Christ, Our Only High Priest
The great work of Christ as our only High Priest is the work of offering Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He is both the Priest making the sacrifice and the offering itself.
But this is not the only work that He does as our Priest. If it were, His priestly work would be finished. Yet Hebrews 7:28 says that He is consecrated “for evermore.” Thus He is pictured in Revelation as exalted and glorified and still performing the work of a priest: “one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle” (Rev. 1:13). His white robe, girt with a golden girdle, is priestly attire, and He walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks (12–13), tending them as the Old Testament priests tended the lampstand in the sanctuary (Ex. 27:20–21).
His work was no more finished when He had offered that only atoning sacrifice than the work of the priest in the Old Testament was finished when he had completed the burnt offering on the great altar in the temple.
Christ’s work as High Priest continues in two things especially.
It continues, first, in the intercession He makes for His people before God. This was symbolized in the Old Testament when the priest went with fire from the great altar into the temple to offer incense on the golden altar that stood before the veil (Lev. 16:12-13). The incense symbolized the prayers of God’s people (Rev. 8:3; cf. Ps. 141:2) as they are offered to God through the great High Priest and as they are acceptable to God through Him (I Pet. 2:5). That was why the priest had to burn the incense with fire from the great altar on which atoning sacrifice had just been made (Lev. 16:12).
Christ’s work as priest also continues in the blessings He pours out upon His people. The outpouring of the Spirit and the Spirit’s blessings are the work of our heavenly High Priest (Acts. 2:33).
This was symbolized in the Old Testament when the priests finished the work making sacrifice and intercession and brought to the people the blessing of God that had been obtained. This they did when they stood on the porch of the temple and blessed the people in the name of the Lord (Luke 1:22; Num. 6:22–27).
In order that Christ might do all this for us it was necessary that He enter into heaven itself (Heb. 9:24). Through His resurrection and ascension He had to bring His blood before God as the basis for the intercession He makes and to obtain for His people the blessing of God (Acts 2:32-33; Heb. 9:12; 7:25; Eph. 1:3).
This was symbolized in the Old Testament when the High Priest, once a year, went into the “most holy place” to bring before the mercy seat the blood of atonement (Lev. 16:14-15, 34). Thus Christ, our High Priest, now appears in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:24).
Such a High Priest have all those who believe in Him—one who offers a perfect sacrifice, makes perfect intercession and is able to obtain for them the blessings of God. Trust no other priest but Him! Rev. Ron Hanko
God’s Care of His People
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).
“And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores” (Luke 16:20–21).
One of our readers would like to know how it is possible that the Psalmist in Psalm 37 emphatically states that God’s people are never reduced to begging, while the parable of the rich man and Lazarus clearly indicates that Lazarus was a beggar.
I must admit that this apparent discrepancy has also bothered me from time to time. It would, I suppose, be the easy way out to say that the example of Lazarus is to be found in a parable and that a parable is a story which did not actually happen—and, of course, that in itself is true. Jesus is telling the parable in order to illustrate the point that the wicked do not prosper, but that His own people do—even if in this life they suffer hardship.
To appeal to the fact that this is a parable and did not actually happen will not work. Two reasons especially make this way out of the problem impossible. First, even if this is a parable, Jesus took His parables from everyday life. It must have been true that the sort of thing described in the parable was common in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Canaan. Second, the fact is that, throughout history, God’s people have from time to time begged bread and indeed starved to death.
So we must face the problem head on—and we can, if we ponder the matter, say something about the problem involved. In the first place, Israel had been given strict instructions in God’s law that the poor had to be cared for. In fact, specific instructions as to how they were to be cared for were even given to underscore its importance (Ex. 23:10–11; Deut. 15:7–11, 12–15; 16:11–14; 24:10–22; 10:18–19).
That there were beggars in Israel, especially in the days of Jesus, is a sad commentary on the religious state of the nation. The Pharisees prided themselves on strict observance of the law and imagined they would earn heaven by it. Yet, in their wealth, they did not care for the poor. This was a denial of the heart of God’s requirement: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). In the parable of Lazarus Jesus tears away the Pharisees’ mask of hypocrisy.
In the second place, and in keeping with this, the poor must always be cared for by the church. This is so important that Christ has given the church a distinct office for this work, the office of deacons. When the church is faithful to her God, she cares for her poor. When the deacons do their work, the righteous are not forsaken and their children do not beg bread. The church that will not care for her poor is no true church of Christ, but a synagogue of Satan. Obedience to Christ requires that the poor be cared for. It has been my own experience that the people of God would rather give for the poor than for almost any other cause in God’s kingdom. When there is need, the money pours in.
In the third place, when the righteous are without sufficient means to sustain life, this is often due to persecution by the ungodly. The wicked seek to deprive God’s people of earthly goods and, if possible, to starve them to death. At times God’s people have literally starved because of the cruelty of the wicked, and this has happened repeatedly in history. Yet this too is according to the will of God. God takes His people to heaven at the time He has determined. Sometimes He takes them by disease. Sometimes He takes them by what men call an “accident” though it is God’s appointed way of bringing the righteous to glory. Sometimes He takes them by the hand of the wicked, who crucify, burn, behead, boil and starve God’s saints. But God’s people are blessed when persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and their reward is glory. The wicked, meanwhile, fill up the cup of iniquity and ripen for judgment.
When persecution comes and we may be without bread, we must remember that if God purposes to keep us alive, He can send bread by ravens, as He did for Elijah, and He can send manna from heaven, as He did for Israel in the wilderness. God cares for His people and supplies their need as He works out His purpose in their lives. Thus we pray to our heavenly Father, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Prof. Herman Hanko
To Whom Are the Promises of the Gospel Addressed? (1)
One of our readers has asked about an old article in the News (vol. I, no. 7). He writes, “I may be reading too much into it, but I notice that you do not read into Matthew 23:37 the free offer of the gospel, as I would. Indeed, on page 1, you write, ‘Are you weary because of your sins? To such Christ says, “Come unto me … and I will give you rest.’ Are you suggesting that there is a certain degree of weariness of sins before we may bid sinners fly to Christ? If so, what degree is that? Am I to single out in my congregation those who bear the marks of the elect and say that they only may freely receive Christ? Or do I bid them come to a Saviour who loved an unregenerate rich young ruler and was moved with compassion for the multitudes?”
In answering this question, I am not going to comment on the rich young ruler, since that passage has also been dealt with in another issue of the News (vol. I, no. 15). This reader has picked up on a very important point, but to some extent misunderstands what we teach and what Scripture teaches. Let us clarify.
First, we do not believe that God shows love to all who hear the gospel. And since Christ’s love is the love of God we do not believe that He loved everyone to whom He preached either.
The idea that God shows love for all in the gospel reconciles neither with the love Christ showed by His death on the cross (for He died only for some) nor with election (God’s eternal and unchangeable love for some). Nor does it reconcile with such passages as John 13:18 (“I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen”) and John 17:9 (“I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me”). Nor does it reconcile with the fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation not an empty display of love (Rom. 1:16). Nor does it reconcile with God’s not granting to all who hear the gospel repentance and faith (John 10:26; Phil. 1:29; II Tim. 2:25). Does He love them and not give them what they need to repent and believe? A strange love indeed!
We do not believe either that anyone can be “weary and heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28), “thirsty” (Isa. 55:1) or “willing” (Rev. 22:17) without saving grace. To say otherwise is to deny salvation by grace alone, for how can a totally depraved sinner do good, especially the great good of being heavy laden for sin, thirsty for grace or willing to come to Christ?
Thus we believe that the promises of the gospel are only for the elect. They are made weary, thirsty and finally also willing by the grace of God. And it is to them that the promises are addressed. And no one else but the elect will ever be weary of sin or thirsty for grace.
However, and this is where the reader misunderstands us, we do not deny that the gospel, including the promises, must be preached to all. And we mean both that the promises of the gospel must be proclaimed to all and that all men must be commanded to repent and believe (Acts 17:30).
We emphasize the words “proclaimed” and “commanded,” however, because we do not believe that in the gospel God shows loving “offers” of salvation to all. The gospel is a “call,” a “command,” a “proclamation,” a “showing forth” of Christ, but no “well meant offer” or “open invitation.”
Why must this command and proclamation be made to all? Because the gospel is not only “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16) but is also the power of God unto hardening and condemnation (II Cor. 2:14–16). Rev. Ron Hanko
