The following presentation is brought to you by Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed. Delivering today's message will be Dr. Richard Bacon. Day of 53-8, a couple weeks ago, basically what we saw is that when Christ was taken from prison and from judgment that that's Isaiah's language tantamount to him saying that he rose from the dead, that he was taken out from the prison of the grave, he was taken out from under the judgment of God and vindicated, demonstrating that his offering up of himself was accepted by God, this being shown forth in the resurrection or being taken forth from the judgment. We want to look at another doctrine this week in which we see that Christ is being risen, having been taken from prison and from judgment, Christ being risen lives a numberless term of years, or what we characterize in Isaiah, or what Isaiah characterizes as who can tell his generation. The implication being no one can tell his generation. It's a numberless term of years. He endures forever. And we say that He is not only enduring forever, but that He is doing so with the Father in glory. Now, say, well, what's been added? Don't you know that Christ was always eternal? Christ has been around, that is to say, the second person of the Trinity. God the Son has been around forever, will always be around. What has changed to say that there is a numberless term of years now to His life? Well, just this. We're not speaking simply of Christ as God. but we're speaking rather of Christ as mediator. Some of you have heard me make that distinction before. I hope most of you will hear me continue to make that distinction because Christ has a providential kingdom or a kingdom over which he reigns as God. And what does that include? Well, just everything. Just includes everything. But there is also a Kingdom over which he reigns as mediator and that kingdom was given to him Upon the completion of his resurrection and ascension he sat down on a throne Now we're going to see as we study through the book of Hebrews in our morning services that he sat down as a priest also But when he sat down as a king he sat down to reign specifically over Zion Thou hast set thy holy king upon what hill? Zion Hill, upon the holy hill of Zion. And so in setting down upon the holy hill of Zion, he became the mediator. He wasn't always God-man, was he? He wasn't always the mediator as God and man in one person forever. We talked about that a little bit this morning. And what did we say was the big long name of that doctrine, children? in incarnation, because he took upon himself flesh. Now that means that he took upon himself a human nature. So now he is reigning not only as God, but as God-man. In order for him to reign as God-man, he has to reign not only in his nature as God, but also in his nature as man. And how does he do that? By being raised from the dead, that is by being taken from prison and from judgment, and now who can tell his generation or by being given a numberless term of years. We see that set forth before us in the book of Hebrews in chapter 7. And here's where the author of Hebrews is comparing the life of Christ and the life of Melchizedek. And he's saying, look, if all we depend upon is an Aaronic priesthood, then we don't have anything more than what we've already had. But with Christ, there is something added. There is a Melchizedekan priesthood. So he's explaining who Melchizedek was, and he's explaining that Melchizedek was greater even than Abraham. But Abraham was greater than Levi, and Levi was greater than Aaron. Therefore, Melchizedek was greater than Aaron. And one who's in the Melchizedekian priesthood, therefore, has a better priesthood than the Aaronic priesthood. That's the burden in chapter 7. I realize we're getting seven chapters ahead of ourselves from our morning sermons, but that's the burden of chapter 7. Now in that context, here's what he says in verse 3, that Melchizedek is without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God. He abides a priest continually. Now, That's not to say that Melchizedek didn't have a mommy and a daddy. Rather, it's that we don't know who his mommy and daddy were, and it doesn't matter that the priesthood began with him, that everything we need to know about his priesthood we find in him. We don't need to know about his descendants, about his sons or his grandsons or his great-grandsons, without descent. Everything we need to know about him is found in him. Now, who was Melchizedek? Maybe it was a Christophany. Maybe Christ actually appeared to Abraham. Could have been. Christ did appear in the Old Testament from time to time, didn't he? Maybe it was Shem. Remember Ham, Shem, and Japheth? Right? Shem, one of the sons, the eldest son of Noah. And if you figure the genealogies, and if we take the numbers in the book of Genesis, as I think we ought to, in a fairly literal fashion, we find out that the years of Shem are such that he was alive at the same time as was Abraham. And if his city was Salem, the city of peace, then who else would have been the king of Salem but Shem? And who else would have been known as the king of righteousness but that one who was still alive, who had come over the flood? So Melchizedek, by the way, means King of Righteousness. That's why I say, who else would have been known as the King of Righteousness, the King of Salem, or what would later become known as, who knows? Jerusalem. So was it Melchizedek? I mean, was it Shem? We don't know. Was it a Christophany? We don't know. Was it somebody completely else that we haven't mentioned yet? We don't know that either. And that's the point that he's making here. We don't know. But we do know that he had a superior priesthood to Aaron's, because he blessed Abraham. And without doubt, he says, the lesser is blessed by the greater. So Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. But Abraham is greater than Levi, because he's his granddaddy. Great granddaddy. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi. great-granddaddy and Levi is greater than Aaron because Aaron is his descendant so we take all those greater thans back and Melchizedek is a greater priest than Aaron so he's without father without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but he's made like unto the Son of God now who is that Christ And what's special about him? He abides a priest continually. He has a numberless term of office. When did the high priest lose his office? Was his term of office one year, five years, ten years? How long was his term of office in the Old Testament? Anybody know? Life! Now that means, really, death. Right? He was a high priest as long as he lived. it ended when he died so when does Christ the high priest's office end never because he doesn't die who can tell his generation he lives forever he abides continually like the Son of God he abides a priest continually Hebrews 7 3 y'all get that one in your notes that's an important one isn't it okay drop down a little bit farther into Hebrews chapter 7 Verse 16. Well, I'll back up to 15 again because once again we're talking about Melchizedek. It is far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there arises another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of what kind of a life? endless life so how is he made a priest by what power is he made a high priest not after a carnal commandment not after a fleshly commandment not after the fact that the the way of all flesh is to die but rather after an endless life right what happens what is the way of all flesh all flesh is as grass So if we have a carnal commandment, if we have a fleshly commandment, if I'm only a high priest for as long as I'm in the flesh, then how long am I high priest? Till I die. But now, how long is Christ high priest? Forever, because he has the power of what? Of an endless life. And then finally, in verse 24, well, again, let's back up to 23, because he's going to make the analogy, he's going to close the analogy, between the Melchizedekan priesthood and the Aaronic priesthood. They truly were many priests. How many? One? More than one. More than one. Many, many priests. Because why? Because they were not suffered to continue by a reason of death. Not allowed to have a dead person being your priest. When they're dead, we bury them. And so they weren't allowed to continue by reason of death. When death came, their priesthood ended. Now here's the analogy. But this man, this Jesus, because he continued with ever, hath what kind of a priesthood? An unchangeable priesthood. Now, specifically, where did the priesthood change? Whenever there's a change in the priesthood, there's a change in the law, right? So was there a change in the priesthood from Aaron to Melchizedek? When we move from the Aaronic priesthood to the Melchizedekan priesthood of Christ, is there a change in the law? Well, you tell me. How many sheep have we drawn to the front of the church and slaughtered? So far today, none. So is there a change in the law? Right. How many burnt offerings? How many mink offerings? meal offerings. How many meal offerings? None, right? Why? Because whenever there's a change in the priesthood, there's a change also in the law. But now this priesthood is what kind of a priesthood? A changeless priesthood. And how do we know it's changeless? Because he lives forever. So you see the importance now of him being taken from prison and from judgment. And who can number his years? Who can tell his generation? You can't tell his generation. He lives forever. And that's the importance of his everlasting life, is he continues to apply the work of his priesthood to his people by means of sending the Spirit. We'll look at that in just a moment. Three reasons. First of all, at the resurrection, three reasons that we know that he lives for a numberless term of years. At the resurrection he was cleared of liability. Remember we said that that prison house in which he was contained was what kind of a prison? It had what in common with a debtor's prison? What did it have in common with the debtor's prison? There was a liability that was due on our account. So when the debtor is released from debtor's prison, what does that show forth? No more debt. The debt's been paid. So his being taken from the prison house is a demonstration that he has been cleared of liability. Romans 5.12 tells us that the wage, not the wages of sin is death, but wherefore is by one man death passed upon all men, so by... Every time I try to do that, what do I do? Romans 5, 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So what does it take to pay the debt of sin? Death. So when Christ died and then rose again, what is that a demonstration of? Well, again, we point back to 1 Peter 4.1, that he canceled sin in the flesh. Thus he's justified by the Spirit, 1 Timothy 3.16. Remember, he was manifest in the flesh. God manifested in the flesh. We looked at that this morning, didn't we? But then what else do we see? What happened? He wasn't just manifested in the flesh, He was also justified in the Spirit. He was raised again and the Spirit showed forth, justified Him that He had done the work and that He had received the approbation of God. Christ has the keys of death in Romans chapter 6 and verse 9. knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over him. Death had dominion over him for a short time. How long is a short time in Scripture? Three days. Had power over him for three days. But, now that he's raised from the dead, does death have any dominion over him? No, Romans 6, 9. And, as he says in Revelation 1, 18, is it 1, 18? He has what? The keys of death and of hell. Is that right? Did I get that right? Some of you are looking at me like, I am he that liveth and was dead. Okay, who is that? yes Jesus if if he's living and was dead then he's been raised from the dead and behold I am alive for evermore right so he lived he died now he's alive forevermore amen and I have the keys of hell and of death okay now If he has the keys of hell and of death, who is it that's going to go to death or to hell? But those whom he chooses to go to hell and to death. If he has the key to hell and to death, how many prisoners is he letting out? Many as he wants. But how did he earn that? Earn that? Granted, did he have that right as an absolute sovereign? Yes, he did. But as God-man, he earned that by his resurrection. He says here, I was alive, then I died, now I'm alive again forevermore. And it's on that basis that I have the keys to death and to hell. I can understand the objection that might be raised. Well, how can we say that Christ earned something that was already his prerogative? That's fine. If you come up with a better word, I'll use that one. You know, earned is fine. Okay. So now, secondly, that's the first thing. If the resurrection is cleared of liability, and he is now the giver of life and of death, he is the determiner of life and of death. But secondly, I want us to see that he is the fountain of life to those who have him as their mediator. He has a numberless years of life. He has a numberless term of life. Who can tell his generation? And being all living, living forever, he also is a fountain or a source of life to all those who have him as mediator. In other words, he shares his life with us. He gives us his life. Let me show you some things that maybe have been misconstrued to you in the past. Let's start at 1 Thessalonians 5.10. You know, the fact that we have heard verses misused or abused in the past has perhaps made that misuse or abuse distasteful to us. Well, here's the wrong reaction to that, is to quit using those verses correctly. Quit understanding them correctly. Leave the verses alone. How many Arminian verses are there in the Bible? No Arminian verses. So the fact that some Arminian has used them incorrectly doesn't mean that we should have a distaste for the verse. We should have a distaste for the abuse of the verse. So look at 1 Thessalonians 5.10. He died for us, that is, Lord Jesus Christ died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, We should live together with Him. Exactly. So where is our life hid? Our life is hid in Him. So whether we wake or sleep, the application here seems to be whether we're alive or dead. Whether we wake or sleep, where is our life? Our life is with Him. Now, what comfort is there in that if He doesn't live forever? Very little. But because He does live forever, then if our life is with Him, how long do we live? There's the comfort. There's the comfort. And then turn with me over to 1 John 5, 11, and 12. And these are the verses that I was telling you had been sorely abused over the years. there's a tendency amongst Arminians to try to help someone else have assurance of faith, as though either assurance were the substance of faith, or you have to trust what you just did for salvation to be effectual. whatever it might have been. You know, you shook the preacher's hand, or you walked the sawdust trail, or you signed the decision card at the Billy Graham rally, or whatever it might have been. Because you've done that now, you have to understand that you can't go around thinking that maybe you don't really have life. You have to have assurance now. Well, this verse is often used in that context 1 John 5, 11, and 12 is often used in that context. Well, you just asked Jesus into your heart, didn't you? You just prayed the sinner's prayer, didn't you? Therefore, you must have life, right? And of course, we don't want to disagree with our counselor at the Billy Graham crusade. And so we say, right. And perhaps we spend the rest of our lives believing that. Whether we've actually trusted Christ or not. Now that's the danger of using this verse incorrectly. However, We need to remember that there is truth in this verse. And here is the truth. He that hath the Son hath life. Why? Well, this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is where? It's in His Son. This Son who was raised from the dead and who now lives forever is now the fountain of life to all those who have Him their mediator shall I say that again was that confusing Christ who has a limitless number of years is now the fountain of life and gives life to all those who have him as their mediator and then verse 12 he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God is hath not life." On what basis do we have life? If we don't have the Son, we're walking corpses. We don't have life if we don't have the Son. Why? Because God has given it to His Son to have all life in Himself. And if we would have life, we must have that life from Christ else nowhere. So that's the second thing. He is now the fountain of life to all those who have Him. their mediator. Remember what he said in the graveyard when they called him to, well Lazarus was sick I guess when they called him, come heal Lazarus, but he delayed long enough that by the time he got there he could teach them another lesson. So when he got there he didn't just say, I am the resurrection. What else did he say? I am the resurrection and and the life. You see, there is a being raised from the dead, but there is a continuing on in life after that. And if we would have Christ, He must be not only our resurrection, but also our life. And then third, first was that at the resurrection He was cleared of liability. Secondly, and if He's cleared of liability, and the liability of sin and death, then how can He die again? That was the first one. The second thing was that he is now the fountain of life to all those who have him as mediator. To be the fountain of life, he must have life in himself. Then the third thing is that he now performs all the other acts of mediatorship. The key act of mediatorship was his death upon the cross and then his resurrection from the dead. But he now performs all the other acts of mediatorship And all those other acts of mediatorship require him to live how long? Forever. And we saw that in Hebrews 7, 16, 7, 24, where we saw his mediatorship, or his priesthood, if you will, compared to that of Melchizedek. That he is not a priest after an order of those who die, he is a priest after the order of those who live. Therefore, Christ is continually gracious toward his people. As the law accuses us, what does Christ do? Christ comforts us. Christ intercedes on our behalf. So there is a continual and ongoing aspect to the priestly work of Christ. You all know the Shorter Catechism, question 25, how does Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executed the office of a priest and is once offering up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and that's all. Well, there's more? That's right, and in making continual intercession for us. You see, there's more. So this is a part of Christ's priesthood, that he goes on making intercession for his people. He continually intercedes on our behalf. He is continually being gracious toward us. So that brings up the question, and I hope it would be a question and not an objection. I want to answer it as a question and not as an objection. And that is, and children, this is the kind of thing that I would wonder about if I were three or four or five. Maybe you wonder about it too. Well, what's he doing? Whenever you're away from me, I kind of wonder what you're doing. So Christ is away from us. Do you ever wonder what He's doing? Well, the Bible tells us some of the things. He's doing three things. Yes, He's interceding for us. Very good. He's interceding for us. Hebrews 7.25. And what does that mean? Well, it means that He is interceding for the application of His merit to our sins. He continually intercedes. Be careful that we don't think, well, every time I sin, I sit back. And if I confess it, Christ intercedes. And if I don't confess it, Christ doesn't intercede. Some of my sins are forgiven. Some of my sins aren't forgiven. No, all of our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. Every sin has been laid upon Him if, in fact, we are one of His people. However, that merit does need to be applied to us continually, doesn't it? that's part of the intercession, is that there is a constant appeal for application of his merit. Now, do you remember once again in the graveyard, when he's raising Lazarus, he prays, Father, hear my prayer, and then he goes on to say, but I'm saying this for them because I know you always hear me. John 11 42, if you want it in your notes. John 11, 42, I know that thou always hearest me. What does that mean? It means that God always grants him his requests, doesn't it? Now, if God always grants Jesus Christ his requests, and if he's in heaven praying right now for the application of his merits to us, what does that mean? That the Father is indeed sending the Spirit to apply the merits of Christ to us. Is that a comfort? Amen. Secondly, he's administering his kingdom. He's interceding for us. Secondly, he's administering his kingdom. So he's being a priest. And what else is he being? A king. That's right. He's being a priest and he's being a king. He is administering his kingdom. How long? Until his enemies become his footstool. That's how long, Psalm 110, 1 Corinthians 15, 25, Revelation 17, 14, right? Those that are with him are faithful and sanctified. Faithful and called, yeah. Faithful and something and called. Faithful and chosen. Faithful and chosen and called. Yeah, how could a Calvinist forget that? Well, one Calvinist didn't. faithful and chosen and called. And so he's presently administering his kingdom, how? Through his church by means of those who are faithful and called and chosen. Those are faithful, chosen, and called. We see that in Revelation 17, 14, 1 Corinthians 15, 5, that his enemies shall become his footstool. And this is an important thing. Remember how Sarah's womb, Sarai, remember how her womb was characterized early on, oh, say, for the first 90 years or so, as dead, right? Hebrews chapter 11. Though her womb were dead, yet what did Christ draw out of her womb? A living thing, right? Isaac. So he's able to draw a living thing out of a dead thing. Why? Because he is life itself. He is our life. And by the same way that he can draw life out of Sarah's dead womb, so also he draws life from us. He causes us to come to life even though we were dead in the same way. How much did Isaac have to do? What could he have done? Surely he had to make a decision. Not at all. Not at all. When Christ will draw life out of death, he does it. Sovereignly. That's how he administers his kingdom. He administers his kingdom by giving life to that which was dead. When he said, Lazarus, come forth, Lazarus had to put one foot in front of the other, didn't he? But before Christ raised him from the dead, he couldn't put one foot in front of the other. First comes life, then comes walking with Christ. So secondly, he administers his kingdom. And let's see, so that's priest. And King, are there any offices left that he might be administering as our Redeemer, as our Mediator? Can you think of any others? Prophet. So he dispenses the necessary gifts to the church for his will to be known amongst men. Ephesians 4, 8. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Remember, he led captivity captive and dispensed gifts to men, right? Is that Ephesians 4.8? Do I have that right? Is that a result of his ascension as a result of his eternal life? Is that a result of because he rose from the dead and now has a numberless term of years, he now has gifts to give to men? Where am I? Ephesians 4.8, is that? See, the same idea is set forth in both Ephesians and Colossians, isn't it? In Ephesians 4.8, Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Well, what kind of gifts? If we drop down to verses 11 and 12, he gave some apostles, prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. What kind of gifts are those? Those are gifts by which he makes his will known. And what do we call that office by which he makes his will known for his salvation, for our salvation? We say that that's how Christ executes the office of a prophet. So as he is in heaven, what is he doing? Children, he is executing the offices of a prophet, a priest, and a king, which he did not only in his estate of humiliation, but also in his estate exaltation is that shorter catechism question 23 that sound right some somebody do that yeah long in there right long in there I think question number 23 both in is a state of humiliation and it is a state of exaltation so now that he is in his estate of exaltation what's he doing what's he busy yet he's busy and in his offices of prophet, priest, and king. I told you that we would try to wrap this up at 3.30. By my watch, we have four minutes left. So let me just very quickly bring you a couple of uses. And I've got about a page and a half of those. So maybe we can save some of the uses for next week. Remember in the book of Revelation, it's in chapter 22, in the book of Revelation, where does the fountain, where does the stream come from, that stream of life? Remember that stream of life is coming from the throne, it's coming from God, it's coming from Christ. So we see that stream of life, remember scripturally we have to understand a stream as meaning what? life, living, yeah, that which gives life, that which brings forth life. As we were driving out through the West Texas desert and farther out west through Arizona and Southern California, you could always tell from miles away, just a trickle of water, you could tell because all of a sudden there's just a band of green. Why? Because that water means life. Where there's water, there's life. Where there's water, there's food, right? And so what's coming forth from the throne? Water. There's a river coming from the throne. There's life coming from the throne. And what is it that we're sharing in? What is that life? That's the life of Christ. That's the life that Christ has an unlimitless amount in an infinite quantity. All right, well, I want to cover some of these uses, but some of these uses get kind of involved. You have to kind of follow with me to see how this is used. For example, well, for information, there's no question. We can understand that easily enough, right? What does it mean? to say that there is an application here for our use for information. Well, it means that our life is found exclusively where? If we would have life, where must we find it? In Christ. So now, let's stop and make that one application. Children, if you would have life, if you would have eternal life, if you would have abundant life, grown-ups, moms, dads, if you would have it, and if you would share it with your children, Where must you find it? In Christ. How about in the Presbyterian religion? No, we want to be Presbyterians. There was a famous Presbyterian of the last century. He said, there are Christians who are not Presbyterians. And he said, sadly, there are Presbyterians who aren't Christians. But he said, make no mistake about it. It's best to be both. Well, we want to understand that, first of all, our life does not come from the Presbyterian Church, from the First Presbyterian Church. It doesn't come from the preacher. Where does our life come from? Where does our life originate? Our life originates in Christ. So if we would have life, we have to prepare to Him. We have to rush to Him. We have to fly to His arms. Not to anything that we can do. Not to anything that we can bring. Now listen, y'all have heard me make fun of people who think they can go forward at a church meeting and be saved. People who think they can sign a decision card and be saved. People who think they can shake the preacher's hand and be saved. And you know what? None of those things will work by themselves. But let's be careful that we don't think, oh well I know my catechism. So I must be saved. Or I go to the Presbyterian church, so I must be saved. Or I sing the right songs, so I must be saved. Listen, salvation is not in what we do, even if what we do is the right thing for the matter of it. Even if we are doing what God's, and most of us don't, But even if we were doing what is right for the matter of it, that's not what saves us. How many of us are saved by the works of the law? No flesh, right? We talked about flesh this morning, didn't we? No flesh, no flesh shall be justified by the keeping of the law. That means you, means me. Well, if we're not justified by the keeping of the law, if we're not justified by what we know, by what we understand, by what we've memorized, by what we've done, then how are we saved? Isn't that what the jailer cried out? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul and Silas just took it away from him. They said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved in thy house. This becomes the occasion of your justification. This becomes the occasion at which time God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The life of Christ becomes yours when you believe in Him. When you quit trusting the arm of the flesh and instead trust Him who was manifested in the flesh but justified in the Spirit. Let's stand and call upon Him.