Great Themes No.3 Jesus Christ in Heaven

Well, this evening we're going to read from Hebrews, and I just want to whet your appetite for a little bit of study from this epistle. So let's take some verses from the end of the seventh chapter and the 23rd verse. Now there were many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.

But Jesus, but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need.

It's a lovely expression. Such a high priest meets the need of people like ourselves. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Unlike the other priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all, when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the oath which came after the law appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Now the ninth chapter and the 23rd verse. The theme is more or less the same. What Jesus has achieved over against any other priest.

It was necessary then for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year, with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself, just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

The first song we're going to sing is, it tells of how the Lord is our Good Shepherd, and he leads and guides us in all our lives, and the second song tells of how much we should thank him for, for how much he's done for us. I am the Good Shepherd, I give my life for the sheep. All who come before me, I'll not concert, the safety of my flock to keep.

I am the Good Shepherd, I know my sheep well, and although they wander, causing me concern, my love remains the same. Other sheep have I, not amongst this fold. I must bring them all, so they will hear my voice and will my love behold.

Other sheep have I, though they are not amongst this fold, they will hear my loud voice, calling them to make their choice. Other sheep have I, Other sheep have I, though they are not amongst this fold, I must bring them all, so they will hear my voice and will my love behold. Other sheep have I, though they are not amongst this fold, they will hear my loud voice, calling them to make their choice.

Other sheep have I. You speak to me in a whisper, like the gentle falling snow. You tell me the things you think I should know, the secrets of the ages and the seasons' endless flow. I've got so much, so much to thank you for.

I've got so much, so much, so much to thank you for. A way to walk in this world I've never known before. Like a good shepherd you lead me right straight to heaven's door.

I've got so much, so much to thank you for. Eternal life you have given from a never-ending stream, even in the dead of winter, the scent of evergreen. And from the angels in heaven comes a song for me to sing.

I've got so much, so much to thank you for. I've got so much, so much, so much to thank you for. A way to walk in this world I've never known before.

Like a good shepherd you lead me right straight to heaven's door. I've got so much, so much to thank you for. I've got so much, so much, so much to thank you for.

A way to walk in this world I've never known before. Like a good shepherd you lead me right straight to heaven's door. I've got so much, so much to thank you for.

Hebrews 9 verse 24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own.

Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now has he appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Father God we offer these moments to you.

Take our mental processes and by the power of the Spirit help us to come to an understanding of divine truth. Illuminate the page in front of our eyes. Soften our wills and make us obedient to the demands of Jesus Christ.

For his sake. Amen. Where is Jesus Christ now? Well the answer is pretty obvious from the context of that passage that I've now twice read to you.

He is in heaven. That's where his bodily presence is. What is he doing? Well he is engaged in the work of interceding for other people, making representation before God the Father on behalf of those who have confessed him as their own Savior.

And what are the benefits for those on this earth who trust Jesus as Lord? Well we are informed that one day they shall be in heaven with the Lord Jesus. And all the sin, all the obstacles that prevent us from having contact with the Holy God have been moved to one side. Or if you like Jesus has gone right through them.

And he has made it possible for everyone in this tabernacle, in this sanctuary, to know fellowship with God the Father. To know the blessings of the gospel of God the Son. And to be filled with the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.

Now I content myself this evening with just referring to three things, which in summary fashion will help us to understand what the work of our Lord is about right now in heaven. The key words I think that will be of aid to us in our study this evening are representation and also intercession and benediction. Representation because Jesus is appearing in heaven on our behalf.

Intercession because he is praying for us. Benediction because as a high priest he blesses those who ask his aid and submit to his claims. Well then let's take that very simple idea of representation.

My verse says that our Lord Jesus did not enter a man-made sanctuary but he entered heaven itself to appear for us in God's presence. And the notion behind that word appear is to represent. If you travel to various countries from time to time you might need to go to an embassy or a consulate in the land where you are visiting.

And wherever you go, more or less around the world, you'll find a representative of her majesty's government. We've got a man in Buenos Aires, we've got a man in Havana, we've got a man in Peking, we've got a man in Moscow. And they are all servants of our Queen.

And they're there just in case people like us who might be traveling in these particular territories fall into difficulty and we need some help. One of the functions of an embassy is to render assistance on behalf of the citizens of her majesty. You and me.

Now in a very wonderful sense, Jesus Christ has opened an embassy in heaven. We have got, if you like to put it simply and yet correctly from a biblical point of view, we've got a man in the glory. And not an ordinary man, a sinless man.

But nonetheless someone who's very much like you and me. Someone who was born into this world as we have been born into it. Someone who suffered all the pressures and all the temptations that come our way.

Someone who died on the cross and was uniquely raised again. And went back into heaven. And there he represents those for whom he died.

And that's what my scripture is here saying. He's gone into the true tabernacle, into heaven itself, and he's appearing on behalf of men and women before the Lord. Now you might say, is it not the case that other people have tried to do just what Jesus has done? After all, you probably know that the word priest has the connotation, has the meaning of a sort of go-between.

A mediator. Someone who stands between God and man and intercedes before God on behalf of man. Have there not been other priests? And the answer is yes, there have.

A cartload of them actually throughout the whole of the Old Testament era. But they were all very, very inadequate. As I tried to show the friends who kindly came along to our Bible school last Thursday.

The very place where they ministered was different from the Lord Jesus. Let me tell you about that place for a moment. They ministered in, what if you're reading the NIV version of the Bible, is described at the beginning of our chapter in the heading, the earthly tabernacle.

It was a sort of portable tent which was erected by the Hebrews in Sinai. And as the Hebrews moved along, so they brought to the ground and then re-erected this particular portable temple. And these priests of the Old Testament era, they would go inside that construction when it had been re-erected.

And they would minister before the Lord. I was telling the people on Thursday that it was a sort of rectangular shape. And the top third was in a perfect square.

And it actually was curtained off from the rest of the tabernacle. And that was known, in there was known as the Holy of Holies, where God manifested his presence once a year. Now all this you read about in the opening verses of Hebrews chapter 9. There's a description of the furniture.

There's a description of what actually the priests did in that tabernacle. But the most important thing that I want to underline this evening without repeating all that I said on Thursday is this. That the tabernacle stood for heaven itself.

It was the place where God met at least with one representative of the people. But it was the high priest who went there every 12 months, pushed his way into the holiest place by going through the curtain. And there he was in the presence of God.

And he offered blood for his sin. The life of an animal. And also for the sins of the people.

But he wasn't able to stay in the presence of God. And not even on earth. He could only be there once a year.

And then he had to come back. And because he was a sinner. And the people were sinners.

And the offering of a brute beast can never atone for a human sinfulness. He'd be back again the next year. And the next year.

And the next year. He was a priest. And he was representing ordinary people.

But there was never a time when any of the men who functioned as high priests did their job perfectly. They couldn't. Because they didn't have a perfect sacrifice.

And because they themselves also were sinners. And though they represented men and women in the Old Testament era. All that they did was terribly inaccurate.

Was terribly inadequate. But when Jesus came. He didn't go into the temple at Jerusalem to meet with God.

He was offered on the cross at Calvary. For there he died. Then he was raised from the dead.

Do you remember? Then what happened to Jesus? He went into the true sanctuary. The heavenly tabernacle that the earthly one was just a replica of. And there in the holiest place of all.

Where God always exists. Where God always dwells. Jesus enters.

And he stays. He stays there continually. And he represents you and me.

So that's the first thing that you've got to realize about the Lord Jesus. He's there in heaven and he's representing us. And shall I tell you something else? He never forgets his clients.

He never forgets his clients. I wonder if you've ever had occasion to ring your solicitor up. And about five or ten years has elapsed since last you needed him.

And when you phone, you know full well that he's forgotten who you are. And he has to look in his file and see what he did for you. And what house he purchased if that was the reason why you were employing his legal expertise.

He forgets all about you. Until the next time when you need his services. But not this man in the glory who represents us.

Shall I tell you something very wonderful? In the Old Testament era, the man who was really pointing to the Lord Jesus was the high priest. Like Aaron and those who succeeded him. And they had some very, very wonderful dresses, these high priests.

Description of the high priest's wardrobe is given in Exodus 28 and also Exodus chapter 30. And one of the things that the high priest used to do from time to time was to put upon his shoulders certain loose pieces of cloth. And on the cloth itself were stitched in some jewelry.

Onyx stones to be precise. And these particular stones bore the names of all the tribes of Israel. Dangling down from the front of the high priest was also a very beautifully made breast piece.

And on it were 12 stones in rows of four. There were three lots of four. And on each stone there was a name of the tribes, of the 12 tribes of Israel.

And every time the high priest went into the holy place, he would be representing all the Israelite people. And in the presence of God, in a very inadequate way, he acted on their behalf. And do you know what the Bible tells me about Jesus? It says in language that's not quite as extravagant as the language in Exodus.

In John chapter 10, referring to Jesus as a good shepherd, it says, I know, my sheep, when Jesus represents us before God, he never forgets us. Our names are written, says the prophet, on the palms of his hand. And that's a metaphor to illustrate the fact that Jesus needs no prompting.

He remembers all who've asked for his help. So the first word that helps us to understand the ministry of Jesus as set down in Hebrews is the word representation. But another key word which really follows on from what I've just described to you about the function of our Lord is intercession.

Intercession. What is Jesus doing? He's representing us. Yes, but more, he's interceding.

This is a specialized description of the ministry of Jesus. Look at the previous chapter. No, the seventh chapter.

And there you read, right at the end, in the 25th verse, a wonderful assertion. Therefore Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. We're not just saved as Christians because Jesus died for us.

That's true. He did die for us. Thank God for that.

But we're also saved, as John Owen, the great Puritan preacher, makes clear, because of the living ministry of Jesus in heaven. You see, the truth of the matter is this. When I confess Jesus as my Savior, the first time I make my peace with God because of what Jesus has done, alas, that's not the end of my sin.

I wish it was. I tell you from the depths of my heart, I wish I could tell you good folk here in the tabernacle, that since the day I trusted Jesus as Lord, way back in my childhood, in the steel city in which I was brought up, I have never sinned. But that's not the case.

I have sinned. I have let him down. Alas, more often than I care to remember publicly, I have let my Lord down.

And do you know what Jesus Christ does with the likes of defective Christians such as I am? When I come before him and say, I'm sorry Lord, I've done it again. He intercedes afresh on my behalf. He ever liveth to make intercession for us.

The blood of Jesus Christ, says the Apostle John, God's Son, and here I'm putting it literally from the original, keeps on cleansing us from all sin. The blood shall never lose its power. I'll be preaching on that next Thursday.

But the point is this, all I require as a Christian, once I have confessed Jesus as my Lord, is his intercessory ministry to continue on my behalf in heaven. And that's precisely what he does. You see, in heaven, as I say, we've got a man in the glory.

He's sympathetic to us. There haven't been many times when I've been abroad, when I've really needed to go to the British Embassy. But I do remember some ten years ago, no, I flatter myself.

I do remember a few more years than that ago. When I was in Turkey, and I had to go to the British Embassy in Ankara. That's the capital of Turkey, at least.

It's the major city in the eastern half of Turkey. I was in difficulty, and the people who were traveling with me also were. And do you know, there was a great sense of joy, just to go into the British Embassy, and to speak to the officials there.

They understood me. They could speak my language. They were my kith and kin.

They got the same background as I had got. They were sympathetic to my need. And in heaven, we've someone who's sympathetic to our needs, because he's been here on this earth.

That's why the writer of the Hebrews says in another place, we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He expresses it in a double negative, which is a Hebrew way of making an emphasis. In other words, we have a high priest who knows all about us.

He's aware of the pressures of life, of the temptations. He recognizes the frailty of human nature, not because he was frail, but he knows about the likes of ourselves. And when, as a saved Christian, having let him down, I come again with contrition, he gives me an audience.

The embassy that deals with the affairs of sinners, which is in heaven, is always open. And that, incidentally, is more than can be said for British embassies around the world. And he's there to plead our case, to intercede for us.

The Bible says, if any man sin, we have an advocate. If any man sin, we have an advocate. Paul, here in Romans 8, is starting to talk about the blessings that belong to those who have confessed Jesus as their Lord.

And right at the end of that glorious 8th chapter, in which he also deals with the doctrine of the fullness of the Spirit, the Apostle goes on to say, Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Who is he that condemns? Verse 34, is it Christ? No, says the Apostle Paul. Christ Jesus has died. More than that, Christ Jesus has been raised to life.

Christ Jesus is also at the right hand of God, interceding for us. And the Apostle then launches into one of the most beautiful, one of the most eloquent peons of praise, hymns of praise in the whole of the Bible. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And he goes on to say, In all these things, we're more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in the whole of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What an embassy there is in the glory. What a counsel we've got.

A man who intercedes on our behalf before the Father, and there's no one who can condemn, because he points to his bloodshed at Calvary. And Jesus Christ is not only the priest, he was the victim. And he took the consequences of the benefits of Calvary into the embassy in heaven with him.

And there they are applied to the accounts of sinners like you and me. And now there are those, of course, who suggest that the ministry of Jesus as intercessor needs to be supplemented by someone else. You know, it's not really adequate enough.

And so you look out for some great figure of the past, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, or Thomas Aquinas, or another of the papal ordained saints, or men and women that the popes have beautified, and you pray to them, and you say, Dear Saint Margaret, will you have a word in the ear of Jesus for me? And you know, it's all a load of nonsense. There is one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. He controls the whole embassy, and he doesn't need a staff.

He can cope completely on his own. And he takes your case, as I say, and he takes mine. And this is how you are to understand the function of the high priestly ministry of Jesus in heaven.

He is number one, our representative. Therefore, his function is that of representation. He is number two, our intercessor.

And his ministry is that of intercession. Thirdly, and lastly, because he's a high priest, he's able to bless us. Now, this is where you must forget my illustration of the British consulate, because, of course, a consul can't bless.

But a high priest can. In fact, if a high priest doesn't bless, then he's got no reason at all to wear that descriptive label. You remember how it's Aaron in the Old Testament who gives to the people the blessings from the Lord.

He functions not now before God on behalf of the people, but rather before the people on behalf of God. And you discover Aaron saying, to all the children of Israel, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord let turn his face toward you and give you peace. The priest was the only one who had the right to so bless the people. He now acts on behalf of God, and his ministry is toward the Hebrews.

Well, is Jesus any less a priest than Aaron? Not a bit. He's the greatest priest. Aaron fades into insignificance, and all his successors compared with Jesus.

He is the great high priest who ministers not in an earthly sanctuary, but ministers in heaven itself. Jesus is the one who constantly is before the presence of the Father, interceding before him on our behalf. All this I've shared with you, but there's more to it than that, gloriously more, my friend.

There's oceans full of teaching and blessing for us if we had time to sink our shafts down into the doctrine that is found within the book of Hebrews. The Lord Jesus Christ is the high priest of God who blesses his people, who blesses his people. We discover, for example, that the very gift of the Holy Spirit is part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to grant.

Says the apostle Peter when he's at the day of Pentecost, engaging in his first debut as a preacher, describing the phenomenal events that have accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. He speaks of Jesus, and in the 32nd verse of Acts 2 he says, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we're all witnesses of the fact, exalted to the right hand of God. He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out what you now see and hear.

The discharge of the Holy Spirit is part of the priestly blessing and responsibility of Jesus. And to whom does he give that Spirit? To whom does he quicken with the power of the third person of the blessed Trinity? Well, all those who come to the Lord Jesus Christ and confess their need of him. We are born again by the Spirit.

Listen to the apostle Paul as he's writing once more to the Romans in Romans chapter 8. Because those, says the apostle Paul, who are children of God are led by the Spirit of God. Well, let me take an earlier reading, which makes it perhaps that shade clearer. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of your sin, and so forth. It's the Holy Spirit of the Sovereign God, which under the direction of Jesus the High Priest, enters into the heart of the believer and convinces him that he's born of God.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. It's Jesus Christ who sends the Holy Spirit into the lives of those who have asked for his intercessory ministry to be exercised on their behalf.

And it's only because I am linked to Jesus by the Holy Spirit that I am born again, that I am saved. Without a knowledge of his Spirit, it is impossible for me to know the joys of salvation. So the Spirit links me up to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I become in Christ.

In other words, I'm part of the portfolio of Jesus. I'm in the files of Jesus. And when he reviews my case, he recognizes, yes, that man down there, Tony Sargent, I died for him.

My spirit I sent into his life. He was born again by the power of the Spirit, and he's one that I must intercede for. And the amazing thing is this, my friend, that even the Holy Spirit himself within my heart joins the Lord Jesus in that intercessory ministry, and both of them beseech God on my behalf to keep me spiritually healthy and in a state of forgiveness.

Well, I've spent my time. I have showed you what the Lord Jesus is doing right now in heaven. He is representing me.

The key word was representation. He is interceding on my behalf. Another key word of Hebrews is intercession.

He blesses me. Another key word is benediction. But it doesn't come automatically.

He doesn't intercede for everybody. He intercedes for those who have confessed him as Lord. And so I ask you, young man, young woman in the balcony, older friend downstairs or also in the balconies, can you say, like the writer of the Hebrew epistle says, we have a high priest? Are you prepared to admit, as I will at least metaphorically, that there is an embassy in heaven open for sinners? Did you ever join the queue? Did you ever wait for an interview with the Lord? Well, the truth of the matter is you don't have to wait because he has far greater ability than any ordinary consul to deal with men and women desirous of his circumstances.

Look, we don't need an earthly tabernacle. There's no holy of holies down here at which an ordinary priest ministers. All that that tabernacle represented is fulfilled in Jesus.

The way into the Father's presence is open. How is it open? By Buddha? By Muhammad? By Confucius? By any other of the religious famous people in the world? No. There's only one way.

There's only one consulate. There's only one priest. And his name is Jesus.

The only mediator between God and man. I ask you, is he exercising his priestly responsibilities on your behalf? Have you known the blessings of his spirit within your heart and life? The most vital question I can leave ringing in your ears this evening. Does Christ work for you in heaven? Let us pray.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. Father, we're glad simply to confess this night, hundreds of us here, that we believe that the benefits of the shed blood of Jesus at Calvary have eternal value in heaven.

And we bless you. The blood shall never lose its power. We thank you for one who's mighty to save, a mighty to keep, a one-day mighty to present us faultless with exceeding great joy before the throne of the Most High.

We bless you, Lord. There's a man in the glory, a man who functions on our behalf with a salvation tailor-made for sinners. Lord Jesus, again I ask, plead my case before your Father.

Plead the case of all within this congregation. And by the Aaronic blessing, multiplied in its value, send down your Spirit upon us, bearing witness with our spirits that we're born of God, enabling us to pray, and to praise, and to work for you. Blessed God, blessed Father, blessed Son, blessed Holy Ghost, bring to consummation the work of salvation within all our hearts for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.