He Intercedes in the Presence of God

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In Revelation 5.6, John saw that in the midst of the throne of God stood a lamb as though it had been slain. That lamb is Jesus. He went to the cross so he could bring us with him into the presence of God. Even now, Jesus, our high priest, stands in the presence of the Father and speaks on our behalf, having already taken the punishment of our every sin. In today's message, Pastor Rich pulls from Hebrews 8, 1-5 and Hebrews 9, 1-11 to show the beautiful duty Christ performs on our behalf, interceding for us in the presence of God.

Let's listen in. What our high priest does for us, he intercedes for me in the presence of God. At Christmas time in the Powell household, what we like to do is give gifts that have at least some, let's go back a little bit on the slides there, would you please? We like to give gifts that have a practical significance to them, not just give a gift for the sake of giving a gift, but beyond that.

And so we like to have at least a practical use to it to some degree. And you all know, most of you know who my father-in-law is, Dr. Clay, not only spent a lot of time over in the Middle East teaching the nationals over there in a theological Bible seminary, and he would come back with gifts often. And some of them actually, they're very nice things, the things that they make over there.

And he would bring them over here that are good representations of the Mid-Eastern culture. And one Christmas, he gave a gift and Grandma and Grandpa gave a gift to our daughter, Heather. And she opened it up and it was a nicely carved camel representing the Middle East. And all of us in the family go, oh, wow, look at that, isn't that neat? And Heather looks up and she says, why do I need a camel? She was really wondering what practical use she was going to get out of that. And we said, well, you know, it's a sentimental, it's from Grandpa, you know, and that kind of didn't work.

But she appreciates the camel, really. But some of us might be sitting here this morning thinking, why do I need a high priest? Why do I need a high priest? Can't I just go to God on my own? I mean, we're evangelicals. We kind of pride ourselves in that theology that we can just go directly to God. I have news for you.

No, you can't. You have to have a high priest. Now, he's not just any mere human high priest. He is the son of God. High priest.

But you must have him if you are to approach God. So in review here, then this is what our high priest does. And this is what this is the outline for the next couple of weeks today and the next couple of weeks in terms of unpacking what our high priest does for us. He intercedes for me in the presence of God in review now. He intercedes for me in the presence of God to guarantee the ultimate promise based on the ultimate sacrifice.

Read that with me, would you please? He intercedes for me in the presence of God to guarantee the ultimate promise based on his ultimate sacrifice. That's what my high priest does for me.

Now, think of this, think of this line by line here. In the presence of God, my high priest is in the presence of God. That's what a priest does. He intercedes, he works, he ministers on behalf of someone else. And so he is in the presence of God. Now, why is that important? Why is my high priest in the presence of God? Because your ultimate objective, my ultimate objective is to draw near to God. That's what the writer of Hebrews tells us.

And we've already gone over that. Your ultimate objective is to draw near to God. It's like coming upon football season. I love it.

I love that time of year when football season starts because there's so many illustrations that come from the game of football. You know, there's the end zone and you're working towards the end zone. That's the objective. What is the objective, the goal, the end of your life? In other words, why are you here? Your ultimate objective is to draw near to God.

Why? Because you were created and designed for him. That is your measure of success. Any life that does not draw near to God is a failure.

I don't care what other success markers you might have or be chasing after. If you have not drawn near to God, if you are not drawing near to God, your life is a failure. Because you were designed for God. He is the only place where you can go to be satisfied. Now, this next statement, I really want you to chew on this. Because this is going to be worthy of meditation, this is going to be worthy of discussion.

This is going to be worthy of very practical day-to-day application. And here it is, to the degree, to the measure that you are apart from God, you are dissatisfied. To the measure that you are apart from God, you are dissatisfied. Again, why?

Because you were designed for him. That is why my high priest is in the presence of God, so that I can draw near to him. What does he do in the presence of God? He intercedes for me.

That word intercede means to plead, it means to deal with. He is dealing with God, the Father. He is making a case for me, so that I can have a way into the holiest of all.

That holiest of all represents the very presence of God. This God, whose presence I have my deepest longings to be in, is the God whose holiness is a consuming fire. His holiness is a consuming fire. In other words, his holiness consumes everything that is contrary to his character and purpose.

And here's the problem, my life is replete with that stuff. That's why I can't just get up and go to God on my own. I have to have a high priest. Not only is he a consuming fire, but he is the God to whom we must give account. The writer of Hebrews tells us that as well. I must, you must, one day stand before your maker.

Do you understand that? The maker who is a consuming fire. And unless you have a high priest who will usher you into the presence of this consuming fire, you will be judged. So he intercedes for me in the presence of God and Christ's high priestly appeal grants me entrance and accepted status before God. Christ's high priestly appeal grants me entrance and accepted status before God. Only he can usher me into the presence of God, as chapter nine, verse eight says, the way into the holiest of all.

Now, this is where we need to stop. And this is what the writer of Hebrews now gives us a contrast, because chapter eight, verses one to five, give us the main point of what our high priest does for us. He intercedes for me in the presence of God and what he does now in eight, one to five and nine, one to eleven. He gives us a contrast with the old system that existed and it provides for us the continuity of all of scripture.

You have in your lap, in your hands there, a copy of the scriptures, Old and New Testament. There is a reason we have the Old Testament, because they teach us, the Old Testament teaches us about the character of God and the purpose of God. It shows us who God is in all of his holiness. And in contrast to that, it shows us who mankind is in all of our sinfulness, because my life is replete with the things that are contrary to the character and purpose of God. So this is why we have the Old Testament.

And he then makes an illustration. He gives us an outline of why we have the Old Testament and he makes a contrast here between the Old and the New. And he says about the old in chapter eight, verse five, that these things are a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things.

What is he speaking of specifically the Old Testament? You had the tabernacle first and then David initiated the building of the temple and Solomon actually built the temple and in the temple you had the holy place. And then beyond the curtain, you had the holiest place, which represented the very presence of holy God.

And only one man, the high priest, could go behind the veil into the presence of the infinitely holy God one time a year. And so the things of the Old Testament were things that pointed to the real thing. As I said before, the things of the Old Testament are a shadow.

You can see my shadow on the wall over there. That shadow isn't the real thing, but it points to the real thing and that's what the Old Testament does. Because when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son.

His son then is therefore the real thing. And here's the contrast of the Old Testament. Man's interaction with God was through things that represented his holy character and purpose. Man's interaction with God was through things that represented his holy character and purpose. And we find that in chapter 9 verses 2 through 5.

Look at that with me, because that's what he's describing in the first part of chapter 9. For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna and Aaron's rod that budded in the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim, the glory overshadowing the mercy seat of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

What are these things? These are things that represented the character and purpose of God. And that is how man could interact with God before the reality came in Jesus Christ. The high priest who can usher us directly into the presence of God. And the mercy seat, then, is exactly what it was. The two cherubim over the mercy seat, they represented the wrath of God that guarded the holiness of God.

And only the high priest entering in with blood to sprinkle from a forfeited life, that's the significance of blood, a forfeited life required by the absolute righteousness and holiness of God. God said, it's there that I will meet with you. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.