R682 Our High Priest

God has an encouraging Word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on our High Priest. As we open God's Word together, know that we're open to connect with you both on the phone at 866-899-WORD and on the website, TEWONLINE.ORG. We would love to connect with you.

And now, Dr. Don Wilton. I want you to come with me this morning on a journey. We're going to travel down a long road together.

I wish that we had time to really take this journey, but I'm going to do it just in a very short space of time this morning. I want you to think about a whole nation of people like the American people, like the United States of America, but this time I want you to think about a group of people called the Israelites. They are the Jewish people, and we know that they live in Israel today. We know about all those people, and there are also many of their people who are all over the world, everywhere, every part of the world.

But I want you to go way back with me in time, way back to a time that you and I rarely know little about, excepting that the Bible tells us all about it. And I want you to think about the fact that the Israelites, this nation of people, were taken into captivity, and they lived in Egypt. Now folks, I want you to think about that just for a moment, and I just want to remind you how the whole nation of Israel found themselves living in Egypt.

Can you imagine that? They lived in Egypt, and they were slaves, and they were subject to the worst kind of treatment you can imagine. They were beaten up, they were murdered, they were slaughtered, they were belittled, they had no rights of any kind, they were just absolutely treated in the most despicable way, and the Bible says for over 400 years they suffered like that. And then you know how it all came to be. Remember that little baby that was found in the bulrushes? His name wasn't Abigail, but it was Moses. There comes Moses, and the princess of Egypt finds the baby Moses, and we know all about Moses in the bulrushes, and well hey presto, Moses ends up growing up in Pharaoh's court, just like one of the Egyptians. He becomes one of the most powerful people in Egypt, and what he doesn't know is A, that he's a Hebrew himself, and B, that God's got a plan for him. You know the story, I'm not going to get into all the details, but you know the story how that he finally got mad with one of the Egyptian slave masters who was beating up one of the Israeli Jews, and he went out and killed him. Didn't like the way that he was treating this person, and how that everything came to a head, and Moses had to flee out into the wilderness, and God sent him on a long time of seminary training out there in the wilderness. I mean he went to one serious seminary for 40 years, and he got married, and all the rest God prepared him, God put in his heart, and you'll remember how Moses came back to Egypt, and he went up to Pharaoh who was the king, and he said, King Pharaoh, let my people go, and Pharaoh said, no way, Jose, I am not going to do it, so Moses said, okay, if you want to do it, God has told me, you're going to have a whole lot of things happen to you, and you know how all the plagues came, and the water changed into blood, and frogs came out of the sky, and plagues all over the place, and eventually because Pharaoh hardened his heart, God actually killed the firstborn of all of the Egyptians, and the only way God didn't kill the firstborn of everybody was if they put what, blood, blood over the doorposts of their homes, now that's interesting.

Well, moving day arrived, Pharaoh said, out with you, off with you, totally do, out, bye, I don't want you anymore, so the Israelites packed up, now folks, they didn't fly United Airlines, they didn't get a moving van, they didn't have motorbikes, I mean, they just loaded backpacks, they had little wooden trolleys, they got their goats, and their sheep, and their possessions, they loaded it all up, can you imagine watching a whole nation moving, and they walked, well, they walked and walked until they got to a big sea called the Red Sea, when they got to the Red Sea, guess what, they saw the pillar of cloud, and they knew that King Pharaoh was sending his armies out to get them, and boy were they afraid, they looked around and said, oh no, we're gonna die right here, and God said, uh-uh, I got a plan for you, and I'm gonna do it through Moses, my servant, and Moses stood up as we know, and God parted the waves of that sea, and the whole nation of Israel parted across, walked across on dry land, they were delivered onto the other side, and Pharaoh said, look, we've got a way to follow them, and to slaughter them, and so the whole Egyptian army began to do it, and the moment they were in the middle, God closed the waves, and all of Pharaoh's army drowned and perished, and so it was that the Israelites began their epic journey to the promised land, do you know what was the centerpiece of their epic journey, my friends, was the fact that the Jews started to try to gain access to God, they wanted to worship God, now they grumbled one minute and worshiped the next minute, and do you know that according to the Bible, there were two ways in which the Israelites gained access to God, the first way was through the sacrificial system, through making sacrifices, now boys and girls, what that meant was just that, I mean, they would build up a big thing called an altar with a whole lot of stones, and they would kill a sheep, you see, they had to kill him to make the blood drip out, because that's how sacrifices were made, they were blood sacrifices, remember, they had to put blood over their houses to stop the angel of death, passing by and killing all their firstborn, well, there's a blood line that you can trace all the way through the Bible, and I'm going to tell you where it ends in just a moment, and they began to worship God by making sacrifices, but it wasn't just making sacrifices, they also had to do all kinds of works, I mean, they had to wash themselves, they had to wear different clothes, they had to stop eating certain things, on the Sabbath day they couldn't walk anywhere, they had to observe the law, it was all based upon works, whatever they did was going to allow them to gain access to God, that was the first way, the second way was that they had to go through their priest, now this was an interesting thing, this was an interesting thing, you know, they would erect their churches just like this, they called them tabernacles, and they would have them all over the place even till this day, and they were kind of two parts to the tabernacle or to the church in the time of the Israelites, one part was like where all of you are sitting, the other part, I'm going to just imagine here from Mr. Jim over here, I'm going to walk along here and just I want you to imagine that there's a barrier all the way, you can't see this piano, you can't see the members of the orchestra, you cannot see the organ, you cannot see the choir, you cannot see the screen back there, there's just a barrier here from the top to the bottom, and guess what folks, guess what, only one man was allowed to go into that place called the Holy of Holies, what a choir we sang about it just a moment ago, what a wonderful anthem, and that one man was called the high priest, now if you were to think of our church, if you'd beg my pardon, all the ministers who serve this church, we would be kind of like the priests and they were the Levites in this book, that's why the book of Leviticus is all about all the laws that pertain to the Levites and how to conduct yourself, all the rules and the regulation, it would be like all the ministers, Sam Davis over here and Steve Skinner over here and Kent Holt and Clint Smith and so on, we are the priests, and in a way I would kind of like be the high priest, now none of you are allowed to call me that, but I would be kind of like HP, I'd be the high priest, all right, because I'm the senior pastor, now folks let me show you how this works, okay, let me show you how this works, I am the only one that's allowed to go back here, excuse me, coming through, excuse me, excuse me, I'm coming through, coming through, all right, here I am, you know it looks quite good back here folks, I've never been here before, I'm the only one who would be allowed here, that means orchestra, you're out of here, choir, you're out of here, Mary, you're out of here, Brian, you're out of here, folks nobody else is allowed to be in the Holy of Holies, only the high priest, he is the only one who has access to God, now I'm going to tell you something interesting, when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, guess what they did, they tied a rope around him, anyone want to tell me why they tied a rope around the high priest when he went into the Holy of Holies, yes, you don't know, yes, in case he died, thank you my brother, folks let me tell you, if he died, let me tell you, if the high priest died when he was in there, nobody could get him out, so if he died back there, that meant Sam Davis had the end of the rope, he'd have to drag me out of there, here comes HP, now folks I tell you what, listen to me, that may amuse us, may sound strange to us, but that's the way it worked, and everybody in the world, all the Israelites, there was only two ways that they could gain access to God, through making sacrifices and doing works, number two by going to their priest, and the priest was the one who had the authority, guess what's happened folks, it's all changed, I've got the most wonderful announcement to make to you this morning, it all changed the day Jesus Christ died on the cross, I want you to open your Bibles with me to Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 4, I want to read this to you, Hebrews chapter 4 and verses 14, 15 and 16, you might want to take a copy of the pew Bible there, it's got a red cover and you'll find it on page 1162 or thereabouts, the book of Hebrews and chapter 4, listen to what the Bible tells us about Jesus Christ our high priest, this is wonderful news, verse 14, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, by the way that phrase there, gone through the heavens or gone into heaven, means that since we have a great high priest who is the one who has possessed because he created the heavens and the earth, the one who is all knowing, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, who is he? Jesus the son of God, here it is, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin, now look at verse 16, this is unbelievable, let us therefore approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, now watch this folks, this happened in the temple of God when Jesus died on the cross, many things happened, but you know one of the things the Bible tells us, was that the curtain that separated all the people from the holy of holies, was torn in two, it was rent in two, from top to bottom, no man could have done that, it was torn in two, now watch me as I stand here folks, there is this barrier, none of you can come anywhere near it, only the high priest has access to God, you are only going to get access to him by working, by doing things, by obeying laws, by dotting your I's and crossing your T's, and by talking to your priest, Jesus Christ hung upon the cross, and the Bible says that the curtain was rent in two from top to bottom, and the barrier was completely moved out of the way, so that in verse 16, the Bible says, that now because Jesus Christ is our high priest, you and I, all of us, are able to approach the throne of grace, where God is with great confidence, and when we do, we are going to receive mercy, and we are going to receive grace, why? Because Jesus Christ is our high priest, do I hear an Amen here this morning? Woo! Hey listen man, I get excited when somebody shoots a three-pointer, I tell you I love basketball, but I tell you something, there's nothing more exciting, than talking about the fact that Jesus Christ died for people like you and me, upon the cross, that is the greatest three-point goal that was ever scored by anybody at any time. Please forgive the interruption, we'll be back in just a moment, but Dr. Don wants me to remind you, we're here for you, we want to pray with you and for you any time, day or night as Dr. Don would mention, we're happy to be, honored to be, one of your 2 a.m. friends at 866-899-WORD.

Jot the number down, store it in your cell, that's 866-899-9673, or meet us online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. It is the most wonderful, wonderful thing to contemplate in all of the world. Now my friends listen carefully, what qualifies Jesus Christ to be our high priest? There are five things, you might want to write them down, so that you can read about them and put them in your notebooks.

I love the way our boys and girls and moms and dads take notes every week, and that's very, very special indeed. Now there are five reasons why Jesus Christ is qualified to be our high priest. Number one, number one, because He is the selected one. Let me tell you what God did folks. If you will beg my pardon, God watched what was going on upon this earth that He had created, and He saw the chaos. He saw all these people just like you and me running around, trying to earn their salvation, trying to give money, trying to offer sacrifices, trying to build idols, trying to get to the priests. He watched these priests trying to act like they were God. I mean He saw all this kind of stuff, and God from before the foundation of the world looked down, and when He saw man, He had pity upon him, and He turned to His son, He said to him, Son, you are the one, I am selecting you, and Jesus Christ the Son said, I'll do it Father, I'll do it, I'll be the one, I'll be the one.

That's who Jesus Christ is. He's the selected one. Not only is He the selected one, but He qualifies as our high priest because He is the sent one. He is the sent one.

What does it mean? God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That means that after God the Father had selected the Son, He gave Him a specific commission. He sent Him with a specific plan, and what that means is simply this, my friends, is that Jesus Christ has the only plan for our salvation. He is sent by God the Father. He is commissioned, and Jesus Christ in His person and through His finished work upon the cross is the only one who has the only plan for our salvation. I wish that I could stand here today and give you an alternative.

I wish that I could say to you, ladies and gentlemen, all you need to do is be born in America, and it's settled. I wish that I could say to you, give your money to the poor, and you have salvation settled. I wish that I could announce to you today that all you need to do is go to church, and God is going to give you access to Himself, and it would be settled, but I cannot do that today because Jesus Christ in His finished work upon the cross has the only plan for our salvation. God gave it to Him, and Jesus Christ the Son obeyed Him. He obeyed Him all the way, even to His own death upon the cross. You'll remember how that Jesus stood in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Bible says that He sweat drops of blood. He turned to the Father, and He said to Him, God, my Father, won't you please take this cup from me, the cup of my pain, the cup of the cross, the cup of my suffering? Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

Why? Because Jesus Christ is the sent one. He has the only plan for salvation, but it also means that He has the only authority to accomplish our salvation.

Folks, that's what God's authority is all about. Jesus Christ is the selected one, and Jesus Christ is the sent one. He has the only plan for our salvation, and He has the only authority to accomplish our salvation, but there's a third reason why Jesus Christ is qualified to be our high priest, and that is because He is the sacrificed one. He is the sacrificed one.

Now, folks, listen to me carefully. Jesus Christ took the place of all of these other things that we try to do in order to gain access to God the Father. He became the sacrifice. Now, boys and girls, you remember when I was talking about the Israelites in Egypt way back then and how the angel of death came over and killed all the firstborn? It was a real horrible time, and what did the Israelis have to do?

They had to put some blood over their doorposts, remember? And you remember when they got into the wilderness and they were wandering around and they had to make sacrifices? The only sacrifice that was acceptable, what was it? It was a blood sacrifice. You remember the story of Cain and Abel way back there?

I mean, now we're really going way, way back there. Well, you remember how one of the boys came and he got a whole lot of good vegetables, man? I mean, he had broccoli, and he had cauliflower, and he must have had zucchini, and I know that he had some kind of cooked okra or something, but I tell you, it just wasn't good because he put all the stuff there, and he sacrificed it. Oh, it was good stuff.

It was the best vegetables in his garden. God said, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. What did Abel do? Abel came along and he sacrificed an animal, shed his blood, and God accepted that because of the shed blood of the animal.

Well, guess what happened, folks? Jesus Christ became our high priest because he is the sacrificed one. Now, what exactly did Jesus do on a cross? He shed his blood.

In fact, the Bible puts it like this. It says, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Do you know that because Jesus Christ gave his blood? Now, boys and girls, what is blood? Blood is our life.

You know, it's one thing to cut yourself. Man, I do that all the time, and blood comes out, and it hurts a lot, doesn't it? And you go and get a Band-Aid, and you get it all fixed up and all that, but you know what happens if you lose all your blood? If your blood comes out of your body, you know what happens to you? You lose your life because blood is life, you see. Your blood gives you life. That's why some people have got to have a blood transfusion. That's why at First Baptist Church, we support the blood bank in Spartanburg. We go and give our blood because many times people need blood. They need it desperately in our hospitals, and we support that.

Well, let me tell you what this is all about, folks. When Jesus died upon the cross as the sacrificed one, what did he give? He gave his blood, which is his life.

He shed his blood for us so that we have forgiveness of sin, so that when we give our hearts to Jesus Christ, we are accepting into our hearts the sacrificed one, who is now our high priest. So instead of us having to go and do all kinds of things, instead of us having to work for our salvation, instead of us having to go to a priest, priests can't do anything for you. Ministers can't do anything for you. Now, we can love you, and we can preach, and we can teach, and we can lead, and we can point in the right direction, but you know there's one thing I cannot do for you? I cannot save a single one of you today.

I can't do that. I wish I could say, come on now, folks. Everybody who wants to be saved, you come on, and I'll go and talk to God about you, and God will save you. Bible says not a priest, not a preacher, not a deacon, I mean, nobody can save. Only Jesus Christ can do that because of his shed blood. He is the sacrificed one. All right, what qualifies him? Number one, he is the selected one. Number two, he is the sent one. God sent him out. Number three, he is the sacrificed one.

Number four, he is the sanctifying one. Whoa, boys and girls, that's a big word I know. That word they're sanctifying means to make us pure and clean. Now, I'm going to tell you something. If it was just up to me, there's no way that I can come into the presence of God because I am too much of a sinner. I got all kinds of stuff in my life that I know doesn't make God very happy with me. Right here in my heart, I know that. I know that I'm a sinner by nature and I'm a sinner by choice. So you might say to me, well, pastor, how then can we come into the presence of God because Jesus Christ sanctifies us by his Spirit?

Now, watch how this happens, folks. That word there means that we are washed and cleaned out by the Spirit of God. It's the word baptism, baptizo. There is only one baptism in the Spirit in the Scriptures.

There are not many, there's only one. You are baptized in the Spirit when you give your life to Christ, when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When I'm baptized in the Spirit, it means that the Spirit of God who is God, who is Jesus Christ comes into me and he cleanses me from all my righteousness. Somebody say amen this morning.

That's what he does. He just makes me all clean and all brand new, folks. Cleans me out, that's what Jesus does. You see, and when he does that, he sanctifies me so that when you and I come into the presence of God, we are coming into his presence because we are washed, we are immersed, we are baptized, we are cleansed by the Holy Spirit and when God sees us, guess what? He doesn't see you and me, he sees Jesus Christ in us. That's why Jesus Christ is our high priest. He's the selected one, the sent one, the sacrificed one, the sanctifying one, but there's one more before we go.

He is the seeking one. If that's what qualifies him as our high priest, it means that he's looking out for us, it means that he's praying for us, and it means that he's inviting us. He is inviting us, and it's our prayer that not only as you've heard Dr. Wilton preach from the pulpit, but as he steps into the studio, you'd open your heart to what God wants to say through God's servant, Dr. Don Wilton. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Jesus, praying with Dr. Wilton, he wants to hear about it. Won't you call us at 866-899-WORD? He also wants you to have some free resources.

Again, the number's 866-899-9673, or online at tewonline.org. Before we get away, closing thoughts from Dr. Don. You know, I'm so glad that we've been able to share together by means of radio today.

You just mean so much to me and how thankful we are for the Word of God together. You can call right now and connect with me at 866-899-9673. Did you get that? 866-899-9673. Call and connect with me right now. Our time's gone for today, but let's stay connected online at tewonline.org. That's tewonline.org. The Encouraging Word