatever it means that Christ, at the right hand of the Father, as our abiding, ever-living high priest, lives in order to pour his risen life into interceding for us, that surely the contour of our life will be fulfilled. In the same way that his death and resurrection were made clear by the age of Christ, we also have the great example of how the universe in the musical arc of the human life comes into being. It is in the text that it is shown to be taken from the two great examples of how he did that here on earth. There you have John 17 as the broad outline of the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus on behalf of his people, where he prays for their preservation from evil and the evil what? He prays for their

59:44 sanctification, he prays for their unification, and he prays for a good and a good and a good thing. He says that we are not only to help but to always be in love with God the world and to always be in love with God the world. He says that we are not only to help but to work with the for their glorification.

59:47 But then you have that specific instance in the case of Peter, familiar to most of you. In the interest of time, we cannot turn and look at it in detail, but you remember in Luke 22, 31, Peter, Satan has desired all of you to sift you as wheat. But I pray for you, specifically Peter, that your faith fail not, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. And see, if our Lord Jesus were not God, possessed in His divine mind, with all of the knowledge of all of His people and all of the earth, in every place, at any given moment, He could never perform this task.

60:33 But think of it.

60:35 With His divine mind, His intercession is as extensive as the unlimited omniscience of God. But because He carried into heaven the nature that He had here on earth, in which He was suffering, in which He was tempted, in which He was distressed, in which He was maligned and misunderstood, there is a reservoir in the heart and mind of Jesus. For He still possesses that human mind and human affections.

61:13 He can join to all of the knowledge of omniscience. All of the tenderness and the compassion and the empathy of one who is in our state. Isn't that the teaching of Hebrews 2 and Hebrews 4? We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

61:34 One who has been, not is, has been in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Well, if He shed the memory of all of that when He left the earth, what comfort does that give me? But if He's carried that with Him into heaven, ah, what consolation to know He ever lives to intercede for me. But if He's not God, He'd be so busy with a lot of His other children who are doing far more important things in the kingdom than I am.

62:07 How could I ever expect to get a hearing?

62:11 Dear child of God, here's the satisfying explanation for why He's able to save us to the uttermost, to the complete end of all that He purchased for our redemption by His intercession. He secures for us, His people, all that He purposed for us and purchased on our behalf.

Pastoral Application and Warning

62:41 I know sitting there, you say, Pastor, thoughts like that, they blow my mind. They blow mine too. But thank God that faith may sway where reason may only wane. I say to every true child of God sitting here this morning, who can say by the grace of God, I'm one of them.

63:11 I do draw near to God through the Christ of biblical revelation. That's the overarching disposition of my soul. It has all of its variations and vicissitudes and degrees of intensification. Yes, yes, but basically, that's me.

63:37 That's me. Then, dear child of God, listen to this word. He is able, He is able, able to save to the uttermost, to the complete impartation of all that He purposed, the complete deliverance of everything that has to do with sin, and its influence upon you. The explanation for it is the reality of His endless life and the efficacy of His perpetual intercession.

64:16 Learn to look to Him as your hybrid. Say to Him in prayer, Lord Jesus, why you would ever live for the purpose of giving yourself to intercede for me. I'll never know, but you've said it, and it's your statements of reality that will frame my faith and my expectations and shape my prayers as I press on in that restricted way that leads unto life.

64:48 If there are any among us who have come from a background where you believe the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, I hope you've already seen how utterly faceless how in the world can Mary intercede for you, unless she's God. And if you make her God, then you're an idolater. And no idolater shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Repent of your idolatry or you'll perish.

65:17 Oh, she's not God. She's just a saint. Well, if she's just a human being, elevated above all other human beings, then she doesn't possess the attributes of deity. She's not omniscient.

65:31 How can she intercede for the millions who this very moment are saying, Hail Mary, full of grace. Blessed art thou and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. And then address petitions to Mary. Ask her to intercede for us. Is there something wrong with Christ's intercession that Mary must come along and make it up? Shall the creature supplement the intercession of the mighty creator?

66:02 Oh, my dear Roman Catholic friend, begin to suspect all these bogness, that have not a shred of evidence.

66:11 I say that not to get you upset, but to get you to flee from everything that Christ has the hope of your salvage. And my unconverted friends, boys and girls, men and women, don't ever consider yourself a Christian, for you can be described this way. You are one who draws near unto God. But you can begin to be one here and now.

66:44 But today, because Christ invites you to himself and says, him that comes to me, I'll in no wise cast out. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. But the flip truth is, from other passages, any man, woman, boy or girl, may come to the Father through him.

67:09 If you will come, he is ready to receive you. Dear child of God, who's gone through searchings of heart in recent weeks and months, may God help you to lay into your heart this marvelous promise of God's word. Careful. He is able to say to the other ones, them that come unto God by him, see he ever lives, and make intercession for them. Let us pray.

67:55 Our Father, we thank you for your holy word. We pray that your spirit would take of the things of Christ and write them upon our hearts with power. O Lord, graciously rip away every false hope of every man, woman, boy or girl who is not coming unto you by Jesus Christ. Grant, our Father, that the day of judgment will reveal that the things preached today were indeed owned of you for the edification of your own and the salvation of those other sheep whom you said you must also bring. We ask these mercies through our ever-living High Priest, the Lord Jesus. Amen.