And as to concerning the outline, we have reminded you that the Epistle of Thirteen Chapters divides into two sections, a long one and a short one. The long section takes in about nine and a half chapters, and the short section takes in about three and a half chapters. In the first section we go to chapter one, from chapter one and verse one, through chapter ten and verse eighteen. In the second section we go from chapter ten and verse nineteen through to the end. Now there's a reason why the first section is three times as long as the second section. And it's this. The Spirit of God is bringing before us in the first section the person of Christ, and he's doing it in a threefold way. In the last section, he's bringing before us the practice of Christianity. In section number one, in the chapters one and two, we have the Lord Jesus presented as a revelation of God. And in this connection, we see him superior to the prophets for these reasons. They were God's first word. He was God's final word. They were God's word to a nation. He was God's word to a world. They were God's servants, while he was God's son. And through them the prophets God spoke deviously, while through the Lord Jesus God spoke directly. Now we summed up all this by saying that the prophets were God's mouth, he says, while the Lord Jesus was God's message. There was one final observation that the word prophets is plural. There were many of them, but the word son is singular because he stands out absolutely unique. So the Lord Jesus is presented to us as a revelation of God in chapter one, verses one and two, superior to the prophets. And then in what remains of chapter one and all of chapter two, we see him as superior to the angels. And the Spirit of God places before us the positive in chapter one and the negative in chapter two. He shows us the ways in which the Lord Jesus is superior to the angels in chapter one, and how that the angels are inferior to the Lord Jesus in chapter two. His superiority over the angels in chapter one goes like this. In verse four, his name is more excellent. In verse five, his relationship is more intimate. In verse six, his future is more glorious. And in verse seven, eight, and nine, his position is more exalted. When we get to chapter two and look at the negative, we see that the angels are inferior to the Lord Jesus, verse nine of chapter two, in that they lack dominion. verses ten through thirteen, or verse nine, I'm sorry, in chapter two, verses five through eight, the angels are inferior in that they lack dominion. Verse nine, the angels are inferior in that they lack experience. Do you remember that fourfold experience? The experience of, what was the first one? That's right, incarnation, and the second one, crucifixion, and the third one, exaltation, and the last one, substitution. He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. So they are inferior are the angels to the Lord Jesus in that they lack experience. And then the verses ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen of chapter two, they are inferior to the Lord Jesus in that they lack saving power. And in these verses we noted the reference to the believers as sons, and that word is linked with salvation. The mention of the Christians as brethren, and that word is linked to the word sanctification. We noted they are called the church, and that word is linked to song, and they are called children, and linked with that is the thought of security. Now that was our first study then. The Lord Jesus, in chapters one and two, presented as a revelation of God, superior to the prophets and superior to the angels. In our second study, we noted in chapters three and four, the Lord Jesus is presented as a Savior from God. And as such, he is superior to Moses, and he is superior to Joshua. And you have the two verses marked here. chapter three and verse three this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses and then in chapter four and verse eight if Joshua had given them rest then would he not after would have spoken of another day now we did note also just in passing in our second study that there are three parentheses in these first four chapters and another one in chapter six and we found that these four exhortations in the bracket revolved around the word, therefore, and the phrase, let us. The first one was, therefore, let us heed, and it was a challenge to our attention. The second one was, therefore, let us fear, and it was an exhortation with regard to our devotion. The third one was, therefore, let us labor. and it was an exhortation with regard to our occupation, and the last one was, therefore, let us go on, and it was an exhortation with regard to our progression. Now that's as far as we have gotten, and although one of these parentheses was in chapter six, we actually finished our reading at verse thirteen of chapter four. So now we're going to read from verse fourteen of chapter four. Having seen the Lord Jesus presented as a revelation of God, and as a savior from God, now we are launched into the third part of the presentation, and here the Lord Jesus is brought before us as a high priest before God. Now that section runs from chapter four and verse fourteen, all the way through chapter ten and verse eighteen. That is, all that remains of this first long section. Four fourteen through ten eighteen. Now this is the section in which we read about a better priesthood, where we read about a better sanctuary, where we read about a better covenant, and where we read about a better sacrifice. And those four things are the concerns In this section in which we have the presentation of the Lord Jesus as a high priest before God. One would expect, since he is the unique high priest, that the priesthood with which he is associated is a better priesthood. And the sanctuary with which he is associated is a better sanctuary. And so with the covenant and the sacrifice. Now perhaps we ought to give you just four scriptures, the pivot for these four thoughts. Look at chapter seven and verse twenty-four, will you? And you can mark this in your Bible with a little box around it. I have it in my Bible that way. Seven twenty-four. But this man... because he continueth ever have an unchangeable priesthood. There it is, the better priesthood. Now look at chapter eight and verse two. And you can put a box around this. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not maned. Now there is the better sanctuary. Now turn to chapter eight and verse six. But now have he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also is he the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises? Now you can put a box around that verse because here we have the better covenant. And finally, in chapter nine and verse twenty-three, it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these, and then the mention is made of the sacrifice once and for all of the Lord Jesus. So here you have the better sacrifices. in verse twenty-three of chapter nine. These then are the pivotal verses that bring before us the four subjects in this part of the epistle in which the Lord Jesus is presented as a high priest before God. Now let's read the three verses with which chapter four ends. 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. 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. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In the original it says, in effect, in the nick of time, Now in these three verses we have the introduction of Christ as High Priest. In the verses that follow in chapter five, verses one through ten, we have what I want to call the superiority of Christ as High Priest. I want to touch on that tonight too. When we come to chapter six and verses thirteen through twenty, We have the function of Christ as high priest. And then when we come to chapter seven, which is the chapter about Melchizedek, we have the illustration of Christ as high priest. So there are four ways in which we're going to divide these earlier parts. And the first three verses is the first of those divisions. The introduction of Christ as high priest. Now there are three verses. and they follow in a logical order. The Spirit of God here is being very orderly, and before we look at what is said in these three verses at the end of chapter four, since we are now talking about a better priesthood, we ought to get straight in our thinking what we mean by the word priest. Now, what do you think of when you read or hear the word priest? I heard about two little boys that were walking down the street one day, and there was a member of the class passing in the other direction, apparently. And at least this is what one of the boys thought. He wasn't wearing his regalia, and as he passed by, the first boy wanting to be on the right side said, Good morning, Father. The man looked at him, said, Good morning, and passed on. The other boy said, You made a mistake. He's not a father. He's got three children. I'll explain that to you afterwards if you need an explanation. But the fact is, you know, that there are people that have ideas about priests that are not at all biblical, not at all scriptural. And many people, when they hear the word priest, they think of Roman Catholicism, or they think of high Anglicism. They think of the exercise. In fact, I turn to the dictionary to see what the dictionary said about the priest, and the dictionary says that a priest is a clergyman. Now, of course, this is not biblical. This is not scriptural. If we go to the Bible to find out what a priest is, we'll find the priest is a man who is divinely appointed and has divine credentials. He's capable of intercession, and he is fitted to offer sacrifice. Now, this is a Bible priest. Now what about a high priest? Since we read about the high priest here, what do we understand about the high priest under the old economy? Now much could be said about him, but simplifying things, perhaps oversimplifying them, we might say that the high priest was the representative of the whole congregation. He was the one alone who was permitted to enter into the holiest of all. He was a mediator for all of the people. And ceremonially he was holy, and he was pure. Now what about New Testament priests? Now all believers are New Testament priests. I am looking into the faces of a congregation of priests. Now I hope that you haven't lost sight of your privilege and your function. You will find that we are described in First Peter chapter two and five as a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood. And other preachers have pointed out to you before that the function of the holy priesthood is to offer up, that's a God would function, and the function of the royal priesthood is to show forth, that's a man would function. And every believer is a priest. But every believer is not fulfilling the priestly function. Many of us don't pray, and we are losing out, and others are losing out. It's very necessary that we get this into our minds. It's like saints. Every believer is a saint. So I'm looking into the faith of St. George and St. Mary and St. Albert and St. Joyce. You're all saints if you're saved by the grace of God. So let's divest our minds of any false notions with regard to the word priest and the word saint and so on. Now then, our three verses in chapter four. Seeing then that we have a high priest. Now in chapter fourteen we have a definite statement. I'll go over it with you in a moment. In verse fifteen we have a qualifying experience. We'll touch on it in a moment. In verse sixteen we have a logical expectation and we'll make reference to that too. Now what about the statement in verse fourteen? Three things are said. We have a high priest and he's called a great high priest. That's the first fact, the first statement. And then he says he has passed into the heavens through the firmament. That's the second fact. And the third one is this. He is Jesus, the Son of God. So there you have his name and his relationship. Now we could spend the rest of our time with this verse. But I want you to think about it for yourself. And to try to plumb its depth. It is a definite statement and a statement of three facts. We have a great high priest. He has passed through the firmament, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That's the statement. So look at the qualifying experience in verse fifteen, will you? For we have not an high priest. Now there's a contradiction. Verse fourteen says we have an high priest. And verse fifteen says we have not an high priest. Now that's how people find contradictions in the Bible, you know. They cut them short and they don't get the full gist of what God is saying. He says, We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but within all points tempted like us we are. yet without sin. We have an high priest, and why is he such a great high priest? Because there isn't an experience that comes your way that Jesus hasn't known. There isn't a temptation that becomes your lot through which the Lord Jesus has not passed. Oh, how qualified he is to function as our great high priest. It says basically in verse fifteen two things. He was touched. or he was tempted and he can be touched. Now these are the two things then that make up this qualifying experience in verse fifteen. He was tempted and tempted in all points like us we are, yet without sin, and he can be touched. You know the word that is used here is a Greek word, sompathio. Can you think of an English word that sounds very much like it? What is it? Sympathy, of course, and it comes from the same root. In the Lord Jesus, although he's a priest, a high priest, a great high priest, he's a sympathetic one, and there isn't anyone that sympathizes, like the Lord Jesus. How does that encourage you? I wonder whether you've passed through an experience today, or maybe in the past week, and nobody really knows what it is you've gone through. And it just seemed to you that there isn't anybody who can really understand. You know, it isn't true. The Lord Jesus has walked that path, he's gone that way, and he knows all how well he knows. When his heart goes out to you in tenderness and love and sympathy, we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He's the fount of sympathy. From Bastio, he can be touched. Now look at the logical expectation in verse sixteen. Let us therefore, here's another therefore, and I told you when you see a therefore, find out what it's there for, and it's there for this reason, because we have an high priest. And because we have a high priest who has been tempted like us and can be touched, let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace if we have an high priest. And if we have such an high priest, It's not surprising that he expects to be allowed to function. Let us come to him. Let us bring our burdens to him. Let's bring our perplexities to him. And in view of who he is and what he is, let's do it boldly. God forbid that familiarity should ever breed contempt. But we should ever take for granted the privileges that are ours as believers. in the free access to the Lord Jesus and to the God of heaven. But let us not fail to come boldly. We don't need to tremble, because the Lord Jesus has himself opened up the way into the holiest of all for us. And he expects to be allowed to function on our behalf. Therefore, let us come boldly under the throne of grace. And if we do, what's going to happen? We shall find... mercy, obtaining mercy, and find grace to help in the nick of time. And I like that expression because sometimes we want to hurry God, don't we? Sometimes we want God to move a little faster. You know, I read that story in Genesis five, or Enoch. It's a very short life story, but there's enough said to make us realize that the man Enoch was a remarkable man. The thing that he said about him is this, He walked with God. Now, you know what that means, don't you? It means that when God took a stride, Enoch took a stride. When God took a short step, Enoch took a short step. Enoch went in not only went in the same direction as God went, but he made sure that he didn't run ahead of God, which speaks of being willful, and he didn't drag behind God, which speaks of being unwilling, he walked with God. And when grace was needed, it came to him in the nick of time. It didn't come before he needed it, and it didn't come after he had need of it. It came when he needed it. And you know, that's how God works. But the trouble is with us, we see no further than the ends of our noses, and we are sure that if something doesn't happen right now, everything is going to go to pieces. God has a given time. And God will move in his own time. Why is it the man who's willing to bide his time and wait God's time? Grace comes in the nick of time. Here then in verses fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, in chapter four, which is the beginning of the section in which the Lord Jesus is presented as a high priest before God, we have the introduction of him as high priest. I'm going to read to you the verses one through ten of chapter five, because here we have the superiority of Christ as high priest. Listen carefully as I read. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that we may obtain both gifts and sacrifices for sins. We can have compassion on the ignorant, and on men that are out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. and by reason hereof he orders for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins, and no man taketh his honor unto himself, but he that is called of God is with Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made in high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son today, have I begotten thee? As he said also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, who in the days of his flesh, When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, under him that was able to save him from death, and referred him that he feared, though he were a son, he had learned the obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect. He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. You see in those verses the superiority of Christ as high priest? Others taken from among men, having to offer their own sins. But the Lord Jesus is a priest after a different order, the order of Melchizedek. Now that is going to be explained for us in chapter seven. We shall come to that, so we'll leave it for a moment. But I'd like you to notice a division in these ten verses. In the verses one, two, three, and four, we have the priesthood explained. In the verses five through ten we have the high priest presented. Now look at the explanation of the priesthood, will you? We're told the priest, high priest in this particular instance, first of all were humans. They were taken from among men. And then we notice that they were appointed. Every high priest taken from among men is ordained by men. No, he doesn't say that. But you know, that's what's practiced in Christendom today. And there's a very, very different thing between a very different thing being ordained for and being ordained by. And I think we should make note of that. These priests were human, and they were appointed. Now God was the one who appointed them or ordained them, and you will notice they were ordained of God for men. Compare that with verse four. No men take of this honor. unto himself. So they were human, and they were appointed, and they were busy, offering up gifts and sacrifices. This is what we read here. But they were fed, they were told, they were exhorted to be patient. Why? Because they themselves are bound by like infirmities as the people for whom they minister. They are to be patient. If you read in the margin there, you'll find it emphasized. Can reasonably bear with. That's what my margin says, for the word can have compassion in verse two. The priest had to be patient. He had to be mindful. It says he himself is comforted about with infirmity. And he had to be faithful. offering first of all for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. How meticulously the Spirit of God in these short verses outlines for us, explains for us the priesthood. But then having the priesthood explained in the first few verses, one through five, then we have the high priest presented in verses six through ten. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Let me mention three things. My time is running out. You will notice, first of all, that God glorified him. Verse five, Christ glorified not himself, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son today, have I begotten thee. God glorified him. That's the first thing. And then notice that prayer fortified him, will you? In the days of his flesh, verse seven, he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. Now here is obviously a challenge to us. If the spotless, holy Son of God, in whom was no sin, found it necessary to pray, and he found it necessary from time to time to spend the night in prayer, It must be a rebuke to us who spend so little time before the throne of grace. You know, at the Macaulay Water Street Mission, we have a Saturday work among the hippies. We have a group of young people, Christian young people, that come in on a Friday, anywhere from thirty to sixty, and they go out into the village, and they invite the hippies to come and join us for a meal at five o'clock on Saturday. And so when Saturday comes, sixty or seventy hippies will be there, and sixty or seventy Christian young people to sit down and talk with them. We have no meetings. They sit down and they converse across the tables. Many of these Christian young people, and many of them are assembly young people, have undergone a metamorphosis. More has been done among the Christian young people than has been done among the hippies. because these Christian young people have found out where it's at. And these Christian young people have learned how absolutely powerless they are to get to first base with any of these other young people if they don't bathe their ministry in prayer. And that's the thing that has been transforming these young people. And you'll find now if you go to Plainfield, they have their own coffee house there, assembly young people. It's in a garage, and they sometimes get a hundred young people from the outside in, and they are ministering to them. Because God has done something in their lives, because they came to the point where they recognized they were utterly dependent upon prayer. They went to the elders of the assembly in Terrell Road, and they said, we would like to have an all-night prayer meeting. I think some of the elders probably nearly fell off their chairs. But he said, we're not going to discourage these young people. So they wisely said, very well. We'll arrange it. And one of us will come, we'll come, an elder from time to time, through the evening and spend a little time with you. And those kids spent all night in prayer. I went down myself and joined them for a few hours. And I tell you, these young people have really learned how to lay hold of the throne of God. And they have seen God move in their own lives. We just launched a new assembly mission in Yonkers. And so some of these young people went down with Ray Armstrong from Terrell Road. He's a Christian businessman, and he took them down to Yonkers, and they worked all once Friday, and putting the place in order to start a coffee house there. And they were so tired when they dragged themselves home Friday night. Saturday morning, they were back at Yonkers, again putting some finishing touches to the job. And when they got back again to Plainfield, one called up and said, Mr. Armstrong, I'm so tired. I don't think I can come down to Macaulay Mission this afternoon. I'm really pooped. In thirty minutes, he called up again and said, Mr. Armstrong, I can't stay away. I gotta go. And so down he went, and you know what happened? This is just two or three Saturday nights ago. He sat down with a hippie and that hippie broke into tears. He led him to Christ. Before the evening was out, that hippie was sitting with another hippie. And so Mr. Armstrong drew near. And to listen to the conversation, he said to the second fellow, have you accepted the Lord? He said, no, I haven't, but I'm interested in doing something about it. He said, I want to talk to somebody who knows these things. Well, he said, can I talk with you? He said, no. I want to talk to the fellow who talked to him. So the guy who was so pooped and nearly didn't go was brought by one hippie just saved to another one, and he led him to Christ. You see, when God is moving in a man's life, whether he's younger old, that man knows he cannot make a move without praying, and when he prays, God moves in his life and moves through it. And that's what these kids are finding. If the Lord Jesus spent nights in prayer, then you and I don't. try to live a day without earnestly crying. For Lord Jesus, we read God glorified him. Verse five and six, we find that prayer fortified him. Verse seven. And in verse eight, we find that suffering magnified him. Listen, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Were you ever puzzled by that verse? Was there ever a time when the Lord Jesus was not obedient? He says, Though he were a son, yet learned the obedience by the things which he suffered. Did the Lord Jesus have to be taught to the obedience? I'm sure it doesn't mean that. And you know it doesn't mean that. What does the verse mean? Very simply it means he learned by his own experience the cost of obedience. And when the Lord Jesus demands of your obedience, remember this. He paid the price for the full to obey himself. He though he were a son, yet learned he the cost of obedience. by the things which he suffered. And it's in the suffering Christ that we see the greatest magnificence. God glorified him. Verse five and six. Prayer fortified him. Verse seven. Suffering magnified him. Verse eight and on. So we have the high priest presented. Now we have to turn in the last moment or two to the end of chapter six. In your Bible you have the parenthesis marked, which takes you from verse one through verse twelve, so we have now the verses thirteen through twenty, and the subject is still, of course, the Lord Jesus as High Priest. We've seen the introduction of Christ as High Priest in verses fourteen, fifteen and sixteen in chapter four. We've seen the superiority of Christ as high priest in chapter five, verses one through ten. And then after the bracket from verse thirteen, we have the function of Christ as high priest. I need only to read this to you, and I can be true. When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself saying, Surely blessing, I will bless thee. And multiplying, I will multiply thee, and so. After he, that is, Abraham, had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Men verily swear by the greater. And an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have, as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enter it into that within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, very briefly, what is being said in these verses is this. The one who has been introduced to us at the end of chapter four, and whose superiority has been brought before us in chapter five, here in chapter six is shown to be a functioning high priest. Through his work, We are made heirs of God. That's what it says in these verses. That work of his has been confirmed by God through an oath. And we who have been made heirs are sustained by his intercession. And we have been made secure because of his eternal character. High priest in the past failed and failed miserably. Here is the better high priest, who never sinned, never had to offer for his own sin, whose work is not only effective but perfect, and through whose functioning high priestly work, we who have been made heirs of God, are constantly prayed for. He intercedes on our behalf and guarantees our eternal faith. When we move into chapter seven, we're going to see that this high priest who was introduced to us in chapter four and whose superiority was paraded before us in chapter five and whose function is outlined in chapter six is illustrated in that mystery figure of Melchizedek. But that's our study, if the Lord will, for tomorrow morning. So would you read chapter seven and get acquainted with it between now and then? Shall we bow in prayer? Then again we shall bring our session quietly to a close with a short verse on the organ. Let us think about these things because they have a very practical implication. We must be different if we have such an high priest. Lord Jesus, we thank thee for the language that is spoken of thee in this epistle. We thank you for any measure of appreciation of thyself, the bed is in our heart. And we pray above everything else that thou shalt be honoured among us during these days, and that our appreciation of thee shall grow. And with it, our sense of thy presence and our enjoyment of thy meiness, we ask seeking thine honor. Amen.