Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1.
Wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and high priest of our
confession, Jesus.
I'll repeat it.
Wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and high priest of our
confession, Jesus.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, as we continue in thy
presence, we do pray that thou will remove
any veil that may be upon our heart.
That we may see Jesus, the apostle and
high priest of our confession.
We ask thee to grant us the spirit
of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge
of God.
We pray that as we see him, we
may be transformed, that glory may be unto
him.
We commit this time into thy hands and
trust thy Holy Spirit to make thy word,
life and spirit to us.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
This letter to the Hebrews is very unique
in the books of the Bible.
Probably you would say that I usually introduce
every book in the Bible in this way.
And that is very true.
Because every book in the Bible is unique.
And of course Hebrews is no exception.
We do not know for sure who is
the writer of this letter.
Nor do we know for certainty who are
the recipients of this letter.
But we do know that this letter must
be written before the destruction of Jerusalem and
its temple.
This letter carries with it a very vital
message.
Not only to the Hebrews, that is the
Hebrew believers, in the early days.
But it is very vital.
It has a very vital message to us.
Who live at the end of the last
days.
We do not know actually who the human
instrument of this letter is.
Very probably it may be Apollos.
Because it seems that Apollos fits with all
the circumstantial evidences.
He is a Jew.
A Hellenistic Jew.
Schooled in Alexandria.
Mighty in the Scripture.
Familiar with the thought and teaching of the
Apostle Paul.
But of course we know through the centuries
there are many other suggestions.
Almost everyone you can find in the New
Testament.
And we do not know for sure whether
this letter is addressed to the Hebrew believers
in Jerusalem or to the Hebrew believers in
Rome.
But we do know that this letter is
addressed to the Hebrew believers at a very
critical time.
These Hebrew believers, they were once under
the bondage of the law.
But now they are free in Christ Jesus.
But even though they are free in Christ
Jesus, yet they are still somehow attached to
Judaism.
It is a very critical moment.
A transitional time.
And we know that at the time when
this letter was written, before A.D. 70,
some change had come upon the world.
In the beginning Christianity was considered as a
sect of Judaism by the world.
But during this particular time, we know that
this attitude was changed.
To be a Christian is considered as a
crime to the Roman Empire.
But Judaism is still recognized as a legal
religion in the Empire.
So under such pressure, believers, Hebrew believers, at
that time they were under great pressure.
They were under great pressure to return to
Judaism.
In order to be protected, to be secured.
But at the same time, we know the
Spirit of God was moving ahead.
God was going to do a tremendous thing.
And that was, He was to destroy Jerusalem,
the center of Judaism, and even the Temple.
The very center of it all.
Now why is it that God was going
to make such a move?
Because God considered that it was time for
these Hebrew believers to be completely freed from
Judaism.
That they might enter into the fullness of
Christ.
So here you'll find a conflict.
Outwardly, circumstantially, the pressure was to bring these
Hebrew believers back to the fold of Judaism.
But on the other hand, you'll find the
Spirit of God was moving to take away
Judaism, that these Hebrew believers may enter into
the fullness of the Gospel.
So this letter is written with that in
view.
To set the Hebrew believers free from any
bondage to Judaism.
And to get them into the fullness of
Christ.
Now in a sense, dear brothers and sisters,
we too, today, are in a very critical
moment.
We know that our Lord is coming back.
Soon.
We know that He is looking forward to
have a bride who is His counterpart.
He desires to see in His bride every
character that belongs to Him.
That He may be united with that bride.
And that bride be united with Him into
one.
This is the time that we know all
outward appearance will sooner or later be shaken.
Only that which is real, which is reality,
will remain.
You know with the Jewish people in the
first century, when God revealed Himself to the
Jewish nation in the beginning, it was a
living faith.
But unfortunately, gradually you'll find this living faith
became a religious system.
It became an ism.
Now historically speaking, Judaism had its beginning at
the time of the Babylonian captivity.
It was during that time that the scribes
and the Pharisees somehow they reduced the living
oracle of God into a religious system called
Judaism.
When God first gave divine revelation to the
fathers, these revelations were to prepare the way
for Christ.
But when these divine revelations were reduced into
a system, a religious system, you find that
instead of preparing the people for Christ, they
on the one hand began to substitute Christ.
And on the other hand began to oppose.
That is the reason why when Christ appeared
to them, they rejected Him.
And brothers and sisters, we find we are
in the same situation.
Christianity in the beginning was a living faith.
But gradually through the centuries, you find that
that living faith has been reduced into a
religious system called Christianity.
Instead of introducing us to Christ, it began
to substitute Christ.
And in doing that, it actually is opposing
Christ, taking Christ away from us.
If you will allow me to use just
an illustration.
For instance, baptism.
We are going to have a baptism after
decession.
Now baptism is a living testimony.
By baptism we testify that we have been
identified with Christ in His death, burial and
resurrection.
By going to the water, we testify by
faith of the greatness of the work of
our Lord Jesus.
His finished work.
That in His death, He has included us.
In His burial, He has put us away.
And in His resurrection, He lives in us.
It is a tremendous testimony.
But you know through the centuries, Christianity practiced
baptism.
But gradually baptism becomes a ritual.
A form.
And there is a kind of teaching, baptismal
regeneration.
Once you are baptized, you are regenerated.
You are safe.
You can go to heaven.
So many people in Christianity, they rest their
salvation on baptism.
The water.
Instead of Christ, His blood.
It becomes a deception.
It takes away Christ from us.
And dear brothers and sisters, we find that
as we are approaching the coming of the
Lord, all these as a system, as an
ism, as something of external appearances, all these
will be shaken off.
All these will not avail of anything.
Only that which is real.
Only that which is Christ Himself.
That will bring us into glory.
So brothers and sisters, we do feel that
this letter to the Hebrews is very important
to us today.
As this letter delivers the Hebrew believers in
the early days from the bondage of Judaism
into the liberty of the fullness of Christ.
So we believe that this letter today is
able to deliver us from Christianity as a
religion.
And to bring us into the liberty of
the fullness of Christ.
Now we know this letter is a letter
of exhortation.
Because the writer at the end of the
letter tells us that he writes this letter
to exhort them.
It is just a brief letter.
Only 13 chapters.
To exhort the believers.
And we know the word exhortation in the
Greek at least carries with it two meanings.
On the one hand, an exhortation is to
encourage.
To encourage us to press on.
On the other hand, exhortation is a warning.
To warn us lest we fall back.
So you find the whole purpose of this
letter is to warn us not to fall
back into that which we have been delivered.
But rather to encourage us to press on
to perfection.
And perfection simply means full growth.
It means growing into the measure of the
statue of the fullness of Christ.
Now what is the message of this letter?
I believe the verse that we read at
the beginning gives us the message.
Here you find the writer says, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling, consider.
Consider the apostle and high priest of our
confession, Jesus.
Now we have a confession.
I was told that there is a difference
between confession and perfection.
Profession is to be made among friends.
But confession is to be made among foes.
Among enemies.
So to us it is not a profession.
It must be a confession.
We have a confession to make.
And what is our confession?
Our confession actually is our faith.
And what is our faith?
And here it is said, consider the apostle
and high priest of our confession, Jesus.
The letter to the Hebrews is divided into
two parts.
The first part is from chapter 1 through
chapter 10 verse 18.
That gives us the vision.
And then from chapter 10 verse 19 to
the end, chapter 13, it gives us the
vocation.
On the one hand we need to see.
We need to see what our confession is.
What is the faith?
What is the truth?
Then having seen it, it shall become our
living, our practice, our way of life, our
testimony in the world.
So far as the vision is concerned, you
find in the book of Hebrews the vision
is twofold.
On the one hand it is the vision
of Jesus, our apostle.
That is chapter 1 through chapter 4.
And another vision is the vision of Jesus
as our high priest.
From chapter 5 through chapter 10.
We need to ask the Lord to give
us this vision of our Lord Jesus.
Because this vision is so vital.
It is life and death to us.
Whether we can be delivered from a religious
system such as Christianity.
Whether we are able to enter into the
fullness of Christ.
Press on to perfection.
You find this vision is vital.
We must have this vision.
Or may I put it in another way.
If we are lacking in this vision, we
do not know how to live as a
Christian.
And we just cannot live as a Christian.
First of all, we need to see Christ
as our apostle.
You know, the word apostle means one sent
forth.
One who is sent forth with a mission.
With a work to do.
Probably we will connect this word apostle first
of all with the twelve apostles.
The twelve disciples whom our Lord Jesus chose
to be with him.
Trained and then to be sent forth with
a work.
But actually you will find our Lord Jesus
is the first apostle in the New Testament
order.
He is the one who is sent forth
by God the Father.
With a special mission.
In the beginning of this letter, in the
first two chapters, we find the credentials of
the apostle of God, Jesus.
You know, when anyone is sent out as
an envoy, an ambassador, an apostle, he
must have certain credentials.
So here you will find in the first
two chapters of the book of Hebrews, the
credentials of Christ.
Our apostle of being presented.
You know, in the Old Testament times, God
has sent out many prophets.
In a sense, these prophets who were sent
out by God were apostles.
Sent out ones.
With a message.
With a mission.
In the old days, God has spoken to
our fathers in many ways and in many
forms.
By the prophets.
But in the last days, He speaks to
us in the person of His Son.
Now dear brothers and sisters, you find even
though in the past God has sent many
into His people.
To reveal His mind to His people.
To give a message to His people.
But all those who were sent were men.
Yes, they were holy men of God.
Moved by the power of the Spirit to
speak.
But they were still just human beings.
Imperfect.
Limited.
Full of weaknesses.
God could only speak through them in parts
and in bits and in fragments.
But think of that in the last days.
God sends forth His only begotten Son as
His apostle.
So this apostle, our apostle, is none other
but the Son of God.
And there you find His sevenfold glory is
being presented before us.
He is the heir of all things.
He is the full representation and manifestation of
God.
He is the creator of the world.
He is the holder of all things.
He is the purifying fire of all sins.
He is seated at the right hand of
the Most High.
He is so much better than the angels.
This is the credential of our apostle Jesus
as the Son of God.
And then in the second chapter you'll find
His credentials as our apostle as the Son
of Man.
This Son of God has become the Son
of Man.
He is the man of God's mind.
When God created man according to His image,
that is the man He has in mind.
He was made a little inferior than angels,
faced death for everything, crowned with glory and
honor.
By His death is destroyed devil who has
the power of death.
He is waiting to have all things being
subjected under His feet.
And He is the one who is to
bring many sons into glory.
Now these are the credentials of Him as
the Son of Man.
Now just think of it, brothers and sisters.
That this Son of God and Son of
Man, He is our apostle.
He is the apostle that God has sent
into the world to us.
What an apostle!
You know when one is saint, what is
he to do?
What is the apostle of our confession is
to do?
First of all, an apostle is to represent.
And the one who is saint is to
represent the one who sends him.
And there is no one that can represent
God better than the Son.
Because all the prophets that were sent before
Him, they could represent God only in a
very limited way.
But when the Son is sent into the
world, He represents God fully.
That is why you find in John chapter
1 verse 18 it is said, No one
has ever seen God.
But the Son who is in the bosom
of the Father, He has declared Him.
That is the reason why you find in
the last day, when our Lord Jesus was
having that last supper with His own, Philip
said, Show us the Father and it suffices
us.
And the Lord Jesus turned around and said
sadly to Philip, Philip, you have been with
Me for so long and you are still
asking that question.
Do you not know that if you see
Me, you see the Father?
In other words, you find our Lord Jesus,
while He was on earth, as the apostle
of God.
He fully represents God to us.
If you want to know what God is
like, look at Him.
The Word became flesh, tabernacle among man, full
of grace and truth.
God is love.
And we see this love of God in
the grace of Jesus Christ.
God is light.
And we receive this light through the truth
in Jesus.
In Christ Jesus we see God fully.
Or to put it in another way, you
cannot know God better than what you can
know in Christ Jesus.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in
Him bodily.
He is the full representation of God the
Father.
If you want to know God, you know
Him.
You must know Him.
You cannot know God aside from Him because
there is nothing more.
It's all in Him.
He is the full representation of God.
The exact image of the invisible God.
How we do thank God that He is
so gracious and merciful to us that He
who is invisible is now made visible through
Jesus, His apostle.
He who is unknowable is now being made
known to us in the person of the
Son, our Lord Jesus.
Knowing Jesus is knowing God as an
apostle.
Number two, He is to speak for the
one who sent Him.
And you remember our Lord Jesus said, I
cannot say anything by myself.
I say it because I've heard my father
said it.
In other words, you'll find that whenever our
Lord opens His mouth, He is not saying
His own word.
Whenever our Lord Jesus opens His mouth, He
is saying the Word of God.
He speaks for God.
In the old days, the prophets spoke for
God.
But their speaking for God were in parts.
In fragments.
But when the Son speaks for God, it
is the full revelation of God.
The final Word.
The complete Word.
There is nothing more to say.
He has spoken it all.
And then, of course, an apostle, thirdly.
He is to do a job.
Accomplish a mission.
And what is the mission that our Lord
Jesus is sent for?
He comes to do the will of the
Father.
He said, sacrifice burnt offerings and oblations.
God, You do not want these things.
But You have prepared me a body.
Lo, I come to do Thy will.
And Thy law is the delight of my
heart.
You'll find the whole life of our Lord
Jesus on earth is not living to do
His own things.
The whole life of our Lord Jesus on
earth is to do the will of the
Father, is to finish the work that the
Father has committed to Him.
And what is the work?
It is the work of redemption.
He came to die on the cross.
He said, it is finished.
The work is done.
Mission accomplished.
Thank God for that.
And then, fourthly, as an apostle, He is
the one who will open a new and
living way for us that will lead us
behind the veil to the very presence of
God.
He is to be our forerunner.
And we know He has already gone behind
the veil in the very presence of the
Father.
But He is there not just for Himself.
He is to lead.
As an apostle, He opens the way.
He goes before us.
And He leads us into the very presence
of God.
Now dear brothers and sisters, these are the
works of an apostle.
Christ, our apostle.
And of course you find in the book
of Hebrews He is typified by two men.
By Moses and Joshua.
Moses and Joshua were sent by God to
the children of Israel.
They were the leaders among them.
Moses was used by God to lead the
people out of Egypt.
Joshua was used by God to lead the
people into Canaan.
So how much better is our Lord Jesus
than Moses and Joshua?
Because Moses is but a servant faithful in
God's house.
But Christ is the Son who builds the
house and who rules over the house.
Joshua led the people into Canaan but He
did not give them everlasting rest.
But our Lord Jesus gave us a Sabbath
rest.
That we may rest from our works as
God has rested from His work.
Now knowing Christ as our apostle is vital
to our confession.
In other words, this is our confession.
If you do not know Christ as our
apostle then you do not know Christ at
all.
What should be our attitude towards Christ who
is our apostle?
Number one, we need to hear Him.
The writer to the Hebrews said, For this
reason we should give heed more abundantly to
the things we have heard.
He is sent by God to speak to
us.
Let us hear Him.
Let us not harden our hearts like the
children of Israel, they hardened their hearts.
They would not listen.
And because of that, even though they came
out of Egypt they failed to enter into
the Promised Land.
Now brothers and sisters, we need to hear
Him.
The great salvation first spoken to us by
Him and then by the apostles.
We need to hear.
Oh, that the Lord would give us a
tender heart.
A hearing heart.
That we may hear what He says.
Not just hear what we like to hear.
Not just to hear a little bit of
what He said.
But hear all that He has said to
us.
Let us listen to Him.
And to hear Him actually is life.
And secondly, we not only need to hear
Him but to believe Him.
You know the children of Israel, they heard
but they did not mix faith with what
they heard.
In other words, they hear it with their
heart would hear but their heart being hardened
they would not believe it.
God said, go over and possess the land.
Oh, they say no.
That land is a terrible land.
It denies the inhabitants.
They do not believe.
And because they did not believe their carcasses
fell in the wilderness.
Now, brothers and sisters when we hear what
our apostles say let us believe it.
And this applies not only to our initial
salvation.
That is to say, when we hear that
He is our Savior.
That He has borne our sins on Calvary's
cross.
And when you hear it, you believe it.
Thank God for that and you are saved.
But this is to hear all that He
has to say to you.
He is saying to you that there is
a rest prepared for you.
There is a Canaan land for you.
There is a land flowing with milk and
honey.
He is saying to you there is the
unsearchable riches of Christ.
He is saying to you there is a
kingdom prepared for you, an inheritance for you
to inherit.
Go in, hear Him, what He said to
us.
And thirdly, to follow Him.
We need to follow.
You know, the children of Israel, they refused
to follow.
They refused to follow Moses many times.
They wanted to go back, choose their own
leaders.
And they refused to follow Joshua and Caleb.
Joshua and Caleb said, let us go in.
They said, no, we cannot go in.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us always remember
our Apostle Jesus.
He is the one whom we are to
follow.
No matter how difficult it may appear to
be.
No matter how strong our enemies are, if
He says, come and follow me, let us
follow.
Even though it means the way of the
cross, let us follow.
Because we know the way of the cross
leads.
So dear brothers and sisters, let us remember
that our Lord Jesus is our Apostle.
All our salvation is in Him.
He has done everything for us.
And all that is left for us is
to hear Him, believe Him, and follow Him.
Now in doing that, you will find you
will not be bound by a religious system.
You will find that you will be set
free.
And you will find yourself being pressing on
towards perfection.
Towards Christ.
We need to see Christ our Apostle.
But then you will find the book of
Hebrews spends more time on this matter of
Christ as our High Priest.
Now I can understand why, because I have
the same problem.
You know, it seems to be easier to
know Christ as our Apostle.
But it seems to know Christ as our
High Priest seems to be a little bit
vague.
And because of this, the writer of Hebrews
spends more time on that.
And as a matter of fact, you will
find to know Christ as our Apostle is
the foundation.
But to know Christ as our High Priest
is the building up.
An Apostle is one sent by God to
us.
A Priest, a High Priest is one chosen
from man towards God.
An Apostle represents the one who sends Him.
In other words, Christ as an Apostle, He
represents God to us.
First as the High Priest.
You know, He represents us before God in
Heaven.
As an Apostle, He brings God to us.
As our High Priest, He brings us to
God.
And this dual ministry must go hand in
hand.
In other words, you cannot have the one
without the other.
We thank God that our Lord Jesus is
our Apostle.
And I do believe, brothers and sisters, we
know a little bit more about this.
But do we know the Lord Jesus as
our High Priest?
You know, when our Lord Jesus accomplished the
work of redemption on Calvary's cross, He was
buried for three days, and then He was
raised from the dead.
He appeared to the disciples for forty days,
and then He ascended.
He was taken up, ascended up to be
seated at the right hand of God the
Father.
When our Lord Jesus ascended up to Heaven,
something happened.
You know, He was anointed by God.
On the day of Pentecost, Apostle Peter, end
of 11, they testify that this Jesus that
was crucified, God has exalted Him on high
and has anointed Him as the Lord of
Christ.
And it is because of this that you
have seen and heard being poured out the
Holy Spirit came down.
And if you read Psalm 110, you find
that after the Lord was ascended up on
high, He was anointed by God as the
High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek.
And the picture is found in another psalm.
It says, like the oil poured upon Aaron's
head, and it flows down to his beard
and goes all over his body, even to
the skirt of his garment.
You know, in the old days, when they
anointed the High Priest, He did not just
sprinkle a few drops of oil.
We are told that when they anointed the
High Priest, they just poured an abundance of
oil upon His head.
So He just flowed down His face and
all over His body.
And, of course, we know the oil represents
the Holy Spirit.
In other words, here you'll find when our
Lord Jesus was ascended He received from the
Father the Holy Spirit and He poured the
Holy Spirit down upon this earth.
And at that moment, He was anointed as
our High Priest, according to the order of
Melchizedek.
Now, brothers and sisters, on the one hand,
the work of our Lord Jesus as an
apostle has finished.
He says it is finished.
Mission accomplished.
And because of this, we know He is
now seated at the right hand of God.
Now, you don't go down and you don't
sit down until the job is done.
And because His work as an apostle is
finished, therefore He sits down.
It is finished.
But don't think that our Lord Jesus just
sits there and goes in doing nothing.
No, no.
You'll find that one phase of His ministry
is finished, but another phase of His ministry
begins.
As He ascended to Heaven, seated at the
right hand of the Father, He was anointed
as the High Priest of our Confession.
In other words, there He begins His ministry
as our High Priest.
Our Lord Jesus is very busily engaged in
Heaven.
He ever lived making intercession for us.
Those who approach God through Him, that He
may save us to the uttermost.
Do you not know, dear brothers and sisters,
that if we, it is not because our
Lord Jesus is our High Priest today, we
will not be able to be blessed with
any blessing in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
We will not be able to be a
Christian.
Not to say we will not be able
to live a Christian life.
Unable to.
Impossible.
It is all because our Lord Jesus today
is our High Priest.
Why is His credential as our High Priest?
We find that He is our High Priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Now, Melchizedek is mentioned in the Bible only
three times.
So far as history goes, He is only
mentioned once.
In two verses.
Two, three verses.
In Genesis chapter 14 after Abraham overcame the
four kings, delivered his nephew Lot, Abraham returned
to the king's valley and there you will
find Melchizedek which means King of Righteousness.
He is the King of Salem.
King of Peace.
He encouraged to lead Abraham with bread and
wine and He blessed Abraham in the name
of the Most High because He is the
High Priest of the Most High and Abraham
gave him one tenth of all that he
had.
Now that's all you find.
So far as history goes.
Now isn't it wonderful that in the land
of Canaan occupied by the seven wicked tribes.
Now these seven wicked tribes actually represent the
evil forces of darkness and yet you find
in this place there was a place called
Salem that is Jerusalem and the King of
Jerusalem is the King of Righteousness amid all
this wickedness and amid all these idolatries you
find there is a king there who is
the High Priest of the Most High God
Isn't that wonderful?
God still has His testimony everywhere, even in
that place and He came to bless Abraham
and it is without doubt that the superior
blesses the inferior In other words He is
greater than Abraham Now who is this man?
And the second mention of him is in
Psalm 110 A thousand years have passed and
there you find a sonnet through inspiration saying
that one day the Messiah He will be
anointed not only as King God said to
my Lord, my Lord sit at my right
hand until I make your enemies your apostles
and then He said you are being anointed
as the High Priest according to the order
of Melchizedek and then another thousand years pass
in the book of Hebrews you find, who
is this Melchizedek?
He said this Melchizedek has no beginning, no
end no genealogy like the Son of God
Now it doesn't mean that this Melchizedek You
know Melchizedek is a real person I don't
think he is a fictitious person He is
a real person who lived in that time
of Abraham, a real person Now that person
of course has a beginning and an end
But, you know the Holy Spirit withholds His
beginning and His end Why?
Because the Holy Spirit wants to use Him
as a type of Christ So don't mention
His beginning and end He is as if
without beginning and with end So He can
represent Christ, the High Priest Our
Lord Jesus is the High Priest according to
the order of Melchizedek And what is the
order of Melchizedek?
In what way is this order different from
the Levitical order of priesthood?
Well there is great difference, because the Levitical
priesthood chooses man as priest But the Melchizedek
order has a son as the High Priest
The Levitical order choose weak man, mortal man
as priest But the Melchizedek order choose the
immortal God.
The Levitical order you find because they die
Therefore the priesthood changes often.
But in the Melchizedek order you find it
never changes because He lives forever He is
a priest according to the invisible life He
lives.
In the Levitical order because they are with
themselves They can sympathize with the weak In
this Melchizedek order you find that once He
came into this world to be a man,
to be tempted in all things, except sin
without sin.
So He can sympathize with us, but not
only sympathize because He is instituted, constituted according
to the power of invisible life Therefore He
can save us Not only to sympathize, but
to save Dear brothers and sisters
Do we know our Lord Jesus as our
High Priest?
You know consciously or unconsciously, with your knowing
or without your knowing You are where you
are today It is because of His High
Priestly ministry.
But how much better if you know How
much more He is able to save you,
if you know That is why we need
to know Him as our High Priest Dear
brothers and sisters, I believe you know Him
as your Apostle to a certain degree Yes,
we need to know Him more as our
Apostle, but you know Him But unfortunately you
find the reason why Christians are so weak
today It is because they do not know
Him as our High Priest.
Now what is the High Priest to do?
Of course First of all you find the
High Priest is to offer sacrifice Once a
year the High Priest will use the blood
of goats and bulls, and He will enter
behind the veil, before the mercy seat of
God, sprinkle the blood there to make atonement
for the sins of the nation Our Lord
Jesus as our High Priest.
If the blood of goats and bulls and
hapless ashes can purify the defiled How much
better How much more that our Lord Jesus
by the eternal Spirit offer His body spotless
unto God.
Once and forever He has completed our eternal
He has perfectly sanctified Once and for all
by offering Himself as the sacrifice to God.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus as
it were now don't think of it physically
because it is not, but it is as
it were our Lord Jesus in ascending up
to heaven He brought Himself His blood before
the Father, and laid it before the Father,
and that blood speaks for us.
Able blood for that For the blood of
our Lord Jesus Our Lord Jesus as our
High Priest, He has presented that sacrifice, the
sacrifice to God So redemption is an eternal
one It is eternally available and
brothers and sisters we know our sins are
forgiven because He is our High Priest He
has presented His blood, and this is once
and for all In other words, brothers and
sisters before we were saved we came
we repented, we believed in the blood of
our Lord Jesus we accepted Him as our
Savior and because of this, the blood speaks
for us and the Father forgives us But
it is not true that in our daily
life sometimes through our weakness, carelessness, we still
fall we still sin Now if we do
what will happen?
You know, in the old days You know,
one reason why in Christianity, you have baptism
by sprinkling If you read church history, you'll
find that once upon a time that is
in the early days, all baptisms were by
immersion, but later on a kind strange kind
of theory I do not call it theology,
but it's theory developed, saying that all your
sins will wash away at your baptism but
the sin that you commit at the baptism
will be very difficult So people postpone their
baptism as long as they could and in
their death day They want to be baptized
Now if you immerse them, you cannot do
that So you sprinkle Brothers and sisters, they
do not see the efficacy the eternal efficacy
of the sacrifice the blood of our Lord
Jesus, once and for all is perpetuated in
perfection They do not see that 1 John
chapter 1 verse 9 If we confess our
sins that is to believe God is faithful
and righteous to forgive our sins and to
cleanse us from all our unrighteousness If we
confess our sins God is righteous Now if
God is righteous and we confess our sins
He does not need to touch us to
confess Then you are condemned But strangely you
say God is righteous If you confess your
sins God is righteous Why?
Because He has once accepted
His beloved one as His Savior And He
has not crushed Him on the cross The
prize is paid The penalty is executed Therefore
He is righteous He cannot execute others It
would make Him unrighteous He is faithful Because
that blood has sealed a new covenant between
God and us And He has to be
faithful to His covenant Therefore if we confess
our sins God is righteous and faithful to
forgive our sins and to cleanse us from
all our unrighteousness That is the ministry of
our Lord Jesus That is why I say
If it is not declared by the ministry
of the High Priest How can you live
a Christian life?
You will be under guilt all your life
You will be under accusation throughout your life.
You cannot live But then God, there He
is Our High Priest And then secondly as
a High Priest you know The work of
High Priest is to entomb Entomb The High
Priest went into the holiest place Not only
to offer the sacrifice But also to pray
for the nations To intercede for the nations
So when He came out from the holiest
of all He could bless the people Now
brothers and sisters What is our Lord Jesus
doing today?
He sits at the right hand of the
Father Interceding He prays for us He takes
up you and my voice and presented before
the Father On the basis of what He
has done for us He is the purity
He is the mediator of the New Covenant
And did He say to the Father, Father
Look This child of mine has
sinned I have sinned I am
the guarantor of the New Covenant And according
to the New Covenant He will forgive their
sins And not only to forgive but to
forgive Yes As if He is
presenting our witness to the Father Here my
children are weak They do not know your
weakness But remember According to the New Covenant
They should know Me in themselves May they
know Me in themselves And if the Father
I am the mediator of the New Covenant
I am going to channel the goodness, the
blessing of the New Covenant into these my
children And may they live by my resurrection
That they may overcome All He intercedes You
know one illustration When our Lord Jesus was
on earth There was an illustration, you remember
Peter Peter loved the Lord And when the
Lord said He will be crucified, He will
die But on the third day He will
be raised from the dead And He said,
you will all be scattered like sheep When
the shepherd was taken But Peter said, oh
no If I don't live me I will
go with you to death And you know
our Lord Jesus said Peter, Satan I will
crucify you As you see But I am
free You know dear brothers and sisters Satan
cannot do anything to a child of God
without asking for God's permission Because Satan got
them unpunished And of course he punished with
a reason Because Peter He
got no reason He was so incompetent He
thought too good of himself So as you
were God used Satan To shake him So
the child will be blown off He will
be purified Right It's a dangerous practice So
you find that Satan asks And our Lord
asks too And the Lord said, I pray
for you I will listen to you With
a promise That your faith will not be
lost Instead your faith will be refined And
you can help your brethren Now that is
an illustration of The high priestly ministry of
our Lord Jesus Brothers and sisters You know
our Lord Jesus God is interceding for us
Before the cross We do not know ourselves
But he knows us He knows everything And
it is this intercession Dear brothers and sisters
That we are being taught What a powerful
intercession Without his intercession where would we be?
We would be sifted out But thank God
With this intercession Even though we have been
sifted The child Are blown off But the
brain Will be purified And then thirdly A
high priest Of course Is to present gifts
To God Not only sacrifices but gifts You
see there is a difference Between gift and
sacrifice Now first of all of course Our
Lord Jesus presented himself As the gift to
God All how he pleases He is the
burn offering You know the burn offering Actually
Is more in the sense of gift Because
the burn offering Is a voluntary offering It
is a whole offering It represents a life
wholly devoted And that is a Pleasure to
God And of course Because he as our
high priest He presents us To God When
Romans 12 says Present your bodies a living
sacrifice How can we present our bodies A
living sacrifice Unless It is presented in Christ
Today we can present our bodies A living
sacrifice And the bodies please Today We can
pray And he will add Incense Mingle incense
with our prayer So our prayer will be
accepted Now do not think that Our prayer
is so powerful You know our prayer Is
so weak Our prayer is Is almost nothing
But our Lord adds His incense into our
prayer He adds merits Into our prayer He
adds prayer into our prayer And that makes
our prayer powerful He enables us to pray
To worship He enables us to serve God
All these Are presenting us As gifts To
God It is all Brothers and sisters Without
him Your service will not be accepted Without
him Your praise and worship will not be
accepted Without him Your prayer will not be
heard Without him Your devotion will not be
accepted You find that everything That is in
the area Of giving Is accepted Because he
has accepted Jesus Now I
have said all these And the time is
gone But I have to ask you To
wait a little bit more Because The most
important part is here How do we Really
experience Our Lord Jesus as our High Priest
See our problem is The Lord is in
heaven And we however We know He is
praying for us Interceding for us We know
he is Functioning as our High Priest But
how do we know How do we experience
it When you come To the experiential side
Now How do we enter into the intimate
Experiential Knowledge of Christ As our High Priest
And I believe The key is here You
remember when our Lord Jesus Went to heaven
Before he went to heaven what did he
say to his disciples He said I go
But I will send another Comforter to you
In other words the Lord himself Is the
Comforter The Strengthener The Guardian But he
said I go I will send another Comforter
another of the same kind The Holy Spirit
Will come And dwell in you He will
never leave you Nor forsake you And brothers
and sisters The Holy Spirit in you He
Does not represent you He Represents Now do
not make any mistake The Holy Spirit In
you never represents you He represents Christ Christ
in Heaven represents you So you find Christ
in Heaven represents you And the Holy Spirit
in you Represents Christ and you Find this
is where The ministry of Christ our High
Priest works As he Intercedes The Holy Spirit
works The Holy Spirit Convicts The Holy Spirit
convinces The Holy Spirit teaches The Holy Spirit
guides The Holy Spirit leads The Holy Spirit
constrains The Holy Spirit restrains The Holy Spirit
empowers Enables You find all the working Of
the Holy Spirit in your life Is according
to The ministry of Our Lord Jesus as
our High Priest And if you know
this Then you'll find The Lord as our
High Priest Is very real Real every Moment
of every day Brothers And sisters if we
do Not know the Holy Spirit How can
we live a Christian life If we do
not know the Holy Spirit How can we
know Christ as our High Priest The Holy
Spirit In us is to glorify Christ He
is to transform us and Conform us into
the image Of Christ And the work of
the Holy Spirit Is based upon The work
of Christ So remember Our experience Of Christ
our High Priest Is In the working of
the Holy Spirit That is why You'll find
Paul When he was in Ephesus He was
one of the disciples of John When you
believe That you receive the Holy Spirit In
other words If you do not have the
Holy Spirit Then how can you be a
Christian It's impossible So brothers and sisters Just
See that the Holy Spirit Who dwells in
you That everyone who Believes in the Lord
Jesus Has the Holy Spirit dwells in him
Or in him And the Holy Spirit is
there Representing Christ As our High Priest And
as it were The Lord in heaven He
was praying I see in this child There
is something of Christ He needs to be
convicted And the Holy Spirit Comforts him Or
as it were Our Lord Jesus is praying
And said I see this child of mine
He is in darkness He needs light And
as he prays You'll find the Holy Spirit
You know This is why we say Without
The Lord as our High Priest We simply
Cannot give But thank God he is our
High Priest Ever living Never dying Ever living
Making intercession for us That he may say
those Of which God will hear To thee
But thank God So brothers and sisters This
whole letter Is to Enable to see Christ
As our Apostle Our High Priest And see
in him as such Let us approach The
throne of grace With full assurance Of faith
Let us hold fast the confession And let
us Encourage one another Provoking one another To
love And goodness Dear Heavenly Father Do open
our eyes To see Jesus The Apostle And
High Priest of our confession That we may
approach Thy throne of grace With full assurance
of faith That we may hold on To
our confession And we'll be able to Encourage
one another to love We ask in the
name of our Lord Jesus Amen