Title: Learning Obedience
Text: Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 1-9
Date: February 3, 2013
Place: SBBC, New Jersey
In the second hour, we will be in Psalm 13. This hour our text will be Hebrews 4: 14
through chapter 5: 9. I want to give you
an exposition of this passage. Reviewing
this will help us in the second hour.
Hebrews 4: 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. 15: For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16: Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.
Christ is our great High
Priest
First, Christ the great High Priest of his people because
of where He is—v14: He is passed into the heavens. That tells us that he accomplished what
he came to do for God and for his people.
He came to declare God just and the
Justifier of his people—his being passed into the heavens tells us he did
it—God is satisfied. Our High Priest
came to put away the sin of his people by the sacrifice of himself—his being
passed into the heavens tells us he did it.
Hebrews 1:3:…when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 8: 1: Now of the things which
we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the
right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2: A minister of the
sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Secondly, Christ is our great High Priest because of who
he is—v14: Jesus, the Son of God.
Our great High Priest is both God and Man—one with us, his brethren, who are
flesh and blood—Jesus. And one with
God the Father—the Son of God. Our great
high priest is the GodMan. He alone can
bring his people together with God in one.
Thirdly, Christ Jesus is our great High Priest because
since he is Man he knows and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities—v15: For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Application: Hebrews 4: 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.
And since our great high priest has suffered what we
suffer and knows the feeling of our infirmities,
Hebrews 4: 16: Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need. Believer, come
boldly—with confidence that he will receive us. His throne is the throne of
grace. Our great High Priest will give us mercy and grace to help in time of
need.
Hebrews 5: 1: For every
high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to
God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Similarities Between
High Priests and Christ our High Priest
First, every high priest under the old covenant was taken
by God from among men—from among his brethren.
This is why our great High Priest, the Son of God, became flesh and
blood—that he might be taken by God from among men—
Hebrews 2: 11: For both he that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren, 12: Saying, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee….
Secondly, the high priest was ordained of God for men—v1:…in things pertaining to God, that he may
offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Aaron the high priest, alone, by himself, was the only one who could
approach God in the holiest of holies on the day of atonement. Aaron alone stood between God and the
children of Israel. That is why God ordained Christ to be the
High Priest of his spiritual Israel, his elect.
Jesus, the Son of God—the High Priest—alone, by himself,
is the only one who could approach God in the holiest of holies, in heaven
itself. Christ alone could offer to God
the gifts and sacrifices for the sins of his people on their behalf. Christ
alone is the Mediator—the go-between—between God and the elect of God—his
spiritual Israel.
Hebrews 2: 17: Wherefore in all things
it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 5: 2:
Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way;
for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3: And by reason hereof
he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
Thirdly, Aaron, the
high priest, was taken from among his brethren so that since he was a man like
them, he could have compassion on the
ignorant, and them out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with
infirmity. This is why Christ
partook of flesh and blood like those he came to save.
Hebrews 4: 15: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin.
The difference between other earthly high priest and our
great High Priest is that they had to offer a sacrifice for their own sin. Our High Priest was tempted in all points
like us but without sin.
Hebrews 5: 4: And no man
taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 5:
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that
said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
Fourthly, no man took this honor but was appointed of
God, so was Christ. God called Christ to
this honor of being our great High Priest.
Christ did not make himself High Priest.
He did not receive this call from men. God called Him to this office.
Differences between
Christ and Other High Priests
Hebrews 5: 6:
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order
of Melchisedec.
Christ is a priest
after the order of Melchisedec—meaning Christ is preeminently better and
different than all other high priests Christ is both our King and our High
Priest. Christ is eternally our High
Priest—without beginning of days or ending of days. All others priesthood was temporary; Christ’s
is eternal. (Heb 7:1-3) There were many high priests; Christ is the final and
only High Priest that remains. Other
high preists offered many sacrifices which could never take away sins because
they offered the blood of bulls and goats; Christ offered only one sacrifice,
his own blood and perfected forever his people by his one offering (Heb 10:12) Other high priests were never allowed to sit
down in that earthly holiest of holies because they never put away sin, only
ceremonially in type; our great High Priest cried, “It is finished” therefore
he entered the presence of God and sat down.
The Days when he Walked
This Earth
Hebrews 5: 7: Who in the
days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard
in that he feared; 8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he
obedience by the things which he suffered; 9
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that obey him;
Christ Jesus is preeminently the Son of God. He is the “only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”, the only
virgin-born Son. (Luke 1: 30-35), the only son who the Father exalted publicly
to his office speaking from heaven (Heb 1: 5-6; 5: 5) and the Firstborn from
the dead.
Yet, he was not exempt from suffering—v8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he
obedience by the things which he suffered.
Remember by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners. Adam disobeyed. So by one man’s obedience
many shall be made righteous. Christ
came to be the perfect servant of God to walk before him obeying God as his God
and his Father. He came to perfect obedience as THE ONE
MAN representing all those the Father chose and gave to him.
Now Adam was made a full grown man, given wisdom and
understanding when he was made alive, in a perfect environment. But showing how far superior Christ is to
Adam, Christ was born an infant and grew up from an infant, not in a perfect
world, but in a world cursed and full of sin.
And the verse says he “learned obedience
by the things which he suffered.” As
the servant of God, God taught him and he depended entirely upon God—V9
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that obey him. Christ Jesus
perfected obedience and is the obedience of his people. Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation and
he is our Salvation for all eternity. We
obey Christ by believing on him, by following him, by casting all our care into
his hands continually.
Notice, how he obeyed the Father by continually depending
upon the Father.V7: Who in the days of
his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying
and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that
he feared. Christ Jesus, became
obedient, even unto the death of the cross.
He completely reverenced God.
Christ trusted God his Father’s word, his promise to deliver him when he
had accomplished the work the Father sent him to do. He prayed to him because he believed his
Father was able to save him from death. And
because of this fear—this piety—this holiness of heart in trusting his
Father—Christ was heard.
Believers with Pure
Hearts Obeying Christ
Brethren, when we are born of the Spirit of God, we are
given a new heart, a pure heart, a new spirit is put in us. The only ones who obey God’s command to
believe on Christ and rest all our eternal care into his hands are those whose
hearts have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. And we must suffer. Our suffering is from
believing on Christ and resting in him.
That is our cross. We do nothing
to redeem ourselves it is done. Nor do
we do anything to perfect ourselves. By
his one offering he perfected forever them that are sanctified. Our work is to believe on Christ and to be
used of him in promoting the preaching his gospel.
We only do that by his grace, and he does the work of
calling out his sheep and of growing us in grace through the gospel. So we are to follow him in the way he
followed the Father—by casting our care into his hands, by asking him and
trusting he is able to raise us up from the dead.
Thing We Are Tempted By
Our text says, “He learned obedience by THE THINGS things
which he suffered.” He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without
sin. What are some things we can expect
to be tempted with?
Our Savior was tempted to turn aside from his purpose by the offers of
worldly advantage. The
Jews look at prophecy in the letter rather than spiritually so they were
looking for an earthly, political kingdom.
John
6: 15: When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by
force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
They would have gladly followed him
on their terms—as a political King and with an earthly Kingdom! But his kingdom is not of this world, it is
spiritual. So Christ departed from them
into a mountain alone—our text says, he offered up prayers and supplications to
God. Likewise, in the wilderness satan
offered him the kingdoms of this world (Matt. 4).
But Christ refused, choosing instead to
suffer for his Father and his brethren.
Brethren, flee this world’s offers of greatness. Depart to Christ and ask him for strength to
continue trusting him alone. He gives us
the unsearchable riches, an inheritance reserved in heaven.
Our Lord Was Tempted to turn from his Work of Redemption by the Persuasion
of his Closest Friends. His
own disciples rebuked him.
John
11: 8 His disciples say unto him,
Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
Peter rebuked him for saying he was
going to the cross. (Matt. 16:22-23). On another occasion, his family tried to
persuade him to go after what they deemed as greater things for himself. But instead of consulting with flesh, he
prayed the Father and set his face like a flint. If we would serve Christ for the good of his
people, then we often have to ignore the advice of our dearest loved ones (Gal.
1:15).
Illustration: Mary
Bell, “Digging a ditch. Follow the Lord.”
Our Savior was tempted again in that bitter garden of Gethsemane. There we find him crying with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death. And the Lord sent an angel to strengthen
him. Do you see how many things he
suffered, tempting him to turn from believing his Father, from doing his
Father’s work, but in each one he cast his care into the Father’s hand? That is the only way we can expect to obey
him—Christ is our Strength.
He Could Have Simply Not Gone to the Cross, He was Not Forced to Do
so—it would surely be tempting to us to avoid suffering, especially the cross. But
Christ was constrained by love for the Father and love for his people. If we are truly his, his love constraineth us
to obey him.
Christ was mocked and ridiculed by a host of people who had all turned
against him. That would be tempting to us to turn the other way. They
said, “If thou be the King!”, “If
thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.”, “He saved others, himself he cannot
save!” (Mt. 27:42). I am persuaded that most of the Psalms are the hidden,
heart prayers of our great High Priest, during times like that. He said to us, “If they have hated me,
they will hate you.” They will reject
you thinking their doing God’s service just like they rejected him.
But what does our text say he
did? He cast himself upon the care of
his Father. Then that’s how we are to
obey Christ!
We will see in the second hour, the
agony he bore on the cross. There he was
tempted in ways we can’t even see, to turn from his mission, but we will see he
turned his face toward the Father in faith trusting the Father would fulfill
his promise to him--v9: And being made
perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY HIM;
Application: Has he given you a heart to obey him? Is Christ your eternal salvation? Do you see
the Wisdom of God in not only redeeming us by Christ’s one offering, but also
in setting him before us as the example to follow? And also making him our
great high priest? He has not called us
to make ourselves righteous—he has done that; nor to make ourselves holy; if he
has called us he has done that. But he has called us to believe on him, to give
ourselves to him trusting him to provide for us, to seek to be taught by him in
the things he calls us to suffer. And here is the lesson in all our sufferings.
Hebrews 4: 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.
15 For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16: Let us therefore COME BOLDLY UNTO
THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, AND FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME
OF NEED.
Amen!