Jesus is Greater than the Priests

Hebrews 7:11-28

Pre-Service Discussion Questions

1. What is your opinion- can religion get you into heaven?  Explain your answer.
2. Back in ancient Israel you had to go through a priest to get to heaven.  What is the role of a priest or a pastor today?  
3. Read Ps 110:1-4.  To whom do you think those verses refer?
4. Read Heb 6:18.  Can God change?   If no, how is it possible that God would establish a new system of law and priesthood by sending his son, Jesus.  If yes, does that mean that there are things God doesn’t know or doesn’t control?
5. Why don’t we sacrifice animals today, like they did in Bible times, to earn forgiveness for our sins?
6. When it comes to your relationship with God, in what do you place your hope?
7. Pray that through Jesus, we would draw nearer to God this week.

Sermon

Most of the people that I know who are not churchgoers wouldn’t say that they hate God. In fact, most would say that they believe in and love God. They would also say that they hate religion. Many would call themselves spiritual but they don’t want to have anything to do with following an organized religion. They would say they are definitely not a follower of Jesus. I would like us to look at five distinct issues that many people, who are believers of God but haters of the church, make about the church or make about organized religion. I’m going to be up front with you and tell you that I will offend every religion tonight. I would tell you that I agree with almost all of the objections that people make with regards to organized religion. Calvary Baptist Church is the church for people who hate religion. Most of this can be backed up by what we are going to read in the book of Hebrews 7:11-28.

The first objection that we are going to look at is this:

Atheist Objection: “All religions are the same… they all lead to the same place.”

I agree with this 100%. All religions do lead to the same place. That place is hell. The Bible is very clear about this in the book of Hebrews. There are a few things that you need to know if you are going to break free from the clutches of religion. No matter what the religion is Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and even Christianity if you look at it as a religious system fits into this category. There is no priest, rabbi, pastor, imam, or guru who can make you right with God. It doesn’t work that way because we are all sinners, except for Jesus, and you need a perfect priest.

I. You need a perfect priest.

¹¹ So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? ¹² And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. ¹³ For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. ¹⁴ What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. 

Last week we were looking at Melchizedek and the argument the Bible was making was that he was greater than Aaron and greater than Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith. Melchizedek is worthy of more respect and honor then them but even he doesn’t measure up to Jesus.

Today the writer puts all of the priests that ever lived in ancient Israel into the same category and compares them. By comparing the priests he is basically comparing religion with a relationship with Jesus. He is saying that religion cannot make you pure because religious leaders aren’t perfect. Jesus stands different from all the other priests. He used the idea that Jesus is a priest forever and the priests of Aaron were temporary. If you lived thousands of years ago and were born into the family of Levi, it didn’t matter what you wanted to do or what you were good at because you were going to be a priest if you were a son born into the tribe of Levi. Those priests were imperfect. The system itself was designed to point to the perfect One.

What distinguishes a relationship with Jesus from all other religions is that the religions say if you work hard enough you can earn your way into heaven. The problem with that is that they completely miss what the Bible clearly teaches about the standard to get into heaven. If you were to try to achieve it all on your own do you know what it would take to get there? It takes perfection.

Listen to how Paul, the great missionary from the New Testament, words it in First Thessalonians 4:7 “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” That word, holiness, means perfection or completeness. God has called us to be perfect or totally without stain in his sight. All of us in this room know we are not perfect. If you were to tell your friends or next-door neighbors that you were perfect they would laugh in your face. Peter said the same thing in 1Peter 1:15 “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.” Or, it could be worded to the same degree that God is holy you should be holy. This is exactly what Jesus said in his sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:48 “be perfect as your Father in heaven in perfect”. That’s what it would take if you were trying to make it to heaven on your own. That’s also why no priest, pastor, or rabbi can help you get to heaven on your own because none of them, myself included, are perfect.

That’s the first objection that many people who don’t go to church would make. All religions lead to the same place is true; they all lead to hell if you’re trying to get to heaven on your own efforts. Here’s the next objection that many people would make.

Atheist Objection: “Religion is man-made, therefore it has no real power in a person’s life (except as an opium of the masses).”

Karl Marx made this famous phrase. It has been repeated hundreds of times by atheists or people who hate the church and religion. Religion is just a way of mind numbing the masses to do whatever the religious leaders ask them to do. The truth is that religious systems really are man-made and they do try to control the masses. That’s not the way that the Bible describes a relationship with Jesus. The Bible says that you and I need a powerful priest.

II. You need a powerful priest. 

¹⁵ This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. ¹⁶ Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. ¹⁷ And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

The Old Testament priests were established by God to point people to the great Priest that would one day come and when he came the entire priestly system would be done away with. Neither the law or the priests in the Old Testament had the ability to make someone right with God. The only thing they could do was to show someone how wrong they were with God. They didn’t have the ability to make you clean. They only had the ability to show you that were dirty and needed to be made clean. They didn’t have the power to do what Jesus did when he came. When Jesus came things changed and they can never go back to the way they were before. Jesus is a priest with power unlike any other priest in the Old Testament. Even the High Priest, the most holy person in Israel, didn’t have the power to make your sins go away. They only had the power to intercede with God and ask him to forgive those sins. Jesus came and sacrificed himself so that those sins can be paid for and done away with forever. Only through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection do we have the power to have a relationship with God. The next two chapters in Hebrews continue to develop this idea that it is now different since Jesus has taken the place of us on the cross. Jesus alone has the power to make you right with God.

The Rose Bowl parade on New Year’s Day is probably one of the biggest and most viewed parades in the United States. A lot of work goes into those floats, as everything has to be naturally made. It takes a lot of volunteers a year to make these floats. Several years ago during the parade as one of those floats was making its way along the route sputtered and died. They had put all of that work into the outside but had forgotten to fill the gas tank. As a result of where it stopped all of the parade came to a halt until someone could fill the gas tank and get the float started back up. The Standard Oil Company sponsored the float. The float didn’t have the power to move on its own. It needed power that it didn’t have.

When you know Jesus personally you have power that exists inside of you but it doesn’t come from you. That power comes from a relationship with God’s holy Son. This is what Jesus describes in Luke 24:49 when he says that his followers are clothed with power. The power to live a sinless life and the power to live a pure and perfect life. That power doesn’t come from you. It comes from Jesus.

Atheist Objection: “Religious people are hateful and judgmental.”

I would agree. I would tell you there are people in this church that fit into this category. There are people in every church in the world that fit into that category. Because we are all sinners by nature we act like sinners. Sometimes we act hatefully and sometimes we are judgmental with each other. That is why Hebrews says that we need a personal priest. You need someone to deal with you at the soul level.

III.You need a personal priest.

¹⁸ Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹ For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

Verse 18 would have offended you if you were a Jew reading this for the first time. What the law could not do was make you near to God. You can’t get near to God on your family’s faith. You can’t get near to God by joining a church. You can’t get near to God by praying a prayer. You can’t get near to God by reading the Bible. You can’t get near to God all on your own. It is God who takes the initiative and pulls you out of your sin and into a relationship with him. The book of Hebrews describes a relationship with Jesus as being intensely personal. It can’t be done through a religious system.

This objection that people who don’t go to church or hate organized religion make is true. Many times people who are religious are not pure or kind. The truth is that they are working so hard to try to get to heaven on their own that they get angry when they see someone turn to Jesus in faith and trust him. They’re mad because you aren’t working as hard as they are and so they act ugly. In other words, they are miserable and they want you to be miserable too.

Real followers of Jesus don’t do that because they know they are sinners and deserved the punishment that Jesus took on the cross. Since Jesus took our place he has annulled the penalty for our sin. That word, annulled, is a legal term meaning that someone else has stepped in and paid a debt that you couldn’t pay on your own. Your debt is so great that if you don’t pay it off you’re going to debtor’s prison for it. Someone else steps in and writes a check to pay for your debt and that is what annulling your debt means. You are completely free, as your debt has been totally paid off. When Jesus paid your debt he made it possible for you to be personal and intimate with God. That is something that the priests could never do because they are sinners. They couldn’t write a check that could pay for your sin. Somebody who stood outside of sin would have to write that check. That person is Jesus. That is why there is this personal aspect with God and distinguishes a relationship with Jesus from a religious system. When you come to Jesus you are coming to a person not to a set of rules or a religious system. You are coming to the only person who can make you pure and perfect and can give you the power to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Anything else would be an offense to God.

You need a personal priest, someone who steps in your place on your behalf and rescues you from a debt that you cannot pay. The price tag that goes along with sin is death according to the Bible. Only Jesus can pay that debt for you.

Atheist Objection: “Since religions are man-made they come and go, only the universe lasts forever.”

I’m not sure that I would totally agree with this objection. I would say that there is a point here that is true. If religion is man-made then men are trying to achieve heaven all on their own and that’s why you need a permanent priest.

IV.You need a permanent priest.

²⁰ This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, ²¹ but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ”²² Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God. ²³ There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. ²⁴ But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. ²⁵ Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. 

Please don’t ever put your trust in a man or woman to get you into heaven except for Jesus. Any man or woman that is teaching a religious system to get you into heaven ultimately will fail you. This is what distinguishes a relationship with Jesus from all other religious systems.

If you put all the priests that have ever lived into one category they all have this trait, they were born, they lived and they died. Jesus is different. Jesus lasts forever. Jesus existed before time began and will continue to exist long after time, as we know it, ends. He exists forever and as a result his priesthood exists forever. It is eternal and everlasting. That is why Jesus becomes the guarantee of your salvation. That is like a down payment that settles once and for all the covenant with God. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection guarantee a relationship with God that the old covenant could never guarantee.   The Bible says therefore Jesus can save completely. Older translations say that he can save to the uttermost. He saves forever those that come to him.

Do you really believe that no man or woman, no matter how wicked they are, are so far gone that Jesus can’t save them? That’s exactly what Hebrews is saying tonight. Not only that but once he saves them, they are saved forever. Nothing and no one can snatch them out of the palm of his hand. That’s what the Bible is teaching us today. No other religious system can claim this. Even if you were to just follow the rules of Christianity it wouldn’t be able to save you. It has to be personal. Once it’s personal, it becomes permanent and last forever.

Atheist Objection: “Religious people are hypocrites.  They say they believe one way and act another.”

This is true because all of us are sinners. Sometimes we sin against a brother or sister in Christ. Sometimes we sin against what we believe. I have to give credit to Michael King who helped me come up with these objections. This is probably one of the most powerful objections that people will make about the church and about Jesus. They will say if Jesus is real then why do religious people live like hypocrites. The reason why is because in many cases they haven’t really come to a pure Priest. They’ve been trying to do it all on their own. Listen to how this chapter ends with Hebrews telling us that we need a pure priest.

V. You need a pure priest.

²⁶ He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. ²⁷ Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. ²⁸ The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

Thousands of priests every day twice a day would offer sacrifices for the people’s sins and for their own sins. Hebrews says now that Jesus has come and sacrificed no other sacrifice needs to be made. In fact any other sacrifice at this point would be an offense to God. It’s like saying, “God, I’m going to continue to try to earn my way to heaven even though you’ve sent Jesus as the guarantee.” If were possible for you and I to earn our way to heaven on our own then God made a mistake when he sent Jesus and Jesus died on the cross unnecessarily.

Jesus is the perfect High Priest forever. Jesus meets these five characteristics: He is holy; He is blameless because he’s never sinned; He is pure because he never even entertained sin; He’s set apart from sinners; and, He’s exalted in heaven, even the highest angels bow down and worship Jesus.

God required that Israel offer sacrifices. It was all designed to point to God’s ultimate sacrifice, Jesus. Once Jesus was sacrificed as the pure, perfect, and permanent Priest no other sacrifice would be acceptable to God. In fact, it is an offense to God to try to work your way to heaven after he has given his Son in our place.

I was serving as a chaplain in Iraq years ago. I was with a couple of men in my unit and we were eating lunch. Since we were on reverse cycle, there were only a few of us in the dining facility at two o’clock in the morning. A chaplain, who I’d never met before, came and sat with us. I heard this was the base chaplain for the area we were at. He invited himself to sit with us and began a conversation with the guys I was with. This guy used some of the foulest language that I had ever heard in my life. I’m not exaggerating! This language was not an accident as it was repeated over and over. I was shocked! These men with me stopped eating and put their forks down and looked at me in total shock.

This guy didn’t know that I was a chaplain too. After he finished talking, he asked me if his language bothered me. I told him it did. He said, “I talk like this on purpose because I want the guys that I hang out with to know that I’m just one of the guys.”

I replied, “I understand you want them to see you as just one of the guys but you don’t have to stoop to that level to do it.”

He got offended by what I said and walked away. The two guys with me to my knowledge didn’t know Jesus personally. I looked at both of them and said, “I’m embarrassed at what you just heard. I apologize for this man. I don’t even know if that guy really knows Jesus if he can use that kind of language in front of you. I can assure you that someone who really knows Jesus their lifestyle depicts that Jesus is real.”

What I want you to hear from Hebrews is that you can’t work hard enough to turn yourself around to make yourself good enough that God will accept you into heaven. If you could, he didn’t need to send Jesus in the first place. Since he sent Jesus, everything that needs to be done is taken care of. The work that Jesus did on earth finishes once and for all where you stand with God when you come to him and only to him. Stop trusting in yourself and start trusting in Jesus. Religion kills but Jesus saves! Only a relationship with a pure, perfect Priest makes you right with God. I want all of us to know God personally and I want us to live like it.

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Post-Service Discussion Questions

1. Can someone be good enough to get into heaven on their own?  Explain your answer.
2. Is the book of Hebrews saying that the priest are bad?  Explain your answer.
3. According to Heb 7:12, what change in the law does a change in priesthood require?
4. What does the term “the power of a life that cannot be destroyed” in v. 16 mean?  What is the significance of that statement?
5. How does Jesus “guarantee” a better covenant with God in v.22?
6. Pray that through Jesus, we would draw nearer to God this week.