We're taking our text this morning from Hebrews chapter 5, verses 1 through 4. We'll begin our reading in Exodus chapter 28, just reading two verses there, verses 1 and 2 of Exodus chapter 28, remembering that this is God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. Exodus 28, verses 1 and 2. Then bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the sons of Israel to minister as priest to me. Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. You shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for beauty. Begin our reading in the book of Hebrews at chapter 4 and verse 14 and through our text, chapter 5 and verse 4. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided since he himself is beset with weakness. And because of it, he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins. As for the people, so also for him. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. for the blessing upon his, the hearing, preaching and the hearing of his word. Let's pray together. What a privilege we have, oh Lord our God, to be in your courts, to offer our sacrifice of praise to you, to sing your praise and sing our thanksgiving to you for your great gifts to us. Among those gifts, O Lord, is your very word and the living word, our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, O Lord, that you would cause your word to come forth now in this demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The Old Testament book of Leviticus is all about priests, altars, sacrifices, and holiness. God's holiness and man's unholiness. As you read through the book of Leviticus this year, I hope you do read through. I hope you're reading through your Bibles every year. As you read through Leviticus, think about God's holiness. Think about how all of those ceremonial laws reveal God's holiness and how they reveal man's uncleanness and their need for holiness through the sacrifices that God has provided, and of course, in particular, from our perspective, the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews is a book that discusses all of these things. that discusses high priests, altars, sacrifices, and yes, holiness, God's holiness and our need for holiness. We could say that these books, that Leviticus and Hebrews are parallel books, that they're twin books. Each of them helps tremendously in the explanation of the other. There is, however, a significant difference between the two books, and it's this. Leviticus is dealing with these matters, and as it does, it's constantly pressing and straining forward to point us to Jesus Christ, in whom all of these things find their fulfillment. Hebrews, on the other hand, presents this fulfillment, setting forth a marvelous way that Christ, as the High Priest, the altar, the sacrifice, the holy offering for sin, has fulfilled all of the intricate details of the Old Testament ceremonial law. He stands alone in this regard. Hebrews 4-14-10-39 is a large section that emphasizes Christ's priesthood prior to entering into this detailed explanation in this larger section. The author of Hebrews has already been preparing us for it, saying in 217 that Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest. In chapter 3 and verse 1, that Jesus is the high priest of our confession. And then as he begins this detailed exposition of Christ's priesthood in this larger section, He says that we have a great high priest, which leads us to where we are now in the letter to the Hebrews. The last time we dealt with verses 14 through 16 in chapter 4, where the writer urges believers in Jesus Christ to hold fast to their confession and confidently draw near to the throne of grace for help, grounded in the reality that they have a supreme and sympathetic high priest. So we come to chapter five, the writer expands upon this opening statement and continues to pursue his grand theme of the absolute supremacy and unquestioned preeminence of Jesus over everything and everyone. So far he's pointed out that Jesus is superior to the Old Testament prophets and to all Old Testament revelation, that he's superior to angels, that he's superior to Moses. And now he turns to the Old Testament priesthood, in particular at this point, the high priesthood, comparing and contrasting Jesus with Aaron, the first high priest. who's named for the first time in the letter here in chapter 5 and verse 4. And if we wonder what the point of this comparison is between Jesus and Aaron, we need only remember that those to whom the author of Hebrews is writing were in serious danger of turning back to the types and shadows of the Old Testament sacrifices, back to the Old Testament priests and the offering of those sacrifices, instead of remaining in the light and the glory and the fulfillment of the new covenant in which they find themselves with Jesus as the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament ceremonial law. These Hebrew Christians were tempted to set Old Testament priests and even current priests in the temple over the great high priest Jesus Christ and go back to that old system of worship when Jesus has made it perfectly clear that those things of the old covenant have no continuing function in the new. We ask why we need to understand the work of the Old Testament high priest and sacrifices in comparison to Christ's priestly work. The answer is that we, as they, need to grasp that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is the high priest, even though his priesthood was of another order from that of the former high priests. In verses 1 through 10, the author expands, he expounds upon of the high priesthood, first from the human side in verses 1 through 4, and then with respect to Jesus himself in verses 5 through 10. In our text today in verses 1 through 4, the author shows us characteristics of the Old Testament high priests the old covenant high priest, in order to reveal Christ as our superior high priest, that by holding fast to him, we might persevere in the faith. The author is showing us characteristics of old covenant high priests in order to reveal Christ as our superior high priest, in order that we might hold fast to Jesus, and might persevere in the faith so doing. Five characteristics of Old Testament high priests are mentioned here. The high priest's origin, his work, his sympathy, his sin, and his calling. Those are the five things that we'll consider together today. The high priest's origin, his work, his sympathy, his sin, and his calling. The first place then, the high priest's origin, here in verse one. The high priest was taken, or chosen, your translation may read, from among men. For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God. There are two important things to note here. In the first place, they were taken from among men. They came from the people of Israel, from the priestly tribe of Levi. Very importantly, they partook of the same nature as those for and to whom they ministered. This was essential. This work of the high priest wasn't put into the hands of angels who neither share our humanity nor are familiar with our temptations. God didn't choose a stranger from another country, but it was from the sons of Israel that the high priest was taken, one who was bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh, one who had Jewish blood flowing in his veins. In the case of Aaron, the first high priest in Israel, we read from the Lord's instruction to Moses there in Exodus 28 verse 1, then bring near to yourself Aaron your brother from the sons of Israel to minister as priest to me. Now why did the Lord do this? did the Lord choose one from among men, take this one from among men, take Aaron from the tribe of Levi, from the sons of Israel, to minister to and for, on behalf of, God's people. It was so the children of Israel could come to him without fear. If it had been an angel, they might have shrunk back from the angel and his powerful presence and been afraid. But the human high priest is bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. They saw the features of a brother in his face. They knew that the blood of a Jew beat in his heart, that the friendship of a brother sparkled in his eye. Second, being taken from men, the high priest was appointed to act. on behalf of men in things pertaining to God. He wasn't merely acting for himself, but represented the people. This act of representing Israel was a ministry for them in things pertaining to God. The high priest was a mediator. not between men and men, but between men and God. And so it is, my dear fellow Christians, that our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, acts on our behalf. Every high priest is taken from among men, and so was Christ, our great high priest. The author of Hebrews has already emphasized this point earlier in the book. Chapter 2, verse 14, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through his death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. And then in chapter 2, verse 17, therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of people and minister on behalf of God's people in things pertaining to God. Jesus was the divine Son of God, but he humbled himself to take to himself our humanity. a true body, a reasonable soul. Our catechism teaches us. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, John says. David's blood flowed in his vein. He's bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. His heart beats with our blood. There is a man, the God-man, seated upon his heavenly throne in heaven, in our nature, whose heart is beating with our blood. He's our brother. And because we're born of the Father, He's not ashamed to call us his brothers, Hebrews 2, 11 says. Because of his appointment as our mediator, we are not without representation before God in heaven. We're not without what we need to be accepted by God and to commune with God. Puritan John Owen comments, that taken from men is a great consolation to believers. It's a great consolation. Chapter four and verse 14 says that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. acting on our behalf, representing us to God, mediating on our behalf, taking our prayers and perfecting them before the throne of God so that we're acceptable to God, not only in the righteousness that has been imputed to us through this great high priest and his sacrifice and his obedience, but being received by God as we commune with him, as we pray to him. But it's to the great detriment of those who have rejected Jesus as the great high priest. The question to those who are listening today is, have you taken advantage of God's offer of this great high priest in the gospel. Surely such a great condescension on his behalf must have been on account of our great necessity. How, the writer asks earlier, shall you escape if you neglect such a great salvation? Later he speaks of the fearful wrath that must fall upon those who trample underfoot the Son of God. What will you say, friends, when you see him in your very nature, which all people will on that last day? When you see him bearing the marks of his dying love, how will you bear to hear him say to you, I took this body, bearing these marks for your sakes. I wept, I suffered, I bled and died as such as for you, but you would not come to me. Human high priests were taken from God. Taken from among men. And our great high priest has taken our humanity on himself. The high priest's origin. Secondly, the high priest's work. The high priests were occupied with a specific work, which was, verse 1, to offer sacrifices for sins. They didn't come before God empty-handed. They came to God with gifts and sacrifices for men. Gifts and sacrifices is likely a comprehensive term that covers all types of Old Testament sacrifices for sin. Burnt offerings, peace offerings, guilt offerings, and sin offerings. The connection between the two phrases in 5.1 cannot be missed. In relation to God, four sins. God is altogether holy. He's blazingly holy. God is holy beyond what we can possibly comprehend. That's the point of Leviticus. That's the point of Hebrews as well. This was impressed unforgettably, you remember, upon the prophet Isaiah as he saw Jehovah, as he saw the Lord exalted upon the throne, the train of his robes filling the temple, and as he listened to those six-winged seraphim crying out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full. of His glory. God is infinitely holy. Man, on the other hand, is altogether sinful for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And you remember Isaiah's response when he saw that vision of the thrice holy God. He said, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Neither the people of the Old Testament, including the high priests, nor us, nor anyone else can approach God on our own. So how can God in his holiness ever have anything to do with us, anything to do with us in our uncleanness, in our sinfulness, apart from bringing his judgment upon us as we rightly deserve. The answer is found in sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews will have much to say about this, especially in chapters 9 and 10, but he begins laying out his case here in chapter 5. All of those Old Testament sacrifices are followed by one gospel sacrifice. All the Old Testament high priests followed by our one great high priest. Chapter 4 and verse 16. Sin can only be dealt with a sacrifice for it. God's holiness, which cannot have any fellowship with sin, and His justice, which must be satisfied, can only be satisfied on the basis of a sacrifice for sin. The Old Testament sacrifice is foreshadowed but only the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself on the cross actually accomplishes that satisfaction, the writer will tell us later explicitly. So once again, the writer is pointing us to the utter foolishness on the part of the Hebrews, even to entertain the least thought of going backwards to the old days when God had made all the provision for them. in the sacrifice of his son. And so are we foolish. If we ever think of going back, if we ever think that there's any hope for us anywhere else but in Jesus, how foolish it is to abandon, to even think of deserting the one who has the words of eternal life. the one to whom we have been united by faith, the one through whom we have all of the covenant blessings bestowed upon us. What a wondrous high priest we have indeed. Now in verse one of our text, The emphasis is on the implied similarities between the high priest and our great high priest, Jesus Christ. They were both taken from among men, they were appointed as mediators on behalf of men, and they offered gifts and sacrifices for sins. In verses two and three, there's a subtle shift to include implied differences. between Christ and the high priest. We've seen the origin and the work of the high priest. Thirdly, we want to consider the high priest's sympathy. Verse 2 provides a further explanation of the incentive and the capacity the high priest has to act on behalf of men. This is connected back to chapter four and verse 15, and Christ's sympathy as a high priest, one who can sympathize with our weaknesses, and it's connected forward in his implied sympathy. In chapter five, verses seven and eight, Christ's prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears, which we'll deal with next week, Lord willing. Verse two says that the high priest is able to deal gently. The high priest was in a position to be pastorally sensitive in his dealings with sinful people. The phrase ignorant And those who are straying refers both to sins of ignorance and sins of commission. That is sins that we don't even know we've committed and sins that we deliberately commit. It struck me as I was thinking through this text this week of those who, as I thought of those who deny that they have sinned, that men are sinful, that people do sin, that there is such a thing as sin, that they're obviously thinking of those sins that are external, that are visible sins, that others can see, that others can observe. They're not even thinking about the sins that people commit that they don't even know. And yes, believers, we commit sins that we don't even know we've committed. And we have a high priest who can deal with our ignorance, even when we don't know how ignorant we are. and can deal with those who are straying. That word refers often to the sinfully wayward, especially in the Old Testament. You will perhaps remember that wondrous Verse in Isaiah 53, verse 6, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He's caused the iniquity of us all to fall on the servant of Jehovah. the one who atones for sin, the one who is our substitutionary atonement, the one who mediates for us, ministers on our behalf. One reason that the high priest is able to deal gently is that our writer tells us he himself is beset with weakness. The word beset in the New American Standard is translated variously subject or compassed in other English translations, but surrounded, similar to that word in the King James, compassed, is perhaps a better translation because it presents us with something of a word picture. The high priest, as a man, like all men, like all people, was surrounded by sin. David acknowledged this when he said, my sin is ever before me, in that great confession of Psalm 51. As in Hebrews 4.15, weakness includes difficulties, all the difficulties of life, such as hunger and cold and trials and temptations. But here, as opposed to Christ, in verse 4.15, it also includes personal, sinful, moral failures, which is clear from chapter 5. and verse 3 where the priest offers sacrifices on behalf of himself for his sins. The high priests, remember, were men taken from men. They weren't spiritual supermen. They were men of like passions with those and to whom They ministered prone to the same ups and downs, sharing the same infirmities with them, sinners like them, facing trials and temptations like them, capable of falling into sin like them, of drifting away from the gospel like them, and subject to dying like them. And as such, Our text tells us that they were able to deal gently, they were able to deal with compassion, and not lord it over people, but to bear patiently with them, seeking to lead sheep that had gone astray back to the right path, to the path of righteousness. Dealing with them, as Paul confessed that he dealt with the believers at the church of Thessalonica as a nursing mother, and as a disciplining father. This is a good reminder to all church officers that in our shepherding and in our showing mercy, we're to be firm yet gentle among the flock, that there's no place in the church for lording it over God's people. The Gentiles do that, Jesus said. Don't you do that, he said to his apostles. He said, I became a servant. I took on the role of a servant. I humbled myself. I didn't exalt myself. You do the same. And officers of the Church of Jesus Christ ought to remember that. And what a startling reminder it is that we must not put our trust and reliance upon mere men, even when they are spiritual leaders in the church. Cursed is the man who trusts in man, Jeremiah 17. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. We've considered the origin, the work, the sympathy, fourthly, the high priest's sin. Because of it, verse five says, rather verse three says, because of it, he's obligated, that is because he is beset with weakness. Verse 2, that last clause in verse 2, he's beset with sinful weakness. Because of it, he's obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. The human high priest had to have his own sins dealt with, as well as the sins of everyone else. The connection between this and the previous statement is immediately obvious. The fact that the high priest himself was beset with weakness, not just touched by weakness, but surrounded by it, not just scratched with sinful weakness on the surface, but affected with it deep within his soul, placed him in the position of a sinner, a ministering sinner, as we'll see, one called by God, a sinner called by God to minister, but nevertheless, a sinner, and being a sinner, his own sins had to be dealt with along with everyone else's. The word obligated here in verse 3, carries the same force of strong necessity that it has any place that it's used in the New Testament scriptures. He had to do this. He was bound to do it. He had no option but to do this. He was under moral obligation to do this. It underscores that truth. No one else was in a position to deal with the high priest's sin. So they had to see to it themselves in obeying God and offering the proper sacrifices for their own sin. That was nowhere better illustrated than the Day of Atonement itself, recorded in Leviticus chapter 16, which in the course of our exposition of Hebrews, I think we've already read a couple times what the high priest did on the day of atonement. It happened once a year. It was that occasion, you remember, when the high priest entered not merely into the outer court of the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, later the temple, or even into the holy place, but into the holy of holies, the most holy place, and make atonement for himself and his house, Leviticus 16, 11. He was a sinner among sinners, making sacrifices for other sinners as well. As the Leviticus chapter makes clear, sacrifice needed to be brought for his own sins first of all, before that of the people, in order that no guilt was remaining in him. He had to have God's favor upon him if the people, through the sacrifice that he brought on their behalf, were to receive God's favor. It's a reminder to us as well as we come to offer our sacrifices every Lord's Day. The sacrifices of our hearts, the sacrifices of ourselves on the altar, the sacrifices of our praise to God, that we need to be clean when we come, we need to deal with our sins before we come. What's supremely and uniquely true of Jesus, our great High Priest, Chapter 4 and verse 15 says, is that he is without sin. There was no sin to be dealt with in Jesus. 1 Peter 22 bears witness to this truth as well. He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. That was true of what was true of high priests, human high priests is of course true of ministers today. They are sinners among sinners who are obligated, who must by necessity deal with their own sins before they minister to other sinners. I know it's difficult when we see high-profile leaders in the church fall into grievous sin and betray their vows, the vows that they've taken as gospel ministers. But it shouldn't surprise us because they're sinners among sinners. And they need the mercy of the great high priest to cover their sins as well. We've seen the origin work, sympathy and sin. Lastly, and quite briefly, the high priest's calling. No high priest appointed himself. It was not his prerogative to appoint himself as a priest. He served only by divine appointment and calling. No one takes the honor to himself, verse four says, but receives it when he's called by God, even as Aaron was. This connects directly back to the statement made back in verse one with those two verbs, taken and appointed. The high priest didn't hold their office on their own account. They weren't in it for their own glory, of their own prestige, their own name. Rather, it was something that was solemnly laid upon them, required of them, and for the performance of which they were accountable, not to men, but to God. Given that it's God's prerogative, entirely His prerogative, to choose who he will to receive into fellowship to himself, it's not surprising that it's equally his prerogative to choose those he will appoint as high priests for the work of acting on behalf of men in things pertaining to God. That phrase, no one takes this honor to himself gives us a rich sense of what an honorable office the high priesthood was. It gives us a sense of what an honorable prospect any office in the church is. It involved approaching God. It involved having familiar dealings with God, whether his own or his others. And if he didn't have the assurance that God had appointed him, that God had called him to do this, who would ever do so? And what man today would ever dare to assume office in the church if he hasn't assured himself that he has a divine internal calling, that God is calling him, and that God has placed the stamp of approval upon him through the external calling of the church by the testing of his gifts. and by examination to see if he rightly holds the qualifications for office. The high priest calling. was a divine calling. We'll let that suffice for now because verse four is really a bridge between these first three verses and verses five through 10 here in chapter five, and we'll pick up there with the comparison between Aaron and Christ next Lord's Day, Lord willing. The author has shown us characteristics of a human high priest. He's shown us these five characteristics in order to reveal Christ as our superior high priest, that by holding fast to him, we might persevere in the faith. Remember, that's the exhortation. That's what this lengthy exhortation which comprises the whole book of Hebrews, is getting at that we must hold fast to the confession of our faith, that we must hold fast by means of holding fast to the author of our faith, our great high priest. We must hold fast to Jesus in order to persevere in the faith. He's already long been discussing and alluding to this in the earlier chapters of this book. Remember how in that long exhortation of chapter 3, verse 7, through chapter 4 and verse 13, he compares the reader's situation to Israel's in the wilderness. when many fell through disobedience, unbelief, and rebellion, and he urges them to take care that they themselves might not fall away, that they might not follow the example of the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness. All this has tremendous bearing on the assurance of our salvation. And it causes us to ask the question, how will I fare in the years ahead? Will I persevere through my own struggles and temptations? How can I know if as one who sincerely believes in Jesus Christ, I'll make it to the end, that I'll hold firm to the end, which I must. This book continually tells us if we're to be saved. How can I know that? How can I be certain of that? And the answer to that question of the assurance of perseverance to the end is the appointment of Jesus Christ as your Great High Priest. He's already completed the work of dying for our sins. He's gone into heaven itself to offer sacrificial blood for our sake. There he sits as our priest, who ministers on our behalf, praying for us, interceding on our behalf with the Father, upholding us in our faith. James Montgomery Boyce well sums up our point. He writes that the reason saints will persevere is that Jesus has done everything necessary for their salvation. Since he has made a perfect atonement for their sin, and since God has sworn to accept Jesus' work, the believer can be as certain that he or she will be in heaven as that Jesus himself will be there. Only one question remains then. Is He your High Priest? Have you confessed your sin and trusted in Christ as your Savior? Is He now in His capacity as High Priest pleading your cause with His blood? If the answer is no, then you are not reconciled to God. You're not free of condemnation. You're not clothed in Christ's righteousness, but rather clothed in your own filthy garments of sin before a holy God. And it is imperative And I plead with any who are listening, who have not entered into this union with this great high priest, I plead with anyone who has ears to hear that you would flee God's wrath by fleeing to Christ, believing in his appointed position as high priest and his ability to plead his blood for your sake before the throne of God for your salvation. But if you have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ, you must find your assurance that you will indeed persevere to the end, not in your performance, not in your own good works, but in your union with Jesus Christ, your great high priest. Find your assurance by resting upon Christ's work and God's word, especially of the sacred oath that he expressed through the prophet David concerning David's greater son, Psalm 110, verse 4. You are a priest forever. Dear Christians, in these words is our full assurance of faith and our full assurance that as we look to Jesus, our high priest, we will indeed persevere to the end, that we will hold fast to the confession of our faith. Just as Israel's high priest bore the names of the 12 tribes on his breastplate, In the Holy of Holies, Christ bears our names on his breast, so that in due time we might follow him to heaven, into that realm of glory which none of us can possibly even conceive of. Dear Christian, Knowing that you have such a great high priest should make you eternally grateful in the depths of your soul. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Oh, Father, we cannot express fully our gratitude to you. We can't even find the fitting words to express our gratitude to you for Jesus, our Savior, Jesus, our Mediator, Jesus, our Great High Priest, all that Jesus is to us. We can't even get our minds fully around all that you have done for us in our Savior, Jesus Christ. But we come to you with thankful hearts. And we come to you, O Lord, seeking that assurance, looking to and clinging to our great high priest, Jesus Christ, who has done the work, who has made the ultimate sacrifice, that sacrifice that fulfilled all of the old covenant sacrifices, all the ceremonial law, And he's done so for every one of his dear children. Receive our thanks, O God, for this indescribable gift. Secure these things to our hearts. Imprint them upon our minds that we might walk as those who know what they have, who know the riches they possess. in their great High Priest, Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.