The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction
A better job might help you live more comfortably. Better health might ease your suffering. A closer friendship might mean you have someone to call when life falls apart. These are the things we often think about when it comes to all we need. And let me be clear, these are very good things. It’s not wrong to pursue them. In fact, they are tremendous blessings from the Lord.
The problem arises when we feel like these are all the things that we need to thrive. But they can’t meet our deepest need. We need Christ to bring us near to God. And we never outgrow our need for Him.
Maybe you’ve trusted Christ for years. You know your sins are forgiven. But then you fall into that same temptation again and again. You’re ashamed to pray. You wonder how God could welcome you after all that you’ve done. Or your suffering comes again. And your faith feels weak. You know that God is faithful, but you wonder whether you have the strength to keep on going.
A better job, a healthier body, faithful friends — these are all wonderful gifts. But they cannot take away our guilt or secure our standing before the Lord. You need to know this, that your Savior is still interceding for you. That his sacrifice is still sufficient. That your weakness will not bring his priestly ministry to an end. And that is the comfort that this passage gives us. Jesus is all we need to draw near to God. That’s the focus of our time.
Our text gives us four reasons to trust him, for he is all we need. He’s all we need because God has established his priesthood by an oath. Second, he’s all we need because his priesthood will never end. Jesus is all we need because he always lives to intercede for us. And Jesus is all we need because he offered himself once for all.
Point One: Jesus Is All We Need Because God Has Established His Priesthood by an Oath
Verses 20–22
So let’s begin with God’s unchangeable oath. We read verses 20 to 22, Hebrews chapter 7.
And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. For this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, The Lord has sworn he will not change his mind, You are a priest forever. You know what that makes Jesus? The guarantor of a better covenant.
The author is showing us the contrast, of course, between Jesus and the Levitical priests. The priests were appointed without an oath. Jesus was appointed with one. Both were ordained by God, but only Christ’s priesthood was established by God’s solemn oath that he would be what? A priest forever.
Why is that important? As I mentioned before, God’s word is already entirely true and trustworthy. So an oath doesn’t make it more truthful. But he graciously confirms his promise with an oath to strengthen our assurance. It’s our settled confidence that we know that we know that we know it’s true, it’s trustworthy. Christian assurance is the confidence that we belong to Christ, that our sins are forgiven, and he will keep us all the way to the end. In this passage, God’s oath strengthens that confidence.
We draw near, we can draw near, because the priest he’s appointed will never fail us. Listen, God does not change his mind. He ain’t like us. He never says, sorry, I reconsidered my decision, we’re taking a different path, not pleased how this is going. He never does that. What a comfort to the heart. How many of us have been let down by others, even the ones that we love the most? See, God will never discover that he made a mistake. He’s committed himself to Christ’s permanent priesthood so that you can trust your better priest. You can approach God through him with the burdens of your work, with your health, with your relationships.
The Guarantor of a Better Covenant
Now look at the consequence here in verse 22. Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant. A covenant is the relationship God established with his people through his promises and commitments. Guarantor is referring to someone who personally guarantees that an obligation will be fulfilled. You picture someone unable to secure a loan on their own. They need another person to sign to accept the responsibility if they cannot pay.
But Jesus is far more than a loan guarantor. He knew that we could never pay the debt of our sin. He took responsibility for that debt and he paid it in full. Dear Christian, that includes every sin you’ve ever committed, every sin that you will commit. His payment is complete. His guarantee includes the fulfillment of all of God’s covenant promises. Forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God.
That’s why the covenant is better. Levitical priests and their repeated sacrifices could never provide that complete cleansing from sin and lasting access to God. Old Testament believers were forgiven through Christ, to whom the sacrifices pointed. They didn’t know who he was yet, but that’s the one that they looked to. The sacrifices themselves could not remove sin. Jesus secures all of these blessings. He’s all we need to draw near to God.
Some of you may wonder whether God will receive you after you failed again. But who appointed the priest through whom you come? God himself. And he confirmed that appointment with an oath. You’re approaching God through the very Savior he has provided you.
So what gives you confidence? Confidence to come to God today. God has established your priest by an oath. Jesus himself guarantees the covenant’s promises. Your changing feelings do not change God’s sworn appointment. So come to Christ. Come to him in repentance and faith. Confess your sin and turn from it, trusting the priest that God has given you.
Jesus is all you need. So run to him with your sin. Trust that he will by no means cast you out. Our confidence rests in the priest God has established and the covenant he guarantees.
Point Two: Jesus Is All We Need Because His Priesthood Will Never End
Verses 23–24
Now that we know the certainty of Christ’s appointment, let’s consider together the permanence of his priesthood. We’re going to read 23 to 24. We consider Jesus is all we need because his priesthood will never end.
The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.
Why so many priests, you ask? Each of them died, had to be replaced. It didn’t matter how faithful, how capable they were. Their ministries ended and another priest had to step in. But Jesus is entirely different. He holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. We know that Jesus truly died, rose again, and will never die again. His indestructible life goes on forever. That means no one will ever take his place.
The Comfort of a Priest Who Remains
Many of us know what it’s like to lose someone that we depend on. That could be a spouse, a parent, a pastor, a trusted friend. God used them to encourage you, to help you, to walk alongside you. Losing them doesn’t mean that they failed us. But it hurts to know that the people we love cannot remain with us forever.
I think of Alan Clark, faithful brother in the Lord, servant in the prison ministry, someone who’s been attending our church, as Duncan mentioned, since the very beginning. I used to love seeing his Christian t-shirts and hearing the sound of his truck backing up as he parked in the grass like a semi. And as Alan approaches the end of his life, we feel that sorrow. But we don’t grieve as those who have no hope. Alan belongs to Christ. And the Savior he’s trusted will remain his priest through his death and beyond. His health is failing, but his high priest remains. When Alan enters the presence of the Lord, he will be with the very Savior who has cared for him every step of the way.
And dear Christian, we have that same hope. We will never face the loss of our great high priest. Though our health may fail, though we lose the ones we love, and even as we approach death, Jesus remains. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Our access to God will never be disrupted by the death of the one who represents us.
So bring your fears about the future to the Lord. And ask yourself this question, what is weighing down on my heart? Is it your health? Is it someone you love? Is it the thought of facing life without them? We don’t need to know everything that’s going to happen before we can come to God with all of those fears. Your high priest, he remains faithful even when your faith feels weak. So keep trusting him. His ministry continues through all the storms and changes of life. Jesus is all we need to draw near to God.
And because his priesthood never ends, he’s able to save completely those who draw near to God through him. That’s what the author shows us in verse 25.
Point Three: Jesus Is All We Need Because He Always Lives to Intercede for Us
Verse 25
Let’s consider what our living priest is doing for us now. Jesus is all we need because he always lives to intercede for us. Is verse 25 really the centerpiece of our text this morning?
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.
The author uses that word consequently. Because Jesus’ priesthood never ends, he is able to save those that draw near to God through him. He rose from the grave. He defeated death. He reigns forever as our great high priest. Death cannot end his ministry. Nothing can prevent him from completing the salvation of his people. He is able to rescue us from sin’s dominion, Satan’s control, and God’s judgment. He is able to bring us all the way safely home to Him. To the uttermost. Completely. Fully.
Because our priest lives forever, his saving care never comes to an end. His people never reach a stage in their lives where his ability to save runs out. He will keep us through this life and bring us safely into glory.
And this verse is also showing us whom he saves. He saves those that draw near to God through him. This is personally trusting Christ as Savior and priest. It’s relying on him to save us from all of our sins. There’s nothing that we can do to earn that. We come through the Savior who provides everything we need.
What Are You Relying On?
So I have to ask you, what are you relying on when you approach God? Sometimes we confess sin and then we feel this urge to mention how hard we have tried, how much we have served, how sorry that we feel. But drawing near through Christ, it means resting our acceptance on his finished work. Our repentance is real, is necessary, is often, but it cannot pay our debt. We can come while we still feel unworthy. We can come with weak, but real faith. Christ’s ability to save completely does not depend upon our feeling completely confident. Weak faith can lay hold of a sufficient Savior.
Some people know about salvation. They heard the gospel. They’ve been in church. They rely on their attendance, their family background, or even how good they think they are. But being familiar with Christ is entirely different from entrusting yourself wholly to Him. So if you have not come to Christ, come to God through Christ. You don’t have to produce stronger feelings before asking him for help.
And why? Why can those who come through him be so confident? Why are we so confident to come boldly to the throne of grace, to find mercy and grace in our time of need? Because he always lives to make intercession for us.
Intercession means that Jesus represents his people before the Father and pleads on their behalf. His continuing ministry rests on his completed sacrifice. He does not offer himself repeatedly. He is not persuading an unwilling Father to love us. The Father and the Son are united in our salvation. Their love for us, of course the Spirit as well, reaches back before the foundation of the world. Jesus is fully committed to representing us before the Father and keeping us all the way to the end.
John Calvin captures this really well when he says, what sort of pledge, how great is this, of the love toward us? Christ lives for us, not for himself. Christ’s heavenly glory, that’s not removed his concern for his people. Our Savior always lives to intercede for us, to bring us safely home to the glory of God.
Why We Hesitate to Keep Asking
Now think about how difficult that can be for us to believe. We sometimes hesitate to ask people for help. Why? Because we’ve asked so many times before. We’ve used up our time. There we worry that they’re tired of hearing the same struggle again and again. And then we carry that same expectation into prayer. We say things like this: oh God, I’ve confessed this before, surely you’re tired of hearing about it again. Or, Lord, after all these years that I’ve been a believer, I think I should be stronger by now. Other Christians must be a lot easier to care for, Lord, than me.
So what we do is we delay prayer until we’ve put ourselves together, built ourselves up, improved our own confidence in self. We try to handle temptation alone. We withdraw from fellowship because we’re embarrassed to need help again. We can begin treating spiritual maturity as though it means needing less of Christ. No, no. We need more.
Listen, Christ knowingly undertook the care of sinful, weak people. Our continuing need for him, it doesn’t surprise him. He willingly carries out the priesthood that he received from the Father. We don’t have to persuade him to take up a ministry that he’s already faithfully exercising.
His commitment to us includes correcting us. Anybody enjoy correction? How about exposing sin in our lives? Or bringing us to repentance? This is all good things. They are difficult and hard, but they accomplish a goal, to form Christ in us. Being welcomed by Christ doesn’t mean our sin is harmless. It means that we can bring our sin into the light, trusting him for forgiveness and change us.
Peter’s Preserved Faith
Consider Peter in Luke chapter 22, verses 31 to 32. Jesus says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan, he’s demanded to have you. He wants to sift you like wheat. But I’ve prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you’ve turned again, go strengthen your brothers.
Jesus knew Peter’s coming failure. He prayed before Peter denied him. Peter had not yet faced the trial, but his Savior was already attending his need. Peter’s courage failed. He denied the Lord he loved, but his faith was not finally extinguished. Christ’s intercession secured his preservation, his persevering, his pushing forward, and salvation. A way back. Jesus also spoke of Peter strengthening his brothers after his return. His failure would not be the end of his usefulness. Christ’s preserving care, it brought Peter back into service to others.
What a comfort to us as believers, those that are asking the question, will I make it to the end? Our 1689 confession, chapter 17, paragraph 2, says that our perseverance, our endurance, making it to the end, depends upon the efficacy of the merit and the intercession of Jesus Christ and our union with him. Efficacy is — it means his intercession accomplishes its purpose. None of his intercession fails. Jesus prayed for Peter. Peter was preserved through his failure and brought to repentance.
Dear Christian, your Savior’s intercession is effective for you too. He knows your weakness and he’s able to save you, to keep you all the way to the end. That gives you every reason to keep coming to Christ.
You may be facing the same temptation again and again. You may be growing spiritually weak and your prayers feel feeble and ineffective and weak. And you struggle to find the words to say, to express what is happening in your heart. Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. When we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will. And Romans 8:34 tells us that Christ intercedes for us at God’s right hand. Our weakness in prayer does not leave us without the Lord’s help. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Our living Savior represents us before the Father. We can approach God knowing that we are welcomed through Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16 has already shown us that Jesus is our sympathetic high priest. Because of Him, we can approach the throne of grace confidently, for mercy and grace in our time of need.
So I implore you today, come to Him. Come sooner. Don’t delay it. Come honestly. Turn from your sin and ask for His help. Receive the care that Christ provides through His Word and His people. You don’t have to wait till your prayers feel stronger or your struggles feel more manageable. Your high priest is already interceding for you. Jesus is all we need because he always lives to intercede for us.
Point Four: Jesus Is All We Need Because He Offered Himself Once for All
Verses 26–28
What kind of priest can provide such complete salvation? Well, verses 26 to 28 shows us his holiness, his perfection, and the sufficient sacrifice that he offered. Jesus is all we need because he offered himself once for all. Let’s read that together again.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints 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.
We have a priest who meets our deepest need. That’s why the author calls it fitting in verse 26.
Holy, Innocent, Exalted
So what do we know about Jesus? He is holy. He is innocent. He is unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted in the heavens. He remains undefiled by sin and now ministers from heaven as our exalted high priest. He’s completely free from evil. He’s pure and without guilt. And even though he is exalted at the right hand of the Father, he is still deeply involved in our lives. Being separated from sinners doesn’t mean he wants nothing to do with us. His holiness qualifies him to help sinful people. It does not make him reluctant to receive them.
And we see that in verse 27. He has no need to offer sacrifices for himself. The former high priest shared the people’s sinfulness. They needed atonement themselves. They needed Christ’s sacrifice to deal with their guilt before God. But Jesus has no sins of his own. He is fully qualified to offer himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
Don’t miss what’s happening here. The priest offered animal sacrifices. Jesus offered himself. He is the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. And he offered himself once for all. Hebrews 10:10 says, “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Once for all. His sacrifice never needs to be repeated. Jesus offered himself and that offering is sufficient to set his people apart for God.
We still struggle with sin. We still need to grow in holiness. There’s nothing lacking in Christ’s sacrifice. Our continuing need for him, for forgiveness, does not require him to offer himself again.
Made Perfect Forever
Look at verse 28. The law appoints men in their weakness. These men, these priests, were sinful, mortal men. They needed forgiveness themselves, and eventually their ministries ended in death. But God had a purpose for them. Through their ministry and the sacrifices they offered, he taught his people about sin, about the need for a payment for that sin, and the need for the coming priest. Their sacrifices pointed forward to the cleansing that Christ would accomplish.
The word of God’s oath appoints the Son, perfected forever. Let’s be clear. Perfected does not mean Jesus became morally better. He was always holy, always sinless. Earlier in Hebrews 2:10 told us that God was bringing many sons to glory by making the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. To save us, listen, Jesus had to walk the path of obedience all the way to the cross. He endured that suffering and offered himself for our sins. He’s completed everything required to serve as our saving high priest. Nothing’s lacking in his qualifications. Nothing needs to be added to his sacrifice. Remember the purpose: bringing many sons to glory.
Dear Christian, the priest who represents you has accomplished everything necessary to bring you home to God.
Free to Be Honest About Our Sin
And a sufficient sacrifice also frees us to be honest about our sin. How often do we try to make what we’ve done sound a little less significant? Someone tells us what we said to them hurt them. And before we hear them out, we start explaining, well, I was so tired and stressed out that day. You see, it’s not my fault.
Dear Christian, Jesus offered himself for your actual sins. His sacrifice is sufficient for the very thing that you’re struggling to admit. You don’t have to make your sin sound smaller for his sacrifice to be enough. That means you can actually listen when someone confronts you. You can acknowledge where you were wrong without immediately getting defensive. Now, we’re not very good at that. I know I’m not. I’m growing. Ask my wife. You can ask forgiveness and take responsibility for the harm that you’ve caused. And yes, there still will be consequences. Trust may take time to rebuild. You may need to put things right. But you can face those things knowing that your standing before God rests on Christ’s finished work. And you can stop trying to pay for what Christ has already paid in full.
Sometimes we think, well, a little extra service, a little serving, that’ll make up for my sin. I was deficient this week. I was a bad little Christian, so I’m stepping up my service. Or we feel we shouldn’t enjoy anything. Well, because I sinned, somehow, some reason, I need to have self-inflicted misery. I’ll just put myself in a corner, isolate, not eat anything. That’ll somehow count as the payment.
But repentance is turning from sin to God. It’s confessing honestly, doing what we can to repair the harm that we’ve caused and willingly accepting the consequences of our actions. That’s showing repentance. They add nothing to Christ’s atonement. Our Father also disciplines us for our good. He corrects us. He trains us in holiness. It doesn’t collect an unpaid portion of the debt Christ has settled. That’s not how it works.
You see, so where are you? Where are we in making excuses? What are you afraid to acknowledge before your God? And where are you trying to make yourself suffer to earn forgiveness? Let me just plead with you. Bring it to the light. Just confess it honestly. Turn from it. Trust in Christ’s sacrifice as enough. The Savior who offered himself once for all is sufficient for the full truth and nothing but the truth about you. He knows it all. So why hide it? Forgiveness frees us to serve out of gratitude rather than trying to constantly repay the outstanding debt. Jesus is all we need to draw near to God.
Closing
So let’s return where we began. What do you need most? You need a better job? You need your health to improve? Are you tired of the same thing? Faithful friends? Those are good gifts. Those are good things. We can ask our Father for them, because He cares about us. But our deepest need is to draw near to God. And He has provided everything that we need in His Son.
Some of you will leave today with circumstances that are still very, very hard. The appointment, looking on at the calendar. The relationship that’s still broken, needs attention. The future still holds questions you cannot answer. But you can face those things with a priest who will never leave his office. He’ll never exhaust his ability to save, get tired of you asking the same thing, coming to him too much. Never. And never, ever need to repeat his sacrifice. God has established him by an oath. His priesthood will never end. He always lives to intercede for his people. He offered himself once for all.
Dear Christian, come to God through him. When you have sinned, confess it. When you’re afraid, bring your fears. When you need help, ask. You have a living Savior who is fully able to bring you through.
And if you’ve never trusted Christ, this invitation is for you too. Church attendance cannot reconcile you to God. Neither can your family background or your best efforts. Turn from your sin and trust yourself to the Savior. He saves completely those that draw near to Him, to God through him. Jesus is all we need to draw near to God.
I’d encourage you, as we take a pause of silent confession before we do so together, to think about something that you’ve been holding on to from the Lord. Covering, hiding, excusing. A fear that no one knows about that you’re carrying. Or that help that you delayed to seek because you’re just a little prideful. Why don’t you do that now? Take a moment to confess your sins and bring your burdens to the Lord. And then once we’ve paused for just a silent moment, then I’ll lead us in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our gracious Father, we confess that we have sinned. Thought, word, deed. We’ve loved your gifts more than we’ve loved you. We’ve looked to changing circumstances for security, forgetting that our security is in Christ alone. We’ve excused our sin. We’ve defended ourselves. We’ve resisted correction. We’ve tried to make up for our failures through our own efforts. Other times, shame has kept us from prayer, and we have doubted your willingness to receive us.
Forgive us, Lord. And thank you for giving us a holy and faithful high priest. Thank you for his sacrifice, that it’s sufficient, and his intercession never ceases.
By your Spirit, oh Lord, lead us into honest repentance. Help us put right what we can. Help us to receive your correction humbly. Help us to serve with grateful hearts. We come, Lord, trusting in Jesus alone, who offered himself once for all, we pray. Amen.
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