Good morning and welcome to another beautiful Monday and the start of another great week. I trust that you are able to rise this morning and be excited about the work that God has before you. You know, what you have before you today is no accident. God has given you work, He has given you purpose, and He will walk with you today through what He has assigned to you. But remember to not get caught up in the work, but get caught up in the people that God brings into your life as a result of that work. God places us where we are because HE wants to be there. Let your lights shine and speak confidently of the goodness of Christ to those He places in your path today. Remember, it’s no accident, God has planted those people in front of you for a reason, for you to show them love of Christ.
Margie and I had a fantastic weekend, chock full of activities, fellowship, teaching and worship. What a blessing it is to be busy in the Lord and not just busy. We always have to be careful with what we stay busy with. As I speak with the people God places in front of me, I always inquire of their welfare, “How is life?” I usually hear the standard, “I’m just so busy.” Sometimes I get to hear more, sometimes not, but I always want to ask them, “what are the top two things that keep you the most busy.” The answers most commonly never involve anything to do with God, Christ, service to others or study of God’s Word. I most regularly hear that it’s the things of the world that keep us busy. The things of this world are meant to distract us from the things of Christ. We have to be oh, so careful to focus on the things of God, things that have eternal impact, not the temporal things of this world.
This morning we are moving into Hebrews chapter 7 which puts us a little over half way through the book. Chapter 7 looks exclusively at Christ as our perfect High Priest. The book of Hebrews was directed to the Jewish community that was so steeped in ritual and law that the New Covenant of Jesus really threw them some curve balls with what to do with their customs, rules and religious leaders. One was the Old Testament priests. I looked at the specific roles of the OT priests back in chapter 4 of Hebrews, if you missed it, you can easily go back and find it at the5MC.com. Just scroll down to it, click on it and read away.
Chapter 7 deals with the amazing and glorious attributes of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, He is perfect, He never changes, He conquered sin and death, He is alive today, He saves us once and forever, He lives forever, He intercedes for us today. Pretty amazing resume. I’d like to focus this morn on a few verses that deliver these attributes:
“The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 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.26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 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.” Hebrews 7:23-28
The great thing about God and His Word is He leaves nothing open to interpretation. If He has something to say, He says it. And my friends, if it’s in God’s Word it’s truth. So it’s only appropriate that He would be very clear about the Savior of the world, His Son, Jesus Christ. Today we see Christ, clearly and accurately, described in His fullness of Holiness, righteousness and saving power. Lets look at each briefly.
1) “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.” The priests of the Old Testament all died. They were just regular old guys. When they died somebody else had to take their place. Not so with Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev 22:13) Christ always was and always will be. Our Savior lives and He will live forever.
2) “ Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.” Jesus doesn’t save a little. He doesn’t save just some. You can’t lose your salvation by sinning. My friend when you come to God through His Son Jesus Christ you are saved fully and eternally….period.
3) “since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Did you know that Jesus sits at the right hand of God at this moment acting as your intercessor? An intercessor is a person that acts on behalf of another. We also know an intercessor as a mediator, moderator, go-between, negotiator or middleman. You see, the devil is not on our side, if we are standing for Christ he is firmly against us. And guess what, he has access to God and He is doing his best to discredit us to God. But Jesus is there, interceding. He is filtering out the devils lies. He is moderating to God on our behalf. You see Jesus didn’t just save us here on this Earth and then retire. He is constantly working for us on our behalf. Praise God for a living, loving Savior.
4) “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” Jesus is holy, He is consecrated (dedicated) to God. He is innocent. He lived a perfect sinless life. He is unstained. No blemish of sin exists upon His life. He is separated from sinners. Even though he walked this planet amongst sinners, He never sinned, He is the Son of God. He is exalted above the Heavens. He sits at the right hand of God today.
5) “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” The priests of the Old Testament as they would offer sacrifices in the temple for the people would have to do something first before they could enter the presence of God. They would have to atone for their own personal sins against God. You see priests were just men and ALL men are sinners. Only after this step would the priests be able to enter the inner courts and offer sacrifices for the rest of the people. Jesus did not need to do this as He lived a perfect sinless life. He did not have to atone for His sin before He hung on the Cross, He had none. And when He hung on the Cross, He finished the work. He paid the price for all mankind’s sins, once and for all.
6) “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.” Before Jesus, men had no choice but to appoint common sinful men as priests. But after Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sins, there is no longer a need for a human priest to intercede to God for us. God made and oath about the arrival and purpose of His only Son which came after the law of the OT. God appointed His Son to become a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men and women. Jesus was perfect when He was born in a manger, He was perfect when He hung on the Cross and He is perfect as He sits at the right hand of God today. “He has been made perfect forever.”
What a joy to hear God’s Word magnificently describe the Holy goodness of His Son. It is only through this Holy, perfect goodness of Jesus that any one can ever hope to see the face of God. Without this perfect sacrifice, our sin stained lives would never be allowed into the Holy presence of God. The older I get the more death becomes common place. I talked to my parents last night and 7 people in our extended family have died in the last week. Some by natural causes and several in a tragic car accident. My friends I have a serious question for you. The most serious question you will ever hear. If you died today do you know where your eternity will be? It’s a simple question and it has absolutely everything to do with Jesus. Your eternity depends on what you do with Jesus. I’m seeing souls cast out into eternity and I don’t know what they have done with Jesus. If you have called upon the name of Jesus to save you from you sins, admitted you’ve sinned against Him and that you need His perfect life to cover those sins, then my friend, when you leave this world you will be afforded the perfect grace of God. As you stand in the presence of God the precious blood of Jesus will cover the sins of your life. With out the precious blood of Jesus, we can never approach God. Without Jesus, eternity is spent separated from God, an eterniy of torment and anguish.
Maybe you can say, “Dan, I have accepted Jesus, and I have given my life to Him. He is my Lord.” If so, praise God! That is the most important decision you will ever make. But your not done. What about your family? What if they go into eternity today? Have you told them about Jesus? What about your good friends? Have they heard? What about the people that God puts in front of you everyday? My friends, we have great work to do. Somebody loved your soul enough to tell you about Jesus. Somebody at some point in your life, stepped out on Faith and either told you about Jesus or invited you to church or Bible study to hear more about Him. It’s time to pay it back. Time to love and care for the souls of others.
I pray today that God gives you the courage to speak boldly about Him. If you make up your mind and commit to speak of Him, He WILL give you the opportunity. Pray this with me, “God, please place someone in my life today that needs to hear of You. As I encounter them, please open the opportunity to speak of Jesus and give me the courage and love to glorify you as I do, Amen.” If you prayed this prayer, be on the lookout today, God is going to do amazing things.
May God's peace abound in your journey today.
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