I invite you to turn in the scriptures this afternoon again to Hebrews chapter 7. I felt it was fitting in our continued study of Hebrews this afternoon. We hope to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. And Hebrews 7 verses 20 through 28 will be our text this afternoon, bearing especially on the sacrifice of Christ, which the Lord's Supper represents so vividly for us. And this is also for us a continuation of our study of how Jesus is better in so many ways. than anything that even existed prior in the order of Aaron, the priesthood of Aaron and Moses as they had been established. And then here we come, we start reading at verse 1 of chapter 7 of the book of Hebrews to hear from God's holy word. Beloved, this is God's very own word. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him Abraham apportioned tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, King of Righteousness, and then he is also King of Salem, that is, King of Peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. But resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case by one of whom it is testified that he lived. One might even say that Levi himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah. And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. This fact becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. But this one was made a priest with an oath. by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many a number because they were prevented by death from continuing on office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. So far the reading of God's holy and inspired word. May he add a rich blessing to it. Dear congregation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the Belgic Confession, in the articles of our church, in Article 22, there we confess together the following words. That the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts an upright faith, and this faith embraces Jesus Christ with all of his merits, appropriates him, and seeks nothing more beside him. And then the confession goes on and makes this point. It says, for it must follow that either all things necessary for our salvation, either it is that they are not in Jesus Christ or if all things are in him, then that those who possess Jesus Christ through faith have complete salvation in him. So it's making the case that if it's all or nothing to have complete salvation in him is to be entirely of the work of Christ. Finally the confession goes on it says for any to assert that Christ is not sufficient That is to say that something more is required besides him Would be too gross a blasphemy for then it would follow that Christ was only half a Savior And do we see the point our confession is making and the vital importance of confessing such a doctrine I've just explained or read it out here on The knowledge that it is either all Christ doing all things necessary for our salvation, or that somehow any other scheme of salvation introduces another aspect, is actually a gross blasphemy which makes Jesus Christ only half a Savior, incomplete in all that He had done. Those are the stakes before us. And if we say that salvation is anything less than being completely the work of Christ, If there's any role for us to play to earn salvation or or to add to the merits of Christ, what he had and then we add to it or for us to stay in a state of salvation by something that we continue to do. If we have anything at all that we must do, then we strip away our confession of Christ as our total, complete savior. That's serious business. It becomes a gross blasphemy to suggest otherwise, as the confession says. It raises the question, well, what's the antidote to this kind of thinking? If there's a tendency of idolatry in all of us, and one of those ways is to want to make ourselves, exalt ourselves as saviors in some way, to add to the work of Christ, how do we stop ourselves from this very thing? How do we guard ourselves against any kind of error when it comes to this cardinal doctrine of the sole sufficiency of Christ to save us? We study God's Word. We study passages like Hebrews 7, as they are before us this afternoon. We make a point of learning about your Savior. Because when you learn about the immensity of who He is and all that He has done, a calm descends upon us, a calm peace that arises for us from the majesty of Christ and the completeness, the knowledge that He has done all things necessary. And a passage like what we have before us in Hebrews 7 powers this through to us to say, you don't want anyone else, only Christ. As I prepared this passage, I wrote a note to myself saying, tell me about how awesome Christ is. And that if I treasure that knowledge, I will not want to add anything to this. He's not half the Savior. He is the Savior of His people to all who call out on Him in faith and repentance. We come to the table that He has prepared for us. We come this afternoon to a feast in the wilderness in which we are wandering. We will come to partake of His body and His blood in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And our hearts must be filled with a wonder at the awesomeness of Christ Jesus our Lord. And why? Because you and I are quick, aren't we, to forget these things. And we're quick to add to them devices or schemes of our own making. Our sinful nature cannot help itself in these ways. But when Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior is exalted in your eyes as you consider who He is, the other temptations to obscure Him from view fade away. You begin to always see Christ there as central. And as all who have made a profession of faith will soon take part in the Lord's Supper, it's doubly important for us to have complete confidence in the soul sufficiency of our Savior who gives us in the sacrament His crucified body and shed blood as spiritual nourishment for our souls. How we need that. This third section of Hebrews 7 here for us closes out the author's discussion of Melchizedek as the precursor of Jesus. And here now we come to the description of the inauguration of Christ as it is sealed with an oath, which is our first point, as it is signified in His body, our second point, and as it serves to sanctify us, our third point. We should ask, well, what do we mean by the inauguration of Christ? What is what does that word mean? An inauguration is an act which starts the time of service for a particular person. Something begins at the point of an inauguration. It's a starting point. And this inauguration of Christ is the work of the triune God to declare upon the Son that title and the mission of being a priest forever, inaugurated as the Christ, the Savior, the mediator to bring about the salvation of his people. And the whole the whole driving point of the book of Hebrews is to show that Jesus is better as the object of faith and the fountain of life. And so here the text draws us back to the very beginning, before even the foundation of the world, to the better hope introduced to the world in the fullness of time. Verse 20 shows us another aspect of Christ's supremacy over the Levitical priests of the law covenant made at Sinai. For here, the better hope through which we draw near to God, Jesus, our eternal high priest, the text says he was made so with an oath. The old priest, no oath. Just the original appointment of Aaron and his sons to serve in the temple as priests of the Most High God. And from there, the pattern just continued. Each one, the next one to follow. But this priest is being introduced to someone different. It's one who's made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. There's the language of Psalm 110 again. You can meet your eternal priest. You can know that He has come. He is present. He has been with His people. And that it's sealed by an oath, sworn by the Lord God of heaven and earth, this divine covenant made between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit before all time. A covenant of redemption between the persons of the Trinity to bring about these very things for the glory and the honor of God. The Son, appointed by the Lord who never changes or falters in His purpose, as a high priest for his people. As we go in search of confidence, as we go in search of hope and all sorts of things that we need in this life, we come back to these types of passages that demonstrate and illustrate for us that we can have absolute certainty in these fundamental truths of what our Savior has done for us. And what's the purpose of this inauguration of the sun as a priest for his people? as one who would mediate between a fallen, sinful people and a perfect and holy God. In John's Gospel in the 17th chapter, we get to listen in on a divine conversation. In John chapter 17, it's Jesus speaking with His Father before His death, and there He speaks of this same oath which was sworn. The same oath that Hebrews 7 is speaking of, of the task to come as a high priest who is about to make intercession for his people by the offering of his body and blood upon the cross. John 17, Jesus' high priestly prayer. What do we read? When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. This is the hour, the appointed hour, which God himself had sworn would take place, since you have given the Son authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And Jesus says this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence. with the glory that I had with you before the world existed, at the time when Christ swore the oath that He would go, that the Father would send Him. He's saying, I had that glory. Glorify Me now with that glory. For He continues, I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now that they know that everything that You have given Me is from You, For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them, and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them, Jesus says. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." And there, in those hours before Jesus' crucifixion, he goes and he makes a report as the high priest before the Father, saying, all these things I have done. You made me a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. These are the ones that you have given me. And now I'm about to accomplish all these things. Jesus Christ, the High Priest, commissioned by the Father and the Spirit to go to bring salvation to the people of God by this solemn, unchangeable oath. And the author of Hebrews is calling our attention to this, saying you can believe and trust in this. This covenant made between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit from before time is now described as being the very basis for the new covenant, the better covenant, which is anchored in the covenant of redemption that God has made between himself. And so then we come to see Jesus Christ, your high priest, who had willingly made himself the guarantor of a better covenant and the oath that he swore to seal this promise. That it is inviolable and indestructible. And in verse 22, there's this word guarantor that's used there. And what does that word mean? It's important for us because it says he's the guarantor. He does something for this better covenant. That should raise our interest. We should be desiring to know what that means. Well, it's a legal term. The idea of a guarantor is that they will stand in the place of a person on whose behalf they are swearing the oath if there is a need for it. If I go to a bank, for example, and I stand there and I agree to serve as a guarantor for a bank loan for another person, that means that I'll be responsible to make sure that the loan gets paid back. I'm taking it on myself to make sure that that deal will go through, that the loan will be paid back, and I may even have to step in to make the payments myself if the other person falls behind. I hear this word guarantor is employed, and it's the only time this word appears in the New Testament. Jesus is the guarantor, the one who will stand in another person's place, the guarantor of a better covenant. What's going on here? We should be curious. On verse 18, we read that the former commandment or elsewhere, it's called the old covenant, is set aside because of its weakness and its uselessness, but that there is a better covenant that is promised and announced to believers. This is a covenant of grace which God the Father makes with God the Son that He will accomplish on behalf of all believers. That's a better covenant. Verse 23 turns to another chief reason why this covenant and its mediator is better. It's saying the former priests were many a number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. They needed to be replaced. And what happens if that dead guy was your guarantor? If I have someone serving as the guarantor of a loan that I've drawn out, and then that person dies, I'm suddenly left in a very precarious position. Boys and girls, if you have a verbal agreement with your sibling that they'll cover you if you run short of coins at the grocery store. But if then that sibling moves away or runs away and isn't with you when you find yourself short on change, you've got a problem. The guarantor, the person who would stand there for you and pay for you, is not with you. How much more so with a covenant concerning your eternal state before God? The mediator, a priest going and dying, and just another one comes along or compare that with a mediator who never dies is better than a priesthood that is always changing. And so God's word declares that Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant for God's people, that he's covenanted with God to stand in your place in the need that you find yourself in. The debt that you could not pay, Christ says, I pay that debt. I guarantee that debt. I will bring about all things necessary to free you. Because thanks to the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, your debt is crushing. And you must bring payment to the Father, either yourself or the guarantor of the covenant that you participate in. And here in God's Word, we're introduced again to our guarantor. the one who's sealed with an oath that he will be a priest forever with an indestructible life, who's revealed to be the only one and the only way of paying back the debt of holy service that is required by God. Your bankruptcy and eternal condemnation before God is averted. It is turned away by the actions of another, and that is good news. For a man who holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever, The former priests are many, the text says, but they keep dying. But this priest is one and he continues forever. That's better. John 17, Jesus describes his very purpose as this guarantor as he labored on earth to redeem his people, for he said, for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. That they might be perfected, that verb that comes up again that we had this morning in our sermon as well, on the need for perfection. And Christ says, I sanctify and consecrate myself that they may be perfected and sanctified in the truth. This is Jesus, your Savior, committing to this before the world even began. so that he might be the mediator between God and fallen humanity. And that's the glorious truth of the covenant of grace. That's the glorious truth which was first revealed after the fall to Adam and Eve and then formally established in Abraham and the promises which are made to Abraham and all his descendants. And it's this news that God will provide. That he will tear down the veil of separation and make things right again. But there was only one way for this to happen. that one man had to intervene on behalf of his people as the one who would pay the outstanding debt of sins that was your inheritance. And this eternal priest, revealed in time as the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, is then described in verse 25 in these amazing words. It says, Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him. since He always lives to make intercession for them. And so know this, beloved, that there is nothing that you must do to bring about salvation in Christ. Let that knowledge free you from any burden or pressure that you feel to do something before God. The work of Christ completely fulfilled the conditions of the covenant that He entered into in your place. and His coming to earth and living in perfect obedience to the law of God was the necessary grounds for the salvation which we inherit by faith in Him. And consequently, our text says, because of the permanency and the eternality of your covenant guarantor, He is able to save to the uttermost. Those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. There's nothing that's left undone. To the uttermost, it says. At our inaugurated priest, the one who has come was faithful in all things. And that has lasting consequences. It was established, we confess, by an oath of the triune God. given his divine commission and commitment to bring about the salvation of those who are chosen in Christ. He said, this I will do for these, my children. And he was supported and strengthened in his ministry of obedience by the Holy Spirit, tended to by the third person of the Trinity, caring for him in his earthly ministry. And he was exalted, Jesus was, to the right hand of the Father because of his perfection, which he pours out on you and I. See, children, boys and girls, I hope that you are learning the absolute wonder of what Jesus did for you. That you are learning from how every last sin of every last Christian was laid on Him. And that Jesus saves you from the punishment you deserve as a sinful child. That He saves you. He brings about a change in your life that centers on this very truth, that he is able to save you to the uttermost, that nothing can strip away that salvation. And bring you near to God, because he always cares for you in the presence of God, the Father and all the heavenly angels. You're being instructed, boys and girls, in these incredible things, through the means of grace that God has appointed, through His preaching of this Word, so that you might come to this realization that you receive all of the gifts of God. You receive total freedom from any requirement to make things right with God. You receive that by faith in Jesus Christ, who did it for you already. The Lord is not asking you to try hard to be good so that you can be received into His grace. He tells you children in His Word that you are received into grace because of the work of another. The one Jesus Christ who said, I'll fulfill the terms of the covenant. The demands of the law for this, my child. And how can you know this to be true? God's Word tells you through the operation of the Holy Spirit. For look at verses 26 through 28. Who is your Savior? Who is the one who saves you? He says, It was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness, as high priesthood goes on to say. But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. And the amazing thing is that he has not done this merely for himself, even though that would have been perfect in its own way. But he does this for his children, for those who believe in him. He's made perfect. That's your Savior. A son appointed. by a word of an oath that is separate and distinct from the law that he submitted himself to. It was anointed and made perfect forever. Just take that list of attributes of Jesus, our high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, Separated from sinners exalted above the heavens we see our lives and we know that is not us But we look to another we say thank God that he is this holy innocent unstained It's separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens It's true for every child of God who believes that Jesus alone is the way of salvation that that becomes What's true of us as well? through his work For what is Jesus already doing now by the Holy Spirit's power in you? He's making you, through faith and what is only a taste of the greater glory to come, He's making you, children and all believers, a new creation that is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. That's who you are when you partake of the Lord's Supper in faith. That's your identity when you feed on the bread and the wine as symbols and tokens of the body and blood of Christ which is poured out for you. That's your identity as you receive from Christ's own Word the assurance of your forgiveness and the assurance that you are considered righteous in the sight of God. Oh, let that blessed reality fill you with joy as you see the greatness of your Savior, who is even now serving you by sanctifying you through his Word and Spirit. Christ is at work in his people as a marvelous thing to behold. The new creation celebration is already beginning as your heart of faith responds to the promises of God and to his good news that he's poured out on us. And so what do you confess about Jesus Christ? What do you believe that he has done for you? Is there any role that you still cling to that you think you must play to make yourself right before God? For this high priest who is exalted above the heavens is simultaneously pleased to be spiritually united to you in a union that transcends your weaknesses and gives you power and strength to fight against sin and temptations from within and without. And believe that in his high priestly office, he has been made perfect forever and he is blessing you with the richest of blessings already now. For he holds his priesthood permanently. It can never be taken away from him. And that means that you have a permanent guarantee that the terms of the covenant that He made on your behalf will never be violated and never be turned aside. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ. For by faith in Christ, you are assured that you will never face the wrath of God because of your impurity and your defilement due to sin. You will sin, but you will not face the wrath of God for those sins. For by faith in Him, you can have the confidence that He makes intercession for you. He allows you to draw near to Father through Him. And by faith in Him, you can partake of the life-giving nourishment that He provides to you. In a special way, we celebrate the Holy Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ. For He raises you up so that you might walk in this new life. An incredible thing. Sadly, there are those that continue to teach otherwise, but the reality of this That's so incredible is that that life can never be stripped from you. The debt has been paid and there will never be a day when you must pay a portion of it yourself. I need to hear that news over and over again. You and I need to be recipients of these glad tidings sent to us from above. Through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, because otherwise we struggle. For what can you trust in? In the hours of darkness or struggle? or doubt that you go through. Don't trust in your goodness. Don't trust in your feelings or how close you think you've come to living a better life. Trust in Christ. Trust in the promises revealed in Psalm 110 that the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. Trust in the covenant of grace and its guarantor, Jesus Christ, the righteous High Priest. Trust in the permanency of our priest who always lives to make intercession for you. Trust in His holy, innocent, unstained body that was nailed to the cross, His pure heart and soul that underwent the bitter torment of God's wrath against Him. And trust, beloved, in His exaltation above the heavens and the news that He will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead and to take His servants who are chosen by His grace and anointed in His blood to be with Him for all eternity. And the grace of God The love of God will fill you with peace that is sufficient for you in all your days. For we long for that day of resurrection and the final appearance of Christ, because then we will be able to see our Savior face to face and thank Him for the gifts that He has poured out on us. And now as we come to the table of our Lord, we can truly taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.