Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1915
“And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this Man, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to sa ve them to the uttermost who come to God by Him, seeing He lives forever to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:23-25.
THE Apostle Paul is very much at home with his theme whenever he is extolling his Master. When handling the Jewish types and figures, with which he was so familiar, he was charmed to point out how far superior the Lord Jesus Christ is to any and all the priests of the Old Testament dispensation. In this case he is dwelling upon the special honor of our Lord, because His Priesthood is without end, seeing, He, Himself is not put forth from the priesthood by reason of death. A common priest served from 30 to 50 years of age and then his work was done—priests of the house of Aaron, who became High Priests, held their office through life. Sometimes a High Priest would continue in his office, therefore, for a considerable length of time. But in many cases he was cut off as other men are by premature death and, therefore, there was priest after priest of the order of Aaron to go within the veil for the people.
Our Lord is of another race, being a Priest according to the order of Melchisedec, “having neither beginning of days nor end of life.” He was made a Priest not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. He continues to make intercession for the people of God by virtue of His eternal life and perpetual Priesthood. In this respect the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, rises above all former priests—they were, indeed, but types and shadows of Himself.
This superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ is a topic which will not interest everybody. To many persons it will seem a piece of devotional rapture, if not an idle tale. Yet there will always be a remnant according to the election of Grace to whom this meditation will be inexpressibly sweet. Who are the people that will be interested in this theme? They are indicated in the text—they that come unto God by Jesus Christ. The people who are in the habit of using Christ as their way of access to God are those who will value Him beyond all price—and such persons will delight to hear Him extolled in the highest terms.
We will begin our discourse, then, by the enquiry—Do we come unto God by Jesus Christ? Listen and answer for yourselves. Do we come unto God at all? Do we recognize the Lord our God as a Person who should be approached? Are we now approaching Him? Are we among those who are always coming to God, to whom, at the last, the great Judge shall say, “You have been coming, continue to come. Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you”? Or are we departing from God by forgetting Him, or rebelling against Him, so that we shall be among that number to whom the Judge shall say, “You have long been departing, continue to do so. Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire in Hell, prepared for the devil and his angels”? Are we coming to God? That is the question. Is the direction of our lives towards God? We are either going to God or from God—and by this we may forecast our everlasting destiny. The direction in which the arrow is flying prophesies the target in which it will be fixed—the way the tree is leaning, that way foretells the place of its fall—and where the tree falls, there it will lie.
So let us judge ourselves this day! Which way are we drifting? Have we ever come to God by sincere repentance of our wanderings? Have we come to Him by faith and are we reconciled to Him? Do we come to Him in prayer? Do we come to Him day by day, speaking with Him and desiring to walk with Him? Do we come to God by communion with Him, hav-
ing fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ? Do we, in fact, know the meaning of what it is to draw near to God? It is ill with us if we either have no God, or if He seems to be very far off, an almost unrecognizable phantom, an idea never fully realized, much less approached! Blessed are they that know the name of the Lord and that walk with Him, rejoicing in the light of His Countenance. It is to such that Jesus is precious as their way of access to the Father.
In the description there is a little word of distinction, for the people who are said to be saved by the great Intercessor are those who come unto God by Him. Certain persons talk of coming to God as Creator, Ruler and even as Father—but they do not think of His dear Son as their way of approach. They forget or otherwise deny the declaration of our Lord Jesus—“No man comes unto the Father, but by Me.” Yet this saying is true. There is no true way of approach to God except through Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and man. A deep abyss divides us from God and only that ladder which Jacob saw can bridge the gulf. Our Lord Jesus, being God and Man in one Person, reaches from side to side of the chasm. Coming near to us, this ladder stands at our feet in the Human Nature of our Lord and it reaches right up to the Infinite Majesty by reason of the Divine Nature of our Redeemer. God and Man, in one Person, unites God and man in one league of love! We come unto God by Jesus Christ.