Hebrews 7: 23-28 | Untying the Things That We're Tied To

Hebrews 7:23-28 and the Temporary Priesthood

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7. We'll be considering verses 23 through 28. Hebrews 7, 23 through 28. Let's pray. Father, Lord, please be with me. Lord, as I stand before your people, I ask for your grace and mercy to be upon me, to be upon this congregation.

Lord, we come to you for food, to feed us, to provide for our every need. Not only for the manna that feeds us, that nourishes us through the body, but also, Father, the manna that came down from heaven.

Jesus being the word, Lord, we come to hear from him. So please speak through me today, I pray. In Jesus name, Amen. So there were these two guys, they were hunting, and they were hunting deer, and they're going through the woods, and they came across this piece of property.

They found themselves parched, they were thirsty, and they saw in a distance a well. So they walked up to this well, hoping to receive from it water. They got to the well, and they noticed that there was no bucket to lay, to let down to get water.

So one of the hunters reached into his pocket, and he grabbed a quarter. He stuck the quarter over the well, and he let it go, and he stuck his ear out, and he didn't hear anything. So the other hunter grabs a rock.

So he sticks the rock over the well, and he lets it go, and they stick their ear out, and they didn't hear anything. So they looked around, and they saw a transmission. And so they both pick up the transmission, they stick it over the well, they let it go, they stick their ear out, and next thing you know, they saw a billy goat running toward them.

And so they dive out the way, the billy goat runs, and he jumps headfirst into the well. And then all of a sudden, they hear a shotgun, and an old man say, what are you doing on my property? They threw their hands up and said, sir, we were just thirsty, we saw this well, and we was hoping to get some water.

The old man scratches his head, and he looks around, he says, y 'all haven't seen a billy goat around here, have you? They said, yeah, they come charging at us, and he jumped headfirst into the well. He says, well, I don't see how I had it tied to a transmission.

Our theme for this Lord's Day is untying the things that we are tied to. Our timeless truth is outside of Jesus Christ, there is nothing that can draw us to Christ.

Nothing.

Nothing can get us to God outside of Christ. Outside of Christ, nothing can draw us near to God. And so the question is, why does this matter? Right? Why does this even matter? It matters because everything else, even if it's not bad, listen, even if it's not bad, even if it's a good thing, it's only temporary.

Whether it be family, parents, spouse, kids, friends, all these things are not bad, but they are only temporary. They're only temporary. Our lives can be filled with us focused on the temporary, that it can take our minds off of the eternal being,.

God,.

Jesus, and the kingdom of God. Yes, the kingdom of God, the church, the Bride of Christ, this that we're living in, this is something that's eternal. Now, please read with me our text for today. Hebrews chapter 7, beginning in verse 23, and we'll read to the end of the chapter, 28.

The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently, permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercessory for them.

For it was indeed fitting that he should have such a high priest, that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. In our outline today, we want to ask three questions of the text, three questions.

The first question is what were they tied to? Second question, what should they be tied to? And the third question, and why should they be tied to it? So as we transition, I want you to ask yourself a question, ask yourself this, what is it that I'm tied to?

The Death of the Levitical Priesthood

Point number one, what were they tied to? So this is just verse 23, Hebrews 7, 23, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. So the last two weeks that I spoke, I kind of covered a lot of what we're going to see in the text, such as in verse 23.

Speaking of, the high priest will die, right? You know, like when you walk back, when you study Judaism, in order, whenever they would enter the high priesthood, they would begin to study at the age of 25, at 30, they were blessed in through baptism, through anointing, and through their father saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.

And if they didn't die, they could only be high priest until they were 50. But either way, they were prevented by age and death. And our writer is pointing out death, more specifically. And I've covered this several times, but our writer keeps bringing this back up.

So our writer, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, seems to be making his point by repeating the point, by repeating himself. And we see this in the Gospels with Jesus. Jesus says, truly, truly.

It means, hey, pay attention. I'm about to say something that you need to listen to. And we know this is true in our days, whenever we might text someone, and we might put all caps.

Right?

I hate reading something in all caps. Like, I have trouble anyways, right? Dyslexic. But, you know, when it's all caps, like, stop being mad. You know, stop mad texting. Paul, when he was writing Galatians, he says, see what large letters I am writing you, trying to get their attention.

Or you might have someone, when they're speaking, they might begin to raise their voice, meaning, listen to me now. That seems to be what the writer is doing, when he keeps bringing back to this point that these priests were prevented from continuing in office because they would die.

If one lives forever, speaking of the Melchizedek priesthood, then the other must be prevented by death, speaking of the Levitical priesthood. Our writer has introduced to us another priesthood, one that lives forever.

And he points to this priesthood, and he says, this is the priesthood that Jesus represents. This one lives forever. The Levitical priesthood, the law, all that's passing away. And he just keeps repeating that.

The recipients of this letter were tied to the temporary, being the Levitical priesthood. That which was prevented by death from them continuing in office. Going off of our analogy that I gave earlier, this was the transmission that was forcing them down the well.

They were refusing to receive Christ and follow him, holding on to this temporary priesthood that was dying off, that was no good. As a matter of fact, if you take a lamb after Christ had given his life, if you take your lamb and you give it to the priest and he sacrifices it on your behalf, you are crucifying, according to chapter 6, once again the Son of God to your own harm.

And this is what I believe when the Bible calls the abomination that brings in the desolation. They were continuing to sacrifice after Christ made the ultimate sacrifice. Point number two, what should they be tied to?

Christ the Permanent High Priest and the Resurrection

We find this in Hebrews chapter 7, verses 24 through 27. I won't read that completely at the moment, so let's just read verse 24 first. Verse 24, right here it says, But he, so let's stop there, who's the he?

We find that the nearest antecedent answers us in verse 22. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. So the nearest antecedent is speaking about Jesus. But he, Jesus, holds his priesthood permanently because he lives forever.

And now our key verse is found in verse 25. And I have two sub-point questions concerning this verse. Sub-point question A is, how does Jesus save to the uttermost? And the answer is, it's because he lives forever.

So let's read, let's start with verse 24 and let's read through 26 to get our answers. Verse 24, but he, remember that's Jesus, holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercessory for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Ladies and gentlemen, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hinge of the door of Christianity.

The door of Christianity that swings, if there was no hinge, the door would not be able to operate, it would not be able to function. The resurrection of Jesus is that. And he lives forever, why? There is a resurrection.

We all know that our Lord was crucified, he was sacrificed, he who is the high priest gave the sacrifice. He died and he was buried. The shortest summation of the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15, and it tells us that Jesus died, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day.

And that through this resurrection, he lives forever. And our text also, in verses 26, points out five things about Jesus. It says that he's holy, he's innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

So let's look at them one by one. So the first one, he's holy. We see this in verse 26, it says,. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy. So you can turn there if you want, I'm going to try to hit him as soon as possible.

Hold on one second. So, okay. I had to do something different this week. My iPad broke down, so I tried to write these things down. I just want to make sure I'm not messing up here. Okay. So if you turn to Mark, chapter 1.

Mark 1, verse 24, says this, What have you to do with us? Now this right here is speaking in the context that there is an unclean spirit in a synagogue. So Jesus enters into a synagogue. There is a man with an unclean spirit and the spirit is speaking to Jesus saying, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. The Holy One of God. And then also in Psalm 16, Psalm 1610, says this, For you will not abandon my soul unto Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.

So this is David writing. And we find out in Acts that Peter tells us that this is speaking about the resurrection of Jesus. So the one thing that we don't want to do is be complacent when our writer repeats himself, right?

We don't want to be complacent when it comes to the writer restating a purpose, drawing us to a certain subject. The writer is telling us that it's ending, that we have the life of Christ that's going to go on forever, but this high priesthood is ending.

The sacrificial system is ending because it is insufficient. And what he means here is that it's not enough. We need something greater. It's not enough and it is inadequate. Why is it inadequate? Because the death of the priesthood.

The priest will die. They are going to die. And it spoke about its weakness and its uselessness. And we saw this the last time that I spoke. Its weakness was that it could not forgive sins, and its uselessness was that it could not make man holy.

And so the main argument of our writer is that the law was only until Christ. That something holy had to come. Something greater had to come. Something greater than the law had to come. And we'll see that.

And I know I've read this quite a few times, but again the writer is stating his point, so I have to reiterate what the writer is saying. But if you look in Galatians chapter 3, verses 23 through 26. Now think about this.

Have this mosaic law system in your mind. The sacrificial system. This law that was enslaving people in mind. It says, Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, in prison until the common faith would be revealed.

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.

And then in chapter 4, verses 1 through 7. I mean that the heir, so the heir here is speaking of the Jew. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different than a slave. When I walked through Galatians about a year or so ago, I pointed out that the slave here is speaking of the Gentile.

So the Jew is no different than the Gentile, as long as he is a child. So have that in mind. I mean that the heir, which is the Jew, as long as he is a child, he is no different than the Gentile, the slave.

Though he is the owner of everything. But he is under a guardian. So he is under a guardian, meaning that he is a child, and managers until the date set by the father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved by the elementary principles of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come, this is when Christ Jesus came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent His Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. And to put this in a sentence, it is this.

The child under the guardian is no different than a slave.

Why?

Because under the law, we are all slaves. So this system, this Levitical priesthood system, is enslaving everyone. So the writer, when we look back at our text, when he's talking about it in verse 23, that these things would end, because something greater is coming, something holy is coming, and it's speaking of Jesus Christ.

It also says that He is innocent, that Jesus is holy and He is innocent. So in John, John chapter 19, verses 1 through 4, so this will be, Jesus is brought before Pilate. The Jews want Him crucified. They're saying, crucify Him, crucify Him.

Give us Barabbas, crucify Him. It says, then Pilate, Pilate took Jesus, and he flogged Him, and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, and they put it on His head, and arrayed Him in a purple robe.

And they came up to Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and struck Him with their hands. And Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.

Pilate said, I find no guilt in Him. Even before the eyes of the courts, Jesus was innocent. What's being done to Him is being done to Him for no purpose. And it says that He is unsanged. Listen, ladies and gentlemen, in order for Jesus Christ to be a substitutionary, atoning death, in order for Him to be our substitute, He had to be perfect.

And I've been hitting on this week after week after week, that Jesus Christ would not be able to accurately be a substitute for us if He had sinned in His life. If He would have committed one sin, if He would have had one moment in His life where He did not love the Father with all of His heart, with all of His mind,.

With all of His soul,.

With all of His strength. If He did not love His neighbor as Himself just for one moment, He could not be our atoning death. He could not be the sacrifice. He had to be unstained. He had to be perfect.

That's why I always stress the act of obedience of Christ. Without the act of obedience of Christ, there is no passive obedience. What was done to Him was done to Him. It means nothing without the act of obedience of Christ, without Him living the life that we could not live.

He would not be able to die the death that we deserve to die. He had to be perfect, unstained. And then it says that He is separated from sinners. And then I was listening to a good preacher that I've been getting to know, Justin Perdue, and he points out Psalm chapter 1.

Listen to this. Psalm chapter 1. I'm going to read verses 1 through 3.

It says,.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by the streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers. Ladies and gentlemen, the standard of this psalm is so high it can only be fulfilled and accomplished by Jesus Christ.

We walk in the counsel of the wicked. We sit in the way of, we stand in the way of sinners, sit in the seat of scoffers.

We do not, listen,.

We do not delight in the law of the Lord day and night. We don't. We are not like a tree planted by the water that yields its fruit in seasons. Our leaf withers. Things just don't prosper from us. The second half of this psalm,.

That's us,.

Where it says that the wicked are not so, but they're like chaff, that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Ladies and gentlemen, if anything, we are the way of the wicked. This is pointing to the two sides of life. Only one person has lived that life, and that's Jesus Christ. And then it says that he has exalted above the heavens, and we see that clearly in Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24. It says, For Christ has entered not into the holy place made with hands, which are copies of the things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

This is speaking of the ascension, Jesus entering into heaven, entering into the true temple, that when Jesus rose from the grave, he hung out with his disciples, for 40 days, but then he went into heaven.

Acts chapter 1 gives us this clear view of what it looked like when Jesus ascended into the heavens. And what the writer is saying that when he ascended into the heaven, he went into the true holy place that what we had down here was just a copy of.

Jesus went into the true tent, the true holy of holies. And because these things are true about Jesus, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. Because he rose from the grave, because he's holy, because he's innocent, because he's unstained, because he's separated from sinners, because he is exalted above the heavens, he is able to save to the uttermost.

So point question B, how are we, you and I, to draw near to God? And the answer is simple. It's faith, right? Faith. We as a reformed church, a reformed church body, it's faith.

It's belief.

It's trust. And the answer to that, we see it, we've already exegeted it. It's in Hebrews chapter 4. We'll look at verses 1 and 2, then we'll skip down and look at verses 8 through 11. Verses 1 and 2 says,.

Therefore,.

Now, in my opinion, the book of Hebrews is an exegetical sermon of Psalm, I think 91, I might be off. But it's an exegetical sermon of Psalm 91 or Psalm 87. I'm sorry, I have to go back and look. Don't quote me there.

But it's an exegetical sermon. And so it says, while the promise of entering his rest still stands. So there's a promise of a rest and it still stands. Let us fear, at least any of you should seem to fail to reach it.

For good news came to us just as to them, speaking of the Israelite in the wilderness. But the message that they heard did not benefit them, talking about the land of Canaan. They were to enter the land of Canaan because they were not united by faith with those who listened, meaning that they all needed to listen.

Verse 8, for if Joshua had given them rest, so now they're entering a land. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would have not spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

And so our writer is telling them that they never came to a final rest, that there was still a rest that was up ahead of them. And he points that this rest was in Jesus. And then a key verse here is verse 9.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are the people of God, there remains a rest. And that rest is in Christ. That's what the writer of Hebrews is laboring over.

He's been laboring over this. It is in Christ. That is where our rest is found. Now look at verse 27.

Of our chapter.

Chapter 7, verse 27. It says that he has no need, speaking of Jesus, like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

So the question is, is faith in what? And the answer is faith in Jesus when he offered up himself. See, we enter him. Imagine that. Recautions in him, in him, in him. Over and over it reiterates that it's in him.

We are to be in him. We are to enter him when we put our faith in him.

In what?

In him offering himself on our behalf. The intercessory work of Jesus is not him, listen, the intercessory work of Jesus is not him begging the Father to forgive us. He's not begging the Father,.

Oh, please forgive Jeff.

I know, Lord, God, Father,.

I know he messed up.

Please forgive him. Please forgive Cal. Please forgive Josh.

I know that he just sinned.

Please forgive him.

The intercessory work of Jesus is not him begging the Father to forgive us, but it's the continuing reality of the finished work of the gospel. Of what he has done past tense for us even now and in future.

That that blood still speaks.

If you and I, anyone, are by faith united with Christ in him, therefore we are tied.

To Christ.

Listen to this,.

If then we are united, we are united with Christ and we are tied to Christ, Christ being in the presence of God, you and I have drawn near to God by faith in Christ, then you and I are in the presence of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's what I've been talking about with Coram Deo. That is Coram Deo. Christians living in the presence of, under the authority of, and in honor and glory of God. And as we transition, I'm gonna ask you the question,.

What are you tied to?

Now I bring this to the temporary because that's what's going on in the text. The sacrificial system was temporary. And although we don't have a sacrificial system, are you tied to the things like our recipients of this letter?

Not a sacrificial system, but things that are temporary. Family. Spouse. Kids. Things that can even be good. But are you tied to these things? Listen, don't think for a second your temporary enjoyment, whether it's good or bad, is something less sinful.

It's sinful.

If you are not putting Christ first,.

It's sinful.

Anything can be sinful if you put it above Christ. The sacrificial system is an outward visible presence of self-righteousness.

You can look at the temple,.

You can see everything that was going on. It was an outward visible representation of self-righteousness. When you and I turn to God in repentance of faith, you and I are turning from an inward, invisible presence of self-righteousness.

We have our own little temple system built inside of us.

That's so full of.

Self-righteousness that it's filthy rags before the eyes of God. And listen, if you do not turn from it, that will be the transmission that drags you to hell. I don't know no other way.

To put it.

In faith, we have to tie ourselves to Christ, the anchor that has gone into the holy place. Again, we already exegeted this in Hebrews 6. The writer says, we have a shore. Well, I mean, hold on. Hebrews 6, verse 19, we have this as a shore and steadfast anchor of our soul.

It says that our soul has an anchor, and that anchor is Christ. It says a hope that has entered into the interplace behind the curtain, that has entered behind the veil, but it's not speaking of the earthly temple.

It's speaking of when Christ ascended into heaven, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is speaking of his ascension, that our soul is tied to the anchor, and the anchor has gone into the heavens, and through this anchor we draw near to God.

We are in the presence of God. That this anchor is keeping us afloat. It's keeping us steady. It is what's keeping us.

From sinking.

It is what's keeping us from being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Point number three, and why should they be tied to it? We see this in our last verse, verse 28. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests.

But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect.

Forever.

So the writer here.

Only gives two choices.

One,.

We can priest appointed by the law, which we see in verse 28a, versus a son made perfect.

Forever.

By the word of God, verse 28b. So the first choice, we can priest appointed by the law. Let's read that again, just 28a. For the law appoints men in weakness as high priests. Weak, why? We've already said it.

We've stated this before. Because they will die.

They will die.

The system is broken. It's weak because it cannot save. It cannot make man holy. The priest will die. The law cannot save. And it cannot make man holy. The Jewish people were always having to untie the rope around their feet from one priest to another because the priests were dying.

So their hope was in this priest that was sacrificing for them. He would die.

They would have to.

Untie from that priest and tie themselves to the next high priest. Priest after priest after priest. They were unable to retain the priesthood. And not to mention the writer has in mind 70 A .D. It's coming.

All this, all this is going.

To be destroyed. The whole temple system is going to be destroyed. And so he's passionately over and over reiterating himself. Untie yourself from these things and tie yourself to Christ. Everything that is present within the temple, this temple system will soon be destroyed.

Please just.

Untie yourself. I don't know about you, but as I read these things and study these things, I just try to imagine, I try to put myself at this time and this place and in the mind of the writer and in the mind of the recipients and listening to how I would have responded or how I would have heard these things for the very first time.

And the writer is doing nothing more but simply telling them to untie themselves from these things that they were tied to because they are passing away. The second choice it gives us is the son of man.

Perfect forever.

By the word of the oath and that is 28b. But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect. So this is taken from Psalm 110 .4. Psalm 110 .4, over and over, it keeps repeating it through this psalm.

The Lord has sworn, so this is the oath, speaking about Jesus, the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Not after the order of Levi, but after the order of Melchizedek.

A priesthood that would go on and live forever. The last time that I spoke, we looked at the word perfect.

It was teleos.

The word perfect means to be made perfect, complete, to carry through, completely, to accomplish, to finish, to bring an end, to bring to an end. So when you read the word perfect in the Greek, in the New Testament, those are your options, depending on the context of what it could mean.

Right?

Teleos.

And it tells us in our text, a son who has been made perfect. In context, this is speaking of the qualifications required to draw near to God. You want to draw near to God? You have to be made perfect.

Our text says that the son who has been made perfect. Now this is not speaking about Jesus needing to qualify himself, but that the qualification was for us to draw near to God. We need to be brought near to God because of what Christ has suffered.

Again, another passage that we have already exegeted, but we see this in Hebrews 2, verse 10. Hebrews 2, verse 10.

It says,.

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in order to bring many sons to glory, should make the founder of our salvation perfect,.

Teleos,.

Through suffering. Now what does his suffering accomplish? Forgiveness of sins. It accomplishes the fact that you and I can be brought near to God. The context here, the son of God being made lower than the angels by him taking on human flesh in the likeness of the Hebrew people in order to become a high priest to make the ultimate sacrifice, that of himself.

That is the only sufficient sacrifice by which we are able to draw near to God. Jesus is the only sufficient sacrifice by which we are able to draw near to God. He became a man in order to be a high priest.

In order for him to be a high priest, he had to be a Hebrew. In order for him to be a sacrifice, he had to live perfect. So Jesus is the high priest and he is the sacrifice, and on the cross he said, it is finished.

Perfect.

He has made it complete.

Teleos.

He has done what no one else could do. As the high priest, Jesus mediates for us and makes the sacrifice, but as the lamb of God, he is the sacrifice by which we have Coram Deo. Everything begins and ends with Christ.

Josh brought it up in our Sunday school. Why is it so important that all these things point to Christ? Because everything begins and ends with him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

He is who was, is, and is to come. He died, he rose again, and he lives forever.