← Back to sermon library

We're going to seek this morning 
to study the three offices of Christ, prophet, priest, and 
king. We see those brought out in paragraph one, not exclusively, 
but paragraph one and then paragraphs nine and 10. So I'm going to 
read those three paragraphs, chapter eight of Christ the Mediator. It pleased God in his eternal 
purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus Christ, his only 
begotten son, according to the covenant made between them both. 
to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest, 
and king, head and savior of the church, the heir of all things 
and judge of the world, unto whom he did from all eternity 
give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, 
called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. Paragraph 9, this 
office of mediator between God and man is proper only to Christ, 
who is the prophet, priest, and king of the church of God, and 
may not be either in whole or any part thereof transferred 
from him to any other. Paragraph 10, this number and 
order of offices is necessary, for in respect of our ignorance, 
we stand in need of his prophetical office. And in respect of our 
alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our services, 
we need his priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable 
unto God. And in respect to our averseness 
and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and 
security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his kingly office to 
convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his 
heavenly kingdom. So you'll remember way back when 
we started the study of Christ the Mediator, we noted that in 
paragraphs one through four, paragraphs one through three, 
we have the identity of the Mediator. The chapter is of Christ the 
Mediator and who is this Mediator. Well, paragraph one begins to 
introduce that. And in doing so, it brings out 
the fact that Christ is prophet, priest, and king. Then when we 
fast forward to paragraphs 9 and 10, we have there the exclusivity 
of Christ as mediator. It is only Christ that can be 
the mediator. And then we also have the necessity 
of Christ the mediator. And those two paragraphs, 9 and 
10, are new to the confession of faith published by or brought 
out by the Baptists in 1677. They were not in the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, and they were not in the Savoy Declaration. 
Now, that doesn't mean that the theology was not present. It's 
contained in one way or another in the confession as a whole, 
and in the first eight paragraphs of those two previous confessions. But nevertheless, it's new to 
the Baptists who add those two things here. And one reason might 
simply be for the expansion of the theology, the opening up 
of it, and the addition of information to it. But as well, probably 
some contemporary issues going on between the time of the Westminster 
and Savoy and then the London Baptist when they published theirs 
in 1677. Probably primarily in view really 
is the Roman Catholic Church and the claims to mediatorship 
that they apply to the Pope, to Mary, and to the saints, but 
other things may be in view as well. But what we want to do 
this morning is look first off at the exclusivity of Christ's 
mediatorial role. Simply, he is the only mediator. 
So the exclusivity of Christ's mediatorial role, and then secondly, 
the three offices of Christ. We'll have a look at those in 
a little more detail. But first off, the exclusivity 
of Christ's mediatorial role. Notice what the paragraph says, 
paragraph 9, this office of mediator between God and man is proper 
only to Christ. So the mediatorial role is proper 
only to the Lord Jesus Christ. And let's grab our Bibles for 
a moment and turn to First Timothy, where we no doubt see one of 
the clearest texts that disclose this certain truth, that the 
mediatorial role is proper only to Christ Jesus the Lord. In 
First Timothy 2, notice what we read in verse 5, for there 
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 
who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. So we have there the clear language 
of the confession in paragraph 9, the scriptural foundation 
for the clarity of the confession in paragraph 9 of chapter 8. There is one God and one mediator 
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And now hopefully 
as we continue in the study, we'll notice why there is only 
one mediator and why there really could only be one mediator and 
why Christ could only be that one mediator. It's because he 
is the only one being the God-man, being fully God and fully man, 
who can place his hands upon both parties. He is divine, He 
is human, and He is perfect as the God-man, and He is perfect 
as the mediator. And we need a mediator between 
God and man because of some of the stuff that paragraph 10 brings 
out in respect to our averseness and utter inability to return 
to God. We need rescue, we need restoration, 
we need reconciliation, we need a mediator, a go-between, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who can place his hands upon both parties, 
bringing reconciliation. And when we talk about that reconciliation, 
we're not saying, usually when we speak about reconciliation, 
of course, we're talking about two parties that are at odds, 
that need mediatorship to be brought back together and to 
find peace, to find reconciliation. With God and men, we don't have 
God as somehow complicit in the gap. In other words, there is 
no fault on the party side of God. There is only and solely 
fault on the party side of man. And so these two need to be brought 
together. Christ is the one who does that, 
bringing men to God as those who are opposed, those who are 
averse, those who have utter inability to God, the creator, sustainer, and redeemer. So Christ is Truly and properly 
the only mediator we see a little bit of that though the language 
of mediator isn't brought out if you turn to turn to chapter 
26 for a moment in chapter 26 there is some of the same Exclusive 
language speaking at this point to the headship of the church 
the headship of the church is brought out in chapter 8 paragraph 
1 And here in chapter 26, in the chapter of the church, notice 
what we have in paragraph four. The Lord Jesus Christ is the 
head of the church in whom, by the appointment of the Father, 
all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the church 
is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner. Neither can 
the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that 
Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalted 
himself in the church against Christ and all that is called 
God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 
So notice there is an exclusivity to the role of Christ as mediator 
here in view the head of the church. He is appointed by the 
Father. All the power has been invested 
to the Lord Jesus Christ for the calling institution, order, 
or government of the church. It has not, in any part or in 
whole, been transferred from him to the Pope of Rome or any 
other. It is solely and alone Christ Jesus the Lord, who is 
the blessed mediator of the new covenant, who is the head of 
the church. So there is an exclusivity. Now, 
you might be thinking in your minds, well, That's obvious. That's elementary. Who would 
ever argue for someone else being mediator, whether in whole or 
in part? Well, it was the case the Church before this time, 
the Church at that time, and sorry, the Roman Catholic Church, 
I meant to say, the Roman Catholic Church before this time, at the 
time of the writing of the Confession, and after, and even up until 
our day, argue for other mediators and other mediatrix. This is Leo. Pope Leo XIII in 
an encyclical in 1883 and then a supplemental declaration in 
1901. We judge, now kids, there's not 
really a whole lot of kids here. This is bad stuff, what I'm about 
to read right now. This isn't good stuff. This is 
a bad quote to demonstrate the folly the colossal folly of the 
Roman Catholic Church in claiming other mediators. We judge nothing 
more powerful and better for this purpose than by religion 
and devotion to deserve well of the great mother of God, the 
Virgin Mary, who is the treasurer of our peace with God and the 
mediatrix of graces. And so the Roman Catholic Church 
They're not just a little bit off in their theology and we 
really should just be nicer to the Roman Catholic Church. We 
should be loving and nice to Roman Catholics. But the Catholic 
Church as an institution is an open and apparent enemy of the 
gospel of grace and of the true Christian church. You see the 
language, what they're saying there. Mary is the treasurer 
of our peace with God and the mediatrix of graces. Absolutely 
abominable. He would later write, so may 
the most powerful virgin mother who once cooperated in love that 
the faithful might be born in the church be even now the means 
and mediatrix of our salvation. It's absolutely reprehensible. We need to beware of the Roman 
Catholic Church. We do not need to be her friends. We need to be friends and family 
members and those who love Roman Catholics if they're near to 
us. But as far as the institution is concerned and her theology, 
She is outside the bounds clearly of Orthodox Christianity and 
on her way to the lake of fire. So the idea that we're, or what 
we're talking about is the sole and exclusive mediatorship of 
Christ. And it's important that we uphold 
this idea because past, present, and future, this idea, this truth 
will be opposed by those who would seek to usurp Christ of 
his exclusive role as mediator. This is Calvin on the language 
of 1st Timothy 2 5. John Calvin. Now here we have 
a good quote. Now that God has raised up good and faithful teachers 
who have labored to restore and bring to the remembrance of men 
what ought to have been one of the best known principles of 
our faith, the sole mediatorship of Christ. The sophists of the 
Church of Rome have resorted to every contrivance for darkening 
a point so clear. First, the name is so hateful 
to them that if anyone mentions Christ as mediator without taking 
notice of the saints, he instantly falls under a suspicion of heresy. In the Roman Catholic Church, 
there's a doctrine of the, what do they call it again? The 
saints, there's a bank of merit that the saints have accrued 
in their virtuous lives that can, by God, be salvificly taken 
from that bank of merit won by the saints and bestowed upon 
the adherents of the Catholic faith, whether by prayers or 
by the lighting of a candle or by the purchasing of a brooch 
at your local Roman Catholic store, whatever it is, there's 
this idea that by saints, and when we say saints, we're not 
talking about Christians, we're talking about those noted by 
the Catholic Church for doing miracles and all these sorts 
of things. So they do good things in their 
lives. Those good things are placed 
by God in some sort of bank of merit. And then normal Catholics 
can avail of those virtues of the saints, God using them. It's 
almost like a distorted and a twisted and a darkened perversion of 
the redeeming perfections of Christ being bestowed by Christ 
through the Spirit upon and for his people. And so that's what 
Calvin is talking about. But because they do not venture 
to reject altogether what Paul teaches in this passage, they 
evade it by a foolish exposition that he is called one mediator, 
not the only mediator. As if the apostle had mentioned 
God as one, but of a vast multitude of gods, for the two clauses 
are closely connected, that there is one God and one mediator. 
And therefore, they who make Christ one out of many mediators 
must apply the same interpretation in speaking of God. Would they 
rise to such a height of impudence if they were not impelled by 
blind rage to crush the glory of Christ?" So Calvin, with strong 
words, defending the verity of Christ as the exclusive mediator 
between God and man. There is only one, and Christ 
is that one. Now let's look at the three offices 
of Christ. Let's look at the three offices 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, and we could say, and 
we could say with propriety, that we have the office of mediator 
and then the threefold office within that particular role. Or we could say the role of mediator 
in three offices, however we say it. Is fine we have Christ 
nevertheless undertaking three offices of paragraph 10 says 
this number and order of offices and necessary is necessary pointing 
back to paragraph 3 where we read prophet priest and king 
this number and order of offices is Necessary so prophet priest 
and king and can turn to the book of Hebrews for a moment 
as we read of this truth there in verses 1 through 4 and Just 
as you get there and while you are there, this idea of prophet, 
priest, and king isn't forced upon the pages of scripture. 
We don't, you know, come with this magical number of three 
and say, oh, let's have a look at the life and ministry of Christ 
and find out if we can find three offices we can apply to him because 
we like the number three and all that sort of a thing. It 
comes from the pages of scripture as we read about Adam and Israel 
with Christ in view. For example, implicit in Adam's 
headship is or are the offices of prophet, priest, and king. 
Now, we can't really say with any measure of precision or dogmatics 
that Adam that God said, Adam, you're a prophet, you're a priest, 
and maybe he did. We don't know if Adam had some 
measure of consciousness that I'm a prophet, priest, and king. 
But nevertheless, implicit in his headship were those particular 
roles of prophet, priest, and king. In the Garden of Eden prior 
to his fall, perhaps were there no fall, speaking hypothetically 
and as a man, were there no fall, we would have seen this office, 
these three offices more fleshed out as he tended unto the garden 
and unto the the growing earth that was placed under his dominion, 
if you will, to care for, to lead, and to rule, et cetera. But nevertheless, the fall comes, 
and we see those particular things going away. Nevertheless, Adam 
as a type of Christ, we find in Adam those three typological 
roles of prophet, priest, and king. As we get to the narrative, 
So we get to Israel and its earthly sojourn coming forward to the 
time of Christ. We see with regards to the nation 
of Israel, prophet, priest, and king, prophets, priests, and 
kings anointed within the confines of Israel and her religious system. And I think we see something 
there. I'm trying to remember who who 
has pointed this out, but we see something there with regards 
to now the threefold nature of the, or not the threefold nature 
of the offices, but the fact that three personages have to 
now take up those separate offices. They're not found in one individual 
any longer. Sin comes, the fall comes, and 
it's a display of man's manifold weakness and weaknesses that 
these roles are now carried out by three persons and carried 
out imperfectly. So these three, and really what 
it does is, as the old covenant system as a whole does, it points 
us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it arouses in the 
people of God prior to Christ's coming a longing for the perfect 
prophet, priest, and king. the one who not only would have 
all these three offices in himself, but would have them to their 
fullness and to their perfection. We have good prophets and priests 
and kings in the old covenant. We have bad prophets and priests 
and kings in the old covenant, but now in the new covenant, 
what we're reading this morning, we have one man, one God-man 
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is both, not 
both, who is prophet, priest, and king, and who is those three 
things perfectly and to their fullness. So when we come to 
the pages of the scriptures, we don't have, we're not coming 
to the pages of Scriptures and forcing a threefold office or 
a threefold theology upon the pages of Scripture, but rather 
from Scripture we arrive at this particular reality. And you're 
at Hebrew, so let's have a look here because we see both or all 
offices in verses 1 to 4. God, who at various times and 
in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 
has in these last days spoken to us by his son. We have the 
prophetic role of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has appointed 
heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who 
being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his 
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when 
he had by himself purged our sins, the priestly role of Christ, 
seen also in what follows, sat down at the right hand of the 
majesty on high, which now also speaks to his kingship, having 
become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance 
obtained a more excellent name than they. And notice the kingship 
of Christ as we move forward in chapter one here. We see, for example, in verse 
eight, but to the son he says, your throne, O God, is forever 
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of your kingdom. So in just the first chapter 
of the book of Hebrews, we see that threefold office. He is 
prophet, he is priest, and he is king. We see them elsewhere 
in the Scriptures as well. Let's just first consider his 
prophetic role. Luke 4. Now, we're not going 
to go to the Old Testament because here in the New Testament we 
have the Old Testament quoted. In Luke 4, we have Christ. Excuse me. That's what happens 
when you drink coffee too fast. Notice what we have here in Luke 
4, beginning in verse 16, Christ stands up to read. He stands 
up and he reads a portion of prophecy from the book of Isaiah. Excuse me. From the book of Isaiah, 
with regards, or that spoke to the fact that this coming servant 
would be a prophet of the Most High. Notice what we read in 
verse 16. So he came to Nazareth where 
he'd been brought up and as his custom was, he went into the 
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And he 
was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened 
the book, he found the place where it was written, the Spirit 
of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach 
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, 
to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the 
blind. to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim 
the acceptable year of the Lord. Christ standing up, speaking 
of himself from an Old Testament prophet that wrote and spoke 
concerning Christ. The spirit of the Lord is upon 
me because he has anointed me, those three offices in Old Covenant 
religion and Old Covenant system that had anointed representatives. priest and King he is anointed 
to preach the gospel to the poor etc obviously Christ was aware 
of this this office he didn't read that it wasn't just a haphazard 
or a coincidence that he opened up and read that passage of scripture 
but rather it was knowing full well that he was anointed, appointed 
by the Father to be prophet and to carry out that role. The apostles 
knew this as well. If you turn to Acts 4 for a moment, 
the apostles knew this very well as they went about their preaching 
task in the early church. The apostles testified to this 
fact that Christ was a prophet. And notice in Acts 3, As Peter 
is preaching after the healing of that man outside the temple, 
at the temple gate, he begins and he finds occasion to proclaim 
the gospel of Christ. And notice what we have beginning 
in verse, let's see here. Well, let's begin in verse 19. 
Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted 
out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of 
the Lord. and that he may send Jesus Christ who was preached 
to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration 
of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his 
holy prophets since the world began. Now notice, for Moses 
truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for 
you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear 
in all things whatever he says to you. And it shall be that 
every soul who shall not hear that prophet shall be utterly 
destroyed from among the people. You see there, Moses spoke and 
prophesied concerning this one. And Peter, knowing that by inspiration 
of God, knowing that speaking to the crowd declares the truth 
that this Christ was spoken of by Moses and that this Christ 
would be that prophet whom the people must hear lest they be 
destroyed. Also in Acts chapter 7, Stephen 
speaks concerning the same thing. Stephen in like kind as Peter 
says in Acts 7 37 this is that Moses who said to your children 
of Israel the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like 
me from your brethren him you shall hear so the Old Testament 
promises that this one who would come would be a prophet when 
that one does come he points back to those scriptures to say 
that he was anointed and appointed by the Father to be a prophet. As we examine the life and ministry 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see him playing the role of a 
prophet, don't we? He comes and he brings the word 
of the Lord to the people, to his disciples. He brings good 
things to the disciples. He brings the words of life to 
those who have ears to hear it. He brings the words of condemnation 
and malediction to those who will not hear him. And just like 
the prophets of old who would bring the same sorts of things, 
though of course in a lesser way than Christ, the full and 
perfect prophet, but nevertheless they bring good things to those 
who are the remnant in Israel, and they bring words of malediction, 
bad words of condemnation to those who will not hear the words 
of the Lord, who will not hear the law, but rather rebel against 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So we have Christ as as 
a prophet. And going back to Hebrews 1 just 
for a moment, it would be good to notice a few things here. 
Because when we say Christ is a prophet, we're not saying that he is a 
prophet the same as the prophets of old. though many of the things 
that he does are similar. Many of the things that he says 
are similar. But there is a super abounding 
excellence, to borrow the words of Pink, to the prophecy of Christ 
and to the prophetic nature of Christ. than compared with those 
in the old. Notice in Hebrews 1, God who 
at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the 
fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us 
by his son. There is a difference in the 
manner or mode of revelation between Christ and, or in comparison 
with Christ and those before him. In the old covenant, the 
revelation of God came in many portions and in many ways. It was scattered. It was in different ways. It 
wasn't immediate as it was when Christ comes. This is one commentator 
speaking with regards to this. All was not revealed to each 
one prophet, but one received one portion of revelation and 
another another. To Noah, the quarter of the world 
to which Messiah should belong was revealed. to Abraham the 
nation, to Jacob the tribe, to David and Isaiah the family, 
to Micah the town of nativity, to Daniel the exact time, to 
Malachi the coming of his forerunner, through Jonah his burial and 
resurrection, through Isaiah and Hosea his resurrection. Each 
only knew in part, but when that which was perfect came in Messiah, 
that which was in part was done away. So you see, when the author 
is writing here to the Hebrew Christians, he's talking about 
various times or many portions and in various ways. He's not 
just saying before it was this way and now it's this way, though 
that's there. He's saying before it was incomplete 
and piecemeal, not deficient as far as divine revelation is 
concerned, but with a divine purpose, the revelation in the 
old covenant has this many portions in various ways, manner, or mode. The OT revelations you'd go on 
to write were fragmentary in substance and manifold in form. 
The very multitude of prophets shows that they prophesied only 
in part. In Christ, the revelation of God is full, not in shifting 
hues of separated color, but himself the pure light, uniting 
in his person the whole spectrum. And John Owen concurs when he 
writes, the Son of God as incarnate, revealing the will of God immediately 
to the church, is what we have in Christ in these last days 
coming. And also all other prophets, 
even Moses himself, revealing receiving their revelations by 
transient irradiations of their minds, had no treasure of truth 
dwelling in them, but apprehended only that particular wherein 
they were enlightened, and that not clearly neither in its fullness 
and perfection, but in a measure of light accommodated unto the 
age wherein they lived. So that's why the that's why 
the apostle could write that in Christ resides all the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge in Christ are hid, not hidden from view, 
but laid up in Christ are laid up all the treasures of wisdom 
and knowledge. The prophets of old did not have 
laid up in themselves all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
But when Christ comes as the as the as the full and perfect 
prophet, the new covenant, he comes and he has that particular 
characteristic. The greatness of the revelation 
of Christ is also seen at the point of his prophetic role. 
The greatness of it is seen is that unlike any other age before 
him, now in him, he is both messenger and the sum and substance of 
the message that is preached. He is both messenger and content 
of gospel message. Isaiah could never could never 
come and say, you know, Isaiah has come not to serve, but to 
serve and give his life a ransom for many. Micah couldn't say 
to the people, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one 
comes to the Father but by me. Jesus Christ, the remarkable 
nature of his prophetic role is seen in other things, but 
it's also seen in the fact that he is both messenger and the 
sum and substance of the message. Now let's look at priest. Let's 
have a look at the priestly role of Christ. And if you're already, 
if you're back in Hebrews, that's good. You can stay there. Because 
notice we've already read when he had by himself purged our 
sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, we should 
see in that priestly language, it doesn't say there Christ carried 
about in the office of a priest. We'll read that in a moment. 
But nevertheless, we should connect that to the old covenant where 
The old covenant priests were charged with bringing sacrifices, 
which in themselves never took away sins, but nevertheless, 
they went in to the temple to offer up the sacrifices that 
typified, that shadowed the true substance of Christ. They offered 
up sacrifices for sins. They would never sit down themselves, 
only Christ did. When we come to the book of Hebrews, 
or in paragraph, or excuse me, chapter two, of the book of Hebrews 
we see the language of priest explicitly now being brought 
out and applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in Hebrews 2 at 
verse 17, therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren 
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things 
pertaining to God. to make propitiation for the 
sins of the people. Remember, we noted last time, 
propitiation has to do with a wrath-bearing sacrifice. Christ is the one 
who makes propitiation for the sins of his people, and he does 
that by the sacrifice of himself. We just noted that in Christ's 
prophetic role, it's unique in the sense that he is both messenger 
and the content of the message preached. Well, in his priestly 
role, it is super aboundingly unique as well in the sense that 
he is both the one offering the sacrifice, the priest, and the 
sacrifice itself. Christ is a faithful high priest 
in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins 
of his people. You can turn a little bit to 
the right in Hebrews 4. And this language is multiplied 
throughout. We're certainly not exhausting the references to 
the priestly office of Christ, but nevertheless looking at a 
few that certainly provide clarity to that reality. Hebrews 4, 14, 
seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through 
the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. You see the importance of knowing, 
understanding, and upholding the priestly office of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the priestly office of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, because it is the foundational for our perseverance 
and assurance. Seeing then that we have a great 
high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of 
God, let us hold fast our confession. The fact that Jesus Christ is 
the perfect priest who offered up the perfect sacrifice himself, 
that fact serves as hope for his people, as a certain and 
a sure and an inviolable hope for the people of Christ. Also, we can look at Hebrews 
7. We see the language connecting 
now to the fullness and the perfection of the saving work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. High priestly work being that 
which is perfect and sure and efficacious for the salvation 
of his people. Notice in Hebrews 7 verse 23. 
Also there were many priests because they were prevented by 
death from continuing. But he, because he continues 
forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore he is also 
able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through 
him since he always lives to make intercession for them. There's more of that stuff of 
hope for the Christian. You see, our hope is built not 
upon the shifting sands and the shifting waves of our own compliance 
to gospel truth, our own compliance to the law of God. It's not built 
upon the ebb and flow of our obedience, but rather Therefore 
he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God 
through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. The perseverance of the Saints 
does not depend upon our own free will but upon the perfection 
of the mediatorial and intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Notice that language continues here, Hebrews 7, 26. For such 
a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 
separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. 
It's interesting here. It's not it's interesting. It's 
fully in line with everything that the apostle says. But notice 
the vast gap between the old covenant high priests and this 
true high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. For such a high priest 
was fitting for us, who was holy, harmless, and undefiled." Could 
never be said of any of the priests in the Old Covenant, could it? 
They, having sinned themselves, offered up sins for themselves 
and also for the people. And a record of the Old Covenant 
story, and by that I don't mean fictional story, the narrative 
of Old Covenant religion that we find in our Bibles, we certainly 
don't find that every priest was holy, harmless, and undefiled. 
He's separate from sinners. He is not a sinner himself. He 
is separate from them. He doesn't offer up the sacrifice 
for his own sins and also for the people's because he is wholly 
harmless and undefiled and has become higher than the heavens. 
Has become higher than the heavens. No high priest has, you know, 
to borrow the language of the author at the beginning of the 
epistle to which of the high priests of the old covenant was 
it ever said, sit at my right hand till I Make your enemies 
your footstool and it goes on here who does not need daily 
as those high priests verse 27 to offer offer up Sacrifices 
first for his own sins and then for the people's for this he 
did once for all when he offered up himself It's beautiful Christ 
comes and offers up one sacrifice for all time fully efficacious 
unrepeatable when we gather together for the Lord's Supper There is 
no real sacrifice offered up for the quick and the dead because 
Christ has offered up that one sacrifice forever, 2,000 years 
ago. We do offer up an oblation of 
praise for that one sacrifice that was offered up, but there 
is no real sacrifice offered up for the quick and the dead, 
but rather a remembrance of the perfect sacrifice that Christ 
gave on our behalf. Also Hebrews 9.23, more of that language Hebrews 
is doing anything remember what it is doing it is arguing with 
the strongest veracity and clarity for the perfect work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ for his super abounding excellence over all those typical 
and shadowy things of old Hebrews 923 therefore it was necessary 
that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified 
with these but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices 
than these. For Christ has not entered the 
holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, 
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
for us. Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest 
enters the most holy place every year with blood of another. He 
then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of 
the world, but now, once, at the end of the ages, he has appeared 
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, You see the folly 
of anyone who would depart from the Christian religion to go 
back to temple sacrifices. The absolute madness of it. Those high priests went daily 
offering up sacrifices that could never take away sin. And they, 
at this time, at the writing of the epistle, were doing the 
very same thing. And the author is trying to stress 
the glory of the fact that this one high priest has now come, 
the one to whom all of those articles, washings, ceremonies 
pointed, all of those sacrifices pointed, all of those priests 
pointed, the tabernacle in the temple pointed. He has come. He has offered up the one sacrifice 
forever. And he has now been launched. to the seat of his empire, where 
he reigns over his people and reigns in juridical wrath over 
his enemies. Why would you want to depart 
from such a Christ and from such a priest? Well, let's look at 
his kingly role. Let's look at his kingly office. 
Because the Bible is clear about this one as well. And you see, 
all of these things are touched upon in the Old Testament. Hopefully, 
we've at least mentioned that. We talked about his prophetic 
role. We see Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, many texts in the Old Covenant, 
Deuteronomy 18, those sorts of things. There's others that we 
could go to. With regards to the priest, we see Psalm 110 
brought out in the Book of Hebrews, other places. We see in his kingly 
role, with regards to his kingly office in the Old Covenant, we 
could go to places like Psalm 2. Remember, I have set my king 
on my holy hill of Zion. All the nations ask of me, and 
I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of 
the earth for your possession. And then he tells the kings and 
the rulers of the earth to kiss the sun, to kiss this true and 
reigning king, who has all nations and the ends of the earth as 
his possession. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and they perish 
in the way. We go to verses like Micah 5, 2, and the promise of 
this one who would be born. Often in, you know, the time 
of December 25th, it's a text that people will go to to speak 
of the prophecy of this coming one be born to be king. You, 
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are the littlest of the thousands 
of Judah, yet out of you will come one to be ruler in Israel 
whose goings forth are from old from everlasting. Christ was 
promised to be a king in the Old Covenant. Christ himself 
when we get to the Gospels, you can turn to John 18 for a moment, 
because Christ himself speaks to the fact that he had been 
anointed by God to be a king. Notice in John 18, in his exchange 
with Pilate, John 18, 33, then Pilate entered the Praetorium 
again, called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the 
Jews? Jesus answered him, are you speaking for yourself about 
this or did others tell you this concerning me? Pilate answered, 
am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief 
priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? Jesus 
answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were 
of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be 
delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from 
here. Pilate therefore said to him, 
are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly 
that I am a king for this cause I was born and for this cause 
I have come into the world. that I should bear witness to 
the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." It's 
interesting there we have kingly and prophetic roles brought out. 
No doubt the truth declared as well, the truth borne witness 
to by Christ contained the fact that he gives his life as a ransom 
for many, his priestly role. But we see there that Christ 
declares before Pilate that he says rightly that he is a king. 
For that cause he was born. For that cause he came into the 
world. We could see the kingship of 
Christ in Matthew 28. You don't have to turn there, 
but remember at the end of Matthew 28, verses 18, 19, and 20, we 
have the Great Commission. Is it not kingly language when 
we read, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to 
me? And it's upon the reality and the certainty of that kingship 
that he can say, go therefore and make disciples of all the 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the 
Son. and of the Holy Ghost. His kingly role is clear in the 
book of Revelation. You can turn there as we rehearse 
a few texts. Remember, the offices of prophet, 
priest, and king are not strangers to the text of the Bible, but 
rather they come from a faithful exegesis of the Scriptures. Notice 
what we have in Revelation in chapter 1 and verse 5. We see there this wonderful language. Backing up to verse 4, John to 
the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace 
from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven 
spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful 
witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings 
of the earth. To him who loved us and washed 
us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests 
to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion 
forever and ever. Amen. He is the ruler over the 
kings of the earth. You can turn to Revelation 17 
for a moment. Just three texts we're looking 
at here, but in Revelation 17, notice what we have. Notice what 
we have right at the beginning of this particular, well, maybe 
beginning in verse 3. Revelation 17, 3. So he carried 
me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman 
sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, 
having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple 
and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and 
pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and 
the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead, a name was 
written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots 
and of the abominations of the earth. As we scan down, we find 
the, as we scan down and we move now to verse 10, just continuing 
here, The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received 
no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings 
with the beast. These are of one mind, and they 
will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make 
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is 
Lord of lords and King of kings. and those who are with him are 
called, chosen, and faithful. When Peter announced in Acts 
3.22 that those who do not hear the word of the prophet who was 
to come, speaking of Christ and quoting Moses, that those who 
do not hear the voice of the prophet that will come will be 
utterly destroyed. We get to Revelation and we see 
that promise of that happening. Christ comes as prophet, yes, 
but he comes here particularly in his kingly role. And he comes 
as king of kings and lord of lords. Those who are with him, 
those who did hear him, those who do hear him, those who are 
called chosen and faithful, they reign with him. And they ride 
with him, that one who rides upon the white and valiant steed 
of gospel glory and of wholesome divine juridical rule will come 
and destroy those who do not bend a knee and who do not obey 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see that as well in Revelation 
19. Notice, of course, hopefully 
a passage that's very well known to you. We've read it here in 
worship before. It speaks of the glorious reign 
of Christ, the glorious victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 16, and he has 
on his robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords. this wonderful truth that Jesus 
Christ is king and you see the hope. Hopefully you see the hope 
that it would have brought to the people of this time and hopefully 
our day, of course, but the people of this time, the people in the 
book of Hebrews who do not, did not then see all things put under 
Christ's feet. Why? Because you had the Romans 
ruling the world, the known world at that time. You had the Jews 
persecuting the Christians. You had family members and friends 
departing from the gathered church because they were never of them 
to begin with, now persecuting, tempting them to go back to temple 
religion. It would have been a bomb to 
the soul to hear that this Christ was the true high priest who 
offered up the true sacrifice. That he was the true prophet 
who was promised to come to proclaim the gospel of God. And he was 
the king who now, yes, crucified nevertheless has been resurrected. 
has ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, who is 
the king of kings and the lord of lords." What a strength to 
the soul of those who are being persecuted for their faith to 
know that though the lions may gash and chomp, and though the 
bulls may charge with their horns, yet we have one who has been 
seated upon the highest pinnacle of his empire, who rules and 
reigns over his people, and for their good, and rules and reigns 
over enemies for their eternal detriment. So we have, and the 
confession brings this out just as we now close, what this means 
for the people. Notice what the necessity of 
the roles, the three roles are brought out in paragraph 10. 
In respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical 
office. It means we are to avail of the 
words of Christ. He and his role now as the ascended 
potentate now dispenses his spirit to illumine our minds and to 
help us as we avail of his word, as we come into church and we 
take in the preached word as we engage in those other means 
God has given to us, prayer, baptism, the Lord's Supper, these 
sorts of things. Christ in his prophetic role 
helps us because we stand in need due to our ignorance. In respect of our alienation 
from God and imperfection, of the best of our services, we 
need his priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable 
unto God. We can't work our way into heaven, 
we can't offer up sacrifices that will avail with God for 
our entrance into heaven. We offer up sacrifices, our bodies, 
our thanks, our praises, they're called spiritual oblations, our 
spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanks to God. As far as 
those salvific things that bring us into the favor and into the 
entrance of heaven, we rely on Christ and his perfect priestly 
office. And in respect to our averseness 
and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and 
security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his kingly office to 
convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to the 
heavenly kingdom. Isn't that fantastic? And I think 
we need to remember the connection between Christ's, all of these 
roles, all of these roles and the means whereby we avail of 
that kingship. We are not so many scattered 
sojourners out in the world, but rather we gather together 
as the Church of Christ. We come into this place because 
it is a means whereby The risen and exalted king blesses his 
people. We have heralds that go into 
the pulpit owned and commissioned by God to proclaim the things 
of the king to the people that they might avail of kingdom blessings. 
We come here, we read the scriptures, we hear them preached, we pray, 
we give thanksgivings, we come to the Lord's Supper. Our blessed 
King has bestowed upon us a meal whereby we can avail of the salvific 
blessings of God, whereby we can avail of a call to remembrance 
so that in our coldness and in our languor we won't stray from 
the kingdom, but rather will be kept by the King for his glory. And so we do not impose the prophet, 
priest, and king upon the pages of scripture, but rather from 
the scriptures we see them and we glory in them because it speaks 
to the perfection of the singular office of mediator, our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for this time studying. We thank you for this time looking 
at our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator, our prophet, 
our priest, our king. And we rejoice that in Him we 
have the only mediator, that in Him we have the perfect prophet, 
priest, and king. And we pray that you would help 
us to avail Solian alone of his mediatorial work because it is 
only in that work that we can find a favor and acceptance before 
you in Christ Jesus the Lord. We thank you for his work. We 
rejoice in your grace extended toward us in him. We do pray 
that now as we go into worship that you would cause us by your 
spirit to rejoice in our Savior, to worship our triune God, to 
find all spiritual blessings solely and alone in Christ Jesus 
the Lord. It's in His name that we pray, 
amen.