Our Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:14‑18

Turn in your Bibles to the 4th chapter of Hebrews if you will for just our study tonight, Hebrews chapter 4.  The title of this particular section as far as my particular notes are concerned is "Our Great High priest,"  "Our Great High priest."

Let's bow together in just a moment of prayer.  Father we just pray that You'll show us what truth is in this text that is just for us.  Father that I might not just teach that which is in my mind to teach but that I might open my mouth and the Spirit of God might teach that which is needful to be taught.  Father we just pray that we would see again the majesty and the beauty and the glory of our blessed Christ, that our hearts might be drawn to Him in a new and a fresh kind of love.  And those who are here who have not yet fallen in love with Jesus Christ might also be drawn irresistibly to Him and this might be the night when they begin that eternal love relationship.  Instruct us by the Spirit, bring our minds into captivity don't let us wander, don't let us be distracted, don't let us be lazy in studying the Word of God, may we be disciplined to be attentive.  Speak to us Father as we know You wish to, and we give You the praise and the glory for it in Jesus' name, Amen.

In recent months there has been a cigarette ad on the radio, formerly was on television and it's, it...th, the plea of the advertiser is directed to the unsatisfied smoker.  And the plea of the advertiser is, "Come up, come all the way up to Kool."  And in an infinitely more serious manner the Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 4 is saying to unsatisfied men who are already dissatisfied with everything that's been going on in their lives in the past, and are already turning away from those dissatisfactions of an empty life and He is saying to them, come all the way up to putting your faith in Jesus Christ totally.  That's the picture of Hebrews chapter 4.

Really that's the picture as far back as chapter 3 verse 7 where He begins this plea that men who have turned from Judaism, those to whom He writes, would not just turn from Judaism but to Christ, that they would come all the way to saving faith in Christ, and we've been over that now for the past two weeks.  And for all of the verses from S:7 through 4:iS that we've studied, that whole section, we find the Holy Spirit giving the same warning, the same plea for men not to just turn from the old patterns not to stop short of salvation and find their hearts hardened and that they've departed from God, but when they have turned from the old life, from the old patterns, from Judaism as in this case that they also turn to Jesus Christ coming all the way to saving faith.  And throughout the verses that we've studied we have seen the warning of the Holy Spirit that if they don't come all the way to saving faith they will die spiritually and eternally.  And the illustration that He uses is the illustration of Israel who left Egypt, they turned from the old life, they were led out of Egypt but they never went into the promised land because of one thing, what was it?  Unbelief, and therefore their carcasses died in the wilderness.  And so the Holy Spirit says, don't be like Israel who left the old patterns but never entered in to rest because of unbelief, don't come away from the old without coming all the way to Jesus Christ.  That is such a tragedy because once you fall back you have become an apostate.  and you've departed from the living God.  That's the warning essentially of this that we have been studying, in fact chapter 4 verse 11 as we saw last week summarizes it when it says, Let us make haste or let us hasten or let us give diligence, "therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."  That is like the children of Israel did in the wilderness.  What is the Holy Spirit saying then to this Jewish group of people to whom He writes?  He's saying to them, you, some of you are Christians but some of you have just turned from Judaism and you've never really committed yourselves to Christ.  Like so many people today who go to church, who go through the motions, who maybe have religious feelings and maybe aren't too bad when it comes to citizenship and morality but they've never committed themselves to Jesus Christ, they've never entered into salvation rest and all that it implies.  And it's been a negative message, hasn't it?  I mean it's been as negative as you can get, it's been believe me or you're doomed, that's what it's been.  It's been entered into rest or you're...enter into rest or your carcasses will die in the wilderness, it's been negative.  And in verse 12 we saw that the Word of God, that piercing, revealing sword will become a sword of execution for the unbelieving, we saw in verse 13 that no unbelieving individual will escape the scrutiny of God's eye everything is naked and open to Him.  And so the Holy Spirit has been pleading from chapter 3 verse ?  to chapter 4 verse lS for that man who's on the knife of decision, that man who's standing on the brink of making a commitment to Christ, He's been pleading with him to come to Christ because of what will happen if he doesn't, because of the great tragedy when man turns his back on God whom he knows to be true.

But may I hasten to add, and that brings us to our text which is just a brief four ver...three verses tonight, that salvation is also offered on a positive basis, on a positive basis.  Salvation is not just a prevention policy, it's not just to keep you out of hell, it's also a very positive thing, isn't it?  Salvation isn't a matter of saying.  well, hooy, am I glad I'm out of hell this life is a real drag but at least I don't have to die and go to hell.

That's, that's not it.  So many times people accuse, you know, us of preaching fire and brimstone and hell and damnation and that's all that Christianity is all about but that's not all it's all about.

That's only a sensible warning because it happens to be true.  But salvation is also offered to men on a very positive basis, and that positive basis is in verses 1?, 15, and lS.  And this is really the continuation of the same warning to the same individuals hanging on the edge of decision but this time He speaks to them not in negatives but He speaks to them in positives.  He says.  come all the way to rest, don't halt in the middle, don't just turn away from the old patterns, don't just walk away from Judaistic traditions and in your mind assent to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, and in your mind assent to the fact that the Gospel is true and hang there in the middle, come all the way into God's rest, not only because of what will happen if you don't, but because of what will happen if you do.  You see it's a positive, isn't it?  And what will happen if you do is based on who Jesus is.  If there was no other reason in the universe to be saved just who Jesus is would be reason enough, right?  Just to come into a living relationship with Him would be reason enough.

people think, well if it's, you know it's not as much fun to be a Christian cause you don't get to go out and do all those things that your nature drives you to do, you know?  And so if there wasn't any hell a?1 ya...who would want to be a Christian man, you could live it up and go to heaven.  I'll tell you something, being a Christian is sc much more glorious that if there wasn't even a hell and we all automatically went to heaven being a Christian would still be tb?  way to go.  Just to walk in the fellowship of the living Christ.  And so there's a positive in the offer of the Gospel and we're going to talk about that tonight.  We're to receive Jesus Christ, we're to enter into God's rest not only because of the fear of Him, because of His beauty as well.  Not only because of His wrath but because of His grace.  Not only because He's a judge but because He is a merciful and faithful High priest.  And both sides ...and I'm sure both sides of the coin are equally important, I'm sure many of us could give testimonies if we had a testimony time tonight, and some would say, well I, I came to Jesus Christ because I heard a message about the person of Christ and He was, He was so winsome and He wa?  so beautiful and I was drawn to Him, others of us could say, well I came to Jesus Christ because I was afraid of what was going to happen because of my sins.  You see there are both sides of it and both sides are involved in salvation.

But here's the positive call, and as I say I think it's apart of the continued warning.  And it's directed again to the intellectually convinced who know that Christianity is valid but who aren't saved.

Now let's look at verse 1!  and pick out a couple of things in our introduction here and then we'll get into the text in a moment, specifically connected to our outline.  The call to enter salvation is twofold here in this particular passage, the first part of the call comes at the end of verse 14, "let us hold fast our profession."

The second part of the call comes in verse 18, the first part, "Let us, come boldly unto the throne of grace."  Now there's a twofold word to the individual who has left the old patterns but is hanging on the edge of committing himself to Christ.  And the first statement is, "let us hold fast our profession."  Now these individuals had professed, that is they had professed with their mouths and maybe even in their minds that the Gospel was true, that Jesus Christ was real, these Jewish people in this group to whom the writer of Hebrews writes.  Now as I've said many times he's writing mainly to ects these warnings to those who know the Gospel to Christians but .rnterJ

pel but haven't come all the way.  And isn't that what we have in the church today, the real and the false who are maybe hanging on the edge of decision.  And so he says to them, hold fast your profession, they had made an intellectual assent to the Gospel, they believed it.  Now you've met many people like that, you've met many people who believe it all but have never committed themselves to it.

And that's just exactly what ya have here, but the problem was these Jewish believers who had come away from Judaism were being then persecuted by their, by their own people, they were being ostracized, they had been unsynagogued, that is put out of the synagogue, excommunicated if you will, they had lost the rights and privileges of their own society and their own family, they had been ostracized and put out and so the persecution was beginning to hit and they were thinking of turning around and going back to Judaism.  That would have been deadly, that's the characteristic of an apostate who departs forever from the living God having known the truth turns his back and walks away from it, and that's the ultimate tragedy, and so the first warning is this, hold fast your profession don't turn around and go back, you see.  Don't go back.  The second warning is, come to the throne of grace, you see.  It's a two part call to salvation, the first part don't go back, hold on to what you've got this far, don't release that initial profession that you believe the Gospel.  In 1!, the ldth verse of chapter 3 he says, "We are partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end."  In other words to begin with you've got to really hold on to that profession, a believer who is a true Christian is one who holds on to that initial profession.  So what he's saying to them is, you've made the profession in your minds, hold on to that thing, don't let go of it.  An apostate will fall back, a true believer will never let go of that profession, never.

He'll confess Christ and keep on confessing Christ to the end of his days.  So he says don't go back.  True salvation is characterized by those who remain, like he says in verse 0 of chapter S, "Whose house we are, if we remain."  If we remain.  And so there's simply those two steps.  And you know there is such a danger in this first thing.

Ah, somebody coming all the way up to the point of salvation and then turning back, and that danger is carefully outlined for us by our blessed Lord in the ISth chapter of Matthew, because in verse 18 He explains the parable of the sower and the seed, verse 1g...

verse 18 simply says, it's the parable of the sower, and verse ig "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.  This is he which receives seed by the wayside."

Some people hear the Gospel, they mentally assent to it and they believe it.  But they don't dig into it to find out the real meaning and Satan snatches it away.  Verse 20, "But he that received the seed on stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and immediately with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he's offended."  And he turns back.

Verse 22, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this age,"  the care of this age.

"the deceitfulness of (what?)  riches."  He wanted his own thing, he wanted to do his own thing and he wanted money, and all that the world offered choked the word and he became unfruitful.  There are three illustrations, my dear friends, of people who came all the way and made a profession and then fell back.  Only the fourth, "But he that received seed in the good ground is he that heareth the word, understandeth it, who also beareth fruit, bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."  Some Christians are more productive than others but they're all Christians.  You know it's an interesting thing that if that's any kind of a measure we can say that one out of four people who make an acceptance of Christ initially are for real.  One out of four who make the profession remain true.

people always say, well how come it is that people make a commitment to Jesus Christ and then they, they seemingly fall apart, they seemingly go away?  Read it again, it's all right there.  And so what is he saying?  He's saying, don't be of those who come to that point of a confession and that point of a profession and then fall away, step one is hold on, to that profession.  Then step two comes in verse 10, don't just stay on step one but, "Let us.  therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace,"  that's the second step move toward God, now that's as simple as it can be presented.  You've heard the Gospel, you know the Gospel, you know the truth of Jesus Christ, hang on, don't turn your back on God and walk away, don't do it.  Come all the way.  And the word proserchomai, a very familiar Greek word, a very common Greek word is used commonly in the New Testament of the sinners approach to God, very common word, and that's exactly what he's saying.  Sinner, don't go back, but don't just stand there either, come all the way to the throne of grace, come if you will all the way up to Christ.  It's a simple invitation, isn't it?  Hold fast and come on.  And that's the invitation right here.  And you might be saying in your mind, oh yeah, well why should I?  Why should I come on?  Well for the last two weeks he's been telling you.  you ought to come because of what'll happen to you if you don't, right?

But now he's going to tell you, you ought to come because of what'll happen to you ii you do.  You'll be introduced our great High priest.

I'll tell ya, I don't know how anybody could resist an intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ.  It's available, it's reason enough to come because Jesus is who He is.

That brings us to verse 14 at the very beginning, look at it, "Seeing.  then, that we have a great high priest."  That's the real key.  Why is he calling them to salvation?  Because of what'll happen if they don't come now, because of Jesus Christ and what He can do in their lives.  This is a...incidently this is the real point of the whole Epistle of Hebrews, the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the entire Epistle of the Hebrews the priesthood of Christ is exalted because this is the whole issue, don't you see?

Men are here and they're locked in sin, God is there and He's locked in holiness, and somebody's got to mediate in the middle.  right?

And it's gotta be a somebody who knows God and a somebody who knows man and can bring them together, and that's what a priest is.  did you know that?  And so what is it that we need, what is it that he wants to present to these Jewish people?  That Jesus is that great High priest who brings God and man together in a love union.  And that's why throughout the whole Book of Hebrews the priesthood of Jesus is exalted.  Back in chapter 1 we saw it, didn't we in verse S?  When it says, Christ acting out His priestly ministry, "upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins."  That's a priestly act, the cleansing of sin, making sacrifice, "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."  We saw it in chapter 2 verse 1?  where it says that He was, in the middle of the verse, "a merciful and faithful high priest."

The Priesthood of Jesus Christ is the theme of the whole Book.

Even in chapter 3 it calls Him.  verse 1, "the High priest, Jesus.?

And here we come in chapter 4 and who do we meet again?  Our great High priest.  And we're going to keep on hearing this, especially when we get to chapters 7, S.  g and all in there it's just going to be the priesthood of Jesus Christ expounded in great detail.  And don't you see this is the key thing because it is Jesus Christ, the marvelous person of Christ, the great High priest who brings God and man together.  That was always the task of the high priest, you see, to usher men into the presence of God, and when the high priest would go into the holy of holies once a year on the day of atonement and offer the sacrifice there he was of...in effect bringing the sins of his people into God to be atoned for.  He was bearing the people before God.  And if one was to be a perfect High priest He would know God perfectly and He would know men perfectly and Jesus knew both.  Jesus knew God perfectly for He was God, Jesus knew men perfectly !or He was man therefore He becomes the absolute perfect High priest, who brought God and man together in His own form and who continues to bring God and man together by faith.  And so the Epistle of the Hebrews rings clear all the way through with the claim that Jesus is God's eternal High priest, who can bring us to God.  He's already shown, hasn't He?  That Jesus is superior to the prophets.

He's already shown as we've seen it that He's superior to the angels, that He's superior to Moses, that He's superior to Joshua, and now He is about to, to start an argument that shows that He is superior to every high priest including the best of them all, Aaron himself.

And don't you see that He wants to show that the new covenant is better than the old and so He shows the supremacy of Jesus over every other individual connected with the old covenant.  And Aaron really was the high point of the whole deal because he was the one who mediated between men and God, and Jesus is greater than Aaron.

He is our great High Priest.  Ah, the idea of the word great means ideal, no weaknesses, none of the frailties of the other priests.

And because He is such a High Priest He calls upon men to come into God's rest.

Now, I want you to see three features tonight that make Jesus our great High priest, and these are rich, rich truths.  Three features that make Jesus our great High priest.  Number one, His perfect Priesthood.  Number two, His perfect person, and number three, His perfect provision.  Because His priesthood was perfect and His person was perfect and His provision was perfect, He is therefore our great High priest and there's none like Him, none like Him.

First of all His perfect priesthood.  Verse 14, "Seeing, then, that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession."  Why should I hold onto my faith in Christ even though it's only a professed faith, why should I not go back?  Because we have a great High priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.  How can you walk away from a High priest like that?  Now you say, well what is the importance of the phrase that is passed into the heavens?  Well that's really the key to everything.  The Greek here and it's, it's a na...

unique word but it has incorporated in the word dia which in the Greek means through, and it should read this way, "Our great high priest, that is passed through the heavens."  And that's very interesting.  Because Jesus when you remember He had ascended and we was begin...we were beginning to talk about that this morning, Jesus ascended He passed through the heavens, did He not, into the presence of God?  Now on what basis did He have the right to enter the presence of God?  On the basis that He had perfected His work on earth, correct?  He had done a perfect work in John 17, "I have finished the work thou gavest me to do."  philippians said that when He got there God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.  Why?  Because He perfectly accomplished His priesthood work.  He operated a perfect priesthood, He performed a redemptive act that brought God and man together in an eternal relationship.  do you know that's something no priest could ever do?  The best a priest could do was atone for sins for one years time, and every year and every year and every year, another Yom Kippur, another day of atonement, another day of atonement, and not only that every day, every day, every day.

day in, day out, thousands and thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of slain animals.  But Jesus Christ operated on a per...on a perfected priesthood whereby one act He sanctified forever them that are His, and He accomplished in a perfect priesthood what every other priest, all in combination could not accomplish.

And it's an interesting thing too to keep this in mind, that when He passed through the heavens and He entered into the presence of God He did something that no priest could ever do.  And that's the marvelous thing, when He got into the presence of God, chapter 1 says, "he sat down."  Now what is that the sig...what's the significance of that?  Significance is that He finished His work.  You don't sit down till it's done, in fact in the holy of holies were there any seats?  Only the mercy seat and you didn't dare sit on that.  But when Jesus accomplished His perfect work He sat down, it was done, it was done.  No more sacrifices ever needed to be made.  And it's an interesting thing that it was right at that time the destruction of Jerusalem that the whole nation of Israel ceased their sacrifices, and do you know that since 70 A.D.  they have not performed sacrifices and they don't do it any more.  and if you ask them why they're not too sure why, but we know why, because Jesus accomplished in a perfect priesthood the end of all the sacrificial system and consequently there's no need for them anymore.  And so Jesus Christ entered a heavenly holy of holies, and He remained there.  The Old Testament priest on the day of atonement would take the blood and he would go through three areas, he would go through the door into the outer court, through the door into the holy place, through the veil into the holy of holies, he passed through into the third place.

And he only did it once on the day of atonement and he sprinkled blood on the mercy seat.  The record of that is indicated to us in Leviticus chapter 18 verses 2 to lg and also later on in the chapter.

It tells all about it you can read it in detail.  But let me tell you something interesting, before the high priest could ever go in there, before he could ever go in to sprinkle the blood for the people he had to do the whole thing for himself first because he was a sinner too.  He had to go through the whole rigmarole for himself, atone for his own sins by putting the blood there' then he could go back and take care of the people, and once he got in there he had to do his job and get out of there.  If he stayed there past the time of the day of atonement he would die, for he was a sinner and he had no right in the presence of God, except by the graciousness of God once a year could he enter the holy of holies where the Shekinah glory of God dwelt.  But Jesus, our great High priest who passed not through the temple or through the tabernacle but through the heavens also went through three things.  The Bible says that there is a third heaven, right?  The first heaven is the atmospheric heaven the Bible says the clouds of heaven, the birds of heaven.

The second heaven is the stellar heaven the Bible talks about the stars of heaven, and the third heaven is the abode of God, First Corinthians, pardon me Second Corinthians 12:2.  Second Corinthians 12:2 speaks of the third heaven where God is.  And so Jesus Christ passed through heaven number one, heaven number two, and entered into heaven number three and God didn't tell Him, look You've got 24 hours to get this over with and get out.  When He got there what did He do?  He sat down.  It was done, it was accomplished, He made a perfect atonement for all sins for all time.  And all other sacrifices before that were but pictures of that perfect sacrifice.  The ascended, resurrected Christ carried Himself past the two outer heavens into the abode of God and when He got there He sprinkled His blood on that divine eternal heavenly mercy seat, and you know what?

God said, I am satisfied, forever.  In Hebrews 12, I love this.  verse 24, "And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

Jesus Christ sprinkled blood in a far better way than any man, even the wonderful sacrifice of Abel which pleased God.  How much more was God pleased with what Jesus did.  how much more was God satisfied?

And I love First peter 1:2 which says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, (listen)  unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."

Can't you imagine what a reunion it was in heaven, when Jesus Christ had accomplished perfect atonement, entered into God's heaven.  and God said, I am satisfied, and never another sacrifice ever needs to be made, never.  Remember the man a few weeks ago I told you about in the philippines who crucifies himself every year to make atonement for his own sins?  No, don't need to do that, God is satisfied, Jesus sat down the work was done.  And so Jesus Christ is our great High priest who accomplished a perfect priesthood.  In the Book of Hebrews the perfections of our priest are exalted, let me just show you what it says about Him, about His priesthood in 7:25, don't try to follow me I'll just jump through some of these.  7:25 says.

"Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  For such an high priest was fitting for us, (listen to our High priest)  who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."  That's a great High priest.  And then in S:1, "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum:

(Here's the key to the whole Book)  We have such an high priest."

And that's even in the Jewish vernacular.  "He's seated on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."  And then you go over to chapter 0 verse 12, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place.  having obtained eternal redemption for us.  For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  Can't you see how superior the sacrifice of Christ is.  If the earthly sacrifices accomplished something, what must that one have done?  And then in chapter ?  verse 24, "Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands,"  He's not like those old priests going in the tent or the tabernacle, "but he's entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God (listen to these two words)  for us."  Do you like that?  He took His blood in there and said, on the behalf of John MacArthur, Father I want to sprinkle My blood, and God says, I'm satisfied John MacArthur's redeemed.  And He did the same thing for everyone who comes by faith to Him, such a great High priest.  You see the pattern of the scripture is simply this, that God has set in order blood to be that which atones for sin.  The death of an individual, "the wages of sin is death,"  therefore death and the sacrifice of life is the atonement for sin.  the pattern of atonement.  The Bible says that the remission of sin is based on the shedding of blood in Hebrews, and so Jesus Christ shed His blood on our behalf that God might be satisfied as He paid the price for our sin, and we by faith in Him find that sacrifice covers our sin.

And so Jesus Christ entered into heaven.  not any earthly tabernacle.

Then I love this.  in 10:12 it says, "But this man,"  but this man, and the verse before he says, "Every priest standing there ministering and offering, can never take away sin; But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God."  Can you imagine that?  I mean priests were up and at it all day long, but this man once, and He sat down forever.  God said, I'm satisfied that takes care of it.  Chapter 12 verse 2 says that after "He endured the cross, despising the shame, he was set down at the right hand of the throne of God.?  Do you see He accomplished perfect redemption, didn't He?  perfect redemption, no wonder it says back in chapter 4, Our great High priest who didn't pass through the tabernacle, didn't pass through the temple on a temporary basis and have to leave again, He passed through the heavens and when He got there He sat down, and God said.  I'm satisfied, and Jesus Christ accomplished the atonement of all sins of all time for those who come by faith and accept what He did for them.  But that's the point, you've got to believe it, you've got to come all the way to total faith in Jesus Christ so that it applies in your behalf.  The millions of gallons of blood that ran all over the altars of Israel for hundreds and hundreds of years, the sprinkled blood that stained and crusted on the mercy seat year after year couldn't do what the one great High priest did in one great act for all time, and then entered into heaven, into the heavenly holy of holies, showed the sacrifice to the Father and sat down on His right hand forever.

And you know why He's sitting there?  Because He's interceding for us, isn't He?  It wasn't like the old priests who had to come back out again and couldn't go back into God's presence for a year, Jesus stays there and He just keeps interceding for our behalf.  You know that's why there's never the possibility as a Christian that two sins could ever get stacked against you because as fast as you commit them Jesus Christ intercedes to make sure they're not held against you.  The Bible says, "If we are confessing our sins, he's (faithfully)  faithful and just to keep on cleansing us."  The Bible indicates that the intercession work of Jesus Christ in First John 2, "If any man sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Who takes care of the issue, He stays at the right hand of the Father taking care of our sin.  And so does paul say in Romans 8:84, "Who shall lay any charge to God's elect?"  Who's going to accuse us of anything?  Jesus Christ is up there taking care of that.  constantly interceding for us.  Oh, what a marvelous truth.  And so Jesus Christ, that great High priest has accomplished what no other high priest could accomplish the actual total and forever obliteration of sin, in terms of guilt.  Now may I hasten to add that that doesn't mean we don't sin anymore it just means that we're forgiven, because God is satisfied with Christ having paid the penalty.  So because of His perfect priesthood He has then given us the right to enter God's rest.  And so the Spirit calls and the Spirit says on the basis of the perfect priesthood of Jesus Christ come to the throne of grace, hold on to the profession that you have made.

Now let me add a footnote at this point that I think is important.  In the Book of Hebrews is really the end of the Judaistic system, for sure I mean it ended really in the Gospels with the coming of Jesus but here the nails are hammered into the coffin.  And the Judaistic system was based on a priesthood.  you see interceding between men and God and when Jesus came and did the final act as a priest it was over, the whole Judaistic system collapsed at that point, it became null and void, it became ah, obliterated, and the formality of Judaism today is a sinful formality in the sense that it is rebelling, and I want to show you what I mean by that.  The Apostle paul knew in philippians 8 that the priesthood as such had ended, and that Christ had brought in a new thing and the old forms were gone, for in philippians 1...8:1, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.  To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome but for you it is safe.  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.  For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit,"  you see the old forms are over with, watch out for the legalizers, watch out for those who want to come in and push the Judaistic system on you with the sacrifices and the trappings and the whole shot.  watch out, we're the ones that worship Him in the Spirit, "and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."  That is we're not hung up on circumcision and all the forms that are ours because we're Jews.  We are worshiping in the Spirit the person of Christ.  Now he says, "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh."  I mean if you're talking about Judaism man, I'm right on the inside, right?  Verse 8...5, "I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; touching the law, a pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless."&nb