Please be seated. Question number 25, which ties in beautifully to the sermon text for this evening. We're going to be looking at the priesthood of Christ and Christ's superior priesthood. I love how the confession, excuse me, the catechism says it here. It says, How does Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executes the office of a priest in His once offering of Himself sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God and in making continual intercession for us. And now it's here, paragraph 3 of chapter 17 of the Confession. Nevertheless, they may, as believers, through the temptations of Satan and the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them and neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins and for time continue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit. come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. Now, I'm going to continue worshiping, singing hymn number copy of God's Word to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. This evening we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 14. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." Let's pray. Father, I thank You that You ever lived to make intercession for us, and even now You are sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. O God, we pray by Your Spirit that You would be with us here this evening. Minister to us, Lord, help us to glory in Your eternal priesthood, Father, that You have reconciled God and man through Your death on the cross, God. Help us to treasure you today and this evening as we hear your word proclaimed in Jesus' name. Amen. This evening we're looking obviously at the book of Hebrews, which is really an incredible book because in 13 chapters, the author of Hebrews summarizes all of the major themes in the whole of the Old Testament. And Hebrews 10, 11 through 14, I'm arguing, is not only arguably the most important passage in the book of Hebrews, but one of the most important passages in the entire Bible. That's a huge claim. Why would I say that? Well, imagine that I told you that I have purchased for you a home right there on Lake Michigan, just a few miles from here. And imagine in going there, you arrive And you see through the windows, it's a beautiful mansion. It's the largest mansion on Lake Michigan. You see there's a roaring fire and a spiral staircase and it's just beautiful and warm and inviting. And you are, you can't believe it, but you are eager to get in. And you walk up to the door and you notice it's locked. And even though I've told you that you own the home and I've even shown you the paperwork, you lack a key. He's given me all these things, but I don't have a key to enter into this home. I think that's how many of us read our Old Testament. that we come to our Old Testament, we see there's something majestic there. We know from reading our New Testament that the Old Testament in general has been fulfilled in Christ. We hear that often preached. But we never are able to enter into and glory in the realities of all that has been fulfilled in the Old Testament in Jesus Christ. And sadly, that leaves us with the Old Testament being largely unaccessible. We're not able to enter into that. However, if you grasp this text, It opens the door to the Bible in ways that we have genuine access of seeing the relevance of Jesus Christ for the whole of the Bible. That is, the beauty of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And that's what I'm praying will happen for you this evening. I'm praying that as you hear these words, that the glory of who Jesus is as the one sacrifice for sin and the fulfillment of all that is in the Old Testament will be precious to you. So what is this key that I'm holding out? Well, if you're taking notes, it's this. That we experientially receive by faith All that Jesus is, is the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood in His one sacrificial offering for sin. It's experientially receiving by faith all of who Jesus is as our priest in His one sacrificial offering for sin. And I want to look at that main point first through Jesus' superior priesthood. Verses 11 through 13. And notice the way that Hebrews 10, 11 through 14 demonstrates the superiority of Jesus' priesthood. That's my main point I'm arguing this evening. that the author here is intentionally showing how Jesus is a superior priest. He's not just a priest, he's a superior priest. So how is it that he shows this? Well, he does it by contrasting Jesus' work on the cross with the Old Testament priest, and he makes four different contrasts. And as I go through each of these four contrasts, I want you to think about it as if the monochromatic white light of the Old Testament, when the monochromatic white light of the Old Testament priesthood, shines on the prism of Jesus, that the brilliance of all of who Jesus is, in His fulfilling the Old Testament, comes in full color. That you see reds and blues and yellows, and you see Jesus, not in just a general sense as the fulfillment, but in all of His beauty and splendor and glory. That's what I'm praying is going to happen this evening. So, four contrasts. Contrast number one. The priests repeatedly offered sacrifices on a daily basis. It's a repeated sacrifice. Jesus offered a sacrifice once. Look at verses 11 through 12. It says, And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Jesus had offered for all time a single sacrifice, see the contrast? Repeatedly single, he sat down at the right hand of God. To understand what's going on here with this single sacrifice, repeated sacrifice, we have to understand something of what the priests were actually doing. When it says they're offering repeatedly, what does that mean? What were they doing? And the context is in Numbers 28, where it describes the duties of the Old Testament priests. Every day, morning and evening, the priest would take a lamb without blemish, one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the evening, and they would hold the lamb over the altar and they would slit the lamb's throat and the blood of the lamb would pour out onto the altar. And they would do this in the morning, and then they would do this in the evening. And literally, one commentator says, rivers of animal blood flowed because of these sacrifices. And yet, we know that Jesus, as we read here in Shorter Catechism, question 25. He himself, the Bible says, he was a priest. That was one of the three offices that Jesus holds. He's a prophet, he's a king, but he's also a priest. So the question becomes, what does Jesus do in his priesthood? So if the priest offered sacrifices continually, we see that Jesus' offering on the cross, that if you were to stand there on Calvary, you would see not repeated offerings. You would see one offering for sin forever. Contrast number two. The priests offered the blood of another, namely animals. But the text says Jesus offered himself. So come back to Numbers 28 again. We see the priests are offering the blood of lambs. But you should ask the question, if I'm arguing he offers the blood of another, He offers Himself. Where does it say that in this text? Look at verses 11 through 12. It doesn't say that Jesus offered Himself. It says, when Jesus had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins. And so you should be asking, Where do you see that in this text? Where is it in this text? Because every time someone stands in this pulpit, you should always ask the question, where is it in the text? Because listen, if it's not in the text, it's not there. So where is it? Well, Look at the parallels between verse 10 and verse 12 and see if you see the parallels. It says, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. And then notice the parallel in the language. He had offered one sacrifice for sin. So what is the one sacrifice for sins that Jesus is offering? He's offering Himself. It's no wonder the first thing that John the Baptist says, the first words out of his mouth when he sees Jesus, takes his breath away, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now, you should ask the question, how is that contrast superior? Because that's my argument this evening. that with each of these contrasts, that the writer of Hebrews is deliberately saying Jesus's priesthood is superior. So how is Jesus's offering of himself superior to offering the blood of another? What is that all about? Well, the superiority of Jesus's sacrifice is not just the fact that he is selflessly dying instead of having someone else die. It's not just that. It is that, but it's not just that. The superiority of Jesus' sacrifice is connected with who he is dying for. Romans 5, verse 8, where it says that it would be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it? if you died for a good man. But Jesus shows His love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, He died for us. Oh, do you see the majesty of this superior priest who lays down his life? Not the life of another. He lays down his life for sinners. Third contrast, the priest's sacrifice never took away sins. Jesus' sacrifice was completely effective. in atoning for sins. We may be so used to hearing these words that that doesn't even affect us. It doesn't even come off as significant. But just imagine for a minute, put your shoes in first century Jewish priests there in Israel. And imagine day after day, morning and then evening, morning and then evening, going through the same old practices, offering one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the evening. And then imagine the utter shock that having heard these words, one sacrifice for sins, Imagine the utter amazement that you would feel in those words, that you've gone through this practice every day. Almost with the expectation, you know, I'm going to be doing, this is so futile, I'm going to be doing the same thing tomorrow. Because as Hebrews 10 verse 4 says, the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. And then imagine your astonishment of hearing the words, one sacrifice for all time. and the utter gratitude that you would feel of, and it wasn't on the basis of anything that I did. Sin has been paid for, and I didn't add anything to it. That's what we're meant to feel in the superiority of Jesus' sacrifice, that we are completely passive, recipients of a great gift. Fourth, the priest stands to show he must keep sacrificing. Jesus sits to show his sacrifice has made complete atonement. Notice the contrast again in verse 11. Every priest stands daily at his service. Now, where's the contrast? Verse 12. Christ offered a single sacrifice for sins, and He sat down at the right hand of God. So, the priests stand, Christ sits. Now, what is all of that about? Why point that out? Why is the writer of Hebrews taking such pains to talk about standing priests and seated priests? And why is that significant? And better yet, how is Jesus as a seated priest superior to a standing priest? That's the argument I've been making. that each of these contrasts, the writer is showing the superiority of Jesus' sacrifice. The priests stand to show that they literally never can sit down. So a standing priest It shows the posture that they must always be at work. They literally never sit down. Why? Because God's wrath and judgment still rests upon sinners. And so they must continue to offer sins. But what's Jesus' sitting in verse 12 all about? Well, it's actually a quote. from Psalm 110 verse 11, which is actually the most quoted verse in the whole of the New Testament, where it says, The Lord says to my Lord, sit in my right hand and I will make your enemies your footstool. Why is that being used here in verses 12 and 13? I'll give you two reasons. It's to confirm two things. First, His seating confirms the unrepeatable character of His sacrifice. So, when Jesus sits down, it means what He said on the cross, it is finished. So, His sitting down says, it is complete. The priests were standing, I'm sitting because there's no more work to do. I don't think it's just that. His sitting down actually points to the reality of who he is. See, even the great King Solomon, although he sat on his throne, he stood before the Lord in his presence. For to stand before the Lord was a place of tremendous honor. But to sit before the Lord is to show that you share the authority with the Almighty. And so Jesus sits, not just to show there is no more need for sacrifice. but because He is the Great I Am. He is the One who is seated at the right hand of God. He shares the authority with God Almighty. He is God. He is God Himself. who is our superior, majestic priest. I mean, just think about it for a minute. If you think about it for just a minute, it just absolutely blows your mind that the God who sits on the throne of the universe, that when He laughs, the universe shakes. He is the God who has died in our place. This is a glorious seated priest. And we've looked here at the superiority of Jesus's priesthood. Secondly, let's look at the superior effect of Jesus's sacrifice. Look at verse 14. Now, this is one place in the Bible where I think it's especially important to linger over verb tenses. If you were to look in the King James Version New American Standard Bible, you would read The text says, four by one offering, He has perfected forever, for all time, those who are sanctified. But I think the ESV gets it right here. when it adds the word being before sanctified. If you read the ESV, it says, four by one or single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So the tense of the first part of the verse, he has perfected That is a past perfect tense. It's meant to communicate the finality and permanency of Jesus' sacrifice, that He has perfected us. That is, if you have put your trust in Jesus, if you have trusted in Him by faith, You have been perfected, that justification that you stand before the Father in perfect righteousness because you have received the righteousness of Christ. It has been imputed to you on God's behalf. And yet, The second half says, who are being sanctified. That is, it's present, continuous, ongoing. Now, why are we making such a big deal here about verb tenses? Why go on about verb tenses? Here's the reason. Because no true follower of Christ here this evening would say that though I have been justified in God's sight and He has given me His perfect righteousness, no one would say, and therefore I no longer sin, and therefore sanctification is no longer needed. No, we are being sanctified. Sanctification is a process. I think about this like the the difference between an acorn and an oak tree. If you ask me, are an acorn and an oak tree the same thing? I say, well, in one sense, yes, and in another sense, no. An acorn has all of the same DNA as an oak tree. And so in some real sense, they are the same, they have the same nature. And yet, in another sense, An acorn is nothing like an oak tree. They are completely different. In order for an acorn to become an oak tree, it must go into the ground and die. It must receive nutrients and then spurt up and it becomes a little plant. And over time, with nutrients and sunlight and rain, Many storms, opportunities to dig those roots down deep into the soil. An acorn eventually becomes an oak tree. And that's the Christian life, friends. That if you have received Jesus Christ by faith, you have received a new nature. Whatever you were previously, a new seed has been planted in your heart. And you have a completely new nature. And yet, in a very real sense, We are all in different stages on this process called sanctification. Some of us are just at the beginning, maybe new believers, and we've just learned how to go into the ground, die to self, humility before the Lord. Others are maybe been walking with Jesus for a few years, re-emerged and fruit has begun to grow. New nature has produced new fruit. And yet, others of us, particularly the older saints perhaps in the room, have become what Isaiah 61 calls, oaks of righteousness. And the good news from this text is no matter where you are in that process, we have all been perfected. We have been given a new nature in Christ. We can be encouraged by that, and yet we have the opportunity to grow into oaks of righteousness. Now, finally, my way of application, we've looked at the superior priesthood, the superior effect of Jesus' sacrifice. Let's look at the superior implications of the new covenant. And I just want to lay out two here. First, if all of this is true, if we have the superior priest, what implications does this have for us this evening? First, trust in Christ atoning death alone. Friends, the Old Testament priesthood is a clear and awful picture of what it looks like to try to earn your own salvation. It is a clear and awful picture of all of the labor and effort that is fruitless in taking away your sin. Listen to me this evening. I mean this especially for younger people. If you are trying to be a good person, you are trying to do good unto others, you even go regularly, twice on Sunday to church, you don't drink and smoke and chew and you don't go with girls that do, And your motivation is you are thinking all along, you know, God is watching. He's seeing all this. He knows what I'm doing. He knows how I'm living. He knows what I'm not doing. He's going to reward me one day in heaven, morning and evening. I'm making sacrifices. I'm paying dividends into my divine bank account. Friends, listen, you are going to be tragically, heartbreakingly, devastatingly mistaken, when you stand before the throne of God and He says, I never knew you. Because while you were offering your daily sacrifices, there was one sacrifice for sin forever. Friends, Christianity isn't ultimately about what you need to do. It is about what Jesus Christ has done on your behalf. The Bible teaches that we are called to rest from our works and to trust and to treasure the atoning death of Christ. Second, God not only perfects us, but He is at work in sanctifying us. Sometimes in our commitment to sanctification, stressing the imperatives of Scripture, I did this this morning, we forget that even in our sanctification, we are ultimately passive recipients of a great salvation. I love the imperatives in Scripture. I love to talk about the imperatives. I don't think it's something that we talk about nearly enough in Reformed circles. I think many times in our redemptive, historical, wonderful sermons, we never go there and challenge people on how to live. I love the imperatives of Scripture. I think we should stress it more. That we should live by faith and future grace. And I was so tempted to get to the end of this sermon about how awesome the sacrifice for sins is, that this should just rev us up and call us to live lives of holiness, that we are a priesthood of believers. That's right where I wanted to go with this text. But I realized that's not where the text itself goes. And that we must never forget As we think about sanctification, as we think about holiness, that we are ultimately passive recipients of a great salvation. Instead, I think this text argues something even better. This text forces us to be confident in, now hear this, confident in and comforted by an astounding promise. He wants us to be confident in that God will sanctify those who He perfected. You can bank on it. He will sanctify those who He has perfected. Those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ, they will continue on until the end. This is what Philippians 1 verse 6 says, I am sure of this, hear Paul's confidence? I am sure of this, that He who began a work in you, He will bring it to completion. Oh, what confidence! What joy this gives us! It's not ultimately dependent upon us to make it to the end. It doesn't just give us confidence though, it gives us comfort. In the Christian life, I think a common experience, see if this sounds familiar to you, certainly is for me. I often look at my own besetting sin, the trials that I face in the world, the difficulty of the Christian life. the commands of Scripture, my failure to live up to them. And I often ask the Lord, Lord, will I really? You really mean it? I'm going to make it one day? Like you're going to carry me to the end? You're going to keep me from falling away and making a shipwreck of my faith? This text is so comforting. He will sanctify those who He has perfected. I think about, I'll close with this, Exodus 14. Where the people of Israel, you'll remember, standing at the shores of the Red Sea. Pharaoh's army behind them, nowhere to go. And what does Moses say? He says, stand still. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians who you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you. And you only have to be silent. passive recipients of a great salvation. I don't know where you are this evening, but take confidence, take comfort, lean in, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I thank you. That you love us so much. You carry us, the loving father. You put us on your shoulder. And you carry us, Lord, from beginning to end. Across the sea. Oh, father. Help us to treasure, Lord, your superior priesthood, your superior sacrifice. And Lord, help us to live in the superior implications of the new covenant given to us in Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.