Holy High Priests

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I�m right now in West Boylston, Massachusetts. If you look at Massachusetts, we�re like in the center of Massachusetts. Maybe that�s why they call it Central Massachusetts.

We are Commonwealth here, and this town that I�m in, that the church building is in, is known for the huge reservoir. If you type in West Boylston on Google Maps, you can look at the huge reservoir of water.

This town used to be a different shape, and it was flooded, so all the water can come here so the Bostonians can have it. Therefore, you can not fish very often. You cannot ride a boat out, take a boat out on the lake or a canoe or ice skate or anything like that.

You can fish from the side once in a while, and there are some special government people that can take boats out. But that�s what we�re known for here in West Boylston. Of course, Boylston, if you type in that last name, is a very famous person from Boston.

So anyway, we�re doing the show live from, I like to say, downtown Burbank. Two of my children were born in Burbank at St. Joseph�s Hospital, and two of my children were born at St. Vincent�s Hospital here in Worcester.

So two think, �Hey, we�re from California. And two think, �Hey, we�re from Massachusetts. And there�s kind of the battle between these two. Well, at least when I lived in California, there was quite a few conservative people there, and a lot of conservative politicians.

I rode my bicycle, I think it was �84, it might have been �88, to Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, California, close to Newport Beach, to see Ronald Reagan. So I don�t talk about politics much here, but we�re just talking about cities, getting ready to have you here.

It says from Michael Armstrong, �Great to see you, Pastor Mike. If you�re at the Shepherd�s Conference this year, I hope to see you. Lord willing, I will be at the Shepherd�s Conference this year. I am happy, Sinclair Ferguson, I think, well, the Times are now out there, who�s speaking when.

Ferguson�s, I think, up 1 .30 on Tuesday. So I�m looking forward to Sinclair Ferguson. So all that to say, I will see you there, Michael, and maybe we have coffee or something from afar. Well, honestly, that�s the best part of the Shepherd�s Conference, is you just see all these other people and catch up and say hello.

And seriously, many times I�ve been to the Shepherd�s Conference and I have needed encouragement by other folks. And many times I�ve been at the Shepherd�s Conference where the Lord has let me encourage other people.

So anyway, Stephen said he�s got the Mick Williams book on Hebrews and loving it. Yes, if you need, I was asked the other day by a student, �What are some commentary series that you like Most of the time you have to buy commentaries one-offs.

That is to say, if there�s 26, 27, 66 books with different authors, I�m talking about commentary series, about the books of the Bible, then some of them are going to be great and some of them maybe aren�t so good.

It�s kind of like when you read a book and you Michael said, �I�m looking forward to your fashion selections. We�re going over the top this time. By the way, I do have a Fuller Seminary sweatshirt.

It doesn�t really look that cool, but I just might wear it anyway just for fun. I tried to get a Tubingen sweatshirt, that�s that liberal German seminary, and I was going to wear that around, but maybe it�ll just be the Fuller Seminary.

Stephen, I won�t be at Truth Matters in October, but I believe Tuesday Guy will be there. Anyway, what was I saying? Something about fashion, something about, I don�t know, what were we talking about?

Oh, Hebrews and commentaries. You ought to read Calvin�s commentaries because he is very succinct, very pastoral, good insight for what they are, and most of the time you can get them free online, so you should read Calvin.

I�m looking over here because my Hebrew commentaries are sitting there. I like Pillar, P-I-L-L-A-R, and most of those commentaries are excellent. I�m reading the O�Brien one now in Hebrews. And then this Lectio Continua series, Reformed series, I�m going to just pull it out right now so I can get it and show you, and it is, I�ll just show the picture, the Lectio Continua, and that just means one verse after another after another.

You just continue to preach, so it�s Spouser�s Commentary on the New Testament, David McWilliams, and very much from a Reformed perspective. So anyway, there�s the new Fesco on Romans, Fesco, I believe, on Galatians, and so you ought to get those books.

The Fitting High Priest in Hebrews 7

Well, today on No Compromise Radio, I want to talk a little bit more about Hebrews chapter 7, verses 26, 27, and 28, about this particular high priest, as we talked about last show, and that is, if you were going to try to find someone to represent you, and you could ask them some questions, and it wasn�t representing you in the court of law, but in the court of God�s law, and you had to approach the bar of justice, and you had to approach the judge, the creator who�s the judge, what kind of intercessor would you want?

What kind of advocate would you want? If you think about some shows that are on, and even in real life, you can�t afford one, so someone�s designated to serve you, even though they�re low on the totem pole, have no experience, the public eats the cost because they�re a public offender.

What you want to try to do is you hire the best that money can buy, right? You hire somebody that�s got tons of experience and knows the way through the courtroom and everything else. So the question I asked last time here on Facebook and on the radio show, for indeed it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, and these five qualifications would be good questions to ask, if in fact, theoretically, we could ask.

I mean, we can�t ask because we�re dead in trespasses and sins, but God has granted us and God has ordained and God has graciously given us this kind of high priest. He�s holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

These final verses in chapter 7 describe this great son and will telegraph what kind of sacrifice he gives, and that is later in chapter 9 and 10, a once and for all sacrifice. And really a cool part here in Hebrews 7, verse 26, it was indeed fitting that we would have such a high priest.

It was fitting. He fits our need. He fits our condition. He�s the right one for this particular task. He has essential fitness. So if you think about the word fit, we tend to think about physically fit.

So my day today is a pretty simple day. I needed to get some reading done this morning, and I did that. I wanted to come in and record these two shows. I will sit on this life cycle over here and review my sermon.

For an hour, I will go home. I will go officiate a wedding. Then I�ll go back home from the wedding and wait a little bit before the reception because I think the reception is two hours later. Go to the reception and try to figure out how I can get a workout in.

In other words, that�s my point. I�d like to stay fit. I only have a month to be on a diet before the Shepherd�s Conference. Why is it every year I think, �Oh, you know what? I�m going to get in shape before the Shepherd�s Conference.

So then when they have all the free ice creams and free Krispy Kreme donuts and free this and free that, I can just eat whatever I want versus what I do most every year, and that is I�ll get one of those sandwiches, ice cream sandwiches.

So you got ice cream in the center, like two cookies on the outside. If you�re from California, kind of, it�s it, except it�s probably cheaper. And so here�s what I have to do. I have to just, I take one of those after a session.

I take a bite of it, a big bite, and then I just toss it. I just have to throw it in those tight Forever One shirts. No, no, I�m not wearing, you know what, MacArthur thinks I shop at Forever One, but I don�t shop there.

It�s, I�m a Zara man. I used to make people that we would send from the Church, the men, and when I say �make we at the Church were paying for them to go to the Shepherd�s Conference, at least a large amount of that fee.

And so I�d say, �Let�s all wear suits and represent and everything else. Now, once in a while I might wear shorts. I remember when I shook John�s hand one time, John just looks down at my shirt. So we�re doing Zara.

I�ve got some, but I don�t know if I could fit into them. Anyway, that�s called New England, it�s called winter. If I showed you right now outside, what would you see? That�s what you would see. I don�t know if you can see it from online there, but I�m showing the Facebook people the parking lot at Bethlehem Bible Church building.

So, anyway, what you want is someone who�s fit. Now, for your mediator, for your advocate, we�re not talking about physically fit. You know, was Jesus physically fit? And maybe you could say, �Oh, He walked all around and He was a carpenter, and so therefore He was in shape and He was fit.

I don�t even know why we would think about that, except to use. Michael said the snacks are tempting. Well, you know why people need the snacks at the Shepherd�s Conference? Because they have to grab the snacks to get the energy to then run over people like wild, herded, stampeded gazelles and a water buffalo to get to the front row for that session and save seats and bully each other.

And that is crazy. I have no idea what people are thinking, except they want to, I don�t know, maybe they have a hard time seeing or something. Maybe they�re visually impaired, so they want to get to the front.

But if that�s the case, don�t you think they just ask an usher? Jesus� fitness had nothing to do with physical fitness. His fitness was a spiritual fitness. His fitness was a fitness that had nothing to do with, you know, was He in good shape?

Now, He had to be a human, right? He had to be perfectly manned to be our representative. And so in that sense, okay, I grant that. He doesn�t have to be a physically fit man, but He has to have everything needed to get us to heaven.

Hebrews has used this language earlier, chapter 2, verse 10, �For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Leon Morris is a good commentator. It says in his commentary, �It was fitting� points to Christ�s suitability for His saving work. In other words, He, quote, �answered exactly to the requirements of the predicament that sinners were in.

And that's what it means by fitting. He's the fitting high priest. I guess if you want to still talk about clothes, and we can kind of redeem this a little bit, if you put on a shirt and it doesn't fit, if you put on gloves that don't fit, then you must what?

Go to Forever Young. Forever Young. No, no, no. Forever what? What's the show? Forever 21. No. The store is Forever 21. Who sings Forever Young? I don't know. Somebody tell me. Come on. One of you guys have to be able to tell me.

Michael just gives me some information here that no one wants at the Shepherds Conference. It's blocked by the view of Bill Shannon. No, I'm just kidding. All right. So, let's think about unfit for a second when it comes to the requirements that Jesus has in terms of His saving work.

Rod Stewart. Oh, I think Forever Young has got that song, it's like Asia or something, isn't it? I don't know. Steve would know. I don't know these things. I had a different palate for music. Jesus' saving work was appropriate.

If you look at other words, unfit, unsuitable, inappropriate, ill-adapted, unequipped for, unprepared for, not designed for, ineligible for, unworthy of, incapable of, incompetent of, unable to do something, not equal to, not good enough, unqualified for, untrained for, improper, unbecoming, not up to snuff, not cut out for.

Those are some of the things I found online that talk about what unfit means. Now, when I say those words, none of those words apply to the Lord Jesus that the Father has granted sinners, not one of those.

When you think about the work of Jesus Christ, you should think of anything except that was inappropriate, right? You've got some kid and they say something out of line, your own child, son, or daughter, that was inappropriate.

Here, Jesus is, of course, capstone by the death, but even the life of Jesus and who He is. It's completely appropriate, the appropriate Savior for sinners who need intercession, who need a sacrifice, and who need intercession.

And that is for us, that is for sinners. It was indeed fitting that we, I mean, that He would give us the Lord Jesus at His own cost. When you think about angels, angels never got this. When you think about, I don't know, angels fell, animals I don't think have fallen.

They've been affected by the fall. But this is not a son given to angels. This sinless son is given by the Father, and He is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

And so, the author really wants you to know, this perfect high priest, he's your priest, he's the holy priest, he's the priest that's going to guarantee that you get to heaven. If you have an imperfect priest, an unfit high priest, a Levitical priest, you're not going to make it to spiritual perfection.

And so, the passage is saying that Jesus is free from anything that would defile and prohibit and disqualify Him from priestly service. Now, not that long ago, I got a tweet, and a lady said, one thing I hate when bloggers, sorry, when podcasters drink something during their podcast.

She said, never do that. Well, of course, that's like saying, don't touch wet paint. Now, I bring water up to the pulpit, or they have water up there for me, but I don't think in 22 years of preaching, I've ever taken a drink of water when I preached.

I think most of the time when I'm training other students to preach, that's just kind of a nervous tick, and they don't know what to do. And maybe you've taken some Benadryl, and maybe there's a reason why you should do it, and there's, of course, exceptions.

But people kind of just drink water up there, and it's kind of weird ways. I mean, the way you should drink water, if you must drink water when you're teaching, is you say, look at verse 25 about this great high priest.

See that in your Bible? And when everybody looks down, and I just take a little swig. Where's that word swig from? Take a swig. I take the jar and the bottle, this bit of bottle, and put it up like that.

But on the podcast, since it's not a sermon, we just like to just do things our own way. So, I've got some kind of funky, that little brand there, that Japanese brand. I don't even know how to pronounce it.

If I would pronounce it, the radio people would say that it's speaking in tongues. These are great products. And so, here we go. That sounds like the baptismal or something. So, anyway, there, done. The writer wants you to think about this high priest who's perfect and able to make intercession for you and get you to heaven.

I think that's what I'd like to know. Can somebody get me to heaven? Me, the sinful me, can you get me to heaven? So, he first talks about Jesus as holy. Let's look at some of these today on the show.

The Holy One Who Pleases the Father

The word holy is very common for Christians to hear and understand. There are two words in the Greek that are used often for holy, and this is the one that you don't think...this is why I do this show, because tomorrow I don't want to say it that way.

This is not the common one. This is not the one where it means separated from sinners or transcendent. You know, God is holy, holy, holy. Two Greek words. This is not hagios, where we would get hagiography or something like that.

This has to do with character. This is a word you might transliterate it with, H-O-S-I-O-S. And it's a person who lives right before God. Of course, Jesus was holy, hagios, but here the emphasis on He's the one who wanted to glorify God no matter what.

That was His food and His drink, is to do the Father's will. He's the one who has a personal piety, an attitude on the inside that I'd like to conform my will to the will of the Father who sent me. I want to be pleasing.

And in fact, the text would say that He is pleasing in every way. It wasn't just that He had the desire to please. He had that, but He had something more, and He actually could obey and did obey. This word is devout.

This word means pious, pleasing to God. Matter of fact, it is used of God in the New Testament, Revelation 15 .4. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. Jesus is holy.

Only God is holy, Revelation 15. Of course, we know the deity of Christ. Revelation 16, this word is used. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, why did I not have this problem? Oh, speaking until I drank something.

I shouldn't have done that. Just are You, O Holy One, who is and who was, for You brought these judgments. The Lord God Almighty is true and just. This word is used not just for the Father, but for Christ elsewhere.

Acts 2, the Holy One. You will not abandon my soul to Hades or let Your Holy One see corruption. And used for the same quote in Acts 13. And this word is, I want to please God. I want to have no evil behavior, and I'd like to have a personal holiness.

I'd like to be upright. I'd like to basically be like everyone else. No, be like no one else. Think about it for a second. Thirty years Jesus is on earth. Thirty-five, whatever. We're talking about body, Jesus.

The eternal Son, of course, existed eternally. Put sinful mankind alongside of the sinless, holy, pleasing to God, Jesus. That's pretty amazing. When you just read through the New Testament, or old, Job said that mankind drinks injustice like water.

That man is abominable and corrupt. Solomon, in 1 Kings 8, there's no one who does not sin. John the Apostle, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and we make him what? A liar. Paul called himself the chief of sinners.

For thirty years, Jesus was pleasing to the Father. Not one word did He ever say that was inappropriate. Did Jesus ever gossip? Answer, no. Did He ever slander? Answer, no. Did He steal anything ever?

No. Did He ever lie? No. Did He ever covet? No. Did He ever do anything that was outside the law of God? No. Did He ever act as a rebel to the Father and not submit to His will? And the questions could go on and on and on and on.

He loved God and He loved His neighbor perfectly like everybody should have, yet has fallen into sin. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, he knew no sin, talking about Jesus. The angel called Jesus the Holy One who was to be born.

Demons said of Jesus, the Holy One of God. Hebrews 10, Jesus said, 1 John 3, in Him there's no sin. 1 Peter 1, unblemished and spotless. John 8, 29, one of my favorite concepts in all the Bible. Jesus said, I'll think about that for a second.

I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. What if Jesus would have said, Every other day, I do some things pleasing to the Father. On days that have a W in there, I do things that are pleasing to the Father.

When I'm in a good mood, I do the things pleasing to the Father. When I get enough sleep, I do the things pleasing to the Father. When I don't have a migraine, I do the things pleasing to the Father. When I have enough time, I do the things pleasing to the Father.

When I have enough space, it's about time, it's about space. One of my favorite things as a parent is to teach children kind of pop culture things that I did when I was a kid. And then they think it's new, and they take it to school, and they do the same thing.

Like, what do you say? Made you look. I saw a bumper sticker the other day, and it said, made you look, and I thought that person was born in the 60s. By the way, Barbara just said, no, that sounds a lot more like me.

See, isn't that the point? I always do the things pleasing to the Father. And when you just stop and let that sink in, I mean, that is amazing. When do I do the things pleasing to the Father? And even when I do it, what kind of motive do I have?

And what kind of pride and self-righteousness and wanting to be seen for my righteousness? And the list could go on and on and on. I mean, can you imagine? I always do the things pleasing to the Father.

That's the kind of priest you want. That's the kind of priest, Christian, you have. Christian, you have that kind of priest. And if you've got that kind of priest, when people try to tell you you can lose your salvation, really?

Not with my priest. Maybe your priest you could lose your salvation, but not with my priest. Because he's going to make sure I get to heaven. He saves to the uttermost. And that's enough today for No Compromise Radio.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.