Saved To The Uttermost

The only reason a Christian is still a Christian

is because Christ is still praying for them.

That is an old quote that has been attributed

to several different preachers throughout the

years. And whether those exact words came from

one preacher or not, the truth behind them is

profound. Most Christians spend a great deal

of time thinking about what Jesus did for them.

And rightly so. We think about the cross. We

think about the empty tomb. We think about the

day we trusted Christ. But I wonder how often

we think about what Jesus is doing right now.

Right now, Jesus is not hanging on a cross. Right

now, Jesus is not lying in a tomb. Right now,

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father

as our great High Priest. And according to Hebrews

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7, he is doing something that has never

stopped for a single moment since he ascended

into heaven. He is living to make intercession.

Think about that. When you woke up this morning,

Christ was your High Priest. When you slept last

night and dreamt the dreams that you dreamed.

Christ was your High Priest. When you failed

this week, Christ was your High Priest. When

you doubted, Christ was your High Priest. When

you sinned, Christ was your High Priest. He has

never taken a day off. He has never been replaced.

He has never ceased representing His people to

the Father. And that is exactly what the writer

of Hebrews, what makes him be able to say one

of the most astonishing statements in all of

the book. Consequently, he is able to save to

the uttermost those who draw near to God through

him. Notice the writer doesn't merely tell us

that Jesus saves. He tells us why he saves to

the uttermost. and the answer isn't simply found

in Calvary, it is found in Christ's continuing

ministry as our great high priest. For nearly

three chapters now, the writer of Hebrews has

barely taken his eyes off of the priesthood of

Jesus. He has shown us what it means to that

Jesus belongs to a better order of priest than

Aaron. He possesses a better priesthood than

Levi He mediates a better covenant than Moses

and now in these verses that we're gonna look

at today verses 20 through 28 He tells us why

all of this matters and it matters because the

greatness of your salvation Depends entirely

on the greatness of your high priest So turn

with me, if you haven't already, to Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

7. We're going to finish this chapter out today,

verses 20 through 28, and then we'll walk through

them together. And it was not without an oath.

For those who formerly became priests were made

such without an oath. But this one, Jesus, was

made a priest with an oath by the one who said

to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change

his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes

Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The

former priests were many in number because they

were prevented by death from continuing in their

office. But he holds his priesthood permanently

because he continues forever Consequently he

is able to save to the uttermost those who draw

near to God through him Since he always lives

to make intercession for them For it was indeed

fitting that we should have such a high priest

holy innocent unstained separate from sinners

and exalted above the heavens He has no need

like those high priest to offer sacrifices daily

first for his own sins and then for those of

the people since he did this once for all when

he offered up himself for all for the law appoints

men in their weakness as high priest but the

word of the oath which came later later than

the law appoints a son who has been made a priest

forever the writer of hebrews has already shown

us that Jesus belongs to this better order of

priesthood in the order of Melchizedek, a better

priesthood than Aaron. And he's already explained

to us in different ways why this order of priesthood

is better, but here he gives us a very, very

powerful reason. Because this priesthood that

Jesus alone has, begins with something that no

Levitical priesthood ever received. Namely, an

oath from God himself. Notice it said, and it

was not without an oath. And then he says, for

those former high priests in the order of Aaron,

they didn't get this oath. That is a remarkable

contrast between the two. Because every priest

descended from Aunt Erin, entered into the priesthood

simply because he was born into the right family.

That's it. You were born in the right family,

so you get to be a part of this priesthood. There

was no oath. There was no divine declaration.

There was no covenant promise establishing their

ministry forever. The Levitical priesthood continued

because of genealogy, and we've talked about

that before. One priest died, another took their

place, and then another, and then another, and

then another. But Jesus did not become high priest

because of his ancestry. He became high priest

as we've already looked at because God appointed

him as high priest. And now we are told not only

did he appoint him, he confirms this appointment

by an oath. Now, I love to ask questions of scripture.

when I see something that makes me go, hmm, why?

So I asked a question here. Why does God provide

an oath? I mean, think about it. Can God lie?

No. So when God says, you are a priest forever

in the order of Melchizedek, that should just

be it. There doesn't need to be an oath for God

to go, I'm really serious, guys. I'm gonna make

this oath so I never go back on it Right. I'm

gonna make this oath to remind myself that I

shouldn't lie about this God's Word is already

perfectly trustworthy. So he doesn't need to

strengthen it with a promise But the writer his

point here is not that God needs the oath to

keep it This oath is for us, not for God's sake.

Charles Spurgeon wonderfully observed, God's

oath was not for Christ's assurance. He wasn't

pledging this oath so that Jesus goes, okay,

Father, I was worried. If you didn't give me

that oath there at the end of this thing, I didn't

know if I could make sure and trust you that

I'm gonna be the priest forever. This wasn't

for Christ's sake. This wasn't for God's sake.

This is for our sake that the oath was given.

It was for our benefit. The Father wanted His

people to know that this priesthood of His Son

would never be altered, never be replaced, never

come to an end. Notice the language, the Lord

has sworn and will not change His mind. That

is covenant language. And of course we know what

covenant we're talking about here, don't we?

A new covenant. God is declaring, this is my

priest in this new covenant and it is settled

forever. There will never be another high priest.

There will never be another mediator. There will

never come another sacrifice. Everything necessary

for salvation is found in this son. Now, that

is why verse 22, says, and this is really where

these first three verses reach this glorious

conclusion, this makes Jesus the guarantor of

a better covenant. That word guarantor is one

of the richest words textually in this entire

chapter. It is someone who assumes full responsibility

for ensuring that an agreement is fulfilled.

So a guarantor is one who assumes all the responsibility

that an agreement is going to be fulfilled So

God the Father is saying I have set Jesus as

my high priest. I have sworn it with an oath

I have made everything necessary for salvation

found in Jesus and Jesus by virtue of this appointment

and by nature as we're gonna see in a minute

He becomes this high priest guaranteeing the

new covenant. Guaranteeing that everyone in the

new covenant will be saved. Jesus did not come

simply to announce a new covenant. He came to

guarantee it. He assumes full responsibility

for bringing every covenant promise to its completion.

Stephen Wellam writes that Christ is not merely

the messenger of a covenant, but its surety.

Every blessing secured by his blood will certainly

be accomplished because he himself guarantees

it. Church, don't miss the comfort of this. Your

salvation was never built upon your promise to

God. Your salvation is not built because one

day you said, God, I promise to follow you and

love you and serve you. That is not what your

salvation is built on. It was built on God's

promise concerning his son. Before you believed,

before you repented, before you ever cried out

for mercy, the father had already sworn that

his son would be the eternal high priest of his

covenant people. Christ did not become your High

Priest when you came to Him. You need to catch

that. He was your High Priest before you ever

came to Him. You, in fact, you were able to come

to God because He was your High Priest. It's

not the other way around. Please understand this,

it's not the other way around. You weren't over

here in some kind of weird free will state that

made you just go, you know what I'm gonna do

today? Today I'm gonna give my life to God. And

then you go to God and Jesus goes, now that you've

come to me, I'll be your high priest. No, that's

completely backwards. God the Father set Jesus

up as your High Priest and the reason you're

able to come to Him is because He was your High

Priest before you ever were born. That's the

reason, that's why you can come to Him. That's

the basis of your salvation. This is what makes

salvation certain for God's people. It is not

the strength of our faith. That assures us of

our salvation. Do you know the surest way to

make you doubt your salvation? Start examining

how much faith you have When I start looking

at how much faith I have in certain times in

my life you don't think I could start doubting

my salvation It's not your certainty of salvation

is not based upon how strong your faith is you

don't have faith in your faith church My goodness,

how scary would that be? The certainty of your

salvation is not with the strength of your faith,

but with the unchangeable oath of God. And because

our priest is guaranteed by the Father himself,

he is able to save to the uttermost. Man, we

could just stop right there. Point one, we're

done, let's pray, let's go home, let's live for

Jesus like we've never lived for him before.

But the right of Hebrews isn't done. Because

he hasn't even got to the main point of this

section yet. He's building to the middle point

of this section. And here's where it's at in

verses 23 through 25. Having established, that

Christ's priesthood is guaranteed, the writer

now explains why it matters. It matters because

unlike every priest that came before him, Jesus

never dies. The former priests, there was a lot

of them. Why? Because they kept dying. It's not

like church, it's not like the old covenant needed

multiple priests. The problem was that the priest

kept dying. And then another priest would have

to come. And then another priest would have to

come. Death constantly interrupted their ministry.

Just as one priest gained the experience to maybe

do the job well, he dies. Just as one... Just

as the people became familiar with one priest

and begin to trust this priest he died So no

priests got to finish what they started because

they kept dying But death has no power over Jesus

Our high priests conquered the grave rose from

the dead ascended to the right hand of the father

and Now the writer says he holds his priesthood

permanently because he continues forever. Do

you see the contrast? He can't contrast it anymore

richly. Here's these priests that kept living

doing the ministry and dying. And here's one

who conquered death. That word permanently literally

means carrying the idea of something that cannot

pass to another. Because he has the ministry

permanently, He cannot pass it to another. Jesus

has no successor and he has no replacement. Spurgeon

says again, he has no predecessor and he will

have no successor. His priesthood is eternal

because his life is eternal. Now we get to verse

25. You see the word in the text, consequently.

Look at it, you see that? Consequently. Now we

could just start backing up into verse 22 Everything

he said in verse 22 consequently 21 20 in fact

we could just back up everything that he has

said up to this point about who Jesus is and

his priestly role all of that is Wrapped up in

him saying consequently because of all of this

that we've talked about Consequently, he is able

to save to the uttermost. What a glorious statement.

Notice the writer doesn't simply say Jesus saves,

he says he saves to the uttermost. Completely,

perfectly, forever. He saves every sinner who

comes to him from the guilt of sin, the power

of sin, and one day from the presence. of sin.

And he doesn't merely begin salvation. He completes

salvation. He finishes salvation. He doesn't

merely forgive. He preserves. He doesn't merely

rescue. He brings you safely home. Why? Because

he always lives to intercede for you. Always.

Right now, at this very moment, Jesus Christ

is exercising his high priestly office. He's

not waiting to become your high priest. He already

is. He's not waiting for your next failure before

deciding whether or not he will represent you.

He continually represents His covenant people

before the Father always and forever. His ministry

is not interrupted. It is unceasing. His love

doesn't fluctuate. It is everlasting. This means

that our salvation is not resting on our ability

to hang on to Jesus. It is resting upon Jesus

continually ministering on your behalf. A question

was once asked. And it goes along with the statement

I read at the beginning. What is the guarantee

that tomorrow morning you wake up, you love Jesus?

If you answer any other way but Jesus, you're

thinking wrong. What is the guarantee that tomorrow

morning you wake up and start your day and you

love Jesus Christ? The answer is Jesus Christ.

because of who he is and what he has done and

what he is doing. He says he always lives to

make intercession for them. Who is the them?

Who is the them that he saves to the uttermost?

Well, it's the same people who draw near to God

through him. It's the same people whom he serves

as the guarantor of a better covenant. His sacrifice

and his intercession, please catch this, his

sacrifice, His presenting of the sacrifice and

His intercession. These are not two distinct

roles. It's all wrapped up into the priestly

role. Who made the sacrifice in the Old Testament?

Who killed the animal? Jesus did. The high priest

did. Who brought the blood into the Holy of Holies?

The high priest did. Who prayed for the people?

The high priest did. So we cannot divide up or

disconnect these ministries from one another,

they are perfectly linked together. I'll tell

you why that's important. Because the priest

who offered himself for his people is the same

priest who is now continually interceding for

his people. Church, think about what this means.

I talked about this a couple weeks ago. Before

you ever believed in Jesus, Christ had already

been enthroned as your High Priest. Before you

ever prayed your first prayer, He was already

serving for you. Before you ever knew His name,

He had already entered into the heavenly sanctuary

with His own blood on your behalf. He did not

ascend into heaven and wait for sinners to find

Him. What sinners would ever find him? That's

not the way this works. That's not that's not

what the writer is talking about here. He's saying

listen He died he took his blood into the Holy

of Holies not made by human hands He brought

that blood to the father and he began interceding

right that moment for those he died for That

sacrifice he now prays that those he died for

will in fact be saved inside of time before you

existed, before you prayed, before you even knew

his name. That is the guarantee that every one

of God's people will be brought safely home.

That's why the old hymn says from heaven he came

and sought her. Our salvation begins not with

your pursuit of Christ. It begins with Christ's

priestly pursuit of you. You see the flip -flop

that we can so easily do? We get this idea that

Jesus dies on the cross, takes the blood, goes

into the Holy of Holies. says, Father, here's

the sacrifice that I made. I hope we can save

as many as possible. Holy Spirit, go do your

best. Oh, there's one. That one will believe.

Let's go do some work in that one. Oh, that one

will believe. Let's go do... You see how this

is flip -flop from what Hebrews is saying? Hebrews

is saying this. Jesus Christ dies on the cross.

Right? Jesus says in John chapter 10, shepherd

John 10 · chapter mention

lays his life down for his sheep. Takes the blood

of the covenant now, the new covenant. Takes

that blood into the holy of holies, into the

heavenly places, into what we're gonna read in

a minute. He is exalted above the heavens. Why?

Because he's doing his work in the throne of

God, not in an earthly. temple or sanctuary or

tent. And he takes the blood of the sacrifice

to the Father and that very moment he begins

praying and interceding for everyone the Father

has come to save. That's why he can say he's

the guarantor of the salvation. How is he a guarantor

if he doesn't even know the people that he died

for are gonna get saved? That doesn't even make

any sense. So he dies and then he goes to the

father and just says, I know that you said I

was the guarantor of the new covenant and everybody

in the new covenant and I've come to save those

and all the father gives me will come to me and

I won't cast out and he'll never cast out any

that comes to me and I lay my life down for my

sheep but I don't know if we'll get those sheep.

Does that sound like the God of the Bible? Or

is this is what is being presented here? is an

oath that is made to Jesus that the surety of

His work is going to be accomplished. So when

He goes into the Holy of Holies and He presents

the blood of that sacrifice, He begins praying

for you, Christian, before you even existed.

Those He foreknew, He also predestined to be

in the image of His Son. Those that He predestined,

He also called inside of time. Those He called,

He justified. Those He justified, He glorifies,

or He glorified. Meaning that's a done deal.

Why why when you read Romans 8 28 and 29 And

let's just talk about that verse for a minute

Romans 8 28 and 29 For all things work together

for them who are called according to his purpose

who love God according to his purpose Okay, why

cannot why is everything gonna work out for their

good? Why is everything gonna work out for the

good through those who were called and according

because those that he foreknew? Those that he

set his love upon that's what that word means

those that he set his love upon before they ever

Existed were predestined to be in the image of

his son Those that were predestined to be in

the image of his son he called Those he called

he justified those he justified. What does it

say he glorified? I'm not glorified yet Are you

glorified yet, but Paul said glorified Past tense.

How is that possible? Because Paul knows something

that we need to get through our brains. Jesus

Christ will accomplish everything the Father

gave him to do. He is the guarantor of you with

all of it being completed, that you will be glorified,

that you will be brought safely home. Jesus is

guaranteeing that. So when he goes into the Holy

of Holies with the blood, and he takes it to

the Father, that very moment he begins interceding

for you, guaranteeing, at that very moment he

guaranteed that one day you will be with him

on a resurrected earth, in a resurrected body.

You will be glorified. That was guaranteed the

moment Jesus ascended to the right hand of the

Father. This idea that God's just up in heaven,

hoping to get His will done? Where does that

nonsense even come from? That is not what the

writer of Hebrews is trying to get across. Our

pursuit, our salvation does not begin with our

pursuit of Christ. It begins with His pursuit

of us. We love because He first loved us. He

is the author and finisher of our faith He who

began a good work in you will be faithful to

complete it all of these verses that The reason

why this is so important is because this is like

the central hub that all of those verses are

anchoring into You can start making sense of

all of this. I love because he first loved me

Oh, right. He's my high priest. He entered. He

died. He took the blood. He entered into the

Holy of Holies. He's been praying for me. He's

been loving me before I ever existed. Yes, I

love him because he loved me. My salvation is

going to be complete because he started it and

he's going to complete it. He's the author of

my faith. He's the finisher. All of a sudden

now these verses that are just kind of floating

out there, now we grab ahold of them and we increment

of this truth. And we're like, oh, OK. This makes

sense now. I get it. He always lived, He always

intercedes, and because He always intercedes,

He saves to the utter most. Now, after explaining

this pivotal section, the writer is going to

explain why Christ is the only one that can do

this. Verse 26 begins, that we should have such

a high priest. That word fitting there doesn't

mean simply appropriate. It means perfectly suited,

perfectly qualified, exactly what was needed.

In other words, the writer is saying if sinners

were going to be saved to the uttermost, this

is exactly the kind of high priest it would require.

A perfect one. Then he gives five... Descriptions

of Jesus. He says he's holy More than likely

this speaks of Christ's relationship to the father

Everything about Jesus is perfectly devoted to

God every thought every desire every action.

He has never loved anything more than the glory

of the father and unlike every other priest Jesus

never needed to grow in his holiness Second says

he is innocent this speaks of Christ's relationship

to humanity Jesus never committed a single sinful

act. No deceit, no injustice, no selfish ambition,

no sinful motive. Every word he spoke, every

action he performed was perfectly righteous.

Three, he is unstained. This continues to speak

of Christ's relationship to sin. Jesus lived

in a fallen world, yet never was marked by sin

himself. Every priest in the old covenant was

stained by the sin. That's why they had to offer

a sacrifice for themselves first. Though Jesus

was tempted in every respect as we are, yet He

was without sin, Peter says. Four, He is separated

from sinners. Now this doesn't mean that Jesus

doesn't like being around sinners. What was He

called? A friend of sinners. He loved sinners.

In fact, that's what He was known for. That's

not what this means. It means rather that he

is completely separated from the guilt and corruption

and curse that we experience Having accomplished

redemption. He is exalted beyond the now beyond

the reach of sin forever and ever and unlike

the earthly priest He never needs redemption.

And then lastly it says he is exalted above the

heavens I mentioned this earlier the Levitical

priest served in an earthly tabernacle or an

earthly temple. Jesus does His work in the full

presence of God. His ministry is not earthly,

it is heavenly. Now does it have earthly consequences?

I would say so. I would say so. But His work

is being done right now in the full presence

of God. The one who intercedes for you is sitting

right now at the right hand of God the Father.

And if those five descriptions weren't enough,

He's gonna give us two other things. First he

says Jesus has no need like other priests to

offer sacrifices daily first for his own sins

and then for the people Every year when the day

of atonement rolled around in the Old Testament

the high priests would first have to deal with

their own sin They could never I mean imagine

that they could never represent the people until

they dealt with their own sin The one representing

the people needed a sacrifice himself not Jesus

He had no sins to confess, no guilt to remove,

no sacrifices that needed to be offered for himself.

In fact, he offered himself as the sacrifice

and he did this once for all. When you see that

phrase in the book of Hebrews, you need to make

sure you're thinking about time. He did this

once for all time when he offered up himself.

We don't need multiple days of atonement. We

don't need sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice.

This was done once and for all time. Not bringing

the blood of another, but bringing his own blood.

Perfectly sufficient. And then it says in verse

28. This is how he ends this section. For the

law appointed men in their weakness as high priests,

but the word of the oath, which came later than

the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect

forever. He's not saying that Jesus became morally

perfect. We've talked about this, I believe,

in chapter two. Jesus has always been morally

perfect. He means that Christ now has been perfectly

installed and forever qualified as our high priest

by his obedient life, sacrificial death, resurrection,

and exaltation. Everything necessary for our

salvation has been accomplished. It does not

rest upon repeated sacrifices upon weak and sinful

men. It rests upon the perfect Son of God. So

I want you to think about the progression of

this passage. The father swears an oath. The

son lives forever. The priest is perfect. Nothing

in that chain can fail. The father pledges an

oath. The son lives forever. The priest is perfect.

Which means nothing about your salvation can

fail. This is exactly the point of Hebrews 7.

Our hope is built upon the perfection of our

high priest. Because our high priest is perfect,

because the sacrifice is perfect, because the

intercession is perfect, he is able to save to

the uttermost. I want to end by reiterating something

that we have already touched on. The writer never

once tells you to admire yourself. Do you think

The writer of Hebrews wrote chapter 7 so you

could look at yourself and say, wow, look at

my faith. That doesn't even make any sense, does

it? Based on chapter 7. Doesn't even make any

sense at all. He never says, look how tightly

you're hanging on to Jesus. What he says over

and over and over again is, Look at your priest.

Look at your priest. Look at your priest. Look

at your priest. Look at the oath the Father made.

Look at the life he now lives. Look at the perfection

of his character. Look at the sufficiency of

his sacrifice. Look at his continual intercession.

Church, your salvation has never rested on you.

It rests upon the priest who can never fail.

No successor will ever replace him. No sacrifice.

will ever need to be repeated. No accusation

will ever silence His intercession. No weakness

on your part will ever diminish His power. No

passage of time will ever lessen His love. And

because all of that is true, He is going to save

you to the uttermost. From the beginning to the

end. Not almost, not mostly, not until your next

failure, not until your faith is weak, to the

uttermost. He saves completely, continually,

and eternally. And if you have come to God through

Jesus Christ, there will never be a moment he

stops representing you. Ever. What about those

times where I don't even know if I have any faith?

He knew that when he started praying for you

the moment he was exalted to the right hand of

the Father. You think it's taking him by surprise

that you have moments in your life where you

struggle? Where all of a sudden God goes, well

I never would have been praying for that guy

if I would have known how bad he was going to

struggle in his life. He knows and he never stops.

He loves us so much he will never stop. There'll

never be a moment when His sacrifice becomes

insufficient, where the Father forgets His oath,

where Christ ceases to intercede. Which means,

there'll never be a moment your salvation begins

to fail. Ever. And because He lives forever,

He saves forever, and I don't want you to leave

here today going, wow, that was a great doctrine

of the priesthood of Christ we talked about.

Is it a great doctrine? Yeah. One of the most

important doctrines when it comes to the new

covenant. But if all we do is leave here and

go, I learned some things in my brain today that

I didn't know before. I've gathered up some information

about a doctrine. If that's what we leave with,

it's probably just going to puff you up. The

writer doesn't write this to just give information.

He writes this to invoke worship. We need to

leave here today going, my Jesus saves to the

uttermost. And we are overflowing with worship

because of that reality. What I hope has happened

is that God has poured in us from Hebrews 7,

poured in us truth, and our cup overflows. And

as it begins to overflow, it begins getting splashed

on everybody else. And other people go, who are

these people? Everywhere they go, they're full

of love and mercy and grace. and kindness. Who

are these people? And we'll say, we're people

who have a perfect Savior. And so we're just

overflowing with the joy of the Lord and with

worship. That's how we need to leave here this

morning. Amen, church? That's how we need to

leave here.