[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Hebrews chapter 5, starting in verse 1: “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was” (ESV).

       Our start today is with a view of the past—a view of the Old Jewish system and how it operated, which, interestingly enough, at the time of this writing was still in practice. Taking the position that Hebrews was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., we know the office of high priest was still in operation. And it would be in operation until that event in 70 A.D., and it would cease operation at that point. Understanding is present that in the future, when the end of things starts, of which begins with the The Rapture of the Church, after that event, that the office of high priest will go back into effect as the Jews practice their religion on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem once again. That’s in the future. (And as a little aside, for anyone out there who’s never studied The Rapture of the Church, and only knows of The Second Coming, the speaker would certainly encourage you to do so. Not sure why, just felt like saying that). Regardless, God established the office in the Old Testament with the first high priest who was Aaron. Aaron, we recall, was Moses’ right hand man. He was whom God originally choose to help Moses speak. And so Aaron became high priest under the Jewish Law, and it would be his descendants who would hold that office. His responsibilities to that office was two-fold. He would, of course, offer up sacrifices for sin—we likely already guessed that. And he would also offer up sacrifices of gratitude as well. Forgiveness and gratitude were the themes.

       This whole discussion peaks in our interest in that this whole office of high priest in the Old Testament correlates well with what we see, or are supposed to see, in the office of a minister or pastor in the New Testament. Let it be stated, first and foremost, that the minister of God doesn’t offer up sacrifices for sin—we know that, we understand that. Actually, there are some brothers and sisters who think it is the responsibility of the minister to forgive sins (some Lutherans are coming to mind). But that’s generally not what Evangelicals believe. What we can focus on is the fact that the minister of God, just like the high priest, was appointed by God. Appointed by God. Called by God. It could be said that it’s a higher calling, as James would talk about in his book when we spoke of teachers (see James 3). Indeed, everyone who becomes saved is gifted by the Holy Spirit with certain spiritual gifts—we would say at least one. And the brothers and sisters are supposed to practice those gifts in some way. Sometimes it will be in a big way, as in our discussion today, and sometimes it will be in smaller ways. The smaller ways is probably the experience of most church-going folks. Let’s be realistic. At the same time, respect (hopefully) is given to the ministers of God and to those who teach due to the fact that God has appointed them to do so and they do it in front of everybody. No one is self-appointed, like as in perhaps what we might do when choosing a career in the world. A self-appointed preacher should become obvious in that they have no real skill—no ‘real’ distinct way with the Word that is beneficial to others.

       The minister of God is one who deals “gently” with his people. This is due to the fact that he himself faces the same kinds of issues in daily life. It is easy to identify the proud minister who pounds on others and thinks very highly of himself. It’s not that the minister isn’t higher, for he or she should be, if they are practicing what they preach. They should be at a higher level really. The writer in our text today calls some of those under the high priest as “ignorant and wayward.” Thus, the two major hurdles. All of us, at one point or another, are “ignorant” and then we learn and practice as time progresses. At some point in the past, each one of us choose to become a Christian, to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. It is likely that at the moment of that choice we didn’t know a whole lot as pertains to theology. We likely also didn’t know as much as pertains to what we call ‘righteous living.’ We weren’t as familiar with the ways of God, which in actuality, we believe are the ways of reality—the ways that bring the most happiness to life. Sin takes away happiness, and following the truth increases it over the long haul. Anyway, a minister who deals harshly with those under him or her is one who is probably not as developed in their growth as they think they are. Whether transcended in an area or not, the author points out that “he himself is beset with weakness.” That is, the high priest. All of us have growth to do, and we’ve all been there at one point or another.

       Probably coming to our minds is the verse from James where he says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:1, 2, ESV). We remember those verses. Then he goes on to say, “And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (3:2, ESV). We are judged by “greater strictness” by those around us, aren’t we? If a minister commits a ‘big’ sin, the condemnation is great, both from those inside the church and those outside. And James notes that even the minister is not perfect when he says, “we all stumble in many ways.” Notice the word “all” there, which includes the teachers. He doesn’t say how a teacher stumbles, but that he still will stumble (and hopefully not in ‘big’ ways). Nevertheless, James does make a distinction, for he says that there are those who can reach a point where they don’t stumble. They are of those who have mastered things—who have mastered their own flesh. That’s important. That’s something you don’t hear a lot in Christian circles, unfortunately. Ability exists for us to increase in our mastery over sin. You know that, right? A lot of people think that we don’t have that capability. An easy example to show this, however—and this is interesting because this was back even before the Spirit of God indwelled people—is to go back to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4. Let’s go there and go to verses 6 and 7.

“The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (ESV).

Notice that Cain had a choice, as we all have a choice. We have the choice. That’s important. We know the end result as pertains to Cain. We know he didn’t choose the right way. But he could have. He could of. You need to see that. Even back then, even in the Old Testament times, back at the beginning, even without the indwelling of the Spirit of God, God says he had a choice to do right. He had the ability to rule over it. This is why, as an aside, by the way, that even individuals of other religions can rule over sin in certain areas. But that’s a whole other discussion.

       It is also said of the High Priest, “And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was” (ESV). This too correlates well with the call of the minister of God in our time. For the minister, there needs to be that drive, that feeling of wanting to do what it is that they are doing. The desire is present to give their time in the service of others, to want to give sermons, to want to go on hospital visits and nursing home visits, to want to officiate weddings and funerals. All of these things pertain to what a minister does, and this person has been called by God to do these things. If a person isn’t particularly well suited toward these activities that might be an indication that they truly aren’t called by God for that kind of work. One really can’t do it out of obligation. Maybe for a short time, if no one better is available. But long term, there needs to be that drive. It has to be that sometimes people sign up to be a minister perhaps for other reasons than they ought. Perhaps the person has been pressured by their father to be a minister, and they go off and do it, but they actually don’t feel it aligns with them. That’s a problem, and the person will probably give it up at some point in the future. Perhaps the person was chosen outside of his choice, like in a certain types of Christian communities, and they really don’t feel they have the ‘call’ to do that work. That also won’t work over time. And persons in these types of situations fare better if they eventually leave those so-called ‘calls.’

       Another situation which occurs is that sometimes God calls individuals to the ministry who do not have formal education in that area, and God does not lead them to get that formal education. Again, if the person is particularly gifted in the area of the call—formal education isn’t required. Jesus himself did not have formal education, but was self-taught. Neither a Scribe or Pharisee had he been during his time (like the Apostle Paul had been). Obtaining formal education to be a minister is a worldly rule that a lot of churches have made up for our time. It’s not found anywhere in the New Testament, for indeed, obviously they didn’t even have seminaries back at that time. Yet, a minister with formal education may try to call out one who does not have it, and say the person has ‘self-appointed’ themselves to whatever role they are doing. Sometimes this may be true, but sometimes it is not. Sometimes the person has truly been called by God to do the work they are doing without the formal education. It really becomes obvious whether the person has been ‘called’ by God. We’ve all seen people (perhaps we can even name one or two) whom we know is in a prominent role that doesn’t actually seem to have the talent and skill of which they probably ought to have. The thought comes to our minds that they person has really ‘self-appointed’ themselves to the role. And this may be true. It may be that God hasn’t truly called them to do the work they are doing, and they are doing it either out of guilt or just to seemingly gain some kind of power within the world by which they can seemingly feel important. They feel like they are a leader amongst the other leaders.

       Continuing on. Verse 5: “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (ESV).

       Thus, demonstrated for us is the fact that Jesus was the perfect high priest. and two Pslams are quoted to support this (Psalm 2:7 and 110:4; Melchizedek was a priest and king mentioned in Genesis 14 who blessed Abram—we will get into this later in our study of Hebrews). The record from John chapter 17 comes to mind, where it has even been called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. A good and poignant example that is within the Scripture of where Jesus offered up prayers for his fellow disciples, and even for us who reside in the future. The author of Hebrews says it was “with loud cries and tears.” Obviously, John didn’t record that part of it—though Luke kind of did. Even so, we also know that the Jesus would withdraw from time to time to pray throughout his ministry. He would usually go up on a mountain by himself. That was his custom. Alone time with God, which is an important practice for any Christian. It’s not that we are supposed to be constantly surrounded by people. Really, at the end of the day, the only Person we have in our lives that is ‘for sure’ is God himself. All others are based on circumstances, and can leave at any moment. That’s the reality of the situation. Of course, a mediation time spent with God can involve lifting up prayers for others, as Jesus did in our example. It doesn’t seem we really have a problem with that, as that’s something that’s taught frequently in our American church settings. We are used to praying for others—to being attentive to their needs. That’s something we willingly do for others, as we wish to see others benefitted in their lives as we ourselves are benefited. That’s a great aspect of prayer.

       Too, we are familiar with the the scene from the Gospel of Luke wherein Jesus asks the Father to let the cup of death pass from him. That scene is vivid in our minds. Understanding is also present of the character of God in that it’s not his wish that anyone of us suffer. Suffering is not a something God loves. In the case of Jesus going to the cross, it was the only way that our sin-problem, as humans, could be rectified. The Jewish Law called for pure blood to make atonement for our sins. It was the only way. That’s why we see Jesus’ obedience—for it demonstrates how much he loved us. He loved his disciples, and he knew, he was aware, that there would be more disciples in the future whom he would get to love. A little phrase is tucked in there by the author that Jesus “was heard because of his reverence.” That’s interesting. That’s interesting. It goes to show that our reverence and obedience to God is significant, and that it affects how our prayers are heard and received by God. If we are living in sin, especially a big sin, we can bank that that’s going to affect our prayers being answered. God’s going to look down and say, “This person doesn’t respect what I say, so why should I give him my time and do what he wants.” It’s not that obedience earns our salvation; that’s not what we are talking about.

       Again, the author notes that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered”… “he learned obedience through what he suffered.” Admittedly, we probably don’t like that; that’s probably not what we want to hear. Sure, we don’t mind hearing it of Jesus, but we also know that if it’s true of Jesus, it must be true for us since we are supposed to be imitating Jesus’ example for us. We can first ask the question, “Why does suffering occur?” “Why does suffering occur?” Well, suffering occurs due to sin, right? Due to sin. And someone might say, “Well, Jesus didn’t sin. Why did he have to learn obedience through suffering?” That is true. Jesus never sinned; he didn’t have a sin-nature like we do. Yet, those around him, those around him, did. They did have a sin-nature. That Jewish leaders, and the Jewish people around him all had the sin-nature, and, and, they weren’t acting in obedience to God. Thus, due to his circumstances, due to where Jesus found himself, he had to suffer. And it’s no different with us. Remember, remember. This is what Peter taught us in his epistle. He said, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:20, 21, ESV). Thus, we can sin and suffer, and we can also be obedient and suffer. The second case is due to the sin in others. This is why there can never be a nirvana for us here on the earth, as Christians, as people in general. Why? Because even we have given up sin—even if we could go all the way and never sin again, there are still others who are sinning, that live by sin.

       Therefore, the end result of Christ’s obedience, his accomplishment, was that salvation becomes available to anyone who would willingly choose to believe in him—to those who choose to abide by his truth. That’s the key. That’s the key. Our belief is that Jesus’ truth is the actual truth, or even the highest truth of all that is. Of all the different religions offered by the world, what Jesus presents through the Scriptures makes the most sense—it aligns with what is beneficial to everyone, including ourselves. And a lot of spiritual teachers have recognized this. The speaker can think, for instance, of one spiritual teacher who wouldn’t identify as Christian directly who has said that Christ’s consciousness is the highest consciousness. Even New Agers are often found to be teaching Christian principles without even realizing it. It’s fascinating, absolutely fascinating. And it has lead some to believe that God works in saving people without direct knowledge, or even acknowledgement, of Christ. That is, he is working behind the scenes to save individuals without them even necessarily being aware that they are saved through Christ’s blood. Now, that might be too much for some, too hard to digest. Nevertheless, we know for sure that God is working, and that he is spreading his truth to the masses, and more and more people are being saved. It’s something how people have realized that God’s truth is so pivotal that all kinds of people are teaching it.

       Finishing up. Verse 11: “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

       This section of our text today in Hebrews hits home for American Christians. There’s no doubt about that, no doubt about that. Many, many, who have been in the faith for a while, find themselves stuck in the same spot. They aren’t growing. They aren’t changing for the good. They try one thing in the Christian realm (let’s say to think positive thoughts about others to provide an example), they try that one thing and then after a few weeks they’re on to something else. They go from one new thing to the next, and never really seem to go anywhere. They are spread a mile wide, but have only gotten an inch deep. It’s unfortunate. They are still moving from one brand of milk to another, and haven’t gotten to the meats. We even see it with so-called Christians who refuse to give up their sin. They still live with their significant other without being married. Or, we see Christians struggling with the same sin year after year, never actually seeming to get any better (like a struggle with lust for instance). Where we are supposed to be is like someone who can identify what is good and what is bad through experience, and through study of “the word of righteousness.” One gets an intuition, for instance, of what will be helpful and what probably won’t be. We’re not really talking about judging others, though that could come up. What we are really talking about is judging the environment, being able to look at into it and notice what is good and what is evil. We can judge ourselves first, and once we have good control over ourselves, then perhaps we can provide guidance to others when needed.

       Note that we are to be “trained by constant practice.” To be “trained by constant practice.” That verse seems often missed. It’s not quoted a whole lot, but truly it should be. This should be the goal of each of us as Christians. Our Christianity, our personal relationship with God is not something that is to just be looked at for one-hour on a Sunday morning. That’s not what our life with God is. If that’s how we are living, we are missing the whole thing. We haven’t gotten it yet; we haven’t understood it yet. Some persons think they are Christian and don’t even go to church. Anyway, a large part of this involves knowing “the word of righteousness,” as the author calls it, the Word of God, our Bibles. Knowledge needs to be present as pertains to what God says is good and what he says is evil. This helps us. It protects us. And, and, we need to be actively and daily trying to discipline our minds in light of this knowledge. That way, no matter what comes into our lives, we are not broadsided by it. We aren’t found to be with a response of outrage, easily swayed by troubling wind. We want to be like Christ. And we can remember of Christ that when he was on the boat, in the middle of the storm, and the disciples were running about frantically on the upper deck, Jesus was inside the boat, asleep, not even bothered by what was going on outside, by the seeming trouble that had come upon them. We have a choice. Who are we going to be like? Are we going to be like the disciples on top of the boat, running about frantically, or are we going to be like Christ, inside the boat full of peace and calmness, even though things could be perceived as threatening to our well-being? We need to work toward disciplining ourselves so that we grow more and more into this image, this way, for ourselves.

- Daniel Litton