Twenty-One Sermons on Hebrews 10:20-24 - Traill - XIX - Sermon XIX

Required reading
Twenty-One Sermons on Hebrews 10:20-24 in Volume III of the Works of Robert Traill (Available from Reformation Heritage Books or free here) - Read Sermon XIX.

My summary
This week Traill continues to expound 'and since we have a great priest over the house of God' (Hebrews 10:21) by examining the priesthood of Christ and showing that he is a 'great' priest.

Jesus is a 'great' priest because:
(i) he is a great person;
(ii) of the virtue of his priesthood, he makes all whom he undertakes for priests;
(iii) of the greatness of his office (this point is dealt with at length).

Traill then by way of application exhorts us that if Jesus is a 'great' priest then
(i) let him be great in your eye;
(ii) have a care that you make use of Jesus Christ as a great priest.

What grabbed me
I appreciated the encouragement to make use of Christ's priesthood regularly: 'Make use of Christ as a High Priest constantly. There may be such a weakness amongst some believers, that they think, that when they began first upon godliness, they stood in need daily of the High Priest, they are weak and feeble : but after they have got a great deal of experience, they hope that that experience and the means of grace may do pretty well with them. And that is the reason, why so many do so very ill. No Christian can ever outlive the necessity of employing Christ as High Priest in all the steps of his life; and in the last step through death we must still lean upon this High Priest; we go by our High Priest within the vail, leaning and going through the vail of bis flesh. And truly I am afraid, the Lord prevent it in you mercifully and graciously, there are many worse things to be afraid of ; I am afraid of some Christians, that their best acts of faith on Christ Jesus are at their last, that their believing through the course of their pilgrimage is a little mingled and mixed with something of themselves ; and when they come to the awful and dreadful stop, and look death and judgment in the face, then they throw all away to the moles and bats ; then their renouncing their own righteousness is no great business to a believer.'

We need a great priest all our lives.

Next week's reading
Read Sermon XX.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.