The Exclusive and Superior Priesthood of Jesus Christ - Part 1 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the rays of my God and King, thou triumphs of His grace!

This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Abide with me as falls deep and high, the darkness deepens, warm with me, abide! When other helpers fail and comfort me, help of the helpless, O abide with me! All I need thy presence, every passing hour, one but thy grace can form the tender's power. Who, like thyself, my guidance they can be! Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me! O thou my most before my closing eyes, shine through the blue and point me to the skies!

Hence, morning grace, and earth's main shadows gleam, give life in death, O Lord, abide with me! The Lord willing, this morning, June 9th, I am to be speaking at Grace Primitive Baptist Church, Pearl, Mississippi, where Elder David Piles is the pastor. This evening, I'm to be with Collierville Primitive Baptist Church, Collierville, Tennessee, where Elder Timothy Guess is the pastor.

Our guest speaker today is Elder Jeremiah Bass, senior pastor of Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. This message is from his series on the book of Hebrews. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 13. I'd like to read verses 7 through 17 again. Remember them which have the role over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Be not carried about with divers in strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.

My title this morning is the exclusive and superior priesthood of Jesus Christ. Last time we looked at the bookends of this passage, and we talked about the spiritual leaders of the church of Rome, the past spiritual leaders, the pastors and elders, verse 7, and the current elders and pastors, verse 17. And together these pastors, past and present, were preaching a message. And the message that these pastors were preaching, the content of that is given to us between these bookends in verses 8 to 16. And it's these verses that we want to consider this morning. We're coming in these verses to the end of this epistle. And what we find is that the author is doing what any good author should be doing.

You'll often hear people who teach speaking to say, if you want to speak well, you need to tell people what you're going to say, say it, and then tell them what you just said. Well, we've seen that in the book of Hebrews, the author is often recapitulating his argument. He's often reminding them what he said, repeating, this is a good thing.

And he's doing the same thing here. He is summarizing for us in the compass of a few verses the great themes of this epistle. We see the priesthood of our Lord, again, asserted in verse 12, where we were reminded that he is the one who sanctifies the people with his own blood. In fact, he's the altar of verse 10. We also see the superiority of Jesus. We've seen that in this book, one of the great themes is that Jesus is better, especially over against the claims of a Christless Judaism. Finally, we see the exclusivity of Jesus because we're told in verse 10 that we have an altar where they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Those who serve the tabernacle there is just shorthand for those who reject Jesus for the old covenant, who reject Jesus as a new covenant in favor of the old covenant. And so what the author of Hebrews is arguing is that those who do so have no right to our Lord's altar and sacrifice. In other words, the benefits of the atonement of our Lord are exclusive in the sense that those who reject it have no rights to it.

There is no other way to the father except through Christ, which is what our Lord said in John 14, six. Now, we must frankly admit that we live in a world that rejects this. It rejects the exclusivity of the claims of Christ. It argues that any kind of vague spirituality will do when it comes to relating to God. It rejects the superiority of Christ and his claims and argues that the Christian religion in particular is a relic of the past that needs to be cast into the dustbin of history. The world in which we live doesn't see any need for atonement, for sins before God. It has no categories for a biblical understanding of who God is, what man is, what sin is.

It sees no need for cosmic justice. And so over against our culture's rejection of Jesus and his claims, I want to hold up through the lens of our text our Lord's exclusivity and his superiority in light of his role as our priest before God. And what I want to happen with myself and with you is for us to see this and to be so convinced of his greatness and his goodness that you will not be tempted by the desires and hopes for other saviors and salvations. My desire is that we will see Christ today and hear him today through his word and that in singing and hearing you will love him and trust him and obey him.

Receive him as your priest before God. So first of all, let us consider the exclusivity of Christ. Now to see this emphasis in these verses, I think it's important for us to understand the background to the text before us. So for example, in verse nine, what does the author mean by meats or foods?

Verse 11, what's this reference in verse 11 to the bodies of these beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary? And how is Jesus being compared to that in verse 12? Well, to understand this, we need to understand the Day of Atonement. And really, we've looked at this before, a lot of the references to the sacrificial system in Hebrews actually centers around what happened on that one year event, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It's one of the most holy days of the Mosaic calendar. It's chronicled force at length in Leviticus 16.

Let me just briefly remind you of some of the high points of this day. It's on this day and on this day only that the high priest was allowed to go into the inner sanctuary, the holiest of holies, before the Ark of the Covenant. And he sprinkled the blood of a bullock and the blood of a goat on the mercy seat as a sin offering. And in this way, the sins of Israel were ceremonially cleansed.

And the Israelites were granted the favor of God's continuing presence in their midst. Now, what's interesting is, and you can see this in Leviticus 6 and other places, usually the priest ate a portion of the sin offering. But this was not the case on the Day of Atonement. On that day, the entire sin offering was burned up. And not only was it burned up, but it was burned outside the camp. The key text here is Leviticus 16 in verse 27.

Let me read this for you. And the bullock for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp, and they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their dung. Now, of course, the way this would have worked in the days when the Jerusalem temple had replaced the tabernacle is that the offerings would have been burned outside the city, which is in fact the way it was handled in the first century.

So that's the background of our text. And it illuminates the reference to foods or meats in verse 9, as well as the references to altar and bodies of beasts in verses 10 and 11. This is referring again to the rituals of the Mosaic covenant and to the Day of Atonement in particular. So those folks who have been occupied with meats are folks who are concerned with keeping the food laws of the old covenant. And of course, this was important with respect to days like the Day of Atonement, because if you were unclean, eating something that you shouldn't have been eating, you would not have been allowed to participate.

You would not have been allowed to enter into the sanctuary. So in other words, this is about people who are still trying to relate to God, not through Jesus Christ, but through their keeping the law of Moses. And it's for this reason that we read in verse 9, that it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them, which have been occupied thereby.

The law came by Moses, grace and truth comes by Jesus Christ. So those who reject Jesus, but keep the law, are left with nothing more than foods, laws and religious regulations that cannot give the heart establishing grace. Now, those who do so we're told in verse 10, have no right to Jesus. He is the altar of verse 10. He is the altar which every believer in Christ worships and approaches God. So again, those who serve the tabernacle in this context are those who keep the law while rejecting Jesus.

They have no right to eat at the altar. They have their own meat and their own food, the author says, but this is not the food that gives life. Do you remember what our Lord said in John 6 and verse 51? I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.

If any man eat this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. So the altar is Jesus and his flesh is the food that gives life.

The very thing that those who serve the tabernacle rejected. Now in verses 11 and 12, the point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the day of atonement. He is the one to whom the entire holy day pointed, including all these aspects of the ritual, including the fact that the sacrifice was taken outside the camp, blood was taken into the holy place, springing before the presence of God, the sins of Israel confessed and the bodies of the beast taken outside the camp and burned. It's his blood and his sacrifice that these things point to. It pointed to the fact that not only would there actually be a sacrifice, the atonement is a historical event. It happened in time space, just like the slaughter of these beasts, but just like these bodies of these sin offerings were taken outside the camp and burned, Jesus was taken outside the camp.

He was taken outside the city and that is where he died on Golgotha. So with all that in mind, there seems to be two big points that the author is trying to make. First of all, again, Jesus is the fulfillment of the law of Moses and in particular the day of atonement. And second, it's in light of this fulfillment that he can say that it's at the altar of Jesus that God's people find food for life and those who reject Jesus for the law are left without. Again, they may have meats, they have their own food, but this is not the food that gives life because that's only found in Jesus. And just as the priest on the day of atonement can't eat these sacrifices, even so those who cling to the old covenant while rejecting Jesus can't eat of his sacrifice either. That's the point I think that's being made in verses 10 through 12. In other words, our author is establishing through the imagery and the picture of the day of atonement the exclusivity of Jesus. Those who reject Jesus have no right to eat at the altar of his sacrifice.

But then again, the question is who has this right? Well, the apostle John answers this question, doesn't he? In John chapter one in verse 11, we read this, he came into his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them gave he power.

Now, that word power is the word exousia. It's the same word for right that we have here in Hebrews 13, 10. He gave them the power, the authority or the right to become the sons of God, the sons of them that believe on his name. Our Lord explained it this way in John 6, those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. In other words, those who partake of the benefits of his sacrifice are those who believe in him. John 6, 35, our Lord says, I am the bread of life.

He that cometh to me will never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So the exclusivity of Jesus is pointed to here. But why is this so important?

I mean, some people might say, so what? I mean, I don't care whether or not I have a right to eat at his altar or not. So let's consider what you can only get through Jesus and in no other way. And it's here that we meet with the superiority of Jesus. And what I want to point out in this point is that in these verses we read this morning, we see that Jesus gives us three things that no one else can give. And each of these things depend upon one fundamental, even more basic and wonderful attribute of our Lord. It's the attribute mentioned in verse eight, the unchanging character of Christ, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And you know, in an ever-changing world, these are very sweet words, aren't they?

We sang this morning, abide with me. One of those verses says this, Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around us see. O thou that changest not, abide with me. Thank God that in this world that is constantly changing. Often changing in ways that we would not like to see happen.

Often changing in, can be very fear inducing ways. Our God does not change. Jesus does not change. I was reading this morning in Hebrews one.

And this is something that the author has already pointed to. This by the way, is one of the evidences of the fact that Jesus is the son of God. Our high priest is God himself, the son of God. Remember what he says in Hebrews one, verse 10. And this is speaking of Jesus.

Contrasting with the angels, thou Lord in the beginning, has laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. And they shall all wax oldest at the garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed. But thou art the same and thy years shall not fail.

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. And what makes that reality even more sweet is what it's connected to. And what we're gonna see in these verses is that Jesus, our Lord, is unchanging in the grace he gives, in the atonement he provides, and in the city he builds. So first of all, let's consider the fact that Jesus is unchanging in the grace he gives. Read verse nine again.

Be not carried about with divers and strange or different and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, now with meats which have not profited them, which have been occupied therein. Now that different and strange teaching that's being referred to here, is the effort on the part of some to draw away these Jewish believers away from Christ, to a Christless Judaism. And instead of resting upon Jesus and his saving work, to trust in their own identity as Jews and their keeping of the law of Moses. But in the problem here is that the law doesn't give grace. The law provides a witness to the grace of Christ. But if you don't acknowledge Jesus, it doesn't even give you that. Paul talks about in Saint Corinthians three about how his fellow Jews have a veil over their face.

They don't see what the law is pointing to. They don't see Christ. So a Christless Judaism doesn't give grace, but Jesus does give grace. All grace from God comes through Jesus Christ. The exceeding riches of God's grace and his kindness towards us are through Jesus Christ, as Paul puts it in Ephesians two verse seven. But I want to point out that you don't have to be a first century Jew, to feel the pull of the law as the basis of your relationship toward God. I mean, ask most people why they think God will let them into heaven.

And their answer will be something along these lines. I'm a good person. God knows my heart.

I try to be kind. In other words, they're not trusting in grace. They're trusting in their own righteousness. They're trusting in their own goodness. They believe that their good works will get them into heaven.

But the problem with this is numerous. First of all, when we trust in our good works, we are not thinking of our responsibility before God and on the basis of which God demands. We're only thinking about how we treat people. We're not looking vertically.

We're only looking horizontally. We're comparing ourselves with others. We treat escaping God's wrath, or folks who take this mentality, treat escaping God's wrath much like you might treat escaping the claws of a bear.

Just outrun everyone else and you're fine. Maybe as long as I'm just a little better than the next person. I won't have to worry about judgment, the judgment of God. But again, that's tragically wrong on a number of levels. First of all, our main problem is not how we've treated other people. It's how we fail to love God with all of our hearts. We haven't been thankful for God's gifts. We don't care about God's law, strangely enough. We're a law unto ourselves. We profess with our lips that God exists. We may even call ourselves spiritual.

But unless we have been changed by a miracle of spirit renovating grace, unless we've been born again, we are going to live as if God doesn't even exist. And there's a problem also with our standard. The standard is not how we compare with other people. The standard is the perfection of the holy law of God. Being better than others won't get anyone into heaven.

Only perfect obedience will. God is holy. Why should he let a single sinner into heaven? Now, a lot of people will come back and say, but God's, God is love. God is loving.

And yes, that's true. God is love. That's what the Bible says. But God is, God's love is a holy love.

It is also a sovereign love. And he is under no obligation to love a corrupt and wicked worm, which is everyone. We cannot get away from the fact that God is holy and that our sins bring us under his just and holy wrath.

This is what the Bible says about those who try to relate to God on the basis of their own goodness. Galatians 3 10, as many as, as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone that continues not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Do you hear that? You are cursed if you don't continue in all things. This verse is just saying that God only accepts perfect obedience and that anything else brings you under his just curse. But who can say they're perfect before God? You know, Job got angry with God because of how he felt God was mistreating him. And certainly the trials and the affliction that came upon Job were not because of any specific sin. But Job is still a sinner. And when God revealed himself to Job, what did Job say? God, what gives?

No, he didn't say that. He said, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear. Now my eye sees you. I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. If you see God, you will have no other recourse, if you're honest, but to repent in dust and ashes. The scriptures teach in our own conscience, as if we will listen, testify that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

I may have mentioned this before. Every time I read that verse, it reminds me of, I think it's Bishop Moul who put it this way. He's illustrating the fact that everyone has come short of the glory of God and what that looks like. And how that you may think that you're way above the next person in terms of your goodness. You've lived a whole lot better life than that person.

He said, look, you may be on the top of an out and someone else might be standing at the bottom of a mine. But you are as unable to reach the stars as they. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So if you're hoping that being good enough is all you need to guarantee eternal life, you are mistaken.

According to the Bible, no one can be justified before God on the basis of goodness, their own goodness, their own good works. No one, as many as are of the works of the law. And again, that doesn't, you may say, but I'm not, I'm not, I don't care about the law of Moses. The point is this, the law of Moses was God's law.

This is what God said to the Israel, to how you relate to me. So if you, you can pick any other law you want to, if you want. It's not going to measure the standard of the mosaic law and it's standard. If you can't, if you're, if everyone who's under that law is cursed, your law, whatever you think is going to get you into heaven is going to leave you under a curse as well. So how then can people be rescued from the eternal consequences of their sins?

Now my friends, if you, if we will just hear this, there is nothing more important to be talking about than this right now. Well, the apostle Paul tells us, so thank the Lord he doesn't leave us in Galatians 3 10. He goes on to say in Galatians 3 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.

When I was lost without a Savior, my life as sinful as could be, my Father sent his Son from glory, and Jesus paid the price for me. Our guest speaker today has been Elder Jeremiah Bass, Senior Pastor of Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. I hope you will take time to write and let us know that you have listened to the broadcast. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. So next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. To make the ransom his life he gave on Calvary, and there his precious heart was broken, he paid the price, the price for me. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. He paid the price, the price for me.