Hebrews 7:25 - Homiletics

Salvation to the uttermost.

The chief point in this verse is our High Priest's ability to save, and the guarantee which his perpetual intercession affords regarding that ability. What does this continual intercession certify? Four things.

I. HE HAS THE ABILITY OF MERIT . The Savior's merit arises from what he is, from what he became, and from what he has done. His intercession is just a continual development of the exhaustless efficacy of his life-work. Our Priest is the eternal Son of God clothed in human nature. His work on earth was both active and passive: he obeyed and he suffered. He perfectly fulfilled the Law, and he fully endured the penalty due to our disobedience. Upon the union of this doing and dying the great structure of our Intercessor's ability of merit is sustained. The infinitude of his Divine nature invests his offering with boundless value. By his "obedience unto death" he sheathed the sword of justice in the heart of mercy. And, when he had done this, he went boldly up to heaven, sprinkled the golden altar there with his blood, and took his place in the midst of the throne. The fact of his intercession as our risen and glorified Savior shows that the satisfaction which he has made for sin is perfect.

II. HE HAS THE ABILITY OF RIGHT . A true priest must receive his appointment from God. So, our Lord's session at the right hand of the Father is in itself an evidence of the validity of his intercession. We know, however, that God appointed him to his office with a solemn oath ( Psalms 110:4 ). He said to him, on the day when he constituted him Priest-King, "Ask of me" ( Psalms 2:8 ), thus expressly authorizing his intercession. We cannot fathom the mystery of the atonement; but it is enough to know that Christ's sacred blood was shed for our salvation by Divine appointment; and we are persuaded that, had it not possessed merit enough for its purpose, it would never have been shed at all. Jesus sits upon his priestly throne, and does his priestly work, by Divine right.

III. HE HAS THE ABILITY OF INFLUENCE . He possesses not only merit and right, but also power. He is "a Priest upon his throne." And it was more than a mere external statute that set him there. Christ is our Intercessor in virtue of "the power of an endless life." These words are emphatic, "He ever liveth." He conducts our cause in heaven, as our Advocate, in the strength of the imperishable life which he has possessed from eternity. Enthroned in glory, he has yet power upon earth, for he has sent down to us his Holy Spirit. This gift is the direct fruit of his sacrifice and intercession. While the Savior intercedes without us, his Spirit intercedes within us. The work of the "other Paraclete" is complementary of that of the first. The Holy Ghost within our minds and hearts bestows all the communications of grace, and conducts all the preparations for glory; but he does so as the agent of the Lord Jesus, and his work is dependent upon our High Priest's constant pleadings at the bar of God.

IV. HE HAS THE ABILITY OF SYMPATHY . Even as God, the Savior can sympathize with us; for our nature was formed in the likeness of our Maker, so that man belongs to the same order of being as God himself. But our necessities demanded more than the sympathy of God. How sweet, then, to remember that our High Priest is also a man! He is a woman's Son, and therefore in a true sense one of ourselves. His earthly life was full of experiences substantially the same as ours; so that he knows our difficulties and sorrows and temptations. He is careful to adapt his perpetual intercessions to the currents of individual experience. Believers can approach him with confidence in the spirit of the exquisite lines—

"Thou our throbbing flesh hast worn,

Thou our mortal griefs hast borne,

Thou hast shed the human tear:

Gracious Son of Mary, hear!"

(Milman)

Amidst his unparalleled exaltation, the Man Christ Jesus does not forget the humblest of his people. Our High Priest has every name that is dear to him engraven upon his breastplate—written upon the imperishable tablet of his loving heart.

CONCLUSION.

1. Let us retain Jesus as our Advocate.

2. Let us tell him our whole ease, and commit it unreservedly into his hands.

3. Let us be sure of his ability successfully to plead the cause of his clients.