New Testament priesthood is characterized by its universal nature, accessible to all believers, in contrast to the exclusive Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. Unlike the Old Testament priests who required distinct garments, rituals, and specific age and physical qualifications, New Testament priests are distinguished by their spiritual sacrifices, direct access to God through Christ, and a ministry that is both Godward and manward. The sermon emphasizes that the ultimate privilege and portion of every New Testament priest is Christ himself, who lives eternally as our Great High Priest, enabling believers to draw near to God with confidence and assurance.
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the portion of chapter ten as we begin our thoughts this evening continuing on the subject of priesthood we have been contemplating some dimensions of priesthood largely from the detailed descriptions of priesthood and its functioning from the Old Testament as well as the matter of priesthood as it's given to us in those biographical well it wasn't so good those biographic glimpses in the Old Testament of priesthood in decline. And we would like to turn our attention now to some specific New Testament passages, and we will read a portion from Hebrews chapter ten, as tonight we seek to establish some of the distinctions between Old and New Testament priesthood, and then to look for a general description of that New Testament priesthood.
Hebrews chapter ten verse nineteen since therefore brethren we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh and since we have a great priest over the house of God let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.
We'll end our reading there. Let's pause again. Father, we do ask again now that as we consider the scriptures, that you will demonstrate to us afresh that your word is living, that it is powerful, and that we may by the Spirit gain understandings which will draw our hearts out to the person of our Lord Jesus and to that great ministry that he has given to his own in the function of priesthood. We ask this in the Savior's name. Amen. Now, as you read through the scriptures, you find both Old and New Testaments talking about priesthood, the function of priesthood.
And as we have said, there is a lot of discussion of issues of priesthood in any kind of religious context. And you will find in any of the world's great religions, there are specific characteristics of requirements for priesthood. The scriptures, of course, present to us the God-appointed. functions of priesthood, as they have been seen in various economies of God, as he has dealt with his people, and indeed with the human race, down through history. One of the things that is very difficult for many people, even many students of the Word of God, is the necessity of making distinction.
And I would turn your attention to a very well-known statement Paul made to Timothy, study to show yourself approved unto God A workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And the New Testament word which is translated rightly dividing is a word which literally means to cut a straight line. It's a word that would be used in the building trades. And of course the picture there, when he says a workman that needs not to be ashamed, he's talking about a builder, someone in the construction business. It's one of a series of pictures you have in Second Timothy two, where you see the farmer, you see the athlete, and so on.
It's a builder in verse fifteen. And he is one who needs to cut a straight line with regard to the word of truth. Just an illustration of this term. As I said, it's a word which would be used on the job in a building crew. I worked my way through seminary working for an uncle who was a builder and a contractor. And to my good fortune, the superintendent of his building crew was another uncle. And both of these uncles not only were very, very much inclined to want to lead me along the way and took time to teach me a lot of things that I needed to know, but they were both craftsmen. They were not woodpeckers.
They were real carpeters, the likes of which I rarely see. And it was very, very interesting to work for Uncle Sam. I'm not talking about the theoretical Uncle Sam. I'm talking about my Uncle Sam, who was the chief on the crew of Carpenters. He was the kind of man that insisted that everything fit. Now, most Carpenters crews have a big hammer, man. And if something doesn't fit quite right, you just get a big hammer and pound it into place. Never when my Uncle Sam was on the job. Even if it was the highest rafter on the building, you cut it, take it down, and cut it, and you keep at it until it fits. You cut it correctly in order to make it fit.
Now that's the idea in that word, rightly dividing the word of truth. Cutting a straight line with regard to the word of truth. So it reminds me when I was a kid, and mom would bake pies. And when it came time to cut those pies, wow. You know, whoever wielded the knife had the privilege. But of course there was the rule in the family that one cuts and then the other has first choice of the pieces. And so when that's the rule, you make sure that you cut those pieces of pie with absolute precision, you see, cutting a straight line. It's a word which has to do with integrity. It's a word which describes how we must learn to handle the scriptures.
And there are lines of distinction in the Word of God. For example, if you have never read through or studied through, Schofield's little work rightly dividing the Word, you have missed one of the fundamental things available to you as a student of the Scriptures. There are a number of distinctions that must be made in the Word of God, and if we don't cut a straight line, we are going to end up confused. In fact, some of our present day religious confusion is the result of individuals who mix up Old Testament and New Testament priesthood and fail to make that distinction. They fail to cut a straight line. One of the things we need to do is to quickly review some of those points of distinction in the Old Testament priesthood, the Levitical service, which we have so much detail given, and the New Testament priesthood, about which there are some very basic and important statements.
but much is assumed in an understanding of the Old. For example, you're aware that in the Old Testament, one tribe, out of all of the tribes of Jacob, of Israel, one tribe was appointed as the priestly tribe. This may have been an alternate plan, plan B, on the part of God, but be that as it may, one tribe was the priestly tribe. In contrast to that, in the New Testament church, as we will see in a later study, all believers... are priests. There is no subdivision of the church functioning as priests, and the others are the laity. No, no. In the New Testament, all believers are priests, in contrast to one of the twelve tribes, being the priestly tribe, in the Old Order.
Another contrast is that in the Old Order, the priests had a very distinctive type of dress. Their garments were designed to make them stand out. And in the ancient economy of Israel, if you were to go at any meeting of Hebrew people, you could spot the priests, the Levites, at a glance. Because their garb made them stand out. It was distinctive. And the type of garments they wore carefully described in the book of Leviticus. And they didn't follow all the changing fads and fashion and colors and whatnot of whatever the design people may have had. They had their distinct attire. In the New Testament, nothing is said of that.
The New Testament priesthood does not have its distinctive God. In fact, one of the unique features about the New Testament priesthood is the fact that it is universal among all of the Lord's people, for every true believer is a priest. And the believer priest is not distinguished by externality, which is very, very characteristic of much of what God is doing in this age. He is trying to wean his people away from a preoccupation with externality. No distinct garb. Another contrast is that the Levitical priesthood had a very carefully prescribed ritual. Not only these sacrifices were all performed in a certain way.
This must be done, and then this, and then this, and then this, every step, every detail. But the great feasts were celebrated under the leadership of the priesthood. And this was done on the first day, and this on the second day, and so on. Their procession, their ceremony. It was all carefully spelled out. A lot of ritual for the Levitical priesthood. In contrast to that, in the New Testament priesthood, there is literally no ritual revealed. The fact of the matter is even the basic meetings of the church are not described in terms of procedure in the New Testament.
The New Testament is remarkably free in that which is said about the actual order of service. And the fact, for example, that we characteristically begin our meetings with a hymn. That's not biblically required. It's a good pattern, and we like to sing, and saints of all ages have enjoyed singing. But we don't have to do that. You see, there is no ritual at all prescribed, even for those fundamental meetings of teaching of prayer and of breaking of bread, for example. There is no ritual described in the New Testament. There is the spontaneity of the spirit, either in the planning or the conduct of the meeting. Another contrast, of course, has to do with age.
In the Levitical priesthood, It was only those men who were between the ages of thirty and fifty that officially functioned in those priestly capacities. If you were younger or older, you had other things to do. Whereas in the New Testament, there is no concept of age related to the function of priesthood. Again, it is a universal thing. All believers are New Testament priests, and the function of priesthood is open to, and in fact is a responsibility of all believers, young or old, or whatever our status or station may be. Another related thing, of course, is that in the Old Testament priesthood, anyone with a physical impairment could not function.
A person blind or a person with a physical crippling defect in the physical body could not function as a priest. However, in the New Testament, the contrast is a sharp one. There is absolutely no restriction because of such factors as these. I've often thought of this. My father, as some of you know, is blind, totally blind. It was totally blind before I was born. And yet I've been grateful to have had the godly heritage that came through my mother and father. I am so grateful for a father who was active in the things of God, who was a student of the Word of God, who ministered the Word of God, and in many, many, many ways set a great example to me as a man of God and a man who served God.
His blindness, oh, it has its physical limitations, and I remember even the advantages of some of these. As a kid, I read to him from the Scriptures by the hour. And, of course, he has the Bible on recordings and had it for years and spent more time in the Word, probably than ninety-nine out of a hundred believers. and shows it in his life, even though now recently he's slipping in his old age. But the fact of the matter is I have often been grateful that that physical impairment of my father in no way hindered his function as a New Testament priest. No function hindered. Another distinction, of course, is the role of women.
In the Old Testament, priesthood was distinctly a man's function, without exception. In the New Testament, however, all believers are priests unto God, male or female. And while there are distinctions in the function of the New Testament church in terms of public ministry, the fact of the matter is the gifts and the function of priesthood are given to women as well as men in the body. And how grateful we are for the tremendous place that many, many of God's people, women have fulfilled, both in our lives, in our communities, in our local churches, and indeed on the mission field. Tremendous service rendered to God on the part of godly women.
And we're grateful for this kind of dimension to the New Testament priesthood in the ministry, both of men and of women. Some other contrasts. The Old Testament priesthood focused around an earthly sanctuary. Wherever the tabernacle was, And its facilities, in terms of the altar and the labor and all of this, that was the focal point of their priestly service. Whether it was in Shiloh or later in Jerusalem. The New Testament priesthood is not centered upon an earthly sanctuary. The New Testament priesthood is person-centered. It is centered in the person of Christ, our great high priest.
And thus the priesthood of the New Testament is fulfilled anywhere and everywhere that believers are. For our Lord Jesus has promised, I will never leave you or forsake you. And everywhere you may find yourself as an individual or as a small group or as a large group of believers, the Lord Jesus in his faithful presence with us as our great high priest makes our priestly function valid and official. Another contrast is the contrast of the veil. How much emphasis upon that massive veil in the old order that hung in the tabernacle in between the holy place and the holiest of all.
The veil. Beyond which no one but the high priest ever dared to go, and he only once a year and that with a very careful preparation in sacrifice and personal consecration. Very few priests out of the total number that have lived down through the century ever had the privilege of even seeing that veil, and only a handful in the whole history of the nation ever went through it. In contrast to that, in the New Testament, our priesthood is a priesthood of access. The veil has been torn from top to bottom, signifying access into the presence of God.
There is no restriction to New Testament priests. We have direct personal communion with God in the very holiest of all. There, of course, is the matter of sacrifice. And the Old Testament priest largely brought blood sacrifice, even though the meal offering did not involve blood. But it was a physical sacrifice. It was a tangible sacrifice. The New Testament priesthood, in contrast, is a priesthood with spiritual sacrifice. Offering up, the writer of the Hebrews says, spiritual sacrifice. And again, I would like to just throw out the challenge.
If you have never studied from the New Testament. And simple concordance study will help you. The different kinds of sacrifices that the New Testament priesthood brings. You surely ought to do that. Because unless you have done that, you may find that your priesthood is indeed very limited. As a priest, you ought to know what kind of sacrifices you ought to be bringing. It's basic to the function of priesthood. But our sacrifices are spiritual sacrifices. in contrast to the blood sacrifice and the physical sacrifice of the Levitical priesthood. There are many similarities, of course, and those similarities revolve around such things as they brought gifts and offerings.
The New Testament priesthood offers gifts and offerings. The Old Testament priest was characterized by the Ministry of Intercession. the New Testament priests should be characterized by the ministry of intercession. The Old Testament priests were teachers of the nation. New Testament priests are teachers of the truth of God. The Old Testament priesthood was a shepherding ministry. The New Testament priesthood must be a shepherding ministry. And so there are some great similarities as well as contrast in the function of priesthood as we see the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament order.
But let's take a point of time now to summarize the characteristics of New Testament priesthood. In reading from Hebrews chapter ten, we have read only a portion of all that will be included. We'll give you some quick references if you're taking notes, because we'd like to quickly summarize the function of the characteristics of New Testament priesthood. First of all, it's personnel. It's personnel. As we said, in contrast to the Levitical ordinance, the personnel of the New Testament priesthood is that of all believers. And we refer to passages like that we read last night in First Peter, Chapter Two, where we find the categorical language You are a holy priesthood.
You are a royal priesthood. A categorical expression addressed to all believers. The personnel of the New Testament priesthood categorically includes all believers. It also includes, of course, our great high priest, the Lord Jesus. And you can't read through the epistles of the Hebrews without realizing... that this is one of the major themes in this choice New Testament book, to present to us the glorious person and position of our high priest. And as our brother was reminding us earlier in the ministry of the word, it is under his authority that we function, just as the fact that the Old Testament priesthood function under the authority of the Aaronic high priest.
So the New Testament priesthood functions under the authority of our great high priest. I wish we had time to draw some contrast there. For example, it would be interesting sometimes to filter through the Old Testament and see all of the things that pivoted around the death of the high priest. It's interesting that when a high priest died in ancient Israel, there was sort of a general fruit basket upset in many aspects of the life of the nation. Some dramatic things hinged upon the lifespan and particularly the point of death of the high priest in the old order. Now we don't worry about that.
Our great high priest ever lives to make intercession for us. And he is able to save to the uttermost all that will come unto God by him, seeing that he ever lives to make intercession for us. The church never goes through the upheaval that characterized the nation of Israel when their high priest died. Our great high priest lives in the power of an endless life, and death shall never again touch it. I am he who lives, he said to John. Oh, I was dead. But behold, I am alive, forevermore. Marvelous in our priesthood to function under the authority and the blessing and the leadership of a great high priest who lives in the power of an endless life.
What a privilege. And so the personnel of New Testament priesthood includes all believers, true believers as priests, functioning under the awesome reality of the person and the power and the position of the great high priest. Jesus Christ the Lord the New Testament priesthood is interesting with regard to its privilege its privilege we read here in the scriptures verse twenty two let us draw near draw near now if you go back into previous chapters you will find that again one of the emphases that the writer of the Hebrews makes is that in the old order people were kept at a distance and even for the priests that veil kept them at a distance even the high priest could not go through that veil except for that once a year occasion and that was very careful preparation the constant reminder that access to God was not a free and
easy thing however The privilege of New Testament priesthood is the privilege of drawing near. Let us draw near, the writer says, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. I wish it were possible for us, for me, to adequately embellish this glorious truth. I wonder, fellow believer, if we come anywhere near appreciating the great privilege of nearness to God that we have. If you look at the world's great religions, there's always a distance, always a distance.
It may be the clergy laity, it may be the whatever it is of the various great religions of the world, people groveling before their idols or whatever it may be, the element of distance and fear is always there. It is only in Christ that we truly draw near to the living God. And it is not a matter of presumption. It is a matter of invitation. Let us draw near. And I tell you tonight, friend, if you are not near to the heart of God, you're missing something wonderful.
Because you could be. Let us draw near. The great privilege of priesthood. Remember what happened to Israel? The Lord said, I brought you to me. You'll be a nation in the kingdom of priests. Ah, yes, all that the Lord said we will do, they responded. And then God began to speak. And what happened? They fled. They ran in terror. Couldn't see him for death. Moses, you'll be the priest. What a tragic, tragic day it was for the nation. Think of the privilege of being near to God. Think of the privilege that Moses had in the mouth to enjoy the presence of God and come down with his face literally radiant from the presence of God.
The nation never realized that. They never experienced that. They were always far away. But Paul says, we all, with an unveiled faith, can behold and reflect the glory of God and how few of the Lord's people ever do. But the privilege is ours nonetheless, because the privilege of priesthood is to draw near. It's position. And if you look at Hebrews chapter nine as well as chapter ten, nineteen, you find that the position of New Testament priests is in the holiest of all.
In the ancient order, except for a few moments every year, the holiest of all was a pretty lonely place. It was a room in the tabernacle or later in the temple, and sitting in the middle of that room was the Ark of the Covenant, and no one and nothing else but the glory presence of God. In the New Testament priesthood, We all have the privilege, as he says in verse nineteen. We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. In the New Testament priesthood, the holiest of all ought to be a crowded place.
I wonder sometime if it is to tell you the truth. We spend so little time in communion with God. Oh, we sit and piously sing, oh, the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spend. And I wonder how many of us even can remember when we've spent a single hour in prayer. But nevertheless, the invitation is there. The position of New Testament priesthood, the reality of that is the invitation to draw near to the very holiest of all and the very glory presence of God. Tremendous reality. Tremendous.
The purpose of priesthood. The purpose of the New Testament priesthood, as we see in First Peter II, Godward, is to offer up spiritual sacrifice. The purpose of New Testament priesthood, according to First Peter II, manward, is to proclaim and to show forth the excellencies of our great high priest. For always, priesthood has these two dimensions. It's Godward dimension and it's manward dimension. And so the purpose of New Testament priests is to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God and to show forth, to manifest and to proclaim the excellencies of our great high priest to men.
It's power. We could talk about that and go to our Lord's references in John where he spoke, speaking of the Spirit, of that source of his dynamic springing up within. We could talk about the practice of priesthood from Hebrews chapter thirteen, where we see audible praise to God and visible good to men. Notice that, if you will, very carefully in Hebrews thirteen, verse fifteen. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. Okay? There is the Godward aspect of the practice of priesthood. But don't stop there because the writer of the Hebrews does it.
And there is a conjunction at the beginning of verse sixteen. And so don't have a lopsided priesthood. It is not only a Godward ministry, it also involves do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. And so there is the Godward and the manward aspect of our practice. And then finally, and this is a glorious one, our portion. You know, the Old Testament priests had their portion, which meant they got something out of it. Of course, there were the tithes and the offerings of the people that came to sustain the priesthood, while they gave their full time to the service of priestly function.
And even the sacrifices, certain portions of the meat, from certain sacrifices were given to the priest as food for themselves and their family. There was always the priest's portion, even in the meal offering. The priests, when they went home at night, would take home a sack of flour or grain with them that came out of the priest's portion from the meal offering. There was always the priest's portion because, of course, they were human beings and they were needy people like you and I. Now, what is our portion? What is our portion? Again, it would be a very good study in the New Testament to analyze what is said about the priest's portion.
But let me just turn your attention to one scripture in conclusion, and that is Ephesians chapter five, where we see the apostle saying, Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. What is the portion of the New Testament priest? Christ. If someone asks you, what do you get out of this business of being a New Testament priest? The sure answer is Christ. Christ. He is our portion. He offered himself for us.
It was voluntary. It was valuable. And it was vicarious. And we as New Testament priests have as our portion, Christ. And by the way, if you don't have him, you don't have life. Brother Scripture says, He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. And so this matter of the priest portion is not just an incidental thing. It is fundamental to all of the revelation of God. And I would like to ask you tonight, every one of you, do you have Christ?
I didn't say do you have a profession? Do you have religious motions in your life? Do you have a record of meeting attendance? Do you have the right language when you pray? I didn't ask all of those things. I asked, do you have Christ? That's what counts. And that is the portion of New Testament priests. Christ. Because he offered himself up for us. And of all of the dimensions of priesthood that we must understand. We must understand because we are needy people that there is that bedrock issue of priesthood.
Which we must be certain of in our heart and conscience. The priest's portion is Christ. And if you don't have him, friend, whatever you have doesn't mean a hill of beans. You must have Christ to have anything of spiritual or of eternal value. He is our portion. Or as David said, he is my life and my salvation. But a tremendous confession I hope that is yours this evening. It can be. Because Christ still offers himself as Savior to all who will receive him.
And you can have Christ tonight. You can be a New Testament priest under his glorious high priestly authority tonight. Bless God, the door is still open. The offer is still there. He who has the Son. has lust. I trust he is your portion.