Revelation 5:1 begins, “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look therein. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

           
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the twenty-four elders and the four creatures fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.”

           
The odors being incense which is symbolic of prayer since incense rises up when it is burned and our prayers rise up to heaven, rise up to God.

           
Verse 9, “And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and you have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

           
John is writing here about a certain roll of writing, a certain scroll or book which is sealed and has been sealed by the Father, by the One who sits on the throne, the Father, God Himself: The Heavenly Father. And this has been sealed by God. And John is marveling that there is no one who is and found worthy to open the seals.

           
Now, what is this book and what are the seals? We can turn to Daniel 12 where the angel tells Daniel, the writings have been sealed until the end, until the very end of time. And that is repeated again later on in Daniel 12. And what Revelation here is talking about; is the book of the prophets which has been sealed by God. And no one was found worthy to unseal it, or to open the Word of God, or that part of the Word of God called the prophets; no one until a certain person called Jesus Christ who was a creator. The Creator God, together with God the Father and these two beings existed together until one of them was made flesh, put into the body of Mary, developed as a human being, was born, lived a perfect sinless life as a human being, and then died, not for His own sins but for the sins of His creation, for the sins of humanity.

           
And being found perfect by the Father; the Son was judged to be perfect and blameless in His behavior throughout His life and therefore could be raised up to eternal life Himself. And further, because He was the creator of all things and all life, including all human beings, His death paid the penalty for the sins of all humanity. That does not give them the right to continue in sin.

           
Once a penalty has been paid, we are to go out and sin no more, as Jesus commanded us. We are to stop sinning and if we do happen to slip, we can go to the Father through Christ and ask that the penalty be paid once again, that the sacrifice be applied to us. But this is not to become an excuse for sinning habitually.

           
If we ask that the sacrifice be applied, when we have no real repentance and we're not really sorry enough to change. We then go out and do it again, do it again, do it again, repent, do it again, do it again, sooner or later, God is going to lose patience with us and say, "You are mocking me. You are mocking the sacrifice of Christ because you are sinning willfully and there is no more sacrifice for you."

           
Now, Jesus Christ the Creator of mankind and all else, who became our sacrifice faced the potential of eternal death; if He should have sinned. He did not sin and therefore was worthy. Because being the Creator, He was worth more than all of the creation and therefore was a worthy sacrifice for all of the creation, which is why in Revelation 5:5, “And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”

           
Now, these books were sealed because there was no reason to have knowledge on the information contained there. They were sealed because everything in the book was conditional upon the perfect life of Jesus Christ, upon His successful sacrifice, His resurrection, and of His being accepted for us as the first of the harvest of first fruits, the wave sheaf offering.

           
So, Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for His creation and being perfect was a perfect sacrifice. Therefore, He could enter into the presence of the Father, presenting Himself as a sacrifice for His creation, for humanity. Now, what is a high priest? A high priest is a person appointed by God, chosen by God; to mediate between God and the people. We read how Israel at Sinai said, "You go and speak for us Moses. Don't let God speak to us lest we die. You go and mediate." And so Moses became a mediator of the Mosaic covenant.

           
Likewise, Jesus Christ has gone unto the Father to mediate for us a new covenant. And this time, it is Jesus Christ, the very creator who is the mediator of this new covenant. And it is a spiritual covenant because it involves the genuine forgiving and atonement for sin.

           
Under the Mosaic covenant, various animals were sacrificed which were typical of what Jesus Christ would later do. However, those animals could not atone for the sins of even one man. All the animals ever sacrificed could never atone for the sins of one man; simply because man made in the image of God, man made after our likeness and in our image, as it is written, is greater than all the animals. Man is of the God kind and animals are of a lesser kind, and therefore all of them together do not amount to a man.

           
The sacrifice and the killing of animals could not atone for sin, could not pay for sin. Only the killing of a man can pay the penalty for his own sins. That is, every man must die for his own sin, as it is written. Nevertheless, the Creator of man could die for His creation which is what the ministry of Jesus Christ was. And Jesus Christ became our intercessor with the Father because He could go to the Father and bring a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice, a better sacrifice than all the animals slain during the covenant of Moses or the Mosaic covenant.

           
Jesus Christ brought Himself as our creator He was killed and dead for the sins of humanity. And in so doing, He became our intermediary, our intercessor. He became our high priest. He stood between us and the Father. He is our high priest. Jesus Christ is our high priest. Our high priest is not Moses and the priesthood is not Levitical. It is the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

           
And He enters unto the Father with a perfect sacrifice, being able to intercede for sinful humanity and pay for our sins. He serves God and He serves man. He officiates or intercedes between man and God and effects the establishment of harmony between God and man. He brings about peace between God and man because He removes the one thing that separates man from God. And that one thing is sin. It is law breaking.

           
He pays for that law breaking and if we turn away from that law breaking and repent of it and are sorry enough to stop doing it, then Jesus Christ will go into the Father on our behalf and present the Father with His perfect sacrifice paying the penalty which we deserve. And then we shall be cleansed and we shall be brought into a peaceful, perfect, harmonious relationship with God.

           
Now, this is the function of a high priest, to intercede between God and man. And that is the function of Jesus Christ who has become our high priest. And under the high priest, there are other priests to assist him in his ministry. And what these other priests do, is to teach the people the commandments of the Father. They teach the people what sin is. They teach the people to turn away from sin, to stop doing sin, to stop breaking the commandments of God. The priests; the priesthood, are teachers to turn all people toward the Father, to turn them all toward God, to turn them to repent of their sins, cause them to turn away from their commandment breaking, cause them to turn toward and embrace the Father with a whole heart, with zeal and enthusiasm. Teaching all men to love, honor, respect, and obey the commandments of God and the creator of those commandments, the giver of those commandments who is God the Father.

           
So, Jesus Christ as high priest atones for our sin and then He has a priesthood who teaches the people to turn away from sin and stop sinning. They teach people to keep all the commandments of God. This is what Jesus said when He told His disciples in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” Teach them what? Teach them to keep God's commandments, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. And what did He command? He commanded us to keep the law. He said, go and sin no more. He told the young man, keep the commandments lest the worst thing come upon you. And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

           
So, we are to go out to and teach all nations to keep all the commandments of God. That is the Gospel, the Good News, that if people stop breaking God's commandments if they turn away from law breaking, to embrace God with a whole heart, and if they are then baptized into the Father, that is symbolically washing away those sins and making a commitment or a ceremony of commitment to God ;to love Him and keep His commandments. Then their sins will be forgiven because our high priest, Jesus Christ will enter into the throne room of the Father and make intercession for us applying His sacrifice to us.

           
That is the Gospel. That is the Good News. Yes, it is great news that the Kingdom of God is coming. It is even better news that there are going to be citizens in that kingdom. For what is a kingdom without citizens? And the Kingdom of God will have godly citizens who have turned from their rebellion, turned from their law breaking, turned from their commandment despising, and turned to embrace their Father with all their hearts and they will become good citizens, law abiding citizens which is what a kingdom is all about.

           
As Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my sheep." He repeated this a second time, "Feed my sheep." Then he repeated it a third time. "Peter, feed my sheep." And He was not just talking to Peter. He was talking specifically to Peter because Peter was weak. He had some problems. So, He was emphasizing to Peter. "You must feed my sheep." But the same commandment is true of all the disciples, all the apostles, evangelists, prophets, whoever. All God's people, all God's ministry are to feed His sheep.

           
The Gospel is not just some idea of preaching about a coming kingdom. The Gospel is much bigger than that. It is far bigger than that. The Gospel is about a coming kingdom. Yet, it is also about providing citizens for that kingdom. It is about the repentance of humanity. And even before the repentance of all humanity comes the repentance of those called to be first fruits. And they need to be fed. They need to be taught what the law is, what the commandments are. They need to be taught how to please God, how to serve God.

           
And then after the resurrection of first fruits, they will then be in a position to teach others to do likewise. So, the ministry is to teach all men to keep all God's commandments and to teach especially those called to be God's sheep, as part of the first fruits. So, the Gospel is the gospel of repentance, of turning away from sin. And if we turn away from sin, we will have a place in the Kingdom of God, in the family of God.

           
To recap, a high priest is an intermediary, an intercessor between the people and God the Father. And His priests, that is the priesthood under the high priest are those people who have been called to help the high priest to teach all the people to serve God, to turn from sin, to turn from commandment breaking and to embrace God and His commandments. In other words, the high priest reconciles the people to the Father by the application of a sacrifice. While, the lower level priests reconcile the people to the Father by teaching them to turn away from sin and to turn toward the Father and embrace Him and embrace His commandments. The high priest has laborers to assist the Him in His work.

           
Now, all of this talk about Jesus Christ being high priest forever brings forward a very important question. How could He being a Jew, a man born of Judah; be a high priest when God through Moses declared that the high priesthood belongs to Aaron and Aaron's sons which were of Levi? And Jesus Christ was not of Levi, He was of Judah. How could He, Jesus Christ, become a high priest when the high priesthood was given to Aaron?

           
This is a very important question, very important for the Jews and the Levites because what it does in a sense, is to disenfranchise or end the Levitical priesthood. If suddenly Levites or the sons of Aaron are no longer the high priest, no longer the priesthood and there is now a new priesthood, a different priesthood, a priesthood of Judah, then the Levites have lost their position. They've lost the right of the high priesthood. So, this is a very, very important question. And it is the reason, this question is the reason why the apostle Paul writes his letter to the Hebrews.

           
Before beginning in Hebrews, I would like to discuss this matter of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was called a high priest or a priest of the Most High God, without beginning of days or end of years, without father or mother. There is more to this Melchizedek than just that. Apparently, he was a high priest or a priest of the Eternal God during the days of Abraham. And it is Abraham who paid tithes or a tenth of his wealth to this Melchizedek.

           
The first thing we need to understand is that the very word Melchizedek means, He who has the right to rule, he who rules by absolute right. And that applies to Jesus Christ as our creator. As our Creator Father, He has absolute authority and an absolute right to rule over humanity.

           
The next thing is that Melchizedek was a priest in the days of Abraham. This means that he was a priest of God, before Levi even existed, before Levi's father even existed. Levi was not yet born. Aaron was not born and Moses was not born. The Mosaic covenant had not begun and the covenant of the priesthood of Levi had not begun. Yet Melchizedek was already a priest of the Most High God which means that the priesthood of Melchizedek predates the Levitical priesthood and it predates the Mosaic covenant. The priesthood of Melchizedek came first. It was the original priesthood.

           
Now, when the Mosaic covenant ended; and remember the Mosaic covenant was a marriage covenant between God the creator who became Jesus Christ, between Him and Israel, the physical nation. This was a theocratic covenant. And the covenant was a marriage covenant as Jesus said, "I am your husband and you are rebellious and adulterous wife." And therefore later on, He says, "I have put away Israel from out of my sight for their whoredoms and their adulteries and their rebellions."

           
But at Sinai, the people had entered into a covenant with him by saying, "All that the Eternal has spoken, we will do." And what did the Eternal speak? What did he say? He said, "Keep my commandments and I will bless you. I will love you and take care of you. I will watch over you and protect you and provide you with all manner of blessings and lead you into a good land. I will defend you from your enemies and give you all manner of blessings if," this is very important now: "If you keep my commandments."

           
In the book of Deuteronomy which we are reading through at the Feast is a farewell message from Moses. And Moses is warning the people and reminding them, keep God's commandments if you want to receive His blessing. And if you don't keep His commandments, He will eventually get tired of fighting with you and He will reject you like a loving husband has to eventually come to the point where he rejects a rebellious, faithless whore of a wife.

           
God will work with Israel and He did. And He forgave and forgave and forgave until they left Him and would not repent and would not come back. And therefore the marriage between God and Israel ended and He still did not enter into a relationship with any other nation of the world. He remained a husband to Israel, even though she was separated from Him because of her sins. Until the day, the hour, the moment, came: when He the husband, Jesus Christ died and at that second; when He died, the relationship was finally, completely, totally, irrevocably made null and void. The death of one of the parties to a marriage ends the marriage.

           
And the covenant called the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel ended with the death of one of covenanters who was God made flesh. He was her husband and He was killed. He was dead. And that ended that covenant. And every part of the Mosaic covenant ended with the death of the husband, including that part called the Levitical priesthood and including that part called the high priesthood of Aaron. With the ending of the covenant, there was no more intercession between the priest of that covenant and God. There was nothing for them to intercede for; because there was no longer any covenant. The covenant was over. It ended. And the intercessor's job was done and he was finished. So, the priesthood of Aaron was over and finished and the priesthood of Levi, that is the priesthood under the high priesthood of Aaron, the priesthood of Levi, also ended with the death of Jesus Christ.  The end of the Mosaic Covenant meant the END OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF AARON.

          
The whole book of Deuteronomy is a warning from Moses for the nation to keep its covenant with God. And a warning that that COVENANT WOULD END, if the people refused to keep its provisions and obey their husband.  Later on Jeremiah was inspired to prophecy that the Mosaic covenant would end to make way for a new and better covenant. Jer 31: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

          
Jeremiah then goes on to quote God (Christ) as saying: Jer 34: And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 35: Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37: Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. 

             
In saying this, God declared that the Old;  Mosaic Covenant;  must pass away to make room for a New Covenant that would be an ETERNAL AND PERMANENT COVENANT.  This New Covenant being a BETTER COVENANT with better promises and granting to the people the ABILITY to keep this Covenant.  The people had failed to keep the Mosaic Covenant!  They will be given the enabling power of God’s Spirit to allow them to keep the New Covenant.

           
The entire Mosaic Covenant was ended, finished, done away. Israel, Judah, they're not the people of God anymore. The people of God are those called by the Father who respond to that call and are given His spirit. They are a spiritual Israel, a spiritual Judah, as it is written, we must become Jews in deed. And Jews in deed; are those who keep the commandments of God. And we keep the commandments and we are empowered to do so through the spirit of God.

           
So, first, we must be called by the Father. Then we must agree to stop breaking the commandments, then Jesus Christ as our high priest enters into the Father to atone for us and affect a harmonious, peaceable relationship between us and God, then we are given God's spirit and we can then go forward in power to overcome sin.

           
So, the priesthood of Levi, of Aaron, the priesthood of the Mosaic covenant died and ended with the end of the Mosaic covenant. And the priesthood therefore reverted back to the priesthood of Melchizedek, who was priest during the days of Abraham and perhaps for many ages beyond that. We don't know.

           
But he was certainly a priest during the days of Abraham. He was a priest by right. He had the right to be the priest of God. And Jesus Christ has the right to be the priest of God. He has the right to be the High Priest of God because He has brought unto the Father His own self as a sacrifice; having given Himself for His creation. And therefore He can enter unto the Father, into the Father's throne room to make intercession for humanity. And in so doing, He performs the function of the high priest and because He has an absolute right to do this, He fulfills the function of Melchizedek. That is, Melchizedek had the right, the absolute right, unchallengeable right to his office, his position, as Jesus Christ has such a right.

           
And as Melchizedek's priesthood was before the Mosaic covenant and before Aaron's, the priesthood of Jesus Christ was also outside the Aaronic priesthood. It was a greater and better priesthood because the sacrifice of the creator was a much better sacrifice than the death of lambs and bullocks.

           
And it is only natural, and was only natural; that when the Levitical priesthood ended and when it was finished; that the previous priesthood of Melchizedek be renewed. That is because the priesthood of Melchizedek predated the priesthood of Aaron and Levi. It was the original priesthood and it was only natural that when the relationship between physical Israel and Judah and God ended with the death of one of the parties to the arrangement, it was only natural that the original condition be restored, which is the priesthood of Melchizedek. Therefore, it is written that Jesus Christ has become a high priest after the order of Melchizedek forever.

           
And now, we're ready to start going into the book of Hebrews. I am going to be trying to make these tapes over a few days. And I'm going to be trying not to make them too long because they are really heavy with material and because most people in the churches of God or the groups making up the Church of God, including most of the ministry are not grounded in sound doctrine. They're grounded in certain basic ideas like the Sabbath. And even that, they don't do according to God's commandments and they do not know these things. They were not taught sound doctrine, and they were not taught about the priesthood.

           
We are promised that we shall become kings and priests of God and rule on the earth for a thousand years. But that is only the beginning. A thousand years; after which the great harvest of mankind will begin and all the masses of humanity who have ever lived and died never having known anything of God will have to be taught; and there will be a priesthood there. Priests and kings, the resurrected saints will be there to teach and rule these people. Teaching them to keep the commandments of God and ruling; that is, enforcing and regulating the keeping of the commandments of God. And it is very important if we want to be kings and priests that we prepare ourselves, that we think about these things and that we meditate day and night on the law of God.

           
David was prepared to be a king over Israel, and part of his preparation was a study of the law, a study of the commandments. And part of our preparation should be a very careful study of and a deep meditation on the commandments of God and on the duties and functions of the priesthood and of being a king.

           
We need to start preparing ourselves. We need to get ready because the day is soon coming. And if we are not ready, if we are not overcomers, and if we're not properly prepared; we may have been called, but we will not be chosen, for that kind of a responsibility. To be a king or a priest is an incredibly responsible position and it requires people who are knowledgeable and responsible and who have the character and an understanding of the laws of the kingdom. And if we don't study those things, we are not properly preparing ourselves.

           
And it is the job of the ministry to prepare the people. And frankly, quite honestly, they have not done their job. So, it is up to us to take the bull by the horns and start preparing ourselves. And we start by putting God first, put His commandments first, and then through a thorough study of His Word, and a meditation upon the things of the God and a continual request for Him that He would give His spirit and give wisdom and understanding.

           
So, we need to prepare ourselves. This is not some kind of a game. This is not some sort of a daydream, like a little two-year old dreaming of being a doctor and figuring all he has to do is pick up a stethoscope. There is preparation involved. There is hard work and effort involved. And if you want an office of responsibility, you have to be willing to pay your dues and to work at preparing yourself.

           
Now, Hebrews 1:1. And like I said, I would like to make this tape relatively short because it gives people a lot to think about and a lot to consider and maybe they would like an opportunity to study into these things. Many of our visitors, will listen to these things more than once, so as to get a good grasp and try and really understand the points I'm trying to make here.

           
Hebrews 1:1, “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”

           
That is, God the Father made the worlds, by and through the Son. The Son was the creator of all things and He did His creating by the commandment of the Father.

           
“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 has himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

           
So, this Son was the express image of the Father, of the person of the Father. He is like the Father. As He said at His last Passover, Jesus told His disciples, "If you've seen me, you have seen the Father."

           
Now, verse 4, “Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they,” or a more excellent reputation or a more excellent family name, which is was of the family of God.

           
Verse 5, “For unto which of the angels said he, that is the Father, at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son. And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he says, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.”

           
All of you people who say that Jesus Christ was actually the Archangel Michael, listen up and pay attention. Did you get that? Jesus Christ was the Son of God and He was called a God.

           
Verse 8, Hebrews 1, “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God.”

           
The Son is called God. It was not Michael who became Jesus Christ. It was the Creator God.

           
Verse 9, “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.”

           
And what do you have here, but a direct statement that: You Lord, that is Jesus Christ had in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Whose hands? The hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, He did pre-exist His human birth. Yes, He did exist before who knows how long, forever, before He was made flesh and dwelt among men.

           
Anyone who says that Jesus was a creation of the Father at the time of His conception is ignorant of the writings of the apostle Paul. For Paul writes, “You, Lord in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

           
No, Jesus Christ was not created at the moment of His conception. He was in fact the Creator of all things. And no, He was not the angel Michael before His human birth. He was God. And being the Creator God,  His sacrifice could then atone for the entirety of His creation.

           
Chapter 2, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, was enduring, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward.”

           
That is every act of disobedience was to be reckoned with, was to be dealt with, was to be judged and they were to be punished if they did not repent. How then shall we escape? If such judgment was given to the angels and angels were cast out of God's heaven for their sin.

           
How can we escape, if we neglect such a great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.

           
Paul is saying here that the Lord God came down and was made flesh and taught us the way of salvation. And after He had left the earth, those who had heard Him proceeded to witness this thing and to tell others about His words and about this way to salvation.

           
Verse 4, “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and various miracles, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.”

           
That is, the angels shall not rule the coming age, the coming Kingdom of God.

           
“But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest man a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set man over the works of your hands: You have put all things in subjection under man's feet. For in that he put all things in subjection under him.”

           
That is Christ, the man Christ who is resurrected to once again be a spirit, the Son of God. There is nothing left  that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him. Here He is saying that a man, Jesus Christ was to have all things put in subjection to Him. That is Christ would live a perfect life and would be killed as a sacrifice for mankind. He would be resurrected and He would then have earned the right to be king over all things and have all things under subjection, under Himself. So, Jesus Christ not only is a high priest but a ruler holding all things in subjection, under Himself.

           
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, he is now crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

           
Because this Jesus Christ was the creator of all men, He could die for all of His creation, for all men.

           
“For it became him, for whom are all things, that is he created all things, and by whom are all things, the creator of all things. It became him to bring many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

           
It was comely or desirable that Jesus Christ lead the way. That He be the one to give His life, to be raised up and to be resurrected into a new body of spirit. So that He can demonstrate and show man that it was possible, that it could be done and that He was leading the way. And He was perfected through suffering. That is, He was without sin but there were still things that He learned through the things that He suffered. And having learned those things, having learned about the weaknesses of the flesh, learned about temptation, learned about the struggles of the flesh, He could then be a high priest who had empathy for the people.

           
Verse 11, “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which he cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

           
He sanctified us through His sacrifice and He did this to bring us into a relationship with Him and with the Father so that we could all be one, we can all be part of one family. And He is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters, His brethren.

           
Verse 12, “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood.” That is, children are the flesh and blood of their parents.

           
He also Himself likewise took part of the same. That is, He became flesh and blood, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, which is, the devil; And deliver the people who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, subject to the fear of death. We all know from the moment we can think and understand that we are going to die and Jesus Christ came to save us from the bondage of that thought to save us from death.

           
Verse 16, “For truly he took not himself the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He became a descendent of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor or comfort them that are tempted.”

           
Our high priest is Jesus Christ. He was our creator, made flesh. The Creator God made flesh. He dwelt among men to experience the weakness of the flesh and the temptations of this world and to overcome them. So that He could become a high priest, bringing in the best sacrifice of all, the sacrifice of the very creator God for His creation and affect a reconciliation of mankind with the Father.

           
And also so that  He could become our high priest, our mediator, our intercessor, our sacrifice, and that He could be a high priest, who is able to comfort us; to relieve us from the distress of death and to deliver us from the bondage of sin. And that He could do this, having experienced life and understanding the weaknesses of the flesh and understanding temptation so that He would have empathy and understanding for His people.

           
This is about Jesus Christ. He is our high priest, not Aaron, not Moses, not Levi, not some Levites. The ministry of Church of God today are not spiritual Levites. They are spiritual priests after the order of Melchizedek and our high priest, Jesus Christ is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And we, each and every one of us, are all called to be priests, not just some elder, or minister, or evangelist. Every one of us is called to be a priest of the Most High God after the order of Melchizedek.

           
We need to understand that. We need to understand that every single individual is called to be a priest. And we all must learn to live like a priest, behave like a priest, act like a priest. We must learn to keep the commandments of God, to set the example of godliness and we must learn to teach others to keep God's commandments. All of us, every single one of us from the youngest convert to the most elderly person, from the widow to the macho man, I don't care who you are; you are called to become a priest, if you are called of God.

           
And if you overcome, if you learn, if you learn to keep God's commandments and turn away from sin and embrace the Father with a whole heart, then there is forgiveness for repented sin and there is reconciliation with God. And you can enter into a relationship with God. You are now called, but if you are overcome: you shall be chosen; and have a part in the first resurrection.

           
And just remember the priesthood has to set a higher standard than the people. Eventually the whole world, everyone will be following the standard set by Jesus Christ. And we as priests, called to be priests have to also follow the standard set by Jesus Christ and lead the way by example, even as Jesus Christ led the way by His example.

           
We need to set the example of avoiding even the appearance of sin. You go to restaurant and buy food on the Sabbath and justify it. Well, whether you are sinning or not; in your own mind, you are appearing to sin. And you are to avoid even the appearance of sin. And you are also partaking and participating with other people in their sin. And you are especially and specifically commanded not to participate or partake of other men's sins. What is being done is wrong. It is sin. If not repented of, if not stopped, it will keep you from being chosen to be a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, after the high priesthood or within the priesthood of Jesus Christ.