Loving God, Loving People, Making Disciples

Transcription

1 Sermon Transcript March 15, 2015 J e s u s i s J e s u s i s B e t t e r A sermon series on the book of Hebrews Loving God, Loving People, Making Disciples Jesus: A Better Priest Hebrews 5-7 This message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on March 15, 2015, at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, by Dr. Scott W. Solberg. This is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio copy of the sermon on CD is available by request at (860) An audio version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at 1

2 Sermon Text Hebrews 5: 1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my Son, today I have begotten you ; 6 as he says also in another place, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. 7 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. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 6 1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you. 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two 2

3 unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever. 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 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. 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. 3

4 Introduction I would like to begin this morning by introducing you to someone. He is somewhat of a mysterious character in the Bible. He quickly comes onto the scene and then he quickly disappears. He doesn t show up often on the pages of Scripture, but when he does it is rather significant. It reminds me of the TV commercial from the 1970 s. Two business men are sitting on an airplane they both have aisle seats across from each other. The one is reading the business section of the newspaper. He turns to the man across the aisle and says, This is all very interesting. My broker is pretty excited about this, what does your broker have to say? The gentleman leans across the aisle and says, Well my broker is E. F. Hutton and E. F. Hutton says... Before he can get another word out of his mouth, everyone on the plane is now leaning in on the conversation to hear what E. F. Hutton has to say. The tag line went like this, When E. F. Hutton speaks, people listen. That is how I feel about this person I want to introduce to you this morning. Even though he only shows up three times on the pages of Scripture, when he does show up, we need to lean in and listen. He briefly comes and quickly goes in Genesis 14. He is mentioned by name in Psalm 110. And here is what you need to know about Psalm 110. Out of all the Old Testament passages cited in the New Testament, Psalm 110 is the most frequently cited passage of them all. That alone causes us to lean in to listen when this name is mentioned. And then we find this obscure name at the center of attention in Hebrews 5-7. In these three chapters, this individual s name is mentioned eight times. His name is linked closely to Jesus, revealing something important about Jesus. This morning I want to introduce you to a man by the name of Melchizedek. In doing so, I feel like the writer to the Hebrews who says in Hebrews 5:11, About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain. He said it is hard to explain because the people he was writing to were immature in their faith. He said that these things he is sharing with them are solid meat. In other words, this text is food for one who is mature. So some of what I have to share with you this morning is not Bible 101 and there is a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time. However, I feel the challenge this morning is not so much coming from you who are listening but it is for me who is speaking. And yet, as we dive into this rich text, my prayer is that no matter where you are in your journey that you come away with confidence that in Jesus you have a source of eternal salvation (5:9). As you lean in and listen this morning I want you to hold fast to the hope set before us knowing that we have in Jesus a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (6:18-19). As we consider these deeper truths, my prayer is that you walk away confident in Jesus who is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him (7:25). May we lean in and see Jesus this morning. 4

5 Introducing Melchizedek So let me introduce you to Melchizedek. We first find him in Genesis 14. This is very early in the story of the Bible. This is back in the early chapters of the story of Abraham. In fact, when this story unfolds, Abraham s name is still Abram. At this point, Abram doesn t even have a son from whom a people will eventually emerge. Consequently, this predates the nation of Israel. As best as I can tell, this is about 600 years prior to Moses. Melchizedek shows up very early in the storyline of the Bible. God told Abram to leave his home and go to a land that God was going to give to his descendants. God promised Abram that through his descendants he would bless and fix this broken world. Of course, we know who comes from the descendants of Abraham. It is from Abraham, we get Jesus. Consequently, Jesus is very strategically introduced to us in the first verse of the New Testament, Matthew 1:1, the Son of David, the son of Abraham. And so Abram leaves with his household along with Lot, his nephew. As they settle in land of Canaan, Abram and Lot decide to separate. Lot went and lived in the city of Sodom, while Abram went the opposite direction. During this time, the land was filled with small rural towns. In Genesis 14, we hear about a group of kings from the north who ban together to take up a fight against another group of kings further to the south. These kings were more like small town mayors and these armies were more like small raiding parties. They attacked these communities lying to the south, one of them being Sodom, where Abram s nephew Lor happened to be living. When this raiding party swept through Sodom, they looted the city and took captives with them. Lot and his family were among the captives taken. And so Abram rustles up over 300 men and chases down these raiders and overtakes them and rescues Lot and all the people who had been taken captive from Sodom. He returns the captives back to Sodom along with all the stolen goods. When Abram returned with the captives and the recovered goods he was greeted by the king of Sodom, no doubt grateful for what Abram had done. And then it is here, out of nowhere, Melchizedek arrives onto the scene. We read, And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was a priest of God Most High.). This is a very important point for when we get to Hebrews 5-7. Melchizedek was king of Salem (possibly the future sight of Jerusalem.). But he also was a priest of God Most High. He was both king and priest. So when he meets Abram, he does what priests do, he pronounced the blessing of God on Abram. And Abram, in return, recognizing the sacred role of a priest who represented God, bowed with reverence and gave a tithe to the priest as an offering to God. Then this king-priest is gone. He shows up in three verses in the midst of a vast sea of Old Testament narrative, never to be seen again. 5

6 Then we come to Hebrews 5-7. Even though Melchizedek is only seen in three verses in the narrative of the Old Testament, he is all over Hebrews 5-7. Three times in our passage this morning, the author of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 110:4 and says of Jesus, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. You find this quote in Hebrews 5:6; 6:20 and 7:17. All of this points to the fact that Jesus is a better priest. That is what I want us to think about this morning. Lean in and Listen: Jesus is our appointed priest. Do you know what a priest is? Do you know what a priest does? A priest is someone who stands between man and God and he brings people to God through what he does. In Hebrews 5:1 it says, For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God. In many respects, the priest is a surrogate, a substitute for the people he represents before God. Quite simply, the priest comes before God and through his gifts and sacrifices for sins (5:1) he represents the people before God so that they can come to God. Now here is an important question. What is it that qualifies someone to be a priest? What a priest does is no small task. He brings people to God. So what needs to be true of the priest in order to actually bring us to God? In Hebrews 5, there are two qualifications listed for someone to fill the role of a priest. First of all, the priest must be one of us. In order to represent us before God, he must be one of us. That is what it says in verse 1, he is chosen from among men... to act on behalf of men. The point here is that, in order to legitimately fill this position, the priest must himself be a member of the community he represents before God. He can only represent those of his own kind, those with whom he is essentially linked. And so in the Old Testament we see that to be the case. The priests who offered sacrifices for the sins of the people of Israel so that the holy God could be in their midst, came from one of the tribes of Israel. It was from the tribe of Levi that Aaron and his sons were set apart to serve as priests. In Exodus 28:1 it says, Then bring near to you Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests. We discover in Exodus 40:15 that this was to be a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations. And of course, it doesn t surprise us that because these priests are from among their people, before they can offer sacrifices for the sins of Israel, they needed to offer sacrifices for their own sins. It says in Hebrews 5:2-3 that the priest can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. The one who brings us to God must be one of us. 6

7 Now here is the second qualification for someone to serve as priest. Not just anyone can serve as a priest. A priest is someone who is appointed by God. That is the main point in Hebrews 5:1-10. Look at the words associated with the priest in these verses. In Hebrews 5:1 the priest is chosen and appointed. In verse 4, he is called by God. Speaking of Jesus in verse 5, he too is appointed by God and then in verse 10, he is designated by God. Aaron and his sons were priests for the people of Israel because God chose them to be priests. Why did they get to represent the people before God? Because God chose them. What was special about them that qualified them to be priests? Nothing! They too had to offer sacrifices for their own sins, did they not? God just chose them. In Numbers 16 there was an incident where three men, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They accused Moses and Aaron for exalting themselves over the house of Israel. Now Korah was from the tribe of Levi, so he was among those already set apart to God to tend to the tabernacle. He was not a descendant of Aaron, so he would never rise to the role of priest. And so he was jealous and he thought it was unfair that Aaron and his sons were priests and he wasn t. And basically, what he was saying was, what makes Aaron so special that he is the priest? Moses responds to Korah and says, is it a small thing that you are from the tribe of Levi and that you get to work in the tabernacle? And then he asks, And would you seek the priesthood also? Then in Numbers 17 God told Moses to take twelve staffs, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. On the staff representing Levi, he was to write the name Aaron. God said to Moses that on the staff of the man God chose to be the priest for the people of Israel, Moses would see a flower sprout. The next day he went to the tabernacle and on the staff with Aaron s name were buds and blossoms and almonds. The staff of Aaron that blossomed was kept as a sign that this is whom God chose to represent the people of Israel as their priest. A priest is one who is chosen, appointed, called and designated by God. Only the appointed priest has capacity to bring someone to God.. And so the point that the writer of Hebrews is making is that as our priest, Jesus meets those two qualifications. First of all, he is one of us. Secondly, in Hebrews 5:10 we see that he too was appointed and designated by God a high priest. In other words, Jesus is the way to God. We believe that Jesus, the eternal son of God, took on human flesh and became like us. He was like us in every way except that he never sinned. We read in Hebrews 5:7, In the days of his flesh.. Jesus was fully human. And at the same time, we read in verse 8, Although he was a son. Here it is referring to the fact that Jesus was the eternal 7

8 Son of God, and yet by becoming like us he learned obedience by what he suffered. In other words, he fully entered into the human experience and was obedient to the Father even in his sufferings. Some people say they don t believe in God because of all the suffering in the world. Or what kind of God is God who would allow suffering? Well actually, we have a God who loved us so much that he came and voluntarily tasted our suffering. We have a God who is acquainted with our grief. And even on the cross while suffering to the point of death, Jesus is doing the work of a priest for us. It says in verse 7, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. In his own suffering he cried out on our behalf, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. And did we not also hear from the cross, It is finished! This is your priest who is even now interceding for you and don t think he doesn t know what you are going through. He is one of us and he represents us to the Father as he intercedes for us. But Jesus also meets the second qualification for a priest. He was appointed by God to be our priest. It says in Hebrews 5:5, So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my Son, today, I have begotten you. Can we take a timeout here. Remember, this letter is being written to a Jewish audience. They know, like the back of their hands, what we call the Old Testament. We saw this quote from Psalm 2 when we were in Hebrews 1. You are my Son, today, I have begotten you. We know that it is statement about the king who sits on David s throne. We have said the last two weeks that his verse was tied to Jesus in Acts 13. As a result of his resurrection from the dead, Jesus is Lord and sits as the ruler over God s kingdom. But if you come from a Jewish background you start scratching your head because you are a little confused here. In the Old Testament you had a king and then you had a priest and the king couldn t be a priest. If you remember Saul, the king before David, he lost his throne because he offered a sacrifice that was not his to offer. That was the work of the priest. But now you come to Hebrews 5:5-6 and you discover that the one who sits on David s throne as ruler over God s kingdom is also a priest. He says in verse 6, as he says also in another place, you are a priest forever. How can this be? Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. Lean in and listen. Jesus is both priest and king because it says You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. What was Melchizedek? He was king of Salem and he was priest of the Most High God. And so in verse 10 we are assured that Jesus was designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Why is this important? It is important because we all need a priest. You can t just waltz into God s presence on your own. In Hebrews 5:1, we see that a priest makes sacrifices for sins. Your sin and your guilt are what keep you away from God. But God has 8

9 provided and appointed a priest for us. God has raised up someone from among us whom he has appointed to be our priest. You have someone who can bring you to God and he is not just anyone. His death on the cross was our sacrifice for sin. Through his resurrection from the dead, he is given authority over all things. And because our priest is the risen Lord who reigns over all things, he is the source of eternal salvation. Because of Jesus our king and priest, there is a permanent passing over of our sins. Truly, we can say, It is finished. Do you want a priest who can get you to God? There is a priest who can get you there and keep you there. He is the risen Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. It is through Jesus we come to God. He is able to bring us to God because he is one of us and because of his obedience to God and his work on the cross he has been appointed by God to be our priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Lean in and Listen: Jesus is our hope At the end of Hebrews 6, again we see this phrase referring to Jesus, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. I understand that up to this point much of what I have shared with you has been somewhat heady theological truths. I told you at the beginning of the message that this was solid food. But what we discover about solid food is that it can be very satisfying. Liquid diets aren t very appealing, at least I don t think so. I ll take a good solid meal any day. And so as we come to this second affirmation that Jesus is a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek we find something that satisfies the longing of the heart. Not only does Jesus bring us to God, but in verse 19 we find in Jesus a steadfast anchor for the soul. Do you have an anchor for your life? Do you have something that can hold you through the storms, the ever changing circumstances of life, the sorrows, the disappointments, the uncertainties and the valley of the shadow of death? Do you have an anchor that can hold you when you read the headlines and you read story after story that points to the suffering of this broken world? Do you have an anchor that can hold you through your own shortcomings and failings that can plague you with guilt? If you don t have an anchor that can hold you through all these things then you are simply tossed around by each circumstance and you are anxious, fearful, uncertain and given over to despair and things that destroy. In verse 13, we are reminded of Abraham. We are reminded that his faith rested on God s promise. In verse 15, we are reminded of the promise God gave to Abraham, Surely, I will bless you and multiply you. If you know the story of Abraham, this promise of descendants and blessing was all fine, but here he is approaching 100 years 9

10 old and still there was no son. And so what does it say of Abraham? And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. He had an anchor and it was set in the promise of God. This is what it means to have hope. Hope is not wishful thinking. We often say it this way, I hope so. What that means is that there is no certainty, but I hope it happens. That is not an anchor for the soul. Biblical hope on the other hand is certainty. It is recognition that God makes promise and he keeps his promise and so we are filled with hope. In verses 17 and 18, we read of the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie. Take note of the result of promise of God, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope... Now lean in and listen. Where does this hope come from? It comes from Jesus our priest who enters the inner place behind the curtain. If you know your Old Testament, you know that the temple had a room called the holy of holies. It was a picture of the throne room of God. It was the place where God was. Only the high priest could enter once a year to make atonement for sin. But don t you love this in verse 20? Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf. That means someday we are going to be in that room! Right now we can enter that room by drawing near to God in our prayers. Why? Because in that room sits Jesus. In that room sits one who has made final atonement for sin and has demonstrated his authority be rising from the dead. In that room sits one of us. But because he is of the order of Melchizedek in that room he sits as king and in that room he operates as our priest. This is the anchor of our soul. And so we wait patiently, knowing full well that in the sufferings of this life we have a certain and sure hope. Our priest is the risen king! Lean in and Listen: Jesus is a better priest. My final thought comes out of Hebrews 7. Once again in this chapter we find the quote from Psalm 110:4 applied to Jesus. In verse 17 we read, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. We learned in Hebrews 5 that Jesus was appointed to be our priest and so we have someone who can bring us to God. In Hebrews 6 we learned that as our priest, Jesus has gone on ahead of us and has entered the throne room of God as both king and priest and so our hope is sure. The point of Hebrews 7 is the point made all throughout this letter. Jesus is better. As a priest from the order of Melchizedek, Jesus is better than the Old Testament priesthood from the line of Aaron and Levi. And the main point he is making here is that Jesus changes everything. The whole order of things is changed through Jesus, just as our lives are changed by Jesus. 10

11 In this chapter we find two reasons why the priesthood of Jesus is better than the Old Testament priesthood from the line of Aaron. The first reason is by way of illustration. Quite simply, Melchizedek came before Aaron. In Hebrews 7:4-10, we have a replay of the scene we saw at the beginning of our message when I introduced you to Melchizedek in Genesis 14. When Abram returned with the captives and goods that had been looted from Sodom, it was here that Melchizedek came on to the scene. And what do we see? We see Melchizedek blessing Abram. We see Abram bowing to Melchizedek. And the author argues that Levi, who wasn t even born yet, was also bowing to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abram. This is why David, in Psalm 110 can even dream of a person who is both king and priest. Long before Israel even became a nation there was a king of righteousness who was also a king of peace. And Abram, the father of Levi, bowed in his presence. But that doesn t really get to the heart of the difference. The difference is found in who Jesus is. The Levitical priesthood was weak because the priests were weak. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sin. They died and the office was filled generation after generation with priests who would come and go. But Jesus is qualitatively different. We read in Hebrews 7:16 that Jesus became a priest by the power of an indestructible life. In verse 27 we read, 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. And so the whole system of God s interaction with man changes with Jesus. We have a better hope and a better covenant. Now lean in and listen. This is not merely theological musings. This is fundamental to living out our faith. Look at verse 23, The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he 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 intercession for them. I love that. Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. That means completely. That means when Satan, the accuser comes before God and accuses us of our sin and failings, our priest stands in our place and turns to the accuser of the saints and says, I rebuke you! This one has been plucked from the fire. This one is clean and washed and forgiven. This one is mine. And with great joy, Jesus our priest presents us to the Father as one without fault or guilt. We have access to God. Our faith, our hope and our joy rests in the fact that we have a priest who lives to make intercession for us. And so we persevere in our faith because Jesus is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. He is our king and our priest. 11

12 Conclusion This is solid food to chew on. This is food to swallow and digest. This is food that satisfies the hungry soul. Jesus is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus has been appointed by God to be our priest and so it is Jesus who can bring you to God. Have you made your way to God? You need a priest. You need someone who can intercede for you because of your sin. This someone is one chosen by God from among us. That one is Jesus. Because of his life, death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, God appointed him to be our king and priest forever. He is the only source of eternal salvation. Turn to him this morning with humble hearts of confession and faith. Jesus is the anchor for our souls. It is a scary thing to go through this life without an anchor. And there is only one anchor that can truly hold fast among the waves of life. It is Jesus. He has gone on ahead of us into the holy place and so we wait patiently in this life and we are not overcome by circumstances and our failings. Rather, we are anchored in Jesus Christ and we know what awaits us. So we persevere. We have a king priest who brings us to the throne of God. Jesus saves us to the uttermost. In a moment, we will sing these words, When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see him there Who made an end to all my sin Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free For God the just is satisfied To look on him and pardon me To look on him and pardon me Find your rest in Jesus, a better priest. He brings to us a better hope and a better covenant. For he saves us to the uttermost. Because of this, we can keep on keeping on in our faith. This is what causes us to persevere to the end. So lean in and listen, It is finished! by Dr. Scott Solberg - All rights reserved 12