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Hebrews 5 and your High Priest
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. The lights are low here in the studio for ambient reasons. No true Scotsman would do such a thing. Always biblical, always provocative, always in that order.
That�s what we�re after here. Coming into the final stages of our eighth year. I know I�m not in the studio every day, but sometimes it sure seems like it. We try to have shows posted all the time, but we�re a small corporation of a hundred people or so.
It makes it very difficult. If you want to get a hold of me, generally speaking, info at nocompromiseradio .com. If you�d like to talk to me about, oh, maybe you want to order a bunch of books for a men�s group, sexual fidelity, or you want to buy a bunch of things to go bump in the church for your Sunday school group, new members class, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.
I can hook you up. I�ll help you out. What else is going on around here? Well, it�s coming up to be summer in New England. That means hot and muggy. I think the mosquitoes are kind of out, but just getting back from Orlando, this weather is balmy compared to Orlando.
Does anything good come out of Orlando? All right. Well, what else is happening? Pastor Steve is not here today. I know you know that because you can�t hear him, and I�d like to talk to you a little bit about finishing.
Is it hard to go to finishing school? That's the wrong kind of finishing. Finishing well. Finishing is often hard to do, getting the job done. Sometimes finishing is harder than starting. Finishing a job is harder than starting a job.
Why is that? I wonder. I did some research this week, as a matter of fact, a couple of hours ago, and there are construction sites, engineering projects that, while they were concocted in the mind of a person, even blueprinted, white printed, what�s the difference between a blueprint and a white print, I wonder, but they are incomplete buildings.
The best known building that has not been finished is Antoni Gaudi�s Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain. In this particular church, see how I tie in church things, this church has been in construction mode.
It has been under construction since 1950? No. 1910? No. 1890? No. 1882! But they have a completion date, 2026, isn't that nice? So they started the church, I guess that's easy, and you get delayed, Spanish Civil War, that kind of puts a damper on things.
Some of the building was destroyed at that time. And now what do people do? According to the website, 1 .5 million visitors go see it every year. Antoni, A-N-T-O-N-I, Antoni, Antoni, Antoni, spent 40 years trying to get that project completed and it's buried in the crypt.
If you think that took a long time, the Cologne Cathedral, Cologne in Germany, started in 1248, finished in 1880, 632 years. I've been in that, interesting. They sell down the street bread shaped like men, that'd be like gingerbread, but it was bread bread.
So that was, if it's a gingerbread man, this would be a bread man. Trip trap, trip trap. Maybe the bread man would like to go across the river on the fox's snout. Do you know Christopher Wren, 1698, had a sketch for the rebuilt Palace of Whitehall?
Okay, I didn't know that either. Projects that never got done. That's the idea. That is the idea. Oh, here's an interesting one because it reminded me of Wolfenstein, right? The single game player mode.
What do you call that when you're the fighter, first person? Remember the old days, Wolfenstein? Castle Falkenstein. Falk I think is a bird. No, that's Vogel. Falk may be Falken. Ludwig II of Bavaria had lots of different designs for the Wolfenstein castle, but he couldn't figure out which one to use.
Finally the fourth and final plan was the one picked, but he died before construction could begin. So you try to start and it's hard to finish. There's certain things that were never started construction-wise.
The Millennium Tower, Point Park Civic Center, the Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton, Pyramid City, XC4000. What are those? I have no idea, but they're just here on my notes from the internet. If it's in the internet, it must be true.
There were certain buildings that were never completed and they stay in the state of being incomplete. Bishop Castle in Colorado, how about that one? I don't know what this one is. Target Husk, Los Angeles.
That's the center dot of the circle of Target. What does this have to do with anything? It has to do with, isn't there someone who would finish well? Isn't there someone who starts what they finish? Now of course all of us have gotten things done and finished.
It feels good to finish, but there are certain things we could start and not finish. How about trying to get your own salvation earned? When would you start? When would you finish? Could you finish? When would you abandon the project?
And even if you have all your sins forgiven in the future, what about the sins you've committed in the past? I mean, you can't go to the judge and say, I promise I won't kill anybody else. I only killed two people, but from here on out, I won't kill anybody else.
And we look today to the glorious book of Hebrews, where Jesus is called the finisher. The finisher. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death.
And he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
And being made, verse 9, perfect, he finished. Jesus is the finisher. And that's what we're talking about today on No Compromise Radio. There's someone who finished the job that he was given. And if there's any job in the world that you would want to have completion, it would be the work of Christ Jesus in redemption, in your salvation.
What if that was still open, remains to be seen, that it was a, you know, the show's over and they're stay tuned, you know, next week type of thing. What do they call that? Trailer? Teaser? I have no idea what they call that.
I'm tired today. I'm tired. I remember when Haley was little, I'd say, okay, tired, I have to go to bed. I'm not tired. I'm not tired. R .C. Sproul said, if I were cast into prison, allowed but one book, it would be the Bible.
If I were allowed only one book of the Bible, it would be the epistle to the Hebrews. Because it contains our most comprehensive discussion of redemption wrought for us in the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the great book called the fifth gospel because it talks so much about Jesus.
And when you study the book of Hebrews, it's trying to get you it as a book personified, the Holy Spirit. He wants you to not have a superficial faith, a lethargic faith, a faith that just says, well, we'll just settle.
This is the book that's really, it's an exhortation. Hebrews 13 .22 says, I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly. It is a encouragement. I mean, I could talk about the briefly part, but it is bear with my word of encouragement or exhortation.
And the whole thing is a treatise on the superiority of Jesus, theologically, and then the practical outworking of that. Theologically, Jesus is better than prophets, angels. Why? Because he's a son. He's better than Moses.
Why? Because he, Jesus, is a son. He's better than Aaron because he's a compassionate high priest. He's a sympathetic high priest. He's a sinless high priest. And later on in the book, in chapter 8 and 9 and 10, Jesus is superior to the old covenant and all the ministry that goes along with it.
If you wanted to summarize the book of Hebrews, now the point in what we are saying is this, Hebrews 8 .1. Here's the point. We have, present tense, such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven.
There's forgiveness found for you in the person and work of Christ Jesus. And since he is so great, then he should be your focus, Hebrews 12, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
If you're suffering, if you're getting persecuted, if you're wanting to go back to your old life, it doesn't necessarily have to be Judaism like in the book of Hebrews, it can be your old religion, your old way of atheism, your old way of agnosticism, your old way of Islam, whatever it might be.
You're recalling those former days. Don't go back. Wherever you go, don't go back. You might have a little faith, a tempted faith, a tried faith, a faltering faith, but as long as that faith is in the right object, you can rest.
That's the purpose, to encourage these people, Jesus is supreme. And in this particular passage, in Hebrews 5, 9, we've been watching the author focus on stress, focusing on and stressing that you can trust in Jesus, rest in Jesus, yes, praise him because he's a sympathetic high priest who prays for his people.
That's really what we've been doing, especially here on Sunday mornings. He was heard because of his reverence in verse 7. What do priests do? Well, they pray and they offer sacrifices. Now, there's lots of things that they do in the Old Testament, but the ones that are focused on, especially in Hebrews, are the ones that are having the one-to-one correspondence, or at least lesser to the greater significance, so you can understand how Jesus relates to these particular priests.
He was heard because of his reverence. Jesus didn't just call angels to help him get out of any suffering all the way up to the cross. He prayed and was heard. Why was he heard? Because of his reverence.
And the word reverence means careful, taking hold of, to take hold of well, to have caution and circumspection, quite different from Nadab and Abihu and Leviticus 10, who should have recognized the glory of God and recognized God's holiness, but they just did whatever they want.
They offered strange fire and tried innovation. Didn't go so well for him, did it? No. Heaven came down and glory burned them whole. Heaven came down and glory burned them whole. Is that the song? I don't know, but I cannot stop yawning.
I'm trying to suppress it on the radio so you can't see it or hear it. I'd like to do some of these things for Facebook Live groups, but the phone never seems to work. We're going to give it a shot though, I think pretty soon.
Greek text, not Phobos here, Phobos, as you might say, but Eulabia, Eulabia, it means to be cautious and aware and really circumspect in your devotion, in your character, in your thoughts, having concern.
Used twice in Hebrews, nowhere else in the New Testament, in the Old Testament Greek, Joshua 22, but truly we have done this out of concern for a reason. And Jesus had a concern and he was very concerned about the glory of God.
And he was able to sympathize and he was able to do things perfectly and it kind of surprises you when you look at the text in verse eight, although he was a son, he learned obedience. Here's the surprising part, through what he suffered, yes, children, sons have to learn by obedience, but Jesus, the eternal son, one grammar person said this is contra-expectation.
I've never heard that word before, but I know what it means. Teach the Bible a lot, you learn new words, that's kind of fun, isn't it? Jesus has no sin, he learns obedience. It hadn't been like he was disobedient before and now he's obedient, but he really understands and grasps what it means.
He appreciates what it means to be human and learn and obey, that's the point. He's one of us, isn't that really what the writer is after? You wouldn't expect him to suffer, but he does, even though he is the son.
But what we're after today is the finishing part, I guess we start it today and we end it tomorrow, which will seem like today to many of you, at least to me. He has been made perfect. Look at that, that word perfect, wait a second, Hebrews 5 and 9, and being made perfect, wasn't he perfect before?
That's the first question that probably goes through your mind. That word perfect means to bring to an end, it means to accomplish, to accomplish, it means to fulfill, it means to finish, but I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, Acts 20, 24, if only I may finish my course in the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel, the grace of God.
That's one of the uses of that word. John 19, 20, after this, Jesus knowing all was now finished, said, I thirst. This does not mean you were morally unfit, morally devoid, morally deficient, this means you finished, you completed, Jesus fulfilled everything that He was sent to do.
That seems to me to make Him a great high priest, yes, yes. This does not have to do with anything about He is imperfect, He is completing, has completed a process, that's the point, isn't it? It says in John 17, 4, I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
He finished the work that the Father gave Him. That would make Him a good high priest, wouldn't it? He was fully equipped for His office as a sympathetic high priest. He was qualified, I think that's a good way to think about it.
And in chapter 5, verse 9, and Hebrews 2, 10, this perfection is tied to suffering. He's qualified to be the eternal high priest. Outside of Hebrews, this particular word used to describe Jesus is in Luke 13, 32, and He said to them, go and tell that fox, Jesus talking about Herod, of course, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.
That's the word. Perfectly obey, perpetually obey, entirely obey. Jesus has finished, He is fully qualified, perfect. He suffered along the way, His humanity now is, as it were, completed, perfectly equipped for everything He needed to do and be for, let's just say to do, for priestly office.
There was an end for Jesus, a goal, a purpose, and He accomplished that. Now, let's ask this question, would that be true, could that be true, for any of the priests in the Old Testament? Well, when we read chapter 9 of Hebrews and 10 of Hebrews, we're going to find out quickly, their job was never done.
They could never sit down, but Jesus perfectly did His work. He put an end, or there was an end for that divinely appointed ministry of Jesus, including the divinely appointed suffering, perfectly carried out the purpose for which it was designed.
That's the word teleos, and that's the word here, perfect. Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith, right? He's the completer, He's the one who reaches the goal, and that's the word here. So back to what we started with today, it's hard to finish, but Jesus finished.
Yes, it was hard, it was difficult, but He despised the shame, and what did He do? Endured the cross, sat down at the right hand of the throne, finished. He's not imperfect, Hebrews 4 .15 has already said, yet without sin, but He's proven fit vocationally, if you will, that Jesus can be trusted.
He's done a great job, and there's nothing left for you to do. He didn't just make salvation possible, it's finished. You can't add to salvation, you can't work for it, you can't do anything except trust in what Jesus has done.
Now when we think about Jesus as a finisher, we think about that word, John 19, Jesus said, it is finished, did He not? He did, He said, it is finished. That's the idea. So next time on No Compromise Radio, we're going to look at, it is finished.
Now what's going on with No Compromise Radio? Well this summer, I'll probably be gone to California. I have a sabbatical that had to be uncompleted. I couldn't finish it last year because of the radiation, and why take a sabbatical when you're just recovering health-wise?
Anyway, so we'll do that, but I think we're going to have some new shows. I'm going to try to record actually in California, and I will do some travel during my vacation. I'm going to be in Portland, that will be fun, in late August for a conference, family camp.
Whenever I do camps, family camps, I like to do jet tours through the Bible, so I think I do 10 jet tours. And we'll be in Saskatoon in September, late, with Phil Johnson. You can pull that up online.
That's on No Compromise site, I think. Maybe Phil Johnson posted to Saskatoon. I've never flown into Saskatoon before, but I better bring my passport. Do you need a passport in Saskatoon? No true Scotsman would go to Saskatoon.
And then I'll be in Pennsylvania, in mid Pennsylvania, in mid, no, no, early October, I think. That's the travel plans. But anyway, from last year to this year, very thankful. It was June 12th, I believe, I had the radiation seeds placed in the prostate for the prostate cancer.
It has been a pretty good year, I would have to say. The stress that I had in my life was prior, trying to figure out what particular thing I would do. Once I was laying on the operating room table, I thought, there's nothing else I can do.
They're going to do this to me, and then whatever happens, happens, either for good or for ill. At least we did what we thought we should do. But the recovery has been excellent, praise the Lord. So far, my numbers are good, praise the Lord.
I have another blood test in a couple weeks. We'll hope that's still going down. And if it goes down and the MRI confirms, the second MRI confirms there's no cancer, and the biopsy quadruply confirms it, then I'll probably just have blood tests every six months to a year type of thing.
And if it's not gone, then I don't know what to do. We'll have to figure out the next step then. But even if it's the end of the world as we know it, I feel fine. Why? Because God sits on the throne, and He knows.
And if God wasn't sovereign over evil, I'd be freaking out. If God wasn't sovereign over cancer, I'd be freaking out. Matter of fact, I freaked out. But God didn't freak out. And God is faithful, even when I'm not faithful.
I never stopped trusting in the Lord, even though I wish I would have trusted Him with more excellence. But Jesus is the one, the object, right? So it's not about my faithfulness, it's about faith in Jesus.
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 bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.