Apologetic Discourse 1
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Apologetic Discourse 1
Hebrews 7:11-28
November 18, 2007
Series 3 Sermon 20
11 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? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
Introduction
Within the Christian church there has always seemed to be
this tension over the Law. How is the
Law supposed to be understood in the Christian life? If you move too far one direction you can
quickly become a legalist. If you move
too far the other direction you will be an antinomian or someone opposed to the
Law. And each side usually lobs hand
grenades at each other in the form of name calling. The tension comes in because we really have
to struggle with what we do with the Law.
Do we strive to keep the Law? Do
we disregard the Law? How can the
Historically the churches of the Reformed faith have held to a specific use of the Law. First we have historically believed that the Law shows forth the righteousness of God and the demands for holiness. This in turn convicts man of his sinfulness and shows him his inability to save himself and his need for a savior. Listen to Romans 3:19-20.
19 Now
we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law,
so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to
God; 20 because by the works of the
Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Second, the Law serves to restrain wicked men merely out of fear of punishment mainly death. But as we can see in our society some people are pushed further into depravity by the walls the law puts up. This forced restraint is necessary for the peaceful society among men. Otherwise we would have utter chaos. This is why dictatorships seems to work so well at keeping order. Our society will only work among a morally good people. Immorality will cause anarchy in our nation. So the Law of God serves to restrain human depravity.
Third, for the Christian the Law is a guide for how God desires His people to live. God desires righteousness and as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ our hearts have been changed and we desire to please God in every way even when we do not please Him. The Law of God shows us what our Lord desires from us and He has even written that on our hearts. Let me give you an example of what I mean.
You have two people in a store. One is a believer the other is not. They both see the same item and they both want it. Neither has the money to purchase it. But neither steals it either. Why? For the believer the idea of stealing is wrong and to do so would violate the righteous standards that God has set up for His people. For the unbeliever what restrains him or her is the whole thought of getting caught and going to jail.
Biblically speaking you have three types of Laws. First you have the civil laws enacted for the
nation of
Second we have the moral law of God. This moral law is binding upon all of humanity. This is what we find in the Ten Commandments and other Laws that have to do with morality. God has set His standard for behavior and human beings are to obey and live by that righteous standard. Again we read Romans 3:19-20.
19 Now
we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law,
so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to
God; 20 because by the works of the
Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Even the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount strengthened the moral law of God beyond what the Scribes and the Pharisees taught. He said in Matthew 5:20-21,
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder
shall be liable to the court.' 22 "But I say to you that
everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and
whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the
supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
The third type of Law and the one we will be dealing with specifically here in our text today is the ceremonial or the priestly Law. This was the Law of the priesthood and the sacrificial Law. These were the laws that the people were to keep that were often called ceremonial or cultic Law. It had to do with the lives of the priests and also the manner in which they performed their priestly functions. God was very serious about these standards that He set up for the priests and the holy instruments.
Two events stand out in my mind as God showed the seriousness of these activities. Remember Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron the high priest who were killed by God for offering strange fire on the alter of God? And then there was Uzzah who was of the priestly family who reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant when he thought it would tip over into the mud. God killed him. The command was to do things the way that God desired and these men disobeyed the commands of God and God killed them on the spot.
So for the Jew, these ceremonial laws were extremely important. But they often took on a life of their own in biblical history. They became instead of what they were meant to be (God’s gracious forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with the people who violated His moral laws) they became just a tradition of man. These rituals that pointed to Christ became meaningless and a stench in the nostrils of God.
Listen to Malachi 1:6-7.
" 'A son honors his
father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And
if I am a master, where is My respect ?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you
say, 'How have we despised Your name?' 7 "You are presenting defiled food upon
My altar.
They were going through the motions. The ceremony had become meaningless to them. It was merely tradition. This highlights the weakness of the priesthood and even the high priesthood. By the time the days of the Lord Jesus, the priesthood was corrupt in many ways. It had been for a long time. Not all the priests were corrupt. Zechariah the father of John the Baptist was a pious man. But you also had Caiaphas who presided over the trial of the Lord Jesus who was ultimately corrupt.
I want you again like I asked you to do last week and imagine that you are living in the first century. You are now a Christian. You could have been a lifelong Jew or pagan. It really makes little difference. Those that are still practicing Judaism are persecuting you. They keep telling you that you have no history. You have no temple, no sacrifices, no priests, and no tradition. At best you are an offshoot of Judaism. You have no meeting place and you certainly have no protection from the suffering that you have faced.
Those of you that were with us when we went through 1 Peter together will remember our sermon series that was entitled “Suffering as Evangelism.” Remember specifically I Peter 3:14-16.
14 But even if you should
suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR
INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, 15 but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give
an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence ; 16 and
keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
In Hebrews 7 the writer has provided for us an apologetic discourse to answer those who would question our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and its legitimacy. It really does not matter what century you live in because in every century the Bible answers the questions that lost people want to know about our faith. So it is imperative that we understand Hebrews 7 to provide a scriptural defense for our faith.
What do you say to those who say that Christianity is merely an offshoot of Judaism? What do you say to the Jew who does not understand how we can have another Jew as the Lord of our lives? This is preparation for defending the faith and proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must understand these passages of Scripture so that we can accurately understand how the Old Testament points to our faith in Christ and how Christ fulfills the imagery in the Old Testament. Let me tell you that so much is missed in reading the New Testament because of our lack of understanding of the Old Testament. If we will pay close attention to the writer of Hebrews we will learn an aweful lot about the Old Testament.
Last week I showed you that the writer proved Christ’s superiority over Abraham by showing that first Christ is superior to Melchizedek and that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham. Remember those two ways? Christ was proven superior in the receiving of tithes and the conferring of blessings. When Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham and in turn conferred a blessing on Abraham, it was obvious that Melchizedek was superior.
PNP
From our text this morning, Hebrews 7:11-28, the writer answers five objections the Jews would have had concerning Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest.
1. He is not descended from Aaron.
2. Moses said nothing
about a priest coming from the line of
3. We have a traceable line of priests and can prove their descent.
4. We have daily sacrifices that our priests perform.
5. We have the Law which established the priesthood.
So how do you answer these questions? All are true statements. All would be used by the Jews to show you that your faith may be in question. The Jewish apologist would leverage these facts against you in a debate. So how do we answer these objections? The writer does so from Scripture.
Do you remember what Paul did on his missionary
journeys? He went into the synagogues
first and reasoned with the Jews from the Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth was
indeed the Christ, the savior of the world.
Some believed. Others reviled and
hated Paul and tried to kill him.
Why do you think they tried to kill him? Because he reasoned well. His arguments could not be refuted. I think what we have in these chapters in Hebrews is an outline of how the apostles would have reasoned from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Have you ever wondered what the Apostle Paul said in those synagogue meetings? Can you imagine just for a moment that Paul is sitting in these meetings and the Rabbi reads a passage from the Old Testament and then says, “Do any of you brethren have anything to say?” Then the Apostle Paul stands and says, “Brethren, from the Scripture that the Rabbi has read I want to show you how this is proof that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah and Savior of the world.” And the exposition begins. By the end of his exposition you have some new believers and you have some very upset and angered men. But that is the nature of the Gospel. To some it is folly and a stumbling block and to others it is the power of God unto salvation. To the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Purpose
So my purpose is to provide you with an outline from Hebrews 7:11-28 to inform and enlighten those who would oppose the Lord Jesus Christ by these five objections. And at the same time to strengthen your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who was provided by God as the sacrifice for sins once for all.
RPNP
So look with me this morning at the first of these five objections the Jews would have had concerning Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest and how the writer of Hebrews answers them. Here is your first objection.
1. Your High Priest is not descended from Aaron.
As you know lineage is something very important to the Jews. We have these lists of descendants in the Bible and none are without meaning. God has worked dramatically through the line of Abraham over the centuries in His plan of redemption. Paul correctly states in the Epistle to the Romans that God has transmitted His revelation through the Jewish people and they have given us God’s Word.
So now, the early church is setting aside the long line of Levitical priests that stretch all the way back to Aaron the brother of Moses. So you can imagine the uproar. You can imagine the families and friends of those Jews who were now Christians telling them that they had indeed departed from tradition for some new religion. What about the religion of the fathers? What about the line of Levi that served at the alter of God for so many years and generations?
The writer answers this question by pointing out the obvious flaw in the priesthood.
Look with me at verse 11.
11 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?
With a master stroke of debating skill the writer turns the objection on its head. He points out the utter inability of the Levitical priesthood to perfect anyone. And then he calls the inquisitor back to the Scriptures, particularly Psalm 110:4.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a
priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
The obvious point that the writer is making is that if the Levitical priesthood worked to perfect the worshiper then there would have been no need of a new high priesthood. What does the writer mean when he says “perfection?”
I think he means exactly that, perfection. In order to stand before a holy God then one
must be holy. If we will stand before a
righteous God then we must be holy. The
problem with the sacrificial law is that it was inherently unable to make the
worshiper right before God. For the most
part the Jews missed the significance of the sacrificial system. There was always a sacrifice taking place
when the
Listen to Jeremiah 7:1-11.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying, 2 "Stand in the gate of
the LORD'S house and proclaim
there this word and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD,
all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!' " 3 Thus
says the LORD of hosts, the God of
8 "Behold, you are trusting in
deceptive words to no avail. 9 "Will you steal,
murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and
walk after other gods that you have not known, 10 then
come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say,
'We are delivered!'—that you may do all these abominations? 11 "Has
this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight?
Behold, I, even I, have seen it,"
declares the LORD.
Does that sound New Testament familiar to you? The Lord Jesus quoted this passage as he
drove the moneychangers out of the
The corruption of the priesthood showed that it was unable to perfect those who practiced sacrificial Judaism. That Priesthood was utterly incapable of making a person fit for Heaven. So obviously we needed something new and better. The ultimate goal of God is to cause His people to be molded into the image of His Son and that image is perfection. In Ephesians 1:3-4 we are given a promise.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Then we are told why in verse 7-10.
7 In him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his
grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all
wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his
purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a
plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth.
What the priesthood of Levi was utterly incapable of Christ’s priesthood would accomplish.
Look back at verse 11.
11 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?
Notice the word “another” in the text. This word insinuates not just another of the Levitical line but rather another of a different line, literally of another kind or class. The kind that would arise would be after the order of Melchizedek and not after the order of Aaron. I want you to be careful here and see where the flaw lies.
Notice he does not say that the Law is flawed but rather those who were given the responsibility to carry out the various functions of that Law were the ones that were flawed. Notice verse one says perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood. He did not say through the Law. The Law is indeed mentioned.
The writer of Hebrews was well aware that the Law of the Lord is perfect but the carrying out of the Law by humans would be imperfect on its best day.
As we understand the New Testament we know that all of those sacrifices given to us in the Law pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Jews would have recognized this then the priesthood could have pointed the people to this reality. But like many people in our day they are more concerned with form in worship than with the One who is to be worshiped. God has indeed set up parameters to govern the worship of Himself but He is far more concerned with the worship of Himself and not the worship of the parameters.
The Jews knew this. They understood completely that they had transgressed God’s covenant with them and had focused on the ritual rather than the Lord who provided them the sacrifice.
I want you to think about the sacrifices. No matter how many times you had provided a sacrifice on the alter of the Lord the imagery must have been stunning. Here is an animal from your own flock and you take it to the priest. He then kills that animal right in front of you. You should be able to visually see the cost of your sin. That animal that has done nothing deserving of death has to die so that you can be right with God. You hear the bleating of the lambs and see the blood drain from their throats as they are cut for your sins. You watch as that animal is then butchered and placed on a fire to be offered on your behalf. You smell the flesh of that animal being burned and you should realize that in reality because of your sin it should be your flesh being burned. You fall to your knees repenting and forsaking the sin that caused this animal who had not sinned against God as you have to die on your behalf. You plead with the God of Heaven to forgive you and to cause you to walk in His ways. You would think that year after year of this that the people would have that imagery burned into their brains and they would become more and more holy and righteous before the Lord but this was not the case.
Listen again to Malachi 1:6-7.
" 'A son honors his
father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And
if I am a master, where is My respect ?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you
say, 'How have we despised Your name?' 7 "You are presenting defiled food upon
My altar.
Instead of the people bringing what was required of them they brought the blemished and the lame. And the priests who should have corrected this grievous sin played right along with the depravity of the people. Listen to Malachi 1:8-14.
"But when you present the
blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is
it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you?
Or would he receive you kindly?" says the LORD
of hosts. 9 "But now will you not
entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on
your part, will He receive any of you kindly?" says the LORD of hosts. 10 "Oh
that there were one among you who would shut the gates , that you might not
uselessly kindle fire on My
altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD of hosts, "nor will I accept an offering from you
. 11 "For from the rising of the sun
even to its setting, My name will be
great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to
My name, and a grain offering that is
pure; for My name will be great
among the nations," says the LORD
of hosts. 12 "But you are profaning
it, in that you say, 'The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit,
its food is to be despised.' 13 "You also say, 'My ,
how tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it," says the LORD of hosts, "and you bring what
was taken by robbery and what is
lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your
hand?" says the LORD. 14 "But
cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices
a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King," says the LORD of hosts, "and My name is
feared among the nations ."
And then the Jews wondered why God punished them severely. The priesthood was defiled and in the process of being defiled they allowed the people to be unholy and unrighteous and pronounced blessings on them instead of correcting them. And they knew the truth. They had the words of the prophets and yet they ignored them.
Listen to Hosea 6:1-11.
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he
has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After
two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come
to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
Then the Lord speaks.
4 What shall I do with you, O
Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I
have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the
light. 6 For
I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But
like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
What should have been true is that the sacrificial law carried out properly would have prepared the hearts of the sacrificers to be broken before God. They would have learned to hate their sin and cling to God in faith for salvation. They would have had their hearts prepared for Heaven as the Lord over and over reconciled Himself to the people through the acceptance of their sacrifice. His promise was already to forgive their sins and to heal their iniquities but the priesthood became an entity all to itself. So by the very nature of having a sinful human being serving as the High Priest that system would have to be set aside for a new and better system. This is where verse twelve comes in. Notice the verse with me.
12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
Verse 12 is written for those who were considering heading back to the Judaism that was utterly incapable of perfecting those who were adhering to it. Later on we will see that this practice of sacrificial Judaism would be coming to a sudden end. But now at the time of this writing the people seemed to have the option of returning there. What the writer shows them here and strengthens the argument in the rest of the chapter is that to return to the sacrificial law was useless and fruitless. Perfection could not come through that system. That system could not prepare your hearts for Heaven. That system will no longer serve to atone for your sins. Now the Law has been changed. The sacrifices of bulls and goats and sheep and dove were no longer accepted by God. The transaction currency had changed.
I started out this morning by asking the question of what the Christian church is supposed to do with the Law. Particularly here we are dealing with the sacrificial law. I hope what is obvious to you is that a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ should never ever under any circumstance even consider offering an animal as a sacrifice to the Lord. When the Lord has offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sins there indeed remains no sacrifice for sin that is acceptable to God save that one for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we move through this section the writer is going to over and over again highlight the beauty and the sufficiency of that sacrifice for us. What we will be reminded of is the sufficiency and utter supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ over every conceivable religious system.
Next week we will see more of these objections.
As I close let me remind you of the purpose of the writer in this letter. Listen to Hebrews 1:1-4.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by
the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom
also he created the world. 3 He is the
radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the
name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
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