Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1927
“Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplication, with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to sa ve Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered and, being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec.” Hebrews 5:7-10.
THE Holy Spirit, in this chapter, reminds us that two things were necessary in a High Priest. First, he must be suitable for the men for whom he stood and next, he must be acceptable with God. “Every High Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God.” He must be fit from both points of view, both man-ward and God-ward. Our Lord Jesus Christ was ordained of God from of old and did not, of Himself, assume the position of High Priest. The Prophets spoke of Him as the Messiah of God and Jehovah, Himself, declared, “You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” When He came into the world, the Holy Spirit bore witness to His being the Son of the Highest. At His Baptism there came a Voice from Heaven saying, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and that same Voice was thrice heard declaring the same fact. The Father has given further testimony to the mission of Christ, “in that He has raised Him from the dead,” and has caused Him to enter into the heavenly places on our behalf. Moreover, He has given Him a pledge that as Melchisedec, being both King and Priest, He shall sit at His right hand until He has made His enemies His footstool. Our Lord Jesus has been chosen, ordained and glorified as our “Great High Priest, that has passed into the heavens.” This is the groundwork of our comfort in our Lord Jesus, for we know that He is One with the Father and that all things are done by Him as the Messenger of the Covenant, the authorized Representative of Jehovah our God.
That is not the point to which I call your attention this morning—I would have you follow the text and consider the pre-eminent suitability of our Lord Jesus to be a High Priest for us, viewed from the human side. A High Priest must be one “who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way; for that he, himself, also is compassed with infirmity.” He must be one who has learned compassion in the school of suffering, so that he can succor the afflicted. There is no learning sympathy except by suffering. It cannot be studied from a book, it must be written on the heart. You must go through the fire if you would have sympathy with others who tread the glowing coals. You must, yourself, bear the cross if you would feel for those whose life is a burden to them.
Beloved Friends, we live in a world of sin and sorrow and we are sinful and sorrowful—we need one who can put away our sin and become a sharer in our sorrow. If he cannot go with us through all the rough places of our pilgrimage, how can he be our guide? If he has never traveled in the night, himself, how can he whisper consolation to us in our darkest hours? We have a fully qualified High Priest in our Lord Jesus Christ—He is perfect in that capacity. I desire to speak of Him, this morning, in that light. Oh for help from on high, for I feel that it needs the Inspiration of the Holy One to enable a man to speak of Jesus as He should be spoken of. No careless utterance must attempt to describe the Great High Priest of our profession! It needs a perfect preacher to fully describe a perfect Redeemer and where is he to be found? To preach a crucified Savior in a crucified style is no easy task! I take it that a lip needs as much to be touched with a live coal from off the altar to speak of the lowly sympathy of Jesus as to describe His Glory. Of the two I had rather venture to speak of the Garden of Paradise than of the Garden of Gethsemane—apart from the help of the Holy Spirit. Oh that the
Divine Instructor would direct our meditations at this time so that we may glorify Christ and may, with increased confidence, repose in Him!
I have this further objective, also—while trying to comfort the people of God, I would persuade others to approach our Great High Priest. Oh how I long that many of you who have, until now, never known the love of Christ, may now be touched with a sense of it and may be sweetly drawn to Him! By the very fact that He is able to sympathize with you in your griefs, I hope that those of you who are afflicted may be induced to draw near to Him. Oh that upon this spot and at this hour, you who have been halting and hesitating for years may at once find a shelter with the Compassionate One! He waits to give you everlasting comfort! Oh that you would believe in Him and enjoy it! We shall pray for this and look for it—and may God grant us our desires so that His Son, Jesus, may be glorified!