As you know, life in this valley of tears can be quite discouraging. Before arriving in glory, we continue to wrestle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. There is much sin and corruption in our nation and around the world that vexes God Almighty, and the devil is at work to sow discord, division, and doctrinal deviance even among sound, gospel-preaching churches.

While acknowledging these difficulties, however, let us never forget all the good that our gracious Lord Jesus is doing, even in our day. Do we not daily hear reports of souls saved, advances on the mission field, and the proliferation of sound teaching overseas? I have been encouraged as I see the thirst for the gospel, the Word of God, and the faithful teachings of our Reformed heritage in places as far-flung as Zambia, Brazil, and Egypt.

Be encouraged, therefore, not to grow weary in well doing (Gal. 6:9). The Lord is at work, for He is building His kingdom, drawing in His elect, saving sinners, and growing the mustard seed into a mighty tree. To that end, “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.…Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you” (Isa. 35:3–4).

As we seek to persevere on this side of eternity, I would like to encourage you from Hebrews 7:25, where we read of the activity and the effects of Christ’s perfect high priestly ministry: “Where he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This doctrine of Christ’s priestly office should afford us unspeakable comfort as we press on in our service to the Lord.

The Activity of Christ’s Perfect Priesthood

Our text tells us that we have a High Priest who lives in the power of an endless life, and that in His priesthood He is continually engaged in the work of intercession. Consider the end of verse 25: “seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

The word intercession is a legal term that means to call upon a judge on behalf of another. Intercession is what an attorney does when he petitions a judge on behalf of his client. The attorney represents his client and speaks to the judge on his behalf, thereby seeking to secure a favorable verdict for him.

The word intercession is similar to another Greek word that is used of Christ, paraklētos, which essentially means an advocate, and describes one who is appointed to speak on behalf of another. As the Apostle John writes, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). In other words, we have a spokesman who will speak favorably and graciously on our behalf in the presence of God the Father.

The spiritual significance of these words can be traced back to the Old Testament and to the work of the priest. The Aaronic high priest would meet the family at the entrance to the tabernacle; he would take the animal, slay it, and then carry that blood into the tabernacle. Once inside, he would plead the efficacy of that sacrifice as the grounds on which his prayers on behalf of the family should be answered. This was the role of the high priest.

These ancient sacrifices pointed to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has Himself gone beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies. As we read in Hebrews 9:24, “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” So Christ has entered into the tabernacle, into the dwelling place of God Himself, and there He appears for us; there He represents us, and there He makes intercession for us before the judgment seat of God. And He does it continually, for “he ever lives to make intercession.”

John Owen taught that the intercession of Christ consists in three parts. First, it involves the presentation of His person in heaven for believers (Heb. 9:24). Christ appears in the presence of God in His resurrected body as the God-Man, with His full humanity and all it signifies. Second, as Christ appears before the throne, He also presents His propitiation, Owen said. He presents to God the Father the perfect merits He secured during His earthly life. He satisfied the law of God by His obedience and death, and now His risen body declares that the law has been satisfied. Third, as Christ appears before God, He presents His people to the Father and pleads for them.

According to Revelation 5:6, as Christ represents His people before God, He stands “in the midst of the throne” as a Lamb that has been slain. This is what makes His appearance so powerful before God His Father: the fact that He appears in the courts of heaven, the Holy of Holies, as a Lamb that has been slain. He bears the marks and scars of His passion, which legally testify to His satisfaction for sin. And it is these that have the real power. It is this presentation of His sacrifice that has far more value than the language of men. It is the blood that speaks (Heb. 12:24).

If the blood of a mortal man such as Abel had the power to gain God’s ear, then how much more the blood of God’s own Son? If the blood of a saint cries in that way, then how much more the blood of the King of saints? What a voice that must have! How powerfully that must ring around the courts of heaven. But the blood of Jesus does not bring down vengeance and justice and wrath, as the blood of Abel did. Rather, it brings down grace, peace, favor, and blessing. As Thomas Goodwin says in The Works of Thomas Goodwin, “Christ hath virtually carried His blood into heaven…this blood therefore cries from heaven, it is next unto God who sits judge there, it cries in his very ears.…Abel’s blood cried for vengeance to come down from heaven, but Christ’s blood cries us up into heaven” (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1862). That is what Christ’s blood does: it resonates with God. It reminds Him of His Son’s sacrifice, and it lifts us up into a paradise of blessing.

It can be very difficult to secure the attention of prominent or “important” people for very long. But the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the most important person in the universe, but—if you are a believer—He devotes His entire resurrected, glorified life to dealing with your case. He ever lives to meet with your case and to plead your cause before the Father. We can say with the hymn writer,

Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great high priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

When you are passing through times of difficulty and affliction, dear believer, do you ever comfort yourself with the thought of this great High Priest interceding for you before God the Father? Run to Christ with your trials and afflictions, unburden them at His feet, and look to Him for help. He will plead for you before the Father with His person, His propitiation, and His petitions.

The Effect of Christ’s Perfect Priesthood

We read in Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” Under the old dispensation, the Levitical sacrificial system had no power to save. It had no power to deliver a person from the legal guilt and condemnation of the law. It had no power to deliver from the grip of indwelling sin and corruption. It could not remove sin, and it could not deliver from the penalty or power of sin. All it could do was cover sin and hide sin. It could do nothing to tackle the power and strength of sin in the lives of the people.

Thus, the efficacy of that system lay not so much in itself, but in the one to whom it pointed—Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is the one who has the power to defeat the strength of indwelling sin. He is the only one who can deliver us from our sin in all its fullness. Indeed, He has all power to save us “to the uttermost.”

The Greek word translated here as “uttermost” (pantelēs) can have various meanings depending on the context. But “uttermost” is a very good translation here, because it leaves room for a fullness of meaning that highlights the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work. In the first place, “uttermost” can refer to time. In that case, the text means that Christ, once He has begun to work in a person’s heart, can save him or her forever, or “to the uttermost.” No matter how the world, the flesh, and the devil may attack you, rest assured that Christ has saved you for both time and eternity.

If you are a believer, there will never come a day when the power of Christ grows weak or His strength diminishes so that He will not be able to keep, uphold, and sustain you in the way of grace. You need never fear that one day you may lose your salvation or that you may slip through His hands and fall to your eternal ruin. That can never be, for He is “able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). You are in His hand, and no one can pluck you out of His hand (John 10:28). He has all power to save you to the uttermost, completely and forever!

The word “uttermost” in Greek also can mean totality or completeness. Jesus saves completely, fully, absolutely, and perfectly. There is no sin from which He cannot deliver you. There is no powerful grip of the devil upon your life that His strong hands cannot break. There is no depth, no pit of moral debasement into which you have fallen that Jesus Christ cannot reach down with His powerful arm and save you from. There is provision in Christ’s mercy and sufficiency in Christ’s blood and efficacy in Christ’s intercession to save to the uttermost—from every kind of sin and debauchery (1 Cor. 6:9–11). Knowing that our sins are forgiven lightens every trial, for the sting of affliction is gone when we know that even our difficulties are from the loving, chastising hand of our gracious Father.

Concluding Applications

Seeing that we have such a great and superior High Priest, allow me to provide three concluding applications.

First, we need look to no other priest. We do not need human priests and confessionals, as the Roman Catholics have. We already have a supreme and exalted High Priest, one who has fulfilled all the Old Testament types and shadows of priesthood to such an extent that the Old Testament system has been declared to be obsolete.

Second, let us avail ourselves of this High Priest and Advocate. We have a perfectly qualified Advocate, one so perfect that when He defends a cause, He never loses a case. He is an Advocate who exceeds all others. As we read in 1 John 2:1, “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He makes it His lifelong business to represent us and to plead for us and to make intercession for us.

When the way becomes difficult and troubles seem to attack from every side, let us turn to our gracious Priest and Advocate and ask Him that He might bring your case before God the Father on high. Maybe you have some peculiar trial in your life, and it is breaking your heart with worry and anxiety. Perhaps you fear that you will collapse if you must bear this trial any longer. Then run swiftly to Jesus Christ, the great High Priest and Advocate. Should you not present your case to this one who has the ear of God and who by His appearance and His intercession for you can call down more blessing than you even have room enough to receive?

Perhaps you are suffering at the hands of the devil, the accuser of the brethren, who goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Maybe he visits you regularly and brings all kinds of accusations: “You have thoughts like that, and you call yourself a Christian? You’re going to church this morning after saying that to your spouse? You’re going to prayer meeting tonight when you’ve done that today? You’re not a Christian—you’re a hypocrite!”

Does the devil bring such accusations against you? At such times, we must flee immediately to our Advocate, to the One who lived and died to pay for those sins and who now lives to powerfully present that sacrifice before the Father. He is not ashamed to represent you! He will defend you. He will point to the scars He bears and to the blood that was shed to pay for those sins, and He will say, “Put that to My account. Put that to My charge. Those sins are all paid for. They have been dealt with. They are paid in full.” Your Advocate will silence all accusations against you.

Indeed, who would dare bring any kind of accusation against you with an Advocate like that? “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33–34). We do not need to despair when we have such an Advocate as this. We can say with the hymn writer,

When Satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within;
Upward I look and see him there
who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
For God the just is satisfied,
to look on him and pardon me.

Third, let us adore our great High Priest. How we should love and adore Christ! Consider all that He has done for you, dear believer. Think upon His devotion to you. Not only did He live one life for you—33 years upon this earth—to save you from your sins, but then He died and was raised again in the power of an endless life and lives that life for you as well. Should we not love Him in return? Should we not live for Him? He lived for us—He ever lives for us! Should we not then live for Him also? Let us be those who are consumed with thoughts of Christ—thrilled with the greatness of our eternal High Priest, His uniqueness and His supremacy and His glory, as the chief delight of heaven and earth.

So press on, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and do not lose heart. Be encouraged: your great, perfect High Priest ever lives to make intercession for you—every single moment! Persevere as you rest upon His preserving grace and perfect intercession.