An Interceding High Priest

In this series concerning our great high priest, and we've only touched on it, dealt with it briefly, but what we've dealt with is very, very important, very essential that we look at. And I want to exhort you here tonight in part five of this series, concerning Jesus Christ being our great high priest, but we're going to read from Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 21. For those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord swear and will not repent.

Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. And I want you to see the next sentence that I'm going to read in the latter part of verse 25, because it's from this verse that I'm taking my title tonight.

Our title in part five is an interceding high priest. Look at the end of verse 25. He is able to save to the uttermost that come unto God by him.

And this is the verse, seeing he ever loveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Please pray with me.

Father, we come by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ. The blood is mighty. It avails here tonight for every single person who has faith in it.

Lord God, we come to the blood of sprinkling tonight. We come to our great high priest. We come to innumerable angels gathered in the presence of God.

We come to the throne of grace boldly. And my God, we come by way of the truth of God that teaches us, that challenges us, that exhorts us to come boldly unto your throne of grace. And Father, I pray tonight.

Lord God, will you quicken, will you stir every member of this body, even those not here tonight. Father, will you encourage them? Will you strengthen them by knowing that in the very presence of our God, there is one who stands as a memorial, as a testimony, as a witness, ever make an intercession for us as a people, as individuals concerning specific situations in our life. And Lord God, we're asking of you, open a greater revelation of this great Melchizedek that abides within the veil for us.

The one who was our high priest laying down his body at Calvary, but who now abides in the presence of God. Lord God, within the veil. Lord God, ever praying for us, interceding, standing on our behalf, representing us and watching over us.

Lord God, encourage the saints of God tonight. Bring breakthroughs in this room tonight. Bring deliverance from the hand of Satan.

Lord God, sanctify us by the word of God. Lord God, wash us from every defilement. And Lord God, make us real.

Lord God, by the truth of God. Father, we are asking, unite us tonight. Make us one by the spirit of God.

Unify us, O God, and use us to reach many others. And Lord God, to one day be glorified in your very presence. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Praise God. My message, an interceding high priest.

We began to look in these five brief messages, this being the fifth one. We looked at Christ being a merciful high priest. That's vital.

You've got to know his heart is moved with compassion. His heart is a heart of mercy. If your high priest isn't merciful, you're going to be in serious trouble.

Second of all, we looked at him being a faithful high priest. He is faithful even when you're not faithful. He abides.

He is consistent. He never changes. He never alters his persistence.

Third of all, we've seen he is an everlasting high priest. In other words, he doesn't change. He doesn't die.

This doesn't fade away. It doesn't have ebbs and flows depending on what's happened in our world. Our high priest abides in his ministry on our behalf saying, I'm merciful.

I am faithful unto you. It never changes. It cannot change because he never dies.

He never will die. Then the last time we looked at the whole place that he was a sacrificial or a sacrificing high priest. We said there's two great callings on a high priest or priesthood in totality.

They offer sacrifices and then they stand and make intercession or minister on behalf of those that they stand for. And so last time and this time I'm dealing with the ministry of our high priest. The last time we seen clearly he offered up one sacrifice for sin never to be repeated.

His blood was shed and through that blood he entered into the holy place, the dwelling place of God. And he stands there and abides there. It's through blood, through the sacrifice of Calvary.

Never separate the work of the cross from his present high priestly ministry in heaven. You must never do that. But now tonight I want to take you further to this ministry that he now abides in and he performs right in the presence of God.

And that's why in part five I'm calling this an interceding high priest. He's not only a sacrificing high priest. He is an interceding high priest.

Look again with me here at Hebrews chapter 7 at our text, verse 25. It says, Wherefore he, that is Jesus, our high priest, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost or to the furthest worst extent. This Christ is able to save them.

He's talking about certain people, you and I, to the uttermost, the furthest boundary. You know, I grew up in a generation of preachers that used to preach regularly saying, Jesus saves from the gutter most to the uttermost. That's what they said.

The absolute extremes of this world. He'll save anybody, anybody who will come unto him. He'll deliver them.

And so it says that here he'll save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. I don't care what your past is. I don't care what your sin is.

I don't care what your defilement is. I don't care what your hands have been stained by. I know a great high priest that if you come on to him, he will save you to the uttermost.

There's nothing he can't do in your life tonight. There's no area in your life that he can't break, redeem, change, sanctify, rectify, seize a mighty high priest. If you come on to him, he is such an extraordinary high priest.

He will save you. He'll save you to the outer boundaries of this walk. Then it says seeing or because of this reason.

Why is it that if you come on to Christ, he'll save you? There's nothing that he cannot do in your life if you'll ask him. If you believe him, if you trust him, if you receive his word, there's nothing impossible for him in your body, in your soul, in your spirit. He'll save you to the uttermost.

He'll save you to the furthest extent. He'll save you to every area of your life. He'll deliver you in every situation of life.

Why would he do that? Why is it now for 2,000 years, right now, Jesus Christ, our great high priest, will save you in every single area? Why is that? Well, it gives you the answer here in verse 25. Seeing or because of this, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Do you realize nothing is impossible in your life? There's nothing that cannot be touched and changed and rectified.

Do you know why? Because right now, not just that he died for you, not just that he shed his blood, not just that he laid down his body at Calvary, but more than that, for this reason, because now he liveth to make intercession for them. Those who come unto Jesus, who've been born again, saved. There's no limitation on what he can do in your life.

You know why? Because he's interceding for you. This word interceding is very important. After Christ sacrificed himself on the cross and then ascended unto the Father, what's he been doing for 2,000 years? We've already mentioned this, but we're going to look at it further.

Now he makes intercession for you. Are you born again? Are you saved? Are you a Christian? Then Jesus Christ is interceding for you. Listen to what it says in Romans 8, verse 34.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ who died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. Now notice what it says, who also maketh intercession for us. So in Hebrews 7 and again in Romans chapter 8, these two times it says now Christ makes intercession for us.

What is Christ doing now? He's not dying again. He's not constantly offering up sacrifices. He made one sacrifice for sin, never to be repeated.

Calvary was a unique, utterly finished act by our great high priest. But what is he doing now? He is making intercession. This word intercession used in both of these verses.

Listen to what it means because it begins to help you understand. What does it mean that Christ is your interceding high priest or that right now he is interceding for you? What does that mean? What does that look like? And I hope tonight I want to show you something of what it means that Christ is interceding for you. You know what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1, and we've dealt with this, wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.

The word to consider means to gaze up, to exercise your mind, to fix your eye, to stare up until you study everything concerning Christ. Consider Jesus Christ as your high priest. In other words, you're to fix your eyes on Jesus.

You're to study Jesus. You're to activate your mind and study him as your great high priest. You're to investigate everything that means that he's your high priest.

Do not take your eyes off him. Study it thoroughly. Study it carefully.

Come to an understanding of it. Begin to perceive. Begin to discover.

Begin to behold. When you look by faith at Christ, see him as your high priest. He's merciful.

He is faithful. He is everlasting. He is a high priest who sacrificed himself upon the cross.

This is dynamic things. We're commanded, consider him who has passed into the heaven, passed through the heavenly realms in a one-off act of ascending unto the father. Like on the day of atonement, he entered into the holy place.

Or listen again, it says in Hebrews 4.14, seeing that we have a great high priest. Don't rush over these words. See, this is what meditation is.

Little words like have. We have a high priest. You read over that and you go, yes, yes, he's a high priest.

No, it said we have. That little word have. I'm exhorting you these days, stop at the small words and think on them.

Study the little words. Remember, like one another. Remember that whole sermon, one another, we done on the Sundays.

I preached a whole sermon and I was only getting going, only getting warmed up on one little connecting Greek word that's very, very important. Well, here's another. It says that we have a great high priest.

The word have means ownership, possession, to have in the hand or to be in relation to, to possess him in this ministry. When it says we have a high priest, it means you possess this. You ought to own it.

You ought to make it your own. You ought to grasp a hold of it. There ought to be a sense of this belongs to me.

This is my inheritance through the work of the cross. You possess him now as your personal high priest. What he is is a high priest.

He is your high priest. He is personal to you. He is a sacrifice and high priest for you.

He's merciful for you. He is faithful unto you. Since tonight, I want to make this very, very personal.

You've got to prove that he is your high priest. It's got to be revealed to you. You've got to understand it, comprehend it, be encouraged by it, be strengthened by this revelation.

And so it says he's an interceding high priest. I want you to consider this tonight. I want you to understand that he's interceding for you, not just the church generally, for you as an individual.

Jesus Christ, who you possess as a high priest, is interceding for you right this moment. He is God. He is the eternal God.

You know, can you imagine all the millions of prayers that are ascending out of this earth from 8 billion people? Can you understand who our God is? That he instantly, every day, hears multiplied millions of prayers as they're being said. And he has personal interest, care. He is listening to you about your prayer.

But multiplied millions of prayers constantly ascending all over this world. And he's hearing them. Can I tell you another thing? That Jesus Christ, as your great high priest, don't restrict this and say, how can he pray for all of us? See, a number of yous in this church were raised in Catholicism.

That was your background, your history, your ancestry. Do you know what they started doing in the Catholic church? If you pay a big bit of money to have a candle lit for prayer to go up for your dead granny, granddad, mother, father, wife, husband or child. You pay money and a candle gets lit in the church.

And they promise, we're going to be praying for your loved one, that they get out of hell, get out of purgatory. That's what they say. If you look at how many candles are burning, don't tell me that old, cold-hearted, ignorant priest is praying for your loved one with tears, brokenness, compassion, faithfulness, earnestness and interest in caring you daylight.

Don't tell me that. See, that's what Limerick was dominated by. All these priests, you know what they've done? They moved it away from their prayers, praying for your dead loved one to a little candle.

Pay the money. We light the candle. We keep the candle sitting there.

And that represents all the prayers going up for you. No hypocrite has been praying for your loved one. That little candle, it's an absolute game of religion.

But let me contrast that with our Lord Jesus Christ. He is not such a one. We have such a high priest.

He is praying for us all, not just you, all of you. That would be a burden enough. It's enough for me to pray for you week in, week out.

But listen to me, we've got a high priest who watches every single born again Christian in this world, millions upon millions, and he's constantly praying. He's constantly interceding. This word intercede, and this is what it means in the Greek.

It means to go to a specific place with a specific purpose to a specific person, making a specific request, asking something, or inquiring of someone for someone something. There's nothing vague about this. All the persons, all the actions, all the words are very, very exact.

It means meeting with someone with the purpose of making an exact request. You go there to make that request, asking something of them. Let me tell you what the Greek word in ancient days actually meant.

It usually spoke of someone who was going to a king to make a request that only he could answer. That's what this word intercede, how it was used 2000 years ago. You go to the king, he's got the power.

He's got the influence. He's got the provision. He's got the wisdom.

He's got the people. He's got everything. You're a nobody, but you go to the king on behalf of someone else, on behalf of a loved one, someone you love, a family member or a work colleague or someone you know, and you go to the king and you begin to plead with the king.

You bring an issue, you bring a person, and you stand before him and lay out that cause and the hope and the desire with faith and expectation that this king is gonna listen to you and answer and respond on behalf of that person. It's not the person coming, it's you coming on behalf of that person. And so the Bible says that Jesus as our high priest is our intercessor or he makes intercession for you and I. What does it mean? He goes on to God the father deliberately to a specific place with specific requests about specific people, you, you in this room as individuals.

It's not a vague thing. It's very, very specific. And so in part four, we saw that Christ not only offered up one sacrifice, he become the sacrifice, the lamb of God.

But here tonight, we're gonna see that Christ didn't only offer up intercession or make prayers for you. He became the intercessor. Do you know, it's one thing for a person to say, I'm praying for you.

Thank God for all the people who pray. Thank God. But there are certain people in the church who take on a burden of prayer.

They make prayer lists. They commit their life and their time. I have known them, many of them.

What scares me is so many of them died. I knew those old praying ladies in the church that prayed incessantly from morning to night, year in, year out. They had lists of preachers and pastors and Christians and nephews and cousins.

And they incessantly, daily, weekly made intercession. That's different from someone making the occasional prayer. Give me intercessors in the body of Christ.

I mean, someone who doesn't just intercede once or twice. But I mean, someone who becomes the intercessor. They become the absolute embodiment of their prayer life.

That's what Christ was. They didn't just pray for you occasionally. He become an intercessor to carry the complete, constant burden for your life from the day you believe until the day you depart this earth.

He is carrying constantly. Don't you want an intercessor like that? Not merely someone who occasionally prays for you when you need it or you're in difficulty. But imagine someone, a man in the presence of God who carries you, so carries you, is so conscious of you.

He never, ever stops praying for you or representing you before God the Father. What does he do there? On the basis of the blood, the finished work of the cross, he pleads the merits of his sacrifice. See, I do believe in pleading the blood of Jesus.

I don't mean what some people mean. You see, when I plead the blood, I stand before God and I tell him or I tell the devil, I plead the blood. You know what the word plead mean? It's a plea.

I plea the virtue of the blood. I come into the presence of God by the blood alone, only by the blood am I redeemed. That's all my salvation.

That's all my victory. Do you know what Christ is doing now? He is pleading the merits, the provisions, the work, the power of the blood and the sacrifice of his body. As a priest, he laid down his body.

He shed his blood. Now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, do you know what he's doing? He is pleading the full work of Calvary, that it will be continued, that it'll be applied in your life. His prayers are for the application of the provision of the cross, that everything that was purchased for you shall be applied to you.

I've got three things I wanna state here concerning an interceding high priest to help you consider him as your interceding priest, the one praying for you, the one standing on your behalf, the one who actually has gone to the Father with specific requests concerning you as a specific person. And he stands there representing you as an intercessor, making intercession. Number one here tonight, the place of intercession, the place of intercession.

2,000 years ago, just outside a city called Jerusalem, at the place called the Mount of Olives, the Bible says at the beginning of the book of Acts that Christ ascended into heaven. Two angels were there. And as the disciples, more than 500 people gathered and looked up to heaven, watching him ascend until the clouds take him out of sight.

Two angels say, why stand you here gazing? They were given the command to return to the upper room and to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. But for 2,000 years, what has Christ been doing? Where is he physically? Is he just floating about as an embodied spirit? Is he here? Is he here now? Is he in heaven? Where is he? Or is he everywhere? Where is Christ now? It says in Hebrews chapter eight, and this, if you read Hebrews closely, it begins to open up and show you where this ministry of the intercessor takes place. It gives you a clear vision of it.

And we're gonna look at that. I just want you to note it. Hebrews chapter eight.

I feel like I'm going in the shallows again tonight. I just feel like we're paddling here because there's so much I'm trying to condense down. I need the grace of God because there's so much to give you here.

But we're just gonna take a little paddle. We'll come back and deal with it more, more thoroughly. Look at it more closely.

But I want you to see the place of intercession. Where is this taking place? Hebrews chapter eight, verse one. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum.

So for seven chapters, he has spoken, taught about your high priest and many other things, seven chapters. Then he gets to chapter eight, verse one. And he says, now of the things that we have spoken, this is the sum.

So he's going to the heart of it. What is all this teaching about his sacrifice, about Christ coming as a man? Why has he been teaching all of this? This is the sum of it. All of the letter of Hebrews.

What is the sum of it? What is the goal? What is the main focus? We have such a high priest. And notice what it says, where he is. Who is set on the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens.

Where is Jesus Christ as our high priest now? He is at the right hand of the throne of majesty in heaven. Jesus physically, literally is in heaven. He's in your heart by faith.

He dwells in your heart by faith. He's not there physically. He can't be in your heart physically.

He's not in your heart physically. Do you know what? In this church, he is here. But he's not here physically or you'd see him.

He's physically in heaven at the right hand of glory, majesty, and power. In other words, the right hand of God or God the father. That's where he is physically.

We read in Revelation chapter two and chapter three of the seven churches of Asia. Remember what it says? They're represented as golden candlesticks. Where does the golden candlestick originally come up? In the Old Testament, in the temple.

It was there. A golden candlestick was in the temple, was in the sanctuary, was in the holy place. Now, when you come to looking at the church, we read that Jesus walks up and down in the midst of the candlesticks.

He's not doing that physically. He is here tonight. Jesus Christ is walking in the midst of this church, but he's not here physically.

Physically, he's at the right hand of the father. But do you know what? That candlestick, like the Old Testament high priest, he goes around making sure it's burning, ministering in and around that realm of the golden candlestick. That's where the high priest is.

But when he goes in within the veil, do you know what that represents? It represents heaven. To be within the veil is not an experience down here that you experience. It is actually heaven.

Within the veil is a spiritual place at the very throne of God. Then notice what it says next in chapter 8 verse 2. It's speaking about your high priest who has entered into heaven. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man.

So do you see what this is comparing? It's then true sanctuary. What was the sanctuary? That's talking about the Old Testament tabernacle where the high priest ministered. Now, New Testament doctrine says Jesus Christ having entered heaven, he now ministers, serves.

He's not just sitting there with his arms folded. He is there ministering for you, to you. He is ministering.

Where is he? He is in the sanctuary or the true tabernacle. If that is the true tabernacle, what is the other tabernacle? That's the one on the earth that Moses dealt with, that Aaron dealt with. That's the tabernacle.

But here now he says in heaven, there's something called the true tabernacle. See, we never even consider this. We don't even think of this.

You don't even have Christians talking about this or pastors and preachers teaching on this. But in heaven, Christ now abides in the sanctuary. He is ministering in the sanctuary in heaven at the right hand of the father.

He is actually there ministering in the true tabernacle of God. The tabernacle down here that Moses built is only figurative. It is symbolic.

It was a type. It was a shadow. It was made after the pattern of the real sanctuary, the true sanctuary, the true tabernacle.

The true tabernacle has always been in heaven. The true sanctuary has always been in heaven. It was there way before there was an earth.

It was there before God said to Moses, make me a tabernacle. Or to David, build me a house as in the temple. Way before all of that, you had a sanctuary.

You had this tabernacle in heaven. And you know, when Christ ascended on high, he entered into it and he ministers there. But it says this true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

We're not talking about a human tabernacle on the earth. That's only a type, a picture, a shadow. All the high priests were types, pictures, shadows.

All the ministry of blood sacrifice, types, pictures, shadows. But now as the church, all of that was a teaching manual. The entire Old Testament, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers, all of these are mere teaching manuals about what we have, the real now, the eternal, the heavenly.

It's all a manual. It's all teaching every type, every shadow, every historic act in the Old Testament. It's an entire commentary on the New Testament to help you understand that.

And so we have here, Christ is entered in. Then this one says in Hebrews chapter eight, verse five, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. He talked about the natural ministry of the high priest and the tabernacle.

It's just a shadow of heavenly things. Aaron, the high priest was a shadow. The tabernacle was a shadow.

The golden candlestick was a shadow. The Ark of the Covenant was a shadow. It represents something.

Don't get all caught up in that. Don't go looking for the golden Ark of the Covenant. Do you think it's in Jerusalem? Do you think it's here? Do you think that movie was true about it? Raiders of the Lost Ark? It's not there.

All it was is a shadow. People are going, oh, that we could find it. No, no, no, no.

I have found the real Ark of the Covenant. I know where it is. Do you know where it is? I know where it is.

It's in heaven, in the sanctuary, in the tabernacle. And you can only get there through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so it says that all these natural earthly things were only to teach us.

They're only shadows. It was to help prepare us for something deep, spiritual, real. As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.

Then in chapter 9, verse 11, you find all these phrases through Hebrews, but we can easily miss them. Hebrews 9, verse 11. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle.

Do you see that there is a greater tabernacle than the one in the Old Testament? There is a more perfect tabernacle. There's a more perfect high priest. There's a perfect eternal high priest.

And that's functioning now. What was in the Old Testament as a shadow is happening now. The entirety of the tabernacle is happening spiritually now.

All the ministry of the high priest, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once to the holy place. Do you see how all these phrases, the holy place, the tabernacle, is speaking about a place where Christ is minister now. These are real biblical names in heaven for those realms where Christ is actually ministering.

He entered in and he's in that holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Then in Hebrews chapter 9, 24, for Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands. Then what holy place has he entered into? A spiritual one raised up by God within the veil that's in heaven.

Christ has entered into the holy place, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now, here's the sum total. I want you to hear this.

I've just explained this. I don't want to lose you. Don't want to make you to go to sleep here tonight.

Listen to me. From what I've just said, you can understand what the sanctuary means now where Christ is. Or the tabernacle or the holy of holies.

You don't even understand that. You don't understand what's happening. You can't even have faith concerning it.

You can't have perception and knowledge unless you go into the Old Testament and understand the sanctuary, the tabernacle, the high priest, the altar of incense. If you don't study that, you don't even know what Christ is doing now. You don't even know where he is.

You'll say, oh, he's in heaven. He's at the right hand of the father. And what about the holy place? What about the sanctuary? What about the tabernacle? Do you see how shallow we are? We don't even talk about these things in today's church.

Most of you haven't even heard what I've just said to you before. And it shows that we have such a shallow view. But you know what? That means nothing unless you go back and study and spend time and open up.

We're in an hour of illiterate preachers and Bible teachers in the church. They don't even study the Bible. God help the sheep, don't either.

And so we're in an age where they're ignorant. It's dreams, visions, impressions, preaching love, preaching unity. And they go, I could care less about a statement like the holy place.

It means nothing. It shows how ignorant they are. My second point.

The first was the place of intercession. So you can't even understand this unless we take a look in point two, back to the Old Testament and begin to understand what was the ministry of the high priest. And so point two, the type and the shadow of the ministry of our high priest in the Old Testament.

Listen carefully. I just want to quote, don't turn there. Leviticus chapter 16, verse 12.

See, if you go back and look, you'll begin to understand what's Christ doing now. So listen, these are scriptures we read over. We don't understand or we think we understand, but we don't apply them to Christ.

We forget they're a shadow. We look at them and go, that's very interesting for being in the temple. No, no, no.

It's a shadow. It's a teaching. It's a means of instruction and revelation.

Don't just read over it. Say, how does this reveal Christ? How does it apply? Listen to what says Leviticus 16, 12. And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord.

Notice what he's doing. This is your high priest. So he has a censer, a container, and he's standing before the altar of incense, the golden altar of incense, which is just before the veil that takes you into the holy place.

He is standing there before that golden altar with fire burning there, and he fills the censer full of burning coals. All of this is a picture. It represents something.

The censer full of burning coals from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands are full of incense. So he's got a censer filled with these burning coals. It's on fire, coals of fire from off the altar.

Then in his other hand, it says, are full of sweet incense beaten small. And he brings it within the veil. So he's got this censer full of burning coals.

He's got this hand filled with all of these sweet smelling incenses. And then he enters in. This is ministry.

This is what Christ is doing now. You need to understand this, or you don't even have an understanding of what your high priest is doing. And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord.

That the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat. So he's got the burning coals. What does he do with the incense? He puts it all on the burning coals.

And suddenly a cloud of incense arises right over the mercy seat, which is called the throne of God. All of this is a picture of the ministry of Christ. You don't get this taught anywhere else.

You've got to go into Leviticus. You've got to study Leviticus. It is a picture, a shadow, a type of the ministry of your great high priest.

What he was doing in the Old Testament, it has meaning for you and I now. And it says that this incense covers the entire mercy seat. And upon it, the testimony that he die not.

And he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward before the mercy seat. Shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. So let me show you what this means.

He's standing outside the curtain, the Holy of Holies, which represents heaven, his ministry in heaven. When he's this side of the curtain, he's the golden candlesticks there. That's the church.

That's his ministry to the church. There's a table of showbread that represents the ministry of God's word, feeding God's people. That's also outside the curtain.

And then there's this altar of incense burning with fire where incense actually gets offered. And you know what? That incense, it's offered before he goes in the veil. Then it's offered again within the veil.

So the incense being offered outside the veil and inside the veil represents something. It represents the earthly ministry of Christ and the heavenly ministry of Christ. It's all joined.

It's connected, but it's in two different and distinct places. Notice the high priest sprinkles the blood like we dealt with last time. He goes within the veil through the blood.

He sprinkles the blood. Remember what it says in Hebrews? When we come into the presence of God, we come onto the blood of sprinkling. There's a lot of preachers today, especially in reformed circles, they go, I don't believe the blood.

The blood, it's symbolic. No, it is not. No, it is not.

When I come into the presence of God, I approach the blood of sprinkling. It is God's blood. It is divine blood.

It is redeeming blood. Some say, oh, the blood just represents his death. That's only half of the truth.

It isn't. The death of Christ and the blood of Christ are two distinct things or else language means nothing. It doesn't mean a single thing to us.

And so this golden altar of incense is where he stands and ministers. He stands offering up this fragrance, but then he's going to move that ministry, that earthly ministry, right into heaven. That's what he's going to do.

When he goes within the veil, through the blood, he carries this incense ministry, which is intercession. We'll come to that, but I can't help run the head of myself. But this golden altar of incense represents prayer ministry, ascending.

It actually talks of when he's outside of Christ's ministry of prayer. When you read John chapter 17, we get a picture of his prayer life. When he's in the garden of Gethsemane, you have a picture of his prayer life.

All of that was as your great high priest. He was interceding for you. You know, in the garden of Gethsemane, it was for you.

He didn't die for himself. He didn't pray for himself. He said, oh, if I can but not take of this cup.

But he had a take of the cup. You know why? Your salvation absolutely rested upon it. But when the high priest enters within the veil, he goes within the curtain from that central position of where this altar of incense.

Don't get it mixed up with the blood sacrifice out there in the open where everyone can see it. That's a different altar. This altar is getting closer to the presence of God.

It's the last place before you go within the veil. It's a place of prayer, of intercession. It was made of a key of wood covered with gold.

It represented something of the humanity of Christ's prayer life as well as his divinity. So this entire message of his intercession, you've got Christ's humanity, him praying for you as a man, but him praying for you as God manifest in the flesh. On that brazen altar of prayer, the high priest applied the blood on the four corners.

There were four corners to it called horns. There were horns on that altar. You know what the old preachers, when I was growing up, you know what they said about prayer? They say prayer is laying hold of the horns of the altar.

Do you see the blood is everywhere? You can't even come to pray before God. You can't enter into the ministry of prayer unless it's by way of that blood. The blood has been put on the four horns.

In other words, you can't have a ministry of prayer unless it's by way of the blood. It's always the blood. It's always through the precious blood of the lamb.

That blood opens up a way of prayer for you to come before the throne of God. And so this incense, what does it represent? Let me just take you to the book of Revelation for a second. And you know these verses, but I'm putting them together.

Revelation chapter 8, verse 3. And again, you've got a vision from chapter 5 in Revelation of heaven, of the throne of God. Guess what else you see in the book of Revelation? You begin to see the real tabernacle of God. Listen carefully.

Chapter 8, verse 3. Another angel came and stood at the altar. This is in heaven. There's an angel of God comes and stands at the altar.

What altar is he talking about? Not that physical one on the earth. There's an altar in heaven. So it says the angel come and stood at the altar.

What is this altar? Having a golden censer like the Old Testament priest. He's got a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints.

Do you know who this angel is? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the new covenant. The word angel means a messenger. And at times Jesus, although he's not a winged angel, he's the divine son of God.

At times it calls him like in Malachi, calls him the messenger or the angel of the covenant. Certain times in the Old Testament, he was called the angel of the Lord. Not saying he's an angel, he's a messenger.

And so here in Revelation 8, we see this one coming and standing at the altar, having a golden censer in his hand filled with much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne of God. There is a golden altar before the throne of God. There's one standing there who actually takes all of this incense that's come out of his sacrifice on the cross that represents his prayers.

Do you know what he does with it? He mixes it with all of our prayers. Listen again. He takes that incense and he offers it with the prayers of all the saints.

Let me let you into a little secret here. Your prayer, I don't care how much you cry, how sincere it is, how pure, how eloquent, how doctrinally sound, how heartfelt, how persuasive. Your little prayer would not be acceptable if you didn't have a high priest, unless it was for the blood.

Do you see what Christ does? He takes the fragrance of his incense and he's ministering. And before your prayers reach your heavenly father, do you know what? He takes them. Oh, you think they're so perfect and you work so hard and you're so earnest.

You know, he looks at them and goes, uh-uh, that ain't going near my heavenly father. I need to work them over a bit. I need to add a bit of incense and fragrance and make them beautiful.

This is what it's like to have a high priest. Saints of God, I'm telling you of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is even perfecting your prayers because of his blood.

And he's standing there in this place of prayer. He takes your prayers and he makes sure they get through to the father. You're going, my prayer is so weak.

Oh, just let his hands upon it, saints of God. He can take your feeble, weak cry. You go, I don't even know how to pray.

Please help me, Lord. The Lord Jesus takes it, sanctifies it. He incenses it, makes it smell beautiful.

And he presents it to the father on your behalf. That happens to your prayers. Remember it on Friday night, please.

When you come in here, I want you to see your great high priest. I mean by eyes of faith, not in a vision. And I want you to be aware and believe this and consider this.

That my weak prayers are actually ascending up through the hands. The blood sacrifice of my redeemer. What a mighty thing.

What an extraordinary thing that we're dealing with. But it goes further here in Revelation 8 and 4. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. Do you see what I'm reading here? An angel took the censer and he filled it with fire off the altar and cast it onto the earth.

And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, an earthquake. Notice what's happening. Prayers are going through your great high priest to the throne of God.

Your great high priest, this is a part of his ministry. All your prayers are going through him. It's a picture of the Old Testament.

He is ministering in prayer or incense both in your behalf and for the Father. And as he does that, look what happens. Notice the knock-on effect of this.

As the prayers go to the Father, they're made sweet and fragrant and acceptable to God the Father. What's the knock-on effect? He then takes a censer, fills it with fire from off the altar, and casts it on the earth. That's answered prayer.

Saints of God, I want to tell you the same great high priest is there. He's not only giving your prayers to the Father or making them acceptable, he is also there mediating the answers. Do you remember that in the Old Testament what happened to Isaiah? There he is in the presence of God, and he has an open vision, and an angel takes a coal from off the altar.

Which altar? Not the blood altar, the altar of incense. One coal, an angel messenger takes one burning hot coal, and it's not kept in heaven. This is in heaven.

This angel messenger comes to Isaiah and touches his lips. Now I want to tell you if it was a physical literal coal, his lips would have been burnt, never usable again. But it's talking about something spiritual here.

Why do you think that coal of fire? Because prayers ascended to heaven, because prayers went up. This is God's answer to Isaiah, cleansing his lips, purifying him, making him ready for a worldwide ministry, for a national ministry to prophesy the Word of God. And so when we look at Hebrews and Revelation, you begin to get this picture of a heavenly ministry.

You've got to go into Leviticus to begin to have it open up and understand it. Join Leviticus to Hebrews to Revelation, and you begin to see the present intercession and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as your great high priest. Let me finish here with this third and final point, and I'm jumping over a lot.

As well Hannah's in here, she'll be shouting at me. Down that camera, she's probably shouting right now. But point three as I close, the specific prayers of our high priest.

See, I don't want you to leave here thinking this is just a general for somebody else. Even if you're the weakest saint here, I want you to realize there's specific prayers. I want to prove it.

I actually want you to know the content of those prayers. What is Jesus praying for you? What is he praying for this church? What is he praying for the church worldwide? See, we have a glimpse in John chapter 17 as we close. Here's one other thing about the high priest in the Old Testament.

He wore a breastplate. Sometimes called a breastplate in Exodus 28, a breastplate of judgment. He wore a breastplate in his high priestly ministry.

On that breastplate were 12 different stones, beautiful gems, beautiful rubies, beautiful stones. On each one of those stones was written the name of one of the 12 sons of Jacob or of Israel or of the tribes of Israel. You had four rows of three stones on his breastplate.

So as the high priest went into minister, he's wearing this breastplate. And on the breastplate are the names of all the 12 tribes. The complete people of God are on there represented by each stone.

Each stone, their name is engraved upon it. Each of them has a stone that identifies the entire tribe. And as he goes into minister, he is bearing that.

Every time he looks at it, he goes, that's the 12 tribes of Israel. I'm the high priest. I am ministering within the veil.

I am going there representing the 12 tribes, the entire people of God. You know what that represents? Jesus Christ within the veil. He carries you on his breast.

You're eternally before him. He represents you. He carries you in his bosom.

And as he goes to that ministry, your name is written. Your name is inscribed. Your name is known by him.

Let me close here with John chapter 17. This was his ministry as high priest on the earth. But now that he's entered within the veil, don't think the prayers have changed.

The ministry or the representation. I'm not going to deal with all of John 17. But I just want you to note some of the highlights.

Read John chapter 17 yourself. Because when you do, it gets very specific. What is he praying? What is he praying for you right now? Number one, that you be kept.

That you be kept. And I'm jumping over a lot of this prayer. But let me just point out a few brief things.

He says in verse 12, while I was with them in the world, and this is Christ praying the night of his betrayal. The next day he's going to be crucified. So this was before the sacrifice of his body.

This is his high priestly ministry prayer. He is the high priest in John 17. But he hasn't entered within the veil yet.

He hasn't offered the sacrifice yet. This is prayers. But these prayers are going to continue afterwards through the blood.

And so it says here, when I was with them in the world, I kept them. Notice that word kept. This is a part of Christ's intercession.

His prayers for you by name. The burden that he carries. What is he praying about to the father? Remember, he's gone there to a certain place with certain requests.

What is he requesting concerning you? While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept. And none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

And now come I unto thee. And these things I speak in the world. Or let me just jump down here.

Verse 15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. The word kept that he uses several times in this chapter.

It means to be cordoned off, garrisoned, to have a wall built around you. So Jesus is saying, I'm praying, Father. I kept them when I was with them.

When I was with the 12. Remember how he kept them? Don't touch them. Take me.

And none of them was lost. I think if they were taken that night, he may have lost some. So he said, in order not to lose any.

I said, don't take them. Take me. That isn't a theology.

It's a practical reality of the high priest. Do you know you would have fallen away times without number so far? Times without number. Temptation would have been too much.

The devil, your flesh. Do you know the only reason you're still here? Because of his prayers, his intercession. He says, no, no, leave them.

This trial's too hard for them now. They'll later have to die as martyrs. But see the night.

Take me. Let me be the lamb led to the slaughter. Let them go.

And so he didn't lose any. The trial would have been too hard. There's some trials would be too hard for you now.

He didn't just throw you into everything. He carefully guards you. He keeps you.

He builds a wall around you. You know what he's praying to the father? Keep them. Garrison them.

Guard them. And you know what? It's in the midst of this world, in your lifetime. But notice he says, keep them from the evil or the evil one.

Do you know Christ is praying for you to be kept from the devil? Temptations, arrows, onslaught. Do you remember what we dealt with in Luke 22, 31? And the Lord Jesus said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you. The word you there is plural.

It means all 12. Satan has desired to have all of you. He's telling Simon that he may sift all of you as sweet.

It's a plural word. You is plural. Then this is what he says.

But I have prayed for thee personally, Peter. Do you see how personal this is? I am praying for you. Satan's coming to sift you all.

Satan has asked for you all. But I prayed for you, Peter, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

And he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crew this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. Don't you know your high priest knows you? I would die for you.

I would love to be a martyr. I'd stand against the new world order. Really? Your great high priest knows you.

And he says, let me tell you something. You're going to be kept by my purse. I've prayed for you that your faith doesn't fail.

I believe your high priest right now is praying for you to be kept from the devil, kept from the world, kept from everything. His prayers are effectual. There's another thing it has here, to be sanctified.

He's praying concerning your sanctification. Not only that you're kept and protected, but that you're sanctified. Look at verse 17.

He's praying this. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth.

Jesus Christ is praying for you right now. Not only that you're kept, but that you're sanctified. The word sanctify means made holy, made sure that you'll live right.

And he's praying how that is going to be done. Sanctify them through thy truth. So he's praying a very specific way.

Father, I'm praying for Paul, for Dan, for Jordan, for all of you, for Ellen, for Karen, for Bridget. I am praying that they are sanctified, made holy by the word of God. That's how important God's word is.

The preaching of it sanctifies you. The reading of it sanctifies you. The memorizing and meditating upon it, it sanctifies you.

If you neglect this book, why are Christ's prayers not being answered in you? You see, your sanctification is important. He's not only praying that you be guarded, but that you be sanctified. Then it says in verse 19, and for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Saints of God, one of the great ministries of Christ for you now personally is your sanctification. You're wrestling over your sanctification. You're wrestling with sin.

I promise you, I can prophesy every single one of you in this room is facing issues of sin. If you haven't today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe the next day, they'll be an issue. And you know what he's praying? He's praying for you to be sanctified, made holy, kept pure, to come out from the world.

And how does he do it? By the word of God. The word of God sanctifies you. You know what that means? You're being conformed.

I'm going to obey the word of God. The Bible tells me to do this. I'm going to do that.

Come out from among them. Be separate. That's a command.

The word of God comes to me. Oh, it makes me holy. He is praying.

Oh God, give them victory. Make them to obey the word of God. There's a third area, and there's a lot in here.

You know, some 19 times in this one chapter, it mentions the word world. In other words, these prayers are for your time here in this world. This entire prayer ministry is dominated, the number one word used, world, by Christ in his prayer to the Father.

In other words, there's a danger in this world. He needs to pray for you while you're yet in this world. There's seven times, he says in this prayer, that you have been given to him by the Father.

Seven times. Isn't that interesting? The Father has given you to your high priest, entrusted you to him saying, keep them, sanctify them. And you know, in this chapter, there's so much doctrine, so much teaching.

I'm almost tempted to go through every verse and expound it. It talks even praise concerning your joy in this world. He is praying concerning your joy.

He's praying concerning those that hate you because you've received the word of God. He's praying concerning the love that's shown between father and son to be manifest and revealed to you. He's praying, now I'm on a roll, okay? Then he's praying here concerning our unity, that they may be one as we are one.

He's praying about all of these things. It's a remarkable thing. And you know how he starts this prayer? He says, my work on the earth is finished.

Calvary, the cross, the blood, my sacrifice, it's finished. Then he prays this prayer and he talks about the glory of God five times in this. But let me finish on this, future glory.

He's not only praying for your guarding and your sanctification, but for your glorification. He is actually praying for it. It says in verse 24, father, I will that they also who now has given me, be with me where I am.

Where is he? Heaven. And he's not talking about spiritually being there through prayer, because you'd be far too sporadic. I want to tell you, you visit there far too little.

You don't press in enough. But he is praying that you'll be there. With him where he is, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.

Where Christ is now with his father has gone right back to what he had with the father before creation. And you know what he's praying for you? That you will come and be there and see his glory. Now you see through a glass darkly.

Now you've got to live by faith. Now you need to walk by faith and see by faith. But he is praying, oh, that they can come and be with me.

What about those who have already gone on? It's been answered. They made it. They got there.

Do you know what they're doing right now? Beholding his glory, enjoying his presence, enjoying that beautiful unity. Since there's so much more with us, but I hope tonight you're beginning to understand the high priestly prayer ministry of Jesus Christ on your behalf. Every time you utter a prayer, those prayers are going straight to your high priest who mixes them with a sweet fragrance of incense to perfect them.

He perfects your prayers. He makes them acceptable to God the father. Your best prayer would never reach God the father, be acceptable.

But through your high priest, they become acceptable, answerable all because of Christ. If you ever get one prayer answered, it wasn't because all your fasting and all your effort and all your sincerity is because of Christ, your great high priest. But I want to tell you, he's praying for you.

He is praying when the devil comes. He's praying when you're wrestling against sin. Saints get the victory over sin because this Christ sees your sin.

Sees your struggle. He knows what it is. He's praying.

He doesn't want you in defeat. And it says at the end of chapter 16, he has got the victory over this world. He is overcome.

He is triumphant. He is victorious. And now he's praying for you that you also get the victory.

Will you stand with me? Let's pray. Hallelujah. Thank you, God.

Father, thank you for the revelation of your word that Jesus gave us these words to sanctify us, to encourage us, to edify us, to build us up. And tonight, oh God, we pray for this message to be sent to many others that will edify them and will encourage them. We know there's many believers sitting scattered in many nations.

Nor, God, they have no church, no brother, no sister. Nor, God, no preacher to watch over their soul. But thank God they do have a great high priest who watches over them as scattered sheep.

Father, I pray that you'd make us all, oh God, vitally aware that we have a great high priest tonight. We've got one who avails at the throne of God. We've got a perfect high priest that stands there on our behalf, bearing us before the Father, representing us.

He's our mediator. He is our intercessor. He is our advocate before the Father.

And, Lord, God, we pray tonight, deliver us from the evil one. Save us from the hand of our enemies. Sanctify us by the word of God, by your truth, oh God.

Sanctify us, purify us, make us real, make us honest, make us genuine, make us holy in this world. And, my God, we're longing that we get the victory and one day attain unto seeing your glory. My God, you have already prayed for our glorification.

Nor, God, not only our sanctification in this world, but our glorification, our perfection, our completeness in the world to come. We give you all the glory. We praise you.

We adore you. We worship you, our great high priest. We're considering you tonight.

Nor, God, bless your saints tonight. Set them free, oh God. Make them to overcome, knowing that sweet fellowship of their most high God.

We worship you, Lord Jesus, within the veil. Oh, bring us within the veil. Thank you that you've anchored our soul to our great high priest within the veil.

My God, thank you. We've got an anchor for the soul and it's our great high priest. We worship you, made a high priest by an oath forever, unchangeable, never slumbering or sleeping.

Blessed be your name. Hallelujah.